Mixers by Jennifer Byars

The need for "clean blood" and talk of being the "dominant race" would have been typical of high society conversation in parts of pre-war Europe.
But in 1939, while Hitler breaks promises about his Lebensraum requirements, across the English Channel Nicolas and Marcus hold a discussion on similar themes for unexpected purposes. 

Two high-ranking vampires with a centuries-old bromance, Nicolas argues against the schemes of Marcus in order to avert unnecessary conflict with the humans they rely on to exist. While age seems to have brought a level of wisdom to Nicolas's thinking, Marcus's capacity for empathy has dwindled over time.

The discussion also echoes our preoccupation of "playing God" in the scientific realm, with Marcus insisting that he will go ahead with a project that involves experimentation on and turning humans into a class of slaves to serve the vampiric race. The moral discussion ends in an impasse. Will it come to blows? The work presents some thrilling background philosophy for the reader in its opening pages.


Jennifer Byars' novel Mixers is available at Amazon.

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