Here’s a short summary of Holly Black as an author: I read a lot
of her stuff. Holly Black is a master at taking the world and reinventing it.
Her Curse Workers series amazed me with its attention to detail- when she
invents a world, she sees everything that would be different, better or worse,
and will call our attention, even subtly to most of it. It’s an incredible gift
that makes her books seem immersive and very
real.
She’s also, I believe, a monster purist. What I’ve liked about
her books in the past, and what I really like here, is that her monsters are
actually scary. Even the nice vampires need to eat something, and animal blood
isn’t going to cut it. I love this
about her. Holly Black harkens back to the times when fairies and vampires and
whatnot were actually used to scare children into behaving. She takes fairly
modern fantasy tropes and goes old-school on them, which makes for a fantastic
shifty feeling in this book- very few characters are trustworthy. Virtually
everyone has a death wish on some level: you just have to figure out if it’s
the kind they can come back from.
I really have only one caveat- Black doesn’t really do ‘normal.’
If you’re looking for a book peopled by everymen-and-women, I suggest you take
your search elsewhere. Pretty much everyone is guaranteed to be punky,
mature-beyond-their-years, and extremely inventive. It doesn’t bother me (I
happen to like my heroes and heroines awesome), and Black does make them fairly
relatable, but for readers who are looking for a Mary Jane character or prefer
their female protagonists to start out shy and unsure… yeah, maybe not.
Now for the synopsis: Tana is a fairly normal, if unusually
daring, teenager in a world that is populated with both humans and vampires.
The vampires, who are hardly the reclusive, mostly-harmless version that’s
become the norm in the last few years, are kept quarantined in camps called
ColdTowns, along with anyone who is bitten but not killed by a vampire- if they
drink human blood within a certain time period, they’ll die and become a
vampire. It’s not that complicated.- as well as any human who wants to take the
risk of being trapped or killed in the camp in exchange for the chance of being
turned.
In a true stroke of genius, Black mixes this kind of
postapocalyptic-undead-quarantine vision with heady descriptions of the violent
delights to be found inside Coldtowns. To attract humans to Coldtowns, where
food supplies are limited by the growing vampire population, a few vampires
broadcast live feeds of their homes and parties, where viewers are familiarized
with a glamorous vision of life with the undead- dramatic balls and gothic
revelries, all for the price of a meal in Coldtown.
When Tana wakes up after a party to find almost everyone else in
the house dead, she and the audience are granted a good long look at the
horrific side of living with vampires. Tana barely manages to escape with her
ex-boyfriend, Aidan, who has been bitten and could turn into a deadly vampire
any minute, and one definitely
deadly vampire, Gavriel, who seems less and less stable the more he talks. (O,
matter and impertinency mixed! Reason in madness! –King Lear, Act IV, Scene
VI)
Tana, Aiden, and Gavriel make their way to the nearest Coldtown,
where Aiden will have to either fight off the vampire disease or succumb to it.
Tana and Gavriel grow closer, despite his apparent insanity and her semi-certain
humanity. The rest, as they say, is up to you. Black does such a good job keeping this book moving- I'm loathe to give anything away.
Tana is a fairly believable protagonist, given the fantastical
premise. By that I mean that although she is far tougher than what most people
would probably consider “normal,” she also has to be in order to ensure that she
survives until the end of the book. Coldtowns are not for the faint of heart, or
those who get queasy at the sight of blood. In other words, I couldn’t hack it,
but I’m glad that Tana does. She’s also irrefutably human in her motivations and
character, which grounds the book
solidly.
Giving you a huge hint here: Gavriel is the key to this book. Pay
attention to his crazy. Black does revert to stereotypes for him, a little bit,
in terms of appearance. You know: longish black hair, pale skin, tall and
slender. But he’s a striking sometimes-hero, and he does manage to be lovable
when he’s not actively ripping people apart because he’s
hungry.
In terms of plot, this book doesn’t do a lot of resting. There is
always something new happening, most of it of a mildly violent nature. Black
describes things wonderfully- all of her creations are beautiful, even when
they’re a little banged up. Just sit back and let her do her work: I promise
you’ll like it!
of her stuff. Holly Black is a master at taking the world and reinventing it.
