The Premise
Since his run-in with a Clan power struggle (as told in Already Dead), Joe Pitt has remained a Rogue, and kept to the routine that keeps him fed and alive. Times are getting skinny, however, and he's hard up for blood and money. So he heads to the headquarters of the Society, the Clan that he used to run with, in search of a job - and ends up learning the truth in Trotsky's aphorism: "You may not be interested in War, but War is interested in you."
In Review
Three things about Charlie Huston's work in the Joe Pitt books impress the hell out of me, and make these slim volumes stand out like precious stones amongst the hundreds of other books that stand on the shelves. First, Huston has created a protagonist who is so stubborn that I am continually surprised by his rejection of any easy way out of a fix. Time after time, Pitt lands in a precarious situation that makes me anxious about his fate - no matter that these books are told in the first person, and the demise of this narrator would mean the end of the story (unless Huston pulled out some post-modern soft shoe, and that just doesn't seem like his style to be an option). When Huston writes Pitt into the thick of it, I get tense and I want him outta there, back in the Evie's bar, smoking through a pack of cigs while trading banter with his girl.
So when his captors start dangling the prospect of compromise, I urge Pitt to take them up on it, and stay wary for any openings that will lead to an escape. Go for it man - I think to myself, even as I barrel through Huston's good prose - take the deal, and take them out later. But does Pitt ever bend for anyone? Not even close. The closest he comes to playing nice is by cutting to the chase in conversation, and asking for the straight story and another smoke. A nicotine fix had, he then proceeds to offer his opponents a curt F.U., and returns to his casual, I-could-give-a-shit attitude.
You'd think that after reading two instances of Pitt's misadventures, I'd be used to this kind of response. But the opposite is true: Pitt is bull-headed with a consistency that catches me off guard, and confounds the expectations I have developed through reading and watching hundreds of other fictions. This is not the part where the hero plays along, and then gets by with a little help from his friends, or some sleight of hand, or even blind luck; this is the part where Joe Pitt acts like Joe Pitt, and tells people what they can do with their compromises - and where they can put them. Then, just when it seems that Pitt has reached the end of the line, he fights back with ingenuity and tenacity and breaks from the jam with a few more answers, and even more questions.
This is the second thing Huston has accomplished in these books: develop a setting with a rich history and characters that beg further explanation. Each vampire Clan follows its own ethos, and, like any gang or organized outfit that views its stomping grounds as sacrosanct, has a territorial mentality. And, just as in any situation involving rival gangs, the Clans manage to co-exist in New York only by maintaining a balance of power that is vulnerable to perturbation. In Huston's imagined world, this translates to quotas for how many people can be turned in a given stretch of time; accepted means of obtaining blood without betraying the existence of vampires; certain rules for crossing through another Clan's territory - and a host of other practices and rules that dictate vampire society.
All of which makes for fascinating reading. Huston's vampires are not just distinguished by the usual thirst for blood and some augmented physical abilities; they are characterized by the way they have to live in a world in which they are a minority. What's more, Huston has emphasized the inherent weaknesses of vampires to the extent that they have to maintain secrecy, and establish routines that protect them from mortal danger. Humans may be their prey, but to live in a world run by humans, vampires have no choice but to keep a low profile, and tread with care. This attention to particulars lends Huston's Joe Pitt books a sense of realism that reinforces the importance of events, and gives the fantastic elements even greater stature. It also makes the vampires their own worst enemies, offering a vampire story that isn't about domination of the human species, global conquest, or other megalomaniacal cliches.
Huston's third noteworthy accomplishment in these books is the dialog. Thanks to a wide streak of curiosity - complemented by his usual stubbornness - Pitt is the perfect voice to guide readers through vampire society. His narration is brief, assured, and humorous; his nature leads him to ask questions about the origins and inner-workings of the Clans; and his resourcefulness keeps him alive. These last two traits draw him - and right behind him, the reader - further into the Clan history that Huston has woven together, and deeper into a mess of questions. This, in turn, ties Pitt closer to the politics that he tries to avoid, and makes him a reluctant player in the ongoing power struggle between the Clans.
As for dialog between characters, no amount of my praise can convey Huston's skillful hand better than an excerpt from the book. This one comes from a conversation between Terry Bird and Joe Pitt on pages 23-24:
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-He's an OK guy, Joe. Good at his job. Pretty mellow most of the time. It's only when he's around you that he loses his cool.
-Well, that's the only time I see him.
-Think there's a connection there?
-Got me.
He smiles.
-Uh-huh. So. Something you wanted to see me about?
-Yeah.
-Well, come on in, my friend. I'm just brewing up some chai.
-Lucky me.
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Charlie Huston is a good storyteller: he knows how to write, he knows how to develop a story, he knows his characters, and he knows how to set the pace.
No Dominion is an excellent follow-up to
Already Dead, and proves that Huston has great things in store for this series. I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who appreciates a good story, with or without vampires. Read him, and enjoy the rare pleasure that only a finely crafted tale can bring.
1/21/07
