Reviewed by Heather Brewer

Take a dhampir (half-human/half-vampire), her half-elf companion, their fay dog and a young sage—drop them into a magnificently developed world with vampires, magic and tangled, secretive webs—tie it all together with a thread of romance and you’ve got SISTER OF THE DEAD, the newest book by national bestselling authors Barb and JC Hendee.

SISTER OF THE DEAD is a wild mixture of fantasy and romance that will appeal to readers of both genres. In this third book of the addictive Noble Dead saga, we travel with Magiere, Leesil, Chap and Wynn to the village of Magiere’s birth and seek long-awaited answers to her past, more specifically, why a vampire would wish to create a child capable of slaughtering his own kind. Leesil seeks his own answers—whether his mother still lives or not—but keeps his longing at bay for love of Magiere and the answers she seeks. But every conclusion they come to brings about more questions and the group soon finds themselves confronted by an evil sorcerer named Ubâd.

The Hendees continue their intelligent dark fantasy series by brilliantly interweaving action, emotion and description. The world they’ve created is as real as your own as you find yourself immersed in the villages and wilds of the Far Lands, while the people and creatures you will encounter are like none found elsewhere in fantasy literature. Readers will treasure Magiere’s stern views and Leesil’s quick wit for many years to come. Barb & J.C. Hendee have written an enthralling work that is unequaled.

Recently I asked J.C. about their plans for the series and for any words of advice he had for aspiring writers.

I read in your forum that there are six books planned for this series. Will the sixth be the end of the series? What are your plans (if any) for future writing projects after this series?

“Yes, we plan to finish up the current tale involving Magiere, Leesil, and Chap in a sixth book that has yet to be contracted. However, it pretty much will bring to light a larger underplot that is slowly built throughout the tale. If reader/publisher interest in the world of the Noble Dead remains strong, we will start a new tale in another part of the world using characters met along the way in this series. Further books and short series will progress that larger underplot. There may as well be one or two stand alone books and another series we have in mind that though set in the same world might not be directly connected to the underplot.”

Will you continue to work collaboratively?

“Always, most likely. We have so much fun doing this together, and have always done most everything together throughout our twenty-year marriage. It doesn't get any better than that for a personal life. We are each other’s comrades and best friends. It's not impossible that either of us might write something on our own. It's just that we've never really seen any reason to give it much thought.”

What have been the best aspects of doing so?

“It's something we just do. It's the way we are, even though we are quite different as people. We always have someone there to work with who knows our own strengths and weaknesses. And we learn from each other in the most interactive way possible.”

The worst?

“Trying to explain how we do it [grin].”

And finally, what words of wisdom do you have for new writers?

“Never forget that you are writing for someone else, not yourself. If you're writing ONLY for yourself, it's a waste of time trying to get someone else to read it, let alone a publisher/editor to buy it. Writing is first and foremost a communication between sender and receiver. The objective is two-fold: first, that meaning received is as close as possible to the meaning that was intended, and second, that it is of interest to the recipient as much or more than it was to the sender. The reader comes first if your intend to be a story-teller. It doesn't matter how important you think your work is if it's of no interest to those who read it. Pay attention to your audience, not yourself.

If you're not enjoying yourself as a writer, at least on some level in the process and not in just the satisfaction of a completed work or the supposed notoriety and accolades of being published, then quit. There's not point to doing something you don't enjoy, as there are plenty of pursuits out there where the pay on average is better if you don't care about enjoying how you earn it. Don't write for prestige and fortune, because for most these are nothing but illusions.”

SISTER OF THE DEAD was published by ROC, a division of Penguin Group, in January of 2005 and is still available online and in larger stores.

Take my word for it. You won’t regret this read.

Heather Brewer is an author of dark fantasy, horror, gay and
contemporary fiction. She is Wiccan and a registered member of the
Internation Wenches Guild. In her free time she attends renaissance
faires in costume and in character. Heather resides in Missouri with her
husband, two children and one very spoiled hamster.