Her Curse Workers series amazed me with its attention to detail- when she
invents a world, she sees everything that would be different, better or worse,
and will call our attention, even subtly to most of it. It’s an incredible gift
that makes her books seem immersive and very
real.
She’s also, I believe, a monster purist. What I’ve liked about
her books in the past, and what I really like here, is that her monsters are
actually scary. Even the nice vampires need to eat something, and animal blood
isn’t going to cut it. I love this
about her. Holly Black harkens back to the times when fairies and vampires and
whatnot were actually used to scare children into behaving. She takes fairly
modern fantasy tropes and goes old-school on them, which makes for a fantastic
shifty feeling in this book- very few characters are trustworthy. Virtually
everyone has a death wish on some level: you just have to figure out if it’s
the kind they can come back from.
I really have only one caveat- Black doesn’t really do ‘normal.’
If you’re looking for a book peopled by everymen-and-women, I suggest you take
your search elsewhere. Pretty much everyone is guaranteed to be punky,
mature-beyond-their-years, and extremely inventive. It doesn’t bother me (I
happen to like my heroes and heroines awesome), and Black does make them fairly
relatable, but for readers who are looking for a Mary Jane character or prefer
their female protagonists to start out shy and unsure… yeah, maybe not.
Now for the synopsis: Tana is a fairly normal, if unusually
daring, teenager in a world that is populated with both humans and vampires.
The vampires, who are hardly the reclusive, mostly-harmless version that’s
become the norm in the last few years, are kept quarantined in camps called
ColdTowns, along with anyone who is bitten but not killed by a vampire- if they
drink human blood within a certain time period, they’ll die and become a
vampire. It’s not that complicated.- as well as any human who wants to take the
risk of being trapped or killed in the camp in exchange for the chance of being
turned.
In a true stroke of genius, Black mixes this kind of
postapocalyptic-undead-quarantine vision with heady descriptions of the violent
delights to be found inside Coldtowns. To attract humans to Coldtowns, where
food supplies are limited by the growing vampire population, a few vampires
broadcast live feeds of their homes and parties, where viewers are familiarized
with a glamorous vision of life with the undead- dramatic balls and gothic
revelries, all for the price of a meal in Coldtown.
When Tana wakes up after a party to find almost everyone else in
the house dead, she and the audience are granted a good long look at the
horrific side of living with vampires. Tana barely manages to escape with her
ex-boyfriend, Aidan, who has been bitten and could turn into a deadly vampire
any minute, and one definitely
deadly vampire, Gavriel, who seems less and less stable the more he talks. (O,
matter and impertinency mixed! Reason in madness! –King Lear, Act IV, Scene
VI)
Tana, Aiden, and Gavriel make their way to the nearest Coldtown,
where Aiden will have to either fight off the vampire disease or succumb to it.
Tana and Gavriel grow closer, despite his apparent insanity and her semi-certain
humanity. The rest, as they say, is up to you. Black does such a good job keeping this book moving- I'm loathe to give anything away.
Tana is a fairly believable protagonist, given the fantastical
premise. By that I mean that although she is far tougher than what most people
would probably consider “normal,” she also has to be in order to ensure that she
survives until the end of the book. Coldtowns are not for the faint of heart, or
those who get queasy at the sight of blood. In other words, I couldn’t hack it,
but I’m glad that Tana does. She’s also irrefutably human in her motivations and
character, which grounds the book
solidly.
Giving you a huge hint here: Gavriel is the key to this book. Pay
attention to his crazy. Black does revert to stereotypes for him, a little bit,
in terms of appearance. You know: longish black hair, pale skin, tall and
slender. But he’s a striking sometimes-hero, and he does manage to be lovable
when he’s not actively ripping people apart because he’s
hungry.
In terms of plot, this book doesn’t do a lot of resting. There is
always something new happening, most of it of a mildly violent nature. Black
describes things wonderfully- all of her creations are beautiful, even when
they’re a little banged up. Just sit back and let her do her work: I promise
you’ll like it!