Blood Books Omnibus Three: Blood Debt / Blood Bank [Mass Market Paperback]

The Blood Books, Vol. 3 (Blood Debt / Blood Bank) by Tanya Huff is the fifth book in the Blood Book series, and it is the most emotional yet for the reader, especially if you are invested in the Henry and Vicki portion of the triangle. How does one repay their lover or friend for changing their life so profoundly? That is the greater question that comes to mind after reading this book.

I've read on the Web that Vicki chooses one of these men, but thus far, I have not seen a conscious choice made on her part. In fact, this book to me shows the choice being made for her. She is forced to accept a decision made for her at the end of the last book and the beginning of this one.

****Spoiler Alert***

The bodies are piling up again with organs missing. The clinic and philanthropist involved with a surgeon are selling organs to the rich and powerful. The bodies become ghosts that haunt Fitzroy and he's forced to call in Vicki from Toronto. She and Celluci, who reluctantly agrees to come along, jump into a van with a blacked out room in the back to drive across Canada to Vancouver.

The trip across the country is nearly as eventful as when they arrive in Vancouver and Vicki and Henry are forced to occupy the same city, let along small space. You may have guessed by now that this is the book where you find out Vicki is no longer mortal and she and Henry cannot live in the same city because they are territorial beings, except when engaged in mass killings of gang members and murderers.

My one qualm with this book is that it starts the year after the change occurs in Vicki, leaving the reader in the dark about the love and teaching that must go on between Henry and Vicki as he teaches her how to feed and control her dangerous urges. I do love how she no longer has to deal with the eye degeneration. That was something I expected when I presumed on my own that she would become immortal. I only wish that had been her choice and not that of the men in her life.

***End Spoiler Alert***

The questions this book raised for me were how does one repay their friend or lover for changing his/her life so profoundly and irrevocably? I'm not simply wondering this from a vampire/child point of view, so much as a friend impacting another friend. Vicki's profound effect on Fitzroy's traditions and notions about how his kind reacts and interacts with the world around him, allow him to hopefully evolve beyond his own imaginings and consider alternative ways of being. It's not that Fitzroy is out of control and killing anything that walks, but he does hold specific notions about how his kind operates in the world and with one another. He never once questioned whether those notions or teachings were accurate or impossible to circumvent until he requests Vicki's assistance with the ghosts.

The dynamic between these characters goes beyond the sexual tension and jealousy of a love triangle and illuminates how human interaction--or inhuman in this case--can improve an individual's outlook on life and their ability to improve their own interactions with others, as well as how they can impact traditions and humanity as a whole.

The final book in the Tanya Huff series, The Blood Books, Vol. 3 (Blood Debt / Blood Bank), is not a novel but a collection of short stories with the Blood Book Series characters. I liked the short stories for the most part except "The Vengeful Spirit of Lake Nepeakea." It took me the longest time to read because I was not engaged in the storyline as much as I was in the others. The breakdown of the stories between Vicky and Henry Fitzroy were not very even, with more of the stories about Vicky and Celluci after her change. I really enjoyed the stories with Henry in them the most.

Blood Bank, however, was an apt title for this collection given the vampire characters and the variety of "blood types" or stories in the book. I am glad to find that Vicky's commitment and abandonment issues are addressed in the last short story, "So This Is Christmas," although it was a bit cheesy following the traditional "Christmas Carol" (by Charles Dickens) outline with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. I'm glad that the underlying character flaw is addresses, but I think that it could have been done differently.

Overall, the short stories are a great way to revisit the characters in a shorter amount of time, but the novels themselves are much better.

A wonderfull book! I have thoroughly enjoyed this series of stories told by Tanya Huff! Some tales involving supernatural creatures like vampires, werewolves and the like can get very gory, and graphic. There is violence in these stories, but Tanya doesn't try to gore you to death. It was a refreshing change. I would recommend getting your hands on all three of her volumes so you don't have to wait to see what Vicki, Henry and Mike can stumble into next! This book like her others have solid characters that deal with down to earth problems even if some of the situations are extraordinary. And with stories that involve a woman in love with two completely different men, there is always conflict!

This is the fifth and final novel of the Blood Books, along with a collection of short stories. You can find books 1-4 here The Blood Books, Vol. 1 (Blood Price / Blood Trail) and here The Blood Books, Vol. 2 (Blood Lines / Blood Pact).

The fifth novel, set in Vancouver, shows us what happens after the huge events of the fourth novel. Things have changed in many ways for the three main characters, and this shows us how.

The short story collection is great. I loved the stories of Henry Fitzroy's past in particular. A really good one is set in Regency England, and another tells us the story that was mentioned on one of the earlier books, where Henry conducts a one vampire war against the Inquisition. Great stuff.

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