Louise Marley

Stand-alone novels and collections:

The Terrorists of Irustan — (1999) Publisher: On the planet of Irustan, where women have few rights, medicant Zahra IbSada helps her friend Kalen retrieve Kalen's daughter from an abusive marriage, an act that has life-changing consequences for the women of the planet.

The Glass Harmonica — (2000) Publisher: Eilish Eam is an orphan and street musician, living in 1761, London. She survives on pennies and applause, and nothing more. Until the night Benjamin Franklin stops to listen, awe-struck by her gift — and with plans for her future... Erin Rushton is a classical musician living in 2018, Seattle. She stands in the orchestra, consumed by the music-and haunted by visions of a young girl from a different time, who needs her help...

The Maquisarde — (2002) Publisher: In the final few years of the 21st century, life in Paris is quiet for Ebriel Serique and her family. They live protected by the glass walls of their skyscraper apartment, safe from the poverty-stricken countries just over the Line of Partition. Until one day, her husband and daughter go sailing, and are murdered by terrorists who claim their yacht had crossed the Line. Driven by grief and justice, Ebriel ventures beyond the confines of her charmed life to confront the truth about the way the world is run. And while she never would have suspected it, Ebriel discovers that she has the courage for anything-even violence.

The Child Goddess — (2004) Publisher: A priest and anthropologist, Isabel Burke has been called to the barren planet of Virimund. The ExtraSolar Corporation, developing Virimund as an energy source, has encountered an "incident" that has stopped their work... There is human life on Virimund after all-and there are children born here who do not age. One little girl has been captured by ExtraSolar, which hopes to discover the secret to her ageless existence. For ExtraSolar, she's a resource to be used and discarded. But for Isabel, she's an innocent who needs help...

Absalom's Mother and Other Stories — (2007) Publisher: Louise Marley's first collection includes ten science fiction and fantasy stories, most with a feminist take. Due to Marley's background as a concert opera singer, many stories have music at their heart.

Mozart's Blood — (2010) Publisher: As a young soprano in the eighteenth century, Octavia Voss was bitten by a vampire patroness during a sexual tryst with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and was imbued with the essence of his astonishing musical gifts. Since then, Octavia has enjoyed several careers as a celebrated soprano, taking on new identities to disguise her ageless beauty, and acquiring an assistant and companion in Ugo, a mysterious man who possesses a secret of his own. Together they travel the world for her performances at all the great opera houses. But during a run at La Scala, Octavia draws the attention of a secret vampire hunter who will do anything to make her talents his own.

Mozart's Blood

Don’t judge a book by its cover, they say, and in the case of Mozart’s Blood by Louise Marley, that is very good advice indeed. One would expect a torrid romance novel from the painting of a woman with disproportionate breasts and a look of impending orgasm on her face. But one would be wrong. This vampire novel contains its fair share of passion, but it is more a character study than a romance. And while the structure of the novel is flawed, it is nonetheless a pleasant book with which to spend a few hours.

Octavia Voss is a mezzosoprano who is uncannily poised and talented. As the book opens, she is finishing a run of “La Traviata” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and is about to embark on the role of Donna Anna in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” at the legendary La Scala in Milan, Italy. But no sooner do she and her assistant Ugo arrive than Ugo is kidnapped by a man calling himself Domenico, who is seeking information.

A story of high crime at the opera? In a sense, yes; but in this novel’s reality, much more. For Octavia is a vampire who has lived through several lives as an opera star. She began singing when she was known as Teresa Saporiti, appearing in the premiere performance of “Don Giovanni” at the age of nineteen. She is enraptured by Mozart — not just his music, but the man himself. She soon finds herself in bed with him, but unexpectedly also with the Countess Milosch, who, in the middle of the sex act, bites both her and Mozart. The changes come quickly after that, and Teresa must learn to make her way in the world as a vampire, with no guidance.

The one real benefit of becoming a vampire — aside from the minor detail of immortality — is that Teresa retains the memories of everyone with whom she “shares the tooth.” This means that she has all of Mozart’s memories, all his thoughts of harmony, rhythm, tone — she possesses his music in a way that no one else can. It is hardly a surprise, then, that she becomes a great opera star. But Teresa Saporiti cannot remain a young and beautiful opera star forever. As the century runs out, she must begin a new life as Helene Singher, and again, later, as Vivian Anderson, and yet again, as Octavia Voss.

Ugo has his own secret, and it, too, is tied to his voice. Ugo is a werewolf, even older than Octavia, with his own difficulties. He is ordered by the shadowy La Societa — a group of vampires older, seemingly, than time itself — to become Octavia’s assistant during her life as Helene. Primarily, he is instructed to control how Octavia feasts, and especially her regrettable habit of failing to kill her prey. He becomes her supplier, providing her with blood and making it unnecessary for her to kill. So when Ugo is kidnapped, Octavia loses her source of nourishment, and her thirst begins to grow.

Marley’s tale is full of information about Mozart, about opera, about the history of castrati, about music in general. It’s a new spin on vampirism, and that’s always welcome in a genre that threatens to go under from the weight of so many bloodsuckers. The real problem with this book is not in its characters or the plot, but in its episodic structure. The narrative jumps from century to century, persona to persona, and does so with two different characters (that is, both Octavia and Ugo). There is no order to the jumps, no sequence, so that the reader never knows what century she will be in when she turns the page. It becomes difficult to keep track of so many personas in so many time periods. As a result, the suspense is substantially diluted.

Still, the musical detail makes this book sing. Anyone familiar with “Don Giovanni” can hear how its bold, dark chords color the plot. It is worth reading Mozart’s Blood just for the opera scenes, a conclusion with which Marley’s vampires would likely agree. —Terry Weyna