Vampires of Portlandia

Tanamor (Anonymous) draws on Filipino folklore in this slogging urban fantasy about a family of aswangs, a term which encompasses all manner of shapeshifting spirits, who relocate from the Philippines to Portland, Ore. Vampire Marcella Leones, head of all aswangs, flees to Portland with her grandchildren after Arturo, one of a malevolent species of aswang known as a manananggal, tries to steal the amulet which grants her powers and contains the spirit of the gods. When Leones falls ill and dies, her eldest grandson, Percival, must take up her mantle—just as Portland’s other aswangs begin murdering the city’s homeless inhabitants, one of Percival’s brothers breaks the covenant keeping peace among all magical beings, and the evil Arturo catches up with the vampire family. The narrative alternates between Percival learning to embrace his leadership role within the immigrant community of Portland and Leones’s backstory in the Philippines. The creative worldbuilding of Portland’s supernatural underworld occasionally enlivens the lugubrious pace and overworked prose, but not enough to compensate for the wooden characters and underdeveloped plot. Only the most devoted vampire enthusiasts will find this rewarding. (Sept.)