Children of the Night » (Unabridged)

Dan Simmons first novel, Song of Kali, won the World Fantasy Award; his first science fiction novel, Hyperion, won the Hugo Award. His other novels and short fiction have been honored with numerous awards, including nine Locus Awards, and four Bram Stoker Awards. He lives in Colorado along the Front Range of the Rockies.

EXPLORE A REALM BEYOND THE LIVING THAT NO ONE KNOWS-YET ALL FEAR

In a desolate orphanage in what remains of post-Communist Romania, a desparately ill infant is given the wrong blood transfusion-and flourishes when he's supposed to die. The discovery of his unique immune system may hold the key to the long-awaited cure for cancer and AIDS. For a dedicated American doctor, he promises the medical breakthrough of a lifetime, as well as a very special love she's never been able to find. But he also conceals a shockingly intimate link to a clan of vampires and their legendary leader-the fiend the world calls Vlad Dracula, who, for centuries, has triumphed over countless rival tyrants, including death itself...

Publishers Weekly

Count Dracula kicks off the coffin lid again in this updated vampire tale, ready to stalk through the rubble of post-Communist Europe. This time, however, the count's sanguinary tippling habits may hold the cure for both AIDS and cancer. The key lies with a Romanian orphan adopted by American hematologist Kate Neuman; the infant, Joshua, has a series of rare diseases, and can survive only because his body extracts and processes genetic material from blood transfusions. If the virus in his system responsible for this ability can be isolated, his diseases could be remedied and medical marvels would be within Kate's grasp. The drawback is that Joshua has inherited his talents from the decrepit but murderous Vlad Dracula, and this patriarch of an accursed clan of blood-drinkers is more interested in perpetuating his power than in providing miracle cures for the masses. Simmons ( Song of Kali ) makes Children 's fantastical scientific claims easy to swallow, although the medical jargon in some of the American scenes is thicker than Bela Lugosi's accent (try out ``hypogammaglobulinemia''). Still, the book offers a mesmerizing tour through the ghostly, gray tatters of Romania. ( July)