5 crampons out of 5

The first book of the Strain Trilogy – called, uh, ‘The Strain’ – had fanboys automatically saying fanboy things and telling me that it was an awesome book when I would see them on the train or pass by them on the street.  It had a nice built-in audience thanks to director Guillermo del Toro.

Because it’s important, let’s take a moment to talk about my feelings toward del Toro, with whom I’ve fallen in and out of love several times.  I saw Hellboy in the theater.  It was cool, but the pacing was strange and I was initially unimpressed.  Until I read the comic book, and realized that he nailed the pacing and characterizations.  Then I saw Blade II and was blown away by the amping up in gore and style and competence over Blade I.  del Toro, in interviews, is awesome.  I like anyone who loves movies, and who loves their craft, and that went a long way toward winning me over.  After a suggestion by another filmy person to see del Toro’s earlier Spanish movies – Devil’s Backbone and Cronos – I was sold, and bought up all of his movies, and slobbered all over Pan’s Labyrinth when that came out.  As I was grumbling over his potential involvement with the LOTR franchise (books I have never been interested in and movies which were impressive but not my thing), I read a random review of Pan’s Labyrinth that pointed out that it was a lot of flash for a pretty simple story… and a story that didn’t really address many of the concepts it brought up.  It cast a new light on del Toro’s pics for me.  I started seeing a similar lack in most of his films.

And then The Strain.  I had bought a hardcover copy of the book close to its release, as this was during an era of del Toro love.  Many people hyped me up for the book, especially in how it took a scientific approach to vampires.  For various reasons involving all the time I dedicate to video games and masturbation, I didn’t get to read it until recently, which was post del Toro love.  And?  Unimpressed.  Supposing horror author Chuck Hogan contributed most of the words and del Toro assisted with plot and characters and dialogue, we had a great premise that flourished awesomely for 50 pages before going into unbelievably repetitious scenes where regular people turn into vamps oh my.  The writing style felt amateurish.  And that “science” popped up for about 3 paragraphs, coupled with enough fantasy to make it seem silly.

You still with me?  Well, I bought The Fall, book 2 of this trilogy as a softcover for the purpose of reading during a vacation, not really expecting much… and I was blown away.  I didn’t read any actual reviews for The Strain, but I’m guessing one of two things (or both) happened for the sequel: either the writers took some feedback on what to do better, or they had a story that was contracted for 3 books and divided it up such that book 1 was shitty peanuts compared to book 2’s golden circus peanuts.  Whatever, it makes for a breathtaking read, everything book 1 promised.  The opening up of the story that occurs at the very end of book 1 is, thankfully, played out in full: The Fall is the vampire takeover of the world, done, this time, consistently within the logic established in the text.

And really, that’s all you need to know.  There’s not one moment of this book that’s boring or uninteresting.  It’s dark, the characters (which, admittedly, were well established in book 1) are fully realized, their motivations understandable, and it really eeks the sense of progress out for the reader – every step toward victory comes at a price.  All the preface up there is to show that my appreciation was hard won.  Now I’m considering buying book 3 as a hardcover….