Kiss of the Butterfly by James Lyon.
A mysterious letter starts a university student on a journey into the war-torn lands of rapidly disintegrating Yugoslavia. Naively trusting his enigmatic professor, the student unwittingly descends into a dystopian crucible of decay, destruction, passion, death, romance, lust, immorality, genocide, and forbidden knowledge promising immortality. As the journey grows ever more perilous, he realizes he must confront an ancient evil that has been once again loosed upon the earth: from medieval Bosnia to enlightenment-era Vienna, from the bright beaches of modern-day Southern California to the exotically dark cityscapes of Budapest and Belgrade, and horrors of Bosnia.
Vampires have formed an integral part of Balkan folklore for over a thousand years. "Kiss" represents a radical departure from popular vampire legend, based as it is on genuine Balkan folklore from as far back as the 14th century, not on pop culture or fantasy. "Kiss of the Butterfly" offers up the real, horrible creatures that existed long before Dracula and places them within a modern spectrum.
Meticulously researched, “Kiss of the Butterfly” weaves together intricate threads from the 15th, 18th and 20th centuries to create a rich phantasmagorical tapestry of allegory and reality. It is about divided loyalties, friendship and betrayal, virtue and innocence lost, obsession and devotion, desire and denial, the thirst for life and hunger for death, rebirth and salvation. “Kiss” blends history and the terrors of the Balkans as it explores dark corners of the soul.
“Kiss of the Butterfly” is based on true historical events. In the year of his death, 1476, the Prince of Wallachia -- Vlad III (Dracula) -- committed atrocities under the cloak of medieval Bosnia’s forested mountains, culminating in a bloody massacre in the mining town of Srebrenica. A little over 500 years later, in July 1995, history repeated itself when troops commanded by General Ratko Mladic entered Srebrenica and slaughtered nearly 8,000 people, making it the worst massacre Europe had seen since the Second World War. For most people, the two events seemed unconnected…
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To learn more about Kiss of the Butterfly and author James Lyon, please read our interview with James here at From the Shadows.
This sounds intriguing.
ReplyDeleteIntriguing? Yes. Mystifying? Even more so. Mind-bending? Definitely. After you read "Kiss of the Butterfly" you may no longer be able to distinguish the line between reality and fantasy.
DeleteGood luck with the drawing.
wow! this sounds like a book i will like! i love when history is used in books!
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like a bit more vampire history, see my early December write-up and photos of my visit to the mountain village of Zarožje, in search of the legendary Serbian vampire Sava Savanović, who is reportedly once again on the loose. http://thevampirologist.blogspot.com/2012/12/vampires-in-serbia-unraveling-fact-from.html Or you can read about it on my Goodreads blog or the Kiss of the Butterfly facebook page.
DeleteThanks for the giveaway. i would love to read this book.
ReplyDeleteI too hope you read it and enjoy it. :-)
DeleteI am looking forward to reading this book! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDear April,
DeleteIf you enjoy a good old-fashioned vampire novel, then you'll enjoy "Kiss of the Butterfly".
Best
James
Thank you for the giveaway. Added Kiss of the Butterfly to TBR list on Goodreads.
ReplyDeleteThanks for adding "Kiss" to your TBR list. It is an old-fashioned novel steeped in lore, that starts of slowly and builds gradually to a crescendo. I hope you enjoy it.
DeleteFor those who like real vampire history, seven days ago I visited the village where the word "VAMPIRE" was first recorded as being used, Kisiljevo in Serbia. My write-up of the visit, along with photos of the village graveyard, church, and interviews with local residents, is now online. Enjoy! http://magiaposthuma.blogspot.com/2013/01/in-search-of-peter-plogojowitzs-grave.html
ReplyDeleteJames...thanks so very much for the information and posting the link for Magia Posthuma (which I went ahead & subscribed to...:) & for your interview.
ReplyDeleteWow...lots of info as to the behavior of vampires that I wasn't aware of. Thanks to Hollywood we have this mindset that all vampires hate garlic, silver crosses, and are killed with a stake through the heart. It's super interesting to read translations of the original sources to discover that vampires also behaved somewhat as poltergists, too.
I really can't wait to read your book now!!! I'm anxious to see how you put all of this together into a story. It has to be awesome!
Thanks so much again!
--Cecilia
ceciliah(at)apl(dot)kscoxmail(dot)com
Cecilia,
DeleteI do hope you enjoy it. A lot of effort went into crafting the story and making certain even the smallest details were accurate.
Best
James
I'm curious about the historical events because apparently you blame Dracula only, but he was under the Hungarian ruler at that time (Matei Corvin - Matthias Corvin) in the anti-ottoman campaign. Vlad Tepes was Matei Corvin's prisoner for 13 years. Sorry if I'm wrong. Anyway, Butterfly is a history fiction book so it doesn't matter to much how we twist the facts. I'm confident that Butterfly is a great book
ReplyDeleteMy Dear Romanian friend,
DeleteWorry not, there are no inaccurate depictions of one of your country's great historic figures. I have not turned him into a Hollywood vampire. In "Kiss of the Butterfly" Vlad III Tsepes "Dracula" isn't from Transylvania, but from Wallachia, and he doesn't sparkle.
Best
James
Thank for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteEric,
DeleteMy pleasure. Thanks for tweeting it.
Best
James
Oh I read a review of this one on another blog, and she absolutely loved it. :) And it sounds amazing and dark (which I enjoy). Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMelissa,
Delete"Kiss of the Butterfly" does indeed have its dark moments. But it also has light. After all, both are needed to enhance the contrasts between the two. :-)
Good luck in the drawing.
Best
James