#greta helsing

[bluelightningcommander]

Sir Francis Varney in a broody mood and a cuddly sweater

[a-flickering-soul]

tbh if greta helsing was like 26 i wouldnt be interested. greta is 34 and a doctor and she always does what she can and she has a lame vampyre husband. i adore her to bits.

[bribliography]

books read in 2023

— strange practice. by vivian shaw. (@ceruleancynic) ‪★ ★ ★ ★ ★‬

"Don't you think it seems a little... backward, perhaps...to run around committing mortal sins in order to cleanse the world of sin and evil?"

goodreads review | books read in 2023

[judge-books-by-their-covers]

Okay but Ruthven and Varney would be such a fun couple though

[drawings-and-sketches]

(ID: Ruthven (white, black hair, silver eyes) and Grisaille (black, brown hair silvering on the ends, and red eyes). Both are vampires from the Greta Helsing series by Vivian Shaw. Image one is Ruthven lying in a bed, eyes closed and frowning as he speaks. We just see his shoulders and chest (though under covers). Image two, the "camera" moves back to reveal Grisaille sitting on the bed, his hand over Ruthven's. He is smiling and speaking, and Ruthven is smiling, not speaking. Both are wearing dark red pajamas. Text: Ruthven: Sorry, I'm not terribly entertaining at the moment. Grisaille: You don't have to be entertaining, you just have to be you, that's all. End ID).

This is a scene in Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw.

[sylphidine]

OP [and everyone else thirsting for this premise] should read the Greta Helsing series by @ceruleancynic.

I can't WAIT four book 4!!!!!!!

And I am always down for fancasting discussion for these books.

The urban fantasy show I actually want to see is a hospital drama with a dedicated wing for supernatural illnesses.

Vampirism. Lycanthropy. Cheap spells gone wrong. A woman brought in for her prenatal has to be told her baby is a lindworm. Someone is literally being followed by the anthropomorphic personification of the Black Death.

Someone somewhere out there is having their perception of the world irreparably shattered by the knowledge that magic is real, and at the other side is a team of doctors who have to roll their eyes and pull out Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales because some high school kid tried to go Carrie with a cheap spellbook and turn all the kids at prom into frogs, and the doctors have to wrangle a couple dozen teenagers into admitting if they have a true love who can break the spell.

[hearsayhorizons]

Reading a book in whose backstory one supernatural had trounced another violently for fucking things up, gorging with abandon, basically just being a menace to both normal and supernatural populations (re:staying hidden from humanity).

In the book the thrashee burns with a desire to find and destroy the stronger opponent for the insult (and pain) suffered previously.

But I have to say, the idea of somebody who had Been Really Dumb and tried, honestly tried to take it to heart and live more sustainably, but their impulse control is bad, or they just can't figure out how to drain without killing, how to reduce the thirst to manageable levels..

They need instruction, and boundaries, and may be facing the realization that they're prime minion material. That they might be CAPABLE of (short term) planning, but find it exhausting, and just want someone else to take that burden...

Yeah, I like that.

[book--brackets]

Valdemar: Mage Wars by Mercedes Lackey (1994-1996)

It is an age when Valdemar is yet unfounded, its organization of Heralds yet unformed, and magic is still a wild and uncontrolled force.

Skandranon Rashkae is perhaps the finest specimen of his race, with gleaming ebony feathers, majestic wingspan, keen magesight and sharp intelligence. Courageous, bold, and crafty, Skan is everything a gryphon should be. He is the fulfillment of everything that the Mage of Silence, the human sorcerer called Urtho, intended to achieve when he created these magical beings to be his champions, the defenders of his realm--a verdant plain long coveted by the evil mage Maar.

Now Maar is once again advancing on Urtho's Keep, this time with a huge force spearheaded by magical constructs of his own--cruel birds of prey ready to perform any evil their creator may demand of them. And when one of Urtho's Seers wakes from a horrifying vision in which she sees a devastating magical weapon being placed in the hands of Maar's common soldiers, Skandrannon is sent to spy across enemy lines, cloaked in the protective of Urtho's powerful Spell of Silence.

Sorcerer Royal by Zen Cho (2015-2019)

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

Valdemar: Vows and Honor by Mercedes Lackey (1988-1998)

She was Tarma. Born to the Clan of the Hawk of the nomadic Shin'a'in people, she saw her entire clan slain by brigands. Vowing blood revenge upon the murderers, she became one of the sword-sworn, the most elite of all warriors. And trained in all the forms of death-dealing combat, she took to the road in search of her enemies.

She was Kethry. Born to a noble house, sold into a hateful "marriage", she fled life's harshness for the sanctuary of the White Winds, a powerful school of sorcery. Becoming an adept, she pledged to use her talents for the greatest good. Yet unlike other sorcerers, Kethry could use worldly weapons as well as magical skills. And when she became the bearer of a uniquely magical sword that drew her to those in need, Kethry was led to a fateful meeting with Tarma.

United by sword-spell and the will of the Goddess, Tarma and Kethry swore a blood oath to carry on their mutual fight against evil. And together, swordsmaster and sorceress set forth to fulfill their destiny....

The Kingston Cycle by C. L. Polk (2018-2021)

In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own. 

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family's interest or to be committed to a witches' asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn't leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans' hospital, Miles can't hide what he truly is. 

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles' healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient's murder. To find the truth he'll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he's ever seen.

