I'm not a huge vampire fan for the most part, but having read some of Moreno-Garcia's other work and seeing that some of the vampires go back to Aztec times, I figured I'd give Certain Dark Things a shot for spooky season this year. It was great!
My favorite parts are the ten or so sub-species of vampires from different parts of the world (only one of them resemble the class Transylvania Dracula type) and the world-building that surrounds this as an alternate history in which humans discovered in the 1960's that vampires were real. I loved learning more about this world that goes far beyond the same old vampire lore you get elsewhere. This world is so rich I hope that Moreno-Garcia will return to it someday. (Yes, technically these vampires are not "undead," but the post title sounded cool.)
The characters are interesting. Atl is a Tlahuihpochtli vampire on the run in Mexico City (which has, unlike other parts of Mexico, banned vampires) as a result of her clan's war with another vampire clan. She has a genetically modified dog named Cualli. Domingo is a young human garbage picker on the streets of Mexico City who meets Atl and is (predictably enough) entranced by her. Ana is a police detective who has killed vampires before, and is searching for Atl. Nick is a vampire from back home searching for Atl to settle his clan's score. But I think my favorite may have been Bernardino, a Revanent vampire (the humpback, energy vampire type), an old grumpy vampire so stubborn he stayed in Mexico City; he's a 100+ year old curmudgeon, yes, but maybe he wants to help, or does he just want to suck everyone's energy?
The plot involves a lot of Atl dodging her pursuers, dealing with her family past, and trying not to fall in love with poor Domingo (human-vampire relationships aren't really normal in this world, but I mean, the whole vampire thing is inherently sexual, so I mean, c'mon).
From a philosophical angle, there are some interesting aspects with regard to class and (post)colonialism (for instance, one European sub-species is taking over Mexico from the native Tlahuihpochtli vampires, who are based on Aztec culture). There's also a really interesting debate throughout, exemplified by several characters, on whether humans (or vampires) are inherently self-interested at the end of the day, or whether we, to paraphrase the Beatles, all get by with a little help from our friends who we care about and who care about us.
None of these issues are much solved by the end of the novel, but what fun would that be? If you're looking for a really fun vampire story with some great world building and a few philosophical issues to sink your fangs into, I definitely recommend this one.
Happy Halloween!
See also my Goodreads review.
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