Vampires IV: The God of Endings Review & Analysis

Thematic and dreamlike, Jacqueline Holland's novel gives vampires new life

Arisen

An inescapable aspect of finishing any creative work (in this case my series on Vampires, click for Part I, Part II, Part III) is that you will quickly come across or remember something else that feels relevant and essential. In keeping with its exploration of beginnings and endings, Jacqueline Holland's 2023 novel The God of Endings compelled my return.

So far, I have examined vampires as representations of major societal fears, as vehicles for agency against society's injustices, as mirrors of our role as consumers and predators, as grappling with identity and the possibility of redemption and more. The God of Endings tackles all of these themes to one extent or another throughout its dreamlike narrative. I'll be discussing the book with major spoilers today, so consider giving it a read ($10 paperback here for those in Canada, or check your local library!) before continuing with me.

The God of Endings cover design by Will Staehle

Victimhood to Agency (Flashbacks)

The novel follows Anna, born into rural 1820s New York to a gravestone carver and a mother she barely remembers. By the age of ten her community is feverish with plague and a fear of the unholy, resulting in the horrifying deaths of Anna and her family. Yet she alone crawls from her grave soon after, having been turned on a whim by her mysterious grandfather.

I remember the trembling, delirious haze of my mind clearing only enough to ask my grandfather, Why? Why have you done this? Why have you done this to me? And I remember his answer, the serene philosophical tone of his voice as he gave it. “This world, my dear child, all of it, right to the very end if there is to be an end, is a gift. But it’s a gift few are strong enough to receive. I made a judgment that you might be among those strong few, that you might be better served on this side of things than the other. I thought you might find some use for the world, and it for you.” He looked up at the moon, patted my shoulder almost absently, and said, “But if not, my sincerest apologies for the miscalculation.” - Jacqueline Holland

There is no Dracula here, dreaming of dominion over a world where humans are kept as chattel. Instead, simply an offer of a second chance to someone who might make use of it. Whether she was worthy, what she does with this gift and what it means are the defining questions of Anna’s story.

The few hints we get about Anna’s grandfather suggest that he is mostly uninterested in tawdry human affairs - instead playing continent-spanning games of finance. This stands in sharp contrast to what we see of Anna’s life, interspersed as flashbacks throughout the novel. Her voyage across the Atlantic sees her comforting and protecting helpless children whose mother is deathly ill, resulting in her first violent act of biting and draining a drunk predator in the night.

The captain was a coward, that was all. Most people, I was learning, were cowards, and most laws had nothing to do with justice. Justice was a private matter that you didn’t expect anyone to execute for you. You did it yourself, or it didn’t get done. - Jacqueline Holland

Sent to the homeland of her grandfather to learn about her condition, Anna spends time with the mysterious witch-like Piroska, her student Vano and his brother Ehru – a fellow vampire. (I should note that the word "vampire" never appears in the text, just as Piroska and Vano's abilities are never solidly defined.)

Vano teaches Anna about the Slavic gods, including the titular Czernobog (of darkness, death and endings) and Belobog (of light, life and good fortune). These gods are described as having been forgotten, pushed out by the presence of monasteries, just as Piroska, once a trusted and helpful sage, has been demonized by them. Vano and Ehru themselves were tortured in the monastery for years before finding sanctuary with Piroska, and in the end, Vano and Piroska are killed by a mob while Anna and Ehru escape into the night.

Czernobog and Belobog by Vasylina

The fervent witch hunt by the villagers – both in Anna's childhood and toward Piroska – is brilliantly juxtaposed with the peaceful behaviour and lives of the people they are hunting. The supernatural characters in this story avoid unnecessary violence at every turn, yet the simple fact of their existence as unknown and other incites hatred. Anna begins to see the face of Czernobog in this destructive will, associating the smoke of Piroska's burning home with the dark and entropic presence of the god.

I love this question of the god of endings and his relationship with an immortal creature. Holland evokes an endless chase, with Czernobog always one step behind his prey, and captures the heartbreak of Anna seeing mortality catch up with everyone around her as she flees.

Anna spends decades in France, alternating between isolation and involvement as she witnesses the horrors of both World Wars. She struggles with intervention, having been burned by personal attachment numerous times already. She kills some Nazis (seeing more consequences of othering), but refuses to pass on the 'gift' of immortality even when directly implored by a doomed young woman.

French Art School (1984)

Returning to America and given a lovely manor house by her grandfather, Collette LaSange has taken on a new (if a little on the nose) identity and hosts a private school for a few children of wealthy families. It's lovely to see her at peace, doing what she loves and bringing delight to the lives of her pupils (who she is very careful not to feed on).

Yet it is also clear that Collette has chosen to avoid intervention at this point; isolating herself in her own blissful world. When complexities arise with regard to her beloved children and her reality begins to blur at the edges, will she act? Or will she run once again from The God of Endings?

And... I think I'll leave that for you to discover, if you wish. I loved the 'present day' story and honestly struggled with many of the flashbacks, despite how instrumental they are in setting up Collette's conflict moving forward.

Stranger approaching a warm home, as dark fog rolls in – Generated with AI

Themes of the Vampire

This novel examines the themes of passing time and the pain of attachment far more than any other media I've discussed in this series, with the possible exception of Thousand Year Old Vampire. It almost begins to feel like a story of intergenerational trauma, if not for the fact that a single person has experienced all of these events and has had to grow in response to them.

One further spoiler on this topic: it's incredibly poignant and rewarding when Collette sees Ehru on television, speaking up for the rights and needs of his people in their last months under the Soviet Union. Her shock that he is still using his agency and intervening, on behalf of the descendants of the people who tortured him and killed his brother, could not come at a better moment.

All the other previously discussed themes are here as well: many societal fears are explored in detail; questions of agency, identity and morality are fundamental; and Anna/Collette faces real consequences for her nature as a consumer/predator even if she avoids ever attacking innocent humans.

A final thematic detail is the transformation Anna undergoes upon being reborn:

In the days after Grandfather had brought me back from the cemetery, I had discovered with confusion that my womanly parts had disappeared, the nursing parts and the place between my legs where a baby should one day come out. They were just gone, as completely as if they had never been. - Jacqueline Holland

Of course this choice is partly to avoid Anna/Collette being ten for all eternity, letting her grow up in a way that makes slightly more sense given she's undead. But it's also thematically resonant to remove sex from the equation in this novel where vampires are so detached from the human experience.

In my previous post, I briefly alluded to the thematic links between vampires and sex. Vampire: The Masquerade can (if a playgroup wants) offer a look at predators and the consequences of their actions through the veil of metaphor. The God of Endings obliterates that connection in its world by entirely disconnecting its vampires from sex; it is not an axis on which Anna can ever lose agency or be victimized, just as it is not away her grandfather can be viewed as a predator.

Returning to the Coffin

I loved this book, despite skimming through a few of the flashback chapters, and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of eerie contemplation or is just looking for their next vampire story.

Let's face it, I'll probably stumble across another vampire story I need to talk about someday and return. But for now, adieu.