''Blood Brothers'' is the sixth book in the Necroscope series by British writer

Brian Lumley Brian Lumley (born 2 December 1937) is an English author of horror fiction. He came to prominence in the 1970s writing in the Cthulhu Mythos created by American writer H. P. Lovecraft but featuring the new character Titus Crow, and went on to ...

. This was the first book in the Vampire World Trilogy. It was released in 1992.

Plot

It is revealed that after the Battle in the Garden ('' Necroscope III: The Source'') while recovering from the ravaging of his mind by his son, The Dweller,

Harry Keogh ''Necroscope'' is the title of a series of horror novels by British author Brian Lumley. The term ''necroscope'', as defined in the series, describes someone who can communicate with the dead (coined Deadspeak later in the series). Unlike ...

fathered two sons unknowingly with a Szgany woman Nana Kiklu, in Starside/Sunside. The book covers the boys growing up among the Szgany of Lardis Lidesci. With the vampires destroyed ('' Necroscope V: Deadspawn'') by Harry Keogh and Lady Karen with the help of the

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

The Dweller the Szgany have stopped traveling and settled into towns. The boys grow up with their mother in the Lidesci town named Settlement with their friends and especially a girl named Misha and Lardis' son Jason. The boys suffer from dreams and sometimes

nightmares A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...

of people whispering in their graves and they also talk to three wild wolves who for reasons unknown to them call the boys their uncles. We also learn of a long-forgotten part of the world to the far east of the known Starside/Sunside. Discovered a long time ago by an exiled Wamphyri Lords Turgo Zolte and is now home to around 40 Wamphyri Lords and Ladies and similar Szgany tribes all under the command of the Lord Vormulac Unsleep. But whereas the Szgany of old Starside fights back against the Wamphyri, the Szgany in Turgosheim have become worn down and supplicant. They settle in towns and allow the many Wamphyri to visit and take as they want, using a

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

system where they are forced to choose or find a certain number of "volunteers" to be taken and used by the Wamphyri. Aggravated and tired of the Turgosheim life and aware that the land in the west is free of vampires, a group of six travelers flee Turgosheim for the west. As they grow older Nathan and Nestor's once close relationship deteriorates due in part because of their affection for Misha. While they are fighting over the Szgany girl their unprepared village is attacked by the Wamphyri led by Wratha. After the attack Nathan journeys away from Settlement, believing his mother, brother, and Misha have been taken by the Wamphyri he ends up alone, weary and destitute, and ready to die in the desert. His dead speak thoughts are answered by a dead elder of the underground desert dwellers the

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

Thyre. Wanting to help Nathan the dead Thyre Rogei guides him to a resting place of their ancients where he is found by the guards there. Nestor, also injured in the attack on the village, ends up in the hills, his

memory Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered ...

damaged due to a head injury and believing he is a Wampnyri Lord. Nestor witnesses a duel between two Wamphyri Lords, Vasagi the Suck and Wran Killglance, rivals and part of Wrathas group out of Turgosheim. His intervention in the form of a crossbow bolt fired into Vasagi allows the Killglance Brother to win. He is then "rewarded" by Wran for his help with Vasagi's egg and he becomes Wamphyri. Nathan, previously shunned by the dead of the Szgany, is immediately taken in by the Thyre. He becomes famous among them, communicating with their dead and making many friends. Nathan becomes a

conduit Conduit may refer to: Engineering systems * Conduit (fluid conveyance), a pipe suitable for carrying either open-channel or pressurized liquids * Electrical conduit, a protective cover, tube or piping system for electric cables * Conduit curre ...

for the dead Thyre to talk to and teach the living Thyre, reuniting lost loved ones and telling them of new contraptions and inventions they have designed while dead. Learning to use his telepathy while traveling east with the Thyre across their many towns and underground outposts, Nathan eventually ends up in Turgosheim. In Turgosheim Nathan finds a supplicant Szgany tribe and is put into the tithe, where he is taken to the manse of the Wampnyri Lord Maglore The Mage. Intrigued by Nathan's intelligence, colours and demeanour Maglore does not vampirise him, instead choosing to keep him around as a companion or "pet". Nathan spends many months in Maglore's manse learning about Turgosheim and he also meets another untouched human, the female Szgany girl Orlea. All the time keeping his powers and mentalism hidden from the Wamphyri Lord Nathan eventually 'escapes' on a flyer and goes back to western sunside and the Szgany Lidesci. Where he is reunited with his mother and marries Misha. Upon Nathan's return Nestor senses him and is enraged to find him back. Believing in his broken mind that Nathan is an "old enemy," Nestor attacks Nathan and Misha along with his lieutenant Zahar, injured in the brisk

skirmish Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They are usually deployed in a skirmish line, an i ...

Nestor's flyer crashes near a

leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

colony but not before Nathan is thrown through the Perchorsk gate by Zahar on Nestors orders.''Blood Brothers'' by Brian Lumley, 1992.

References

Notes

{{Reflist, 1

External links

Necroscope pages at Brian Lumley's website

Necropaedia:
(formerly Necroscopy) A Guide to the Necroscope series British horror novels Vampire novels 1992 British novels Novels by Brian Lumley 1990s horror novels HarperCollins books