What's a good read?
“Vampires of Portlandia” is an epic urban fantasy that introduces many breeds of aswang—Filipino shape shifters in the country’s folklore. The novel focuses on the vampire breed, led by the matriarch Marcella Leones; and then soon into the story, Percival, Leones’s eldest grandson, who inherited the “power” (nicely tucked into an amulet within) when she passed. The book follows the family’s quest as the members continue to blend in and live in peace in the weird city of Portland, Oregon, to which they had migrated to escape the turbulent environment in the Philippines.
‘Vampires of Portlandia’ reads like a Marvel Comics movie. And I think that’s the point. – Reviewed by Aly Son.
Percival, now head of the vampires and all aswang breeds because of origin (the reason is explained throughout the book and is one of the reasons for the conflict), has the grave task of guiding his three siblings—Roger (younger brother), and Geena and Marco (twins)—into adulthood while perpetuating the rules passed down by their grandmother. But when Roger unknowingly breaks the aswang covenant, it eventually triggers a massive sprint to repair said covenant, solely because with the broken covenant, none of the other breeds are forced to follow the rules imparted by the god Asuang.
Arturo, who is the leader of the viscera (another breed), has always wanted to rule over the aswang community. This desire goes all the way back to the viscera and vampires’ predecessors, Maria Labo and Teniente Gimo respectively (their stories are told during the Philippines story view). With the now broken covenant, Arturo sees his chance.
The other breeds, which comprise witches, ghouls, and werebeasts (five in total and are all introduced in the novel), do not want Arturo to rule over them, so they scheme up a plan to get the broken covenant onto Percival’s radar, who was raised blindly because of all the harm and danger that go along with ruling the aswang.
Personally, some of the story could have been developed more, but I really liked it for what it was—a fun, creepy, crime riddled urban fantasy about vampires and other monsters. There is so much going on in this novel, which touches mainly on surface level detail, and shifts story view between Portland and the Philippines. The Philippines story view could be its own novel, and I’m interested to see if other books are on the horizon.
The author could have gone more into detail with the story, but I think (and am secretly hoping) that he penned this book like a Marvel Comics movie (think “Avengers”), where a large cast of characters join for a greater cause. I think a novel about each of the breeds with more detail of each family’s origin would make this series a historic one. For now, though, “Vampires of Portlandia” has the challenge of gaining traction in a publishing industry that tends to neglect diverse voices and stories.
I highly recommend this book if you’re into MCU and other action/chase type fantasies.