Okay, well I guess season two premiered last night, but we were watching Horrible Bosses 2 on HBO, so hopefully I’ll be catching up tonight.
I read the original Strain book a year or two before they adapted it into a show, but never got around to reading the other two (even though I did like it). I really liked the first season — they did a good job adapting it and it’s so wonderfully over-the-top and gross — and I always like reading a book before seeing the adaptation, so I snagged the second in the series and read it in preparation for the season two premiere.
“Any legend, any creature, any symbol we ever stumble on, already exists in a vast cosmic reservoir where archetypes wait. Shapes looming outside our Platonic cave. We naturally believe ourselves clever and wise, so advanced, and those who came before us so naïve and simple…when all we truly do is echo the order of the universe, as it guides us…”
First of all, these books are a little ridiculous. So is the show — they’ve done a great job of staying true to the melodramatic and slightly silly tone of these dark, dramatic novels — full of philosophy and also vampires with stingers. But I like them, for all their grandiosity, and if lines like the ones above only make you roll your eyes slightly, then you should be just fine.
Book #2 picks up right after the events of book/season one: the Master was not killed by Setrakian’s efforts, and now they have to regroup and figure out what to do next. This book delves a lot into Setrakian’s history, and a bit into Vasily’s as well. There’s also a new complication: a second group of vampires is trying to take out the NEW vamps, who are running wild in the city. I liked this new addition — can’t wait to see how they handle it for the show!
