Book Review: The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith

   

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While I promise to steer away from major plot points and try to keep things vague in reviews some of what I write might be considered vaguely spolierish.  So if you prefer to read a book with no prior knowledge then I would advise not read my reviews.

The Last American Vampire  is the both the sequel and prequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer.   While it does pick up after the events of the first book it also goes back in history to explain the origins of Henry, the vampire protagonist.  We get both his human history and his vampire origins and their relation to one of the earliest European settlements in North America.  It also moves forward in time, giving an alternative history of the United States, with the occasional stopover in the UK and Europe.

The story is fast paced - I think I read it in less than a week.  There is lots of excitement and violence.  Henry also seems to have a habit of running into and either befriending or making an enemy of many historical figures through out the course of the book.  Well, white and male historical figures.

And here's where we come to what really bothered me about the book.  Now it has been years since I read Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer but I do recall that it had mainly white male characters and I wasn't too bothered.  The book was the story of the friendship between a man and a vampire.  However, this is the story of the United States.  Yes it's an alternate history, but it's still a history.  Where the hell were all the women and people of color who helped shape and build a nation?

There is literally only one female historical character who is a major player in the story.  And I am being really generous in saying so as she gets very little in the way of characterization.  What little we are given about her motivations makes her sound more like a one note stereotype of a traditional female character and less like a flesh and blood being.

And, okay, sure.  Henry is around four hundred years old.  His views on race and gender might be a bit antiquated.  And yet, he specifically mentions women's suffrage as something he supports and takes action to punish those who lynched an African American man.  So, if he believes women are good enough to vote and people of color deserve justice - well why are all his friends white males?

I am not kidding when I say over a dozen white and male historical figures are a part of this story.  But female and persons of color?  In some cases they only get a mention in the footnotes, if at all.

I know, I know, it's just a silly book.  And it is silly.  And I like silly.  I just think an "alternate history" where the white male vampire is the protector and savior of the United States is pretty much what we get when we whitewash history.  Except for the "vampire" part.  It's an okay read but I was really hoping for something more subversive.