On the surface, vampire books are always on some level an exploration of immortality. Not in the logistical way. It’s less about how one fills their time when presented with an infinite future and more about what having the luxury of time means. For the three women in V.E. Schwab’s latest novel, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, the endless void of time means different things. María hungers for the power to control her destiny. Charlotte yearns for the freedom to love who she wants. And Alice rages for the chance at a new life.
Written with delicious prose and layered with heartbreaking observations on the intricate complications of humanity, Schwab shows us that having a long life doesn’t erase the difficulties we face. If anything, it only adds to the problems. More time means more mistakes. More failures. More loss. What you gain might outweigh those things, but it never makes them go away completely.
Vampires aren’t the only way SFF writers have explored these themes or asked these questions. Whether through technology or magic, there are no shortage of stories playing with the idea of how to erase the confines of mortality.
Here are seven books to read if you loved the ageless women in Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.
Way Station
For over one hundred years, Enoch Wallace has carried the same gun and lived on the same farm. His house is unchanging, but inside, away from the prying eyes of his neighbors, Enoch hosts all kinds of unimaginable friends. He’s the keeper of Earth’s only galactic transfer station. But when he discovers that his world might be in danger, he realizes his alien friends might only make things worse. And that’s before he discovers exactly what is stationed on the other end of the galaxy.
The Thief of Time
At the end of the eighteenth century, after witnessing the murder of his mother, Matthieu Zela stops aging. He lives dozens of lives, survives countless historic events, and travels the world. There’s nothing he hasn’t seen, no experience he hasn’t tried. But as he reaches the incredible age of 256 years old, he can’t help but face the one question that has haunted him throughout it all: what is the point without love?
This Is How You Lose the Time War
In the middle of two warring factions, a single letter brings two rival agents together. They’re both determined to see their side win. They want the best possible future. The letter began as a taunt, only to grow into something far more dangerous: love. If they’re discovered, they both face death. What they have could change the past. It might change the future. But it’s war. And someone has to win.
Gideon the Ninth
Gideon was raised to be the swordswoman for Harrowhark Nonagesimus, necromancer of the Ninth House. The only problem is Gideon doesn’t really care for Harrow, or the Ninth House, or the Emperor himself, for that matter. But before she can make her daring escape, Harrow catches her and offers her an ultimatum. Help Harrow in a deadly trial of skills and wits against the other houses.
Except if Harrow wins, she becomes an immortal and powerful servant to the Emperor. Without Gideon, Harrow will fail. Without Harrow, the Ninth House will die. Maybe some things should stay dead.
Circe
The daughter of Helios is unlike her father. She’s not powerful. Or alluring. At least, that’s what she thinks. When she goes to the world of the mortals, she discovers she can do witchcraft, transforming humans into monsters and menaces, threatening even the gods themselves. As punishment, Zeus exiles her to an island, where she masters her craft and flourishes.
But despite her power, there is danger in being a woman alone. As she finds herself pitted against the powerful wrath of men and gods, she is forced to choose, once and for all, if she belongs with the gods or with men.
Wild Seed
Doro spent thousands of years stealing the bodies of others to avoid death. It’s a technique he’s mastered, along with carefully breeding the people in his African village in an attempt to create perfection. It’s only when his village is destroyed that he’s forced to start again. Moving West, he meets the shapeshifter Anyanwu. She recognizes Doro for the tyrant he is, and he sees in her something he’s never encountered before: a true rival. What follows is a struggle that carries on for centuries and will forever alter the future of humanity.
