21st century

The 21st century is both the novel’s contemporary setting and a measure of historical change. For Thomas, its decisive difference is the possibility of living openly as a gay man: the present offers a freedom his youth did not, even though becoming a vampire has not erased the character traits he carried across the centuries.

Historical Contrast

Thomas remembers growing up in a time when men discovered to be homosexual could be flogged or killed. He is grateful that he now lives in an era when he need not hide his sexuality, and judges life in the 21st century to be better. The contrast is personal rather than abstract: historical change has altered the risks attached to his identity, allowing a kind of openness that was unavailable in the society of his youth.

The novel does not give a precise date for that earlier period. Instead, Thomas’s memory makes the difference legible through the consequences he recalls: punishment, violence, and concealment on one side; the ability to live openly on the other. His long life makes the contrast unusually immediate, since the past is not distant history to him but a world he personally survived.

A Modern Era Seen Across Vampire Lifetimes

Thomas’s perspective also complicates the boundary between past and present. He became a vampire more than a century ago, yet he remains recognizably himself: he understands his jealousy as a longstanding trait, and believes vampirism amplifies character rather than replacing it. His experience therefore joins extraordinary longevity to continuity of personality. The era changes around him, while the person living through it persists.

Samson’s history offers another measure of that adaptation. Transformed into a vampire in the early nineteenth century, he recognized that he still needed money to live. He began by hiring himself out to protect travelers at night, turning the practical need for income into a profitable security business. In the contemporary period, he reviews reports from Scanguards branches, linking a life that spans centuries to the operations of a modern company.

Contemporary Life and Narrative Significance

The present-day setting is marked not only by greater social openness but also by ordinary modern means of communication and work. A phone call can connect characters immediately, while company reports give Samson a view of Scanguards beyond the immediate scene. Such details place supernatural characters inside recognizable contemporary routines rather than in a separate, timeless world.

For Thomas, the 21st century is a hard-won improvement in the conditions of everyday life, especially for a gay man. For the older vampires, it is also the latest setting in which enduring habits and identities must find practical expression. The period’s significance lies in that double perspective: social norms can change profoundly within a single vampire’s lifetime, even as personal character persists.