Charlie Huston - No Dominion

This will be a pretty quick post. I just finished up No Dominion, which is the sequel to Already Dead (see my review below). I really enjoyed Already Dead, so I was waiting for the mailman to deliver the follow-up.

No Dominion picks up after the events of the first novel. I'll try to keep things spoiler-free, but I think that in the early parts of the book Huston was torn about how much to explain to the reader. He spent some time recapping the events of the first book, but not enough to actually set an adequate stage for people who hadn't read it. The same goes for the general workings of his world (how the Vampyres feed, who the major Clans are, etc.). And for people who have read the first book, it feels a little tedious and comes off as somewhat aimless. Thus, an unsatisfying middle ground.

Luckily, the book moves with almost the same pace as the first in the series (a third book is due out in December). Where the first book dealt with a story both personal and political, the second book deals more with the political side of things. It's still got the intrigue and discover of a good mystery, but the events of the book revolve around power struggles and uncovered conspiracies. I personally enjoyed that aspect a bit more than the first book, which got a little too complex at times.

One of my complaints about the first book was that all of the fictional elements were integral to the story; nothing was there for atmosphere or flavor. The same can be said of No Dominion, but for some reason it didn't bother me as much this time. Maybe that's because I was more familiar with the book's version of Manhattan and was focused on the story more. That makes sense, but actually I think it was because the story, once it got going, was more engaging for me than Already Dead's.

I was sad to see that Huston didn't do a ton to further develop the main character's love story, but knowing that there's a third book on the way gives me hope. Overall, I would say that No Dominion is just as good as its predecessor, though in different ways. I heartily recommend both books.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

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MP3 of the Moment

Artist: Aesop Rock
Album: None Shall Pass
Song: None Shall Pass
Genre: Hip-Hop

I was in a store and this song came on. I asked the clerk who it was and bought the album on the spot (Amazon Prime + web phone = glory). I've never listened to Aesop Rock much, but I'm enjoying the album so far.

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MP3 of the Moment

Artist: Rosetta
Album: Wake/Lift
Song: Monument
Genre: Post-Rock / Metal

Don't be put off by the vocals and tone in the first minute; it quickly gets very ambient and post-rocky. And the vox are mixed fairly low throughout the song. In my mind they just add another texture to the crazy layering Rosetta has going on. I'm really in love with the builds in this track.

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Charlie Huston - Already Dead

Hello, Occasional Reader. It's been a while. Partly that's because I'm lazy but mostly it's because I haven't gotten terribly excited about any books, movies or albums lately. Plus I've gotten into the habit of instantly blabbing about anything good to my friends, who happen to be the only people who read this site. Which makes typing it up on the interweb seem fairly meaningless. But I'm back, and I might even do a short post later this week with some mini-reviews of other recent purchases.

Anyway.

I just finished Already Dead, by Charlie Huston. I started it yesterday and probably would have finished it last night if my attention span was longer, but I can't stay focused on one thing for too long; I waited for BioShock with bated breath for years and could still only manage to play it for 2-3 hours a night.

God, this is turning into a personal blog. Sorry about that.

Anyway (again).

Already Dead is set in modern day New York City. A New York City where vampires (or, as the book calls them, "Vampyres") exist. As do zombies. Stay with me, though; this isn't some schlocky pulp horror novel. It's equal parts noir detective story, Gibson-esque alternate culture and flat-out page-turning mystery. The story follows Joe Pitt, a lone wolf Vampyre, on his search for answers in an underworld populated by mysterious figures and complex alliances. We get to know Joe early on, and Huston's version of a Vampyre's life is a fresh take on the traditional Dracula version of things.

Employing a sparse first-person present tense style, Huston gets the story moving from page one. It's not quite as spartan as Cormac McCarthy's prose, but it's close. Given the general noir/hard-boiled feel, the terse verbiage is an asset to the book. In the best Gibson/Stephenson fashion, Already Dead is wild and zany when it comes to its characters. Here we've got everything from a peace-loving hippie generation bloodsucker to a former drug dealer-turned-internet porn producer who's almost as wide as he is tall.

But while the characters are entertaining in their extremes, the realities of the setting are quite practical. The day to day routine (or should that be the night to night routine?) of a Vampyre is described in simple terms that make it seem as normal as could be. Huston also dispels some of the myth surrounding the creatures, which are infected with a virus (actually, of course, "the Vyrus") and not some supernatural power. In the first few pages the protagonist, Joe Pitt, orders pizza at his local slice shop and opts for broccoli pizza, not the tomato & garlic:

I could eat the tomato and garlic if I wanted to. It's not like the garlic would hurt me or anything. I just don't like the shit.

The politics, alliances and underground movements of Huston's version of New York City are well-realized and described in detail, including a map of the different Clans' territory, but my only major gripe with the book stems from that fact. At first it seems as if Huston has simply envisioned a rich fictional universe, but as the plot moves forward it becomes apparent that every character, faction or bit of history ties back to the mystery in an integral way. None of it is there simply for flavor or to enrich the world.

When reading about an alternate version of familiar settings, I prefer some things to be hinted at and then left to the imagination. I'm re-reading the Dark Tower books, for example, and they're full of one-off references to pieces of the world that are never mentioned again. It can be a bit frustrating at times, but it also helps make it feel like the characters are part of a much larger universe. The inclusion of every bit of world fiction in the events of Already Dead makes the elements feel more transparently like puzzle pieces concocted by a writer for a detective story.

But that gripe aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was unable to put it down (at least in terms relative to my mild media-related ADD). I was engaged and curious every step of the way, and halfway through it I had already ordered a handful of Huston's other books online. If you're looking for an entertaining, fast read, I wholeheartedly recommend Already Dead.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

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