Review: A Dark and Dangerous Dystopia
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 28, 2013
In a dystopian New York, now called Nachtstadt, vampires have taken over the government. They sort humans into castes based on blood type, sending the most common ones to labor camps and keeping the rarest for themselves. Meridian Six is one of the rare, used by the vampire propaganda machine as their human poster child. She's been passed around among the vampire elite and been privy to their secrets. Now she's had enough of being used and has decided to run. All she has to do is reach the nearest convent, a sanctuary marked by a red light, and she'll be safe from her pursuers.The vampire regime is fairly new. Six remembers the war that shaped her world and her mother, a leader of the human resistance, who died in the final battle. When she meets the current members of the resistance, they both condemn her for her role in the government and expect her to live up to her mother's legacy. She has inside knowledge that can help them, but she's not interested in being used again.This world is bleak and oppressive, with shades of Nazi Germany. The comic touches we usually see from Jaye Wells would not be welcome here. (Though she does give us a librarian hiding under a garbage dump.) Instead we have scarred characters, both literally and metaphorically, trying to overcome their dark pasts and start over. To do it they just might have to change the world. Her companions are a labor camp survivor, a fangless vampire, and an orphaned boy. Wells skillfully reveals their backstories in small pieces, adding to the sense of uncertaintly as the characters learn to trust each other, and letting the reader discover therealities of the world as Six does.More stories are planned featuring Meridian Six and her band of rebels. This one feels like an origin story. I'm interested to see just how much of a superhero she becomes.