Horror Review - The Vampire of Ropraz

In The Vampire of Ropraz, Jacques Chessex explores the power of myth and superstition in the cold, bitter countryside of Vaud, Switzerland in the early 20th Century. The book is translated eloquently from its original French by W. Donald Wilson, but loses none of its stark poeticism.

The title of this book could have multiple meanings. In one sense, it refers to the hero (and villain) of the story, Charles-Augustin Favez. Favez is accused of a series of grizzly crimes involving the desecration and mutilation of the bodies of three recently-buried young women in the area. In another sense, the Vampire is Ropraz, for the real focus of the story is not on the twisted stable-boy Favez, but the twisted society from which he emerges, calling out for his blood regardless of innocence or guilt. Finally, it could represent the 'woman in white' who visits Favez during his confinement to satisfy her own terrible needs.

Favez' guilt or innocence is incidental to the story; just because he is a scapegoat, after all, doesn't mean that he didn't do it. Instead, the important point to draw from the novel is the way society reacts to what they believe is the truth, or wish to be the truth. The most satisfying aspect of this book was, paradoxically, its opacity. There is no clear answer, no explanation, no vindication. The whole point is, rather, the obscurity and desolation of an obscure and desolate people in a cold wasteland of petty superstitions and subtle derangement.

New Books for the New Year

Have you made a resolution to read for pleasure more this year? We can help.

Check out our New Arrivals section to the left for a great selection of titles to help you kick off the new year. This week we have a little of everything, from Ella March Chase's Elizabethan intrigues in The Virgin Queen's Daughter to the futuristic thrill of Scott Rigler's latest novel, Contagious. If you're looking for light-hearted fun, don't miss Nose Down, Eyes Up, a canine comedy by Merrill Markoe.

New Feature: New Arrivals

We've added a new feature to the WTD blog, the New Arrivals list. If you go to the blog at wathatdaniel.blogspot.com, you'll see on the top left hand corner the 10 most recent additions to the collection here at the interim library.

So check out the site every Friday afternoon and see what's new!

Sci-fi Review - Pandemonium

Daryl Gregory's debut novel, Pandemonium, is a fantastic mash-up of classic high-concept science fiction and pop-culture satire. By turns comic and introspective (and often both at once), the story explores the collective unconscious and the nature of the relationship between archetypes and the cultures that create them. Gregory's writing style is refreshingly current, witty and self-aware. He not only acknowledges, but includes his influences in the text itself, folding pioneers of speculative fiction like Philip K. Dick and A. E. Van Vogt into the story itself. The result is as unique as it is well-crafted.

The story takes place in a world suspiciously similar to our own, with one glaring difference - since the 1940's, people across the world have become victims of demonic possession. Innocent men, women and children are taken seemingly at random by a series of entities known only by their implacable actions and obsessions; the Truth stalks and kills liars, the Little Angel (always a little girl) walks the halls of hospitals, dispensing death with a kiss. Theories abound about what the demons really are, what they represent, and how best to deal with them.

Del Pierce was a boy when he was taken by the Hellion, an entity with a lethal case of ADHD. With love and patience, his family drove the demon out. Now it's back, and as an adult Del must search for a way to stop the demon before it takes complete control. With the help of an angry Irish nun, a Creature from a Black Lagoon and a pair of aging Jungian psychotherapists, Del goes on a quest both literally and figuratively to find a cure. Along the way he will find the source of himself and his demon counterpart, and be surprised by both.

Pandemonium makes a lot of unspoken promises. By incurring the name of Philip K. Dick (indeed, by making him a character), it is expected that this novel will test our basic assumptions about life and identity. It is also expected that we will find something new in its pages, and be kept guessing until the very end. Finally, with all of the pop-culture references, there ought to be some fresh reflections about the world we live in. Daryl Gregory delivers on all of these points, and the result is a highly pleasurable experience.