The Faerie Wars Chronicles by Harbie Brennan (2003-2011)

When Henry Atherton helps Mr. Fogarty clean up around his house, he expects to find a mess and a cranky old man; what he doesn't expect to find is Pyrgus Malvae, crown prince of the Faerie realm, who has escaped the treacherous Faeries of the Night by traveling to the human world through a portal powered by trapped lightning. An egomaniacal demon prince, greedy glue factory owners Brimstone and Chalkhill, and the nefarious Lord Hairstreak, leader of the Faeries of the Night, all dream of ruling the Faerie realm and are out to kill Pyrgus.

Enlisting the help of his sister, Holly Blue, and his new friend, Henry, Pyrgus must get back to the Faerie world alive before one of his many enemies gets to him instead. But how many portals are open, and can Pyrgus find the right one before it falls into the wrong hands?

The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye (1980)

Along with Wit, Charm, Health, and Courage, Princess Amy of Phantasmorania receives a special fairy christening gift: Ordinariness. Unlike her six beautiful sisters, she has brown hair and freckles, and would rather have adventures than play the harp, embroider tapestries . . . or become a Queen. When her royal parents try to marry her off, Amy runs away and, because she's so ordinary, easily becomes the fourteenth assistant kitchen maid at a neighboring palace. And there . . . much to everyone's surprise . . . she meets a prince just as ordinary (and special) as she is 

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (1946)

When orphaned young Maria Merryweather arrives at Moonacre Manor, she feels as if she's entered Paradise. Her new guardian, her uncle Sir Benjamin, is kind and funny; the Manor itself feels like home right away; and every person and animal she meets is like an old friend. But there is something incredibly sad beneath all of this beauty and comfort--a tragedy that happened years ago, shadowing Moonacre Manor and the town around it--and Maria is determined to learn about it, change it, and give her own life story a happy ending. But what can one solitary girl do?

Dr. Greta Helsing by Vivian Shaw (2017-2024)

Meet Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead. After inheriting a highly specialised, and highly peculiar, medical practice, Dr Helsing spends her days treating London’s undead for a host of ills: vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights and entropy in mummies. Although barely making ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta’s dreamed of since childhood.

But when a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human undead and alike, Greta must use all her unusual skills to keep her supernatural clients – and the rest of London – safe.

Of Mermaids and Orisa by Natasha Bowen (2021-2022)

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.

But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi does the unthinkable—she saves his life, going against an ancient decree. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy it.

To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But something is amiss. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail. . . .

Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she doesn’t, then she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (2017)

Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone--has never beat at all, in fact, but she'd always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image, at her father's order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do--and who to be--to win back the only mother she's ever known...or else defeat her once and for all.

[necromycologist]

why is vampire media so yaoiful and yet so yuriless. its so dark in here please

[reading-cat]

Strange Practice

Chapter 1

Why are all the vampires so adorable??? Like, they’re genuinely some of the most charismatic and polite vampires I’ve ever seen in fiction?

[waffle-sorter]

So... in this verse Dracula is, as of the early 21st century, as alive as vampires get and residing with his wife, singular. And something very much like the events of Le Fantôme de l'Opéra explicitly happened, along with (implicitly) Frankenstein. Do I have that right?

[a-flickering-soul]

all of the greta helsing series is a real good time i thoroughly recommend but personally im obsessed w how greta did so so many cake tastings because why would her vampire fiance taste cake and he waited so patiently after each cake for her opinion and she kept saying "well it tastes like cake" after each one

[bribliography]

books read in 2023

— grave importance. by vivian shaw. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“I don't know how to do this, I don't know how to pray, I just asked questions, and there was not so much an answer as a drawing back: an invitation to speak words into that emptiness, and have them be heard.”

goodreads review | books read in 2022

[peonybookblog]

I'm a huge lover of Vivian Shaw's Dr. Greta Helsing novels, and had been perfectly content rereading them every now and then, thinking they were a trilogy, but a novella came out yesterday!

It's not currently available on Bookshop.org from what I can tell, but you can get Bitter Waters through Hachette as either an ebook or an audiobook here.

It looks like a standalone, but if you want to read the rest of the series (very worth it imo), you can get them through Bookshop.org:

Strange Practice | Dreadful Company | Grave Importance

[drawings-and-sketches]

(ID: Fanart of Dr. Greta Helsing (white, short pale blonde hair and brown eyes) from Strange Practice and a gray ghost named Winston. He has black eyes, and nothing else. Greta is wearing a white lab coat and a green shirt. The background is a light green. Text in image one has an off-screen voice saying "Uh... Dr. Helsing? There's... something behind you." Image two, Greta is saying "Oh, that's just Winston!" She is wearing a nametag with "Dr. Helsing" on it. Greta is frowning in the first image, looking confused, and smiling in the second. End ID)

[whatcha-reading-today]

Grave Importance | Vivian Shaw

I found this at a library sale and the cover looked so fun so I grabbed it. That was the best call, this is so well written and so funny.

This was such a fun read! If you're looking for a well-structured medical mystery this is pretty great. I picked this up because the cover and jacket description made the book sound enjoyable. And, it was totally spot on. This is 400ish pages of supernatural medical shenanigans with a well-written group of characters doing their capital B best to fix a problem. The medical + magical stuff can be described by way of Dr. Who logic--it's a bit on the squint loosely at it but yeah, I probably heard those terms in a science class. Some of it's accurate, some of it's silly, but you're having a great time on the ride.

The cover is for book 3 in the series but my library doesn't have book 1 or 2 so I've been hunting them down at my local bookstores. I think you could read them in any order though there's some plotlines that close out in book 3.

Format: Physical copy

Read in: 2023