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colormist 's review for:
The Strain
by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
The first thing I do when reading a hardback is to remove the dust jacket and place it somewhere that I'll hopefully find again and where it won't get hurt. I refuse to read anything written on that piece of paper because SPOILERS. Also, I definitely remember this book being about zombies, and because I love Del Toro and Zombies (and because they're making a tv-show about it) I decided to read this series sooner rather than later.
I think I spent the first 100 pages of this book trying to decide how two authors write a book. Was this Del Toro's idea and he talked to Hogan about it and Hogan was super-geeked and wanted to also write the story? Did Del Toro come up with the idea, outline it, and then contact Hogan to flesh out the story? Or did they both sit in poorly lit rooms between filming movies drinking liquor-laced coffee, laughing, and typing out the story? I like to think they are good buddies and have the best of friendships.
I wasn't really paying attention to the narrative. Dead bodies on a plane, windows shuttered except one, clearly they're all in a pre-zombie plane. I'm expecting a zombie to bite someone at any second.
Of course, I stopped imagining the writers' friendship as soon as the main characters walked into the belly of the plane and found the big black box. Without a doubt: there were zombies inside the box. Don't OPEN THE BOX. They open the box and find loam, a.k.a. rich black dirt.
THAT'S A VAMPIRE.
I scramble for the dust jacket cover. Nope, clearly says vampires right there on the cover. How did I read a summary of this book years ago and not remember that it was about vampires? I don't really like gothic vampires. They're dull--like bored cats half-heartedly playing with mice. But these vampires were different--initially more like zombie-vampires. That interested me.
I'm interested with where this series is heading. I'm not all that interested in the people. Nora is flat and Eph is only interesting when he's concerned about his son. I do like Fet and Gus, but I feel like they're development is being hampered by the main character's lack of development. I become highly concerned whenever ANYBODY I like gets in a danger zone. Many of the characters I did become attached to early on ended up dying--or becoming soulless husks.
Glad it didn't end with a cliffhanger. It didn't get tied up with a pretty bow, but it is allowing me to take a break from zompires to read a few other books before returning to the series.
I think I spent the first 100 pages of this book trying to decide how two authors write a book. Was this Del Toro's idea and he talked to Hogan about it and Hogan was super-geeked and wanted to also write the story? Did Del Toro come up with the idea, outline it, and then contact Hogan to flesh out the story? Or did they both sit in poorly lit rooms between filming movies drinking liquor-laced coffee, laughing, and typing out the story? I like to think they are good buddies and have the best of friendships.
I wasn't really paying attention to the narrative. Dead bodies on a plane, windows shuttered except one, clearly they're all in a pre-zombie plane. I'm expecting a zombie to bite someone at any second.
Of course, I stopped imagining the writers' friendship as soon as the main characters walked into the belly of the plane and found the big black box. Without a doubt: there were zombies inside the box. Don't OPEN THE BOX. They open the box and find loam, a.k.a. rich black dirt.
THAT'S A VAMPIRE.
I scramble for the dust jacket cover. Nope, clearly says vampires right there on the cover. How did I read a summary of this book years ago and not remember that it was about vampires? I don't really like gothic vampires. They're dull--like bored cats half-heartedly playing with mice. But these vampires were different--initially more like zombie-vampires. That interested me.
I'm interested with where this series is heading. I'm not all that interested in the people. Nora is flat and Eph is only interesting when he's concerned about his son. I do like Fet and Gus, but I feel like they're development is being hampered by the main character's lack of development. I become highly concerned whenever ANYBODY I like gets in a danger zone. Many of the characters I did become attached to early on ended up dying--or becoming soulless husks.
Glad it didn't end with a cliffhanger. It didn't get tied up with a pretty bow, but it is allowing me to take a break from zompires to read a few other books before returning to the series.