Well, then, "The War of the Flowers" probably counts but with fairies, trolls, pixies & evil disease spirits rather than vampires & werewolves. It's about a 30 something wannabe rocker who goes through a bit of a midlife crisis when his girlfriend has a miscarriage & dumps him, plus his mother dies. So he runs off to a remote cabin with a mysterious notebook he discovers written by his uncle, purporting to be a visit to Faerie. While lounging sadly in a remote cabin, a combination of circumstances boot him into Faerie itself, where the story really begins.
This Faerie isn't your average Charles de Lint, pan-pipes-in-the-meadowlands kind of place. It's as technologically advanced as ours, and Theo finds many things that are familiar but bewildering. He is almost helpless in the tide that sweeps him through the novel, and Williams renders the reader helpless too, withholding all the crucial information until it's almost too late. A seasoned fantasy reader will recognize many fantasy elements, but Williams twists and turns them to fit a sort of Faerie-cyberpunk universe. Theo gains and loses allies, makes enemies and dispatches them, but all in a bemused, lucky manner. There's a beautiful girl and an ugly troll, there are cars and electric lights and televisions, but just when the reader makes an assumption, it's yanked out from underneath her.
Eventually the plot takes an even more unexpected turn and things become clearer to Theo (and to the reader). He finds himself pitted against the major demesnes of Faerie and their powerful leaders. What's at stake? The world of course!
It was good & a very unique take on fantasy in general.
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This Faerie isn't your average Charles de Lint, pan-pipes-in-the-meadowlands kind of place. It's as technologically advanced as ours, and Theo finds many things that are familiar but bewildering. He is almost helpless in the tide that sweeps him through the novel, and Williams renders the reader helpless too, withholding all the crucial information until it's almost too late. A seasoned fantasy reader will recognize many fantasy elements, but Williams twists and turns them to fit a sort of Faerie-cyberpunk universe. Theo gains and loses allies, makes enemies and dispatches them, but all in a bemused, lucky manner. There's a beautiful girl and an ugly troll, there are cars and electric lights and televisions, but just when the reader makes an assumption, it's yanked out from underneath her.
Eventually the plot takes an even more unexpected turn and things become clearer to Theo (and to the reader). He finds himself pitted against the major demesnes of Faerie and their powerful leaders. What's at stake? The world of course!
It was good & a very unique take on fantasy in general.