The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld

When I find that I've accidentally started a series, I usually try to track the rest of it down. I was surprised to find out Peeps had a sequel; it seemed so self contained. Part of the success of the first book was its unique structure with narrative alternating with mini essays on parasitology. It really worked, but it didn't seem like the kind of thing that could work indefinitely.

The Last Days starts up in New York City some time after the events of Peeps. Cal and Lace show up, but they aren't the main characters. This book is about a group of teens who just want to play music and be famous. Moz and Zahler are two guitarists in search of instrument variety. They are both good musicians but have no direction. All that changes when in a freak coincidence Moz and Pearl meet while rescuing a stratocaster from certain death. Its previous owner was infected by the parasite that causes something like vampirism and was insane at the time.

Pearl is a musician of a different type. She goes to Julliard and understands the theory of music and how to play multiple instruments. She also knows a really good vocalist named Minerva. The only problem here is that Minerva is also infected. Infected and untreated which means she's only a couple steps off of crazy and very dangerous.

Last but not least they need a drummer who they find in an OCD street performer named Alana Ray. With this last addition they are finally a band and create an almost magical sound which is good because the world around them is falling apart. People are disappearing, rats are roaming the streets in hordes, feral cats are ruling the roost. In short, it's all going to hell.

Ok, so there's an ethnographic idea that folk tales have a far back basis in truth. Not literal truth mind you, but some sort of important idea or event that warps over time. So a clever author looks at the idea of a vampire and starts playing the what if game. When I was younger I came up with the idea of vampires being a sort of care-taking race for humanity. It's not a big stretch and that's what this really is. Vampire as magical undead infection, no. However, vampire as parasite. . .sure why not. Then you just got to figure out why nature would need a subset of humanity with incredible strength and aggressiveness.  Voila...story.

This was a fun read. It isn't as good as Peeps, not by a long shot. I missed the micro-essays and the story just didn't move me as much, but it was a fun light read when I needed one. I kinda hope he keeps producing books in this world, but I kind of doubt it will happen.

Peeps by Scott Westerfeld

I initially heard of Scott Westerfeld because of his highly popular "Uglies" series. I read all of that series last year. It was a decent dystopian YA, fun but not super impressive. It was good enough that I've been idly keeping an eye out for more of his books. That's how I found Peeps, browsing through the BookNook.

Peeps blew me away. I have to admit, when I read the back cover and it mentioned vampires, I groaned a bit on the inside. I actually like vampire stories, but Twilight deeply scarred me on YA vampires and I just haven't recovered yet. However, Peeps is nothing like Twilight. In fact, there are almost no supernatural elements at all. This is straight up science fiction.

What if all the legends about vampires and werewolves and what not all had a common source. That source would be something like a disease or a parasite that not only changed the victim's physiology but also their cognitive functions. In Peeps, a parasite causes what people think of as vampirism. These victims gradually go insane and shun everything they used to love. They have insatiable hunger and crave meat including the meat of other humans.

However, 1 out of every 100 humans has the capacity to become a carrier. These carriers get several of the perks of the parasite (acute senses, super strength, increased life span, and a diminished capacity for fear) but never get the rest of the symptoms or go insane. These carriers track down the rest of the parasite positives - or peeps - and get them treated.

Enter Cal. Cal's a carrier and 19. He starts the novel in the process of hunting down all the people he accidentally infected before he knew he was a carrier. Once he achieves that, he has to track down the one who infected him, his progenitor. During the search he finds a building with a mysterious iron door sealing a pit into the depths of the city and infested with parasite infested rats.

I really enjoyed this. The story kept me enthralled but I really liked the way Westerfeld structured the book. The odd numbered chapters carry the story, but the even numbered chapters are these little two or three page micro-essays on various topics concerning parasites. They are delivered in Cal's voice and are, as far as I can tell, factually correct. The risk with structure is that it detracts from the story, but the topics are inserted in such a way that they reflect on events happening in the story. It's a fun contrast. Even though parasites are kind of yucky to read about, I wouldn't dream of skipping them. The narrative wouldn't be as strong without them.