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heathermiccolo 's review for:
The Strain
by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
Hell yeah! Just the kind of end-of-the-world sci-fi to get me going! It's one of my favorite genres and I'm very glad I picked this up. The concept is kind of strange, a viral infection of vampires, but once you get over that an appreciate the cinematic aspects, the world starts to come together. It's more than just an accident. There's a Master with a master plan to take over the world and overthrow the other "original" vampires --this is barely touched on in the first book, but we get more information as the series continues.
What I liked the most was how carefully each scene was written. The scenes seemed compact, but there was so much sensory overload that at times I caught myself making faces with how horrified I was. Vampires smell, they are disgusting creatures while they are transitioning, and when they mature. Vampires are visuallly terrifying. They have a stinger that will puncture your neck or nearest artery and instantly paralyze the victim. Some scenes we are the victim and some we are the vampire. We know how real this gets.
The atmosphere from the very first pages grabbed me. It was creepy and horrifying. I could always imagine this book on screen, as a testament to Del Toro as a filmmaker. It's not a bad thing, everything was visually striking. The Strain television show was supposed to be pretty good so I'm going to try and watch it and not get scared. (Much easier to read horror than to watch it).
Many critics were quick to point out that the characters were pretty stereotypical, and I suppose that is fair. The devoted mother, the old wise man, the young naive boy, the love interest, the male protagonist who feels like he could do more...I get it. Zombie-like stories tend to always have them. I'm not saying I'm used to it, just that it didn't bother me. I wasn't looking for a character driven masterpiece, just some virus-apocalypse lit!
Currently reading The Fall, the second book in the trilogy, so stay tuned for my review!
What I liked the most was how carefully each scene was written. The scenes seemed compact, but there was so much sensory overload that at times I caught myself making faces with how horrified I was. Vampires smell, they are disgusting creatures while they are transitioning, and when they mature. Vampires are visuallly terrifying. They have a stinger that will puncture your neck or nearest artery and instantly paralyze the victim. Some scenes we are the victim and some we are the vampire. We know how real this gets.
The atmosphere from the very first pages grabbed me. It was creepy and horrifying. I could always imagine this book on screen, as a testament to Del Toro as a filmmaker. It's not a bad thing, everything was visually striking. The Strain television show was supposed to be pretty good so I'm going to try and watch it and not get scared. (Much easier to read horror than to watch it).
Many critics were quick to point out that the characters were pretty stereotypical, and I suppose that is fair. The devoted mother, the old wise man, the young naive boy, the love interest, the male protagonist who feels like he could do more...I get it. Zombie-like stories tend to always have them. I'm not saying I'm used to it, just that it didn't bother me. I wasn't looking for a character driven masterpiece, just some virus-apocalypse lit!
Currently reading The Fall, the second book in the trilogy, so stay tuned for my review!