The final part of the author's classic rodents trilogy, Domain sets an apocalyptic vision of earth. With the city torn apart by nuclear war, the people either dead or mutilated, a group of mutant rats prey on the weakened population.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It'll Blow You Away,
By "netchild" (Lubbock, TX. United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Domain (Signet) (Paperback)
A day like any other in Cold War London, until the unspeakable happens. Sirens, Panic, Fire. The worst appears to be over. But whereas other authors would consider this the climax of a novel James Herbert would consider this only a backdrop for a novel which is arguably his best work in a resume of already great writing. Of course, this book is a Cold War relic, but by no means anachronistic. The threat of nuclear attack is still omniprsent in todays post Cold War society. But to say that this book is about nuclear war is the same as saying that Stephen Kings The Stand is about a plague. It's true but the real suspense occurs with this as a backdrop. This is of course, the concluding portion of the Rats Trilogy (Rats=1, Lair=2, Domain=3) and by far the best of the three. The action centers around three people, Steve Culver (the prototypical Herbert hero), Alex Dealy (the prototypical Herbert bureacratic idiot), and Kate Garner (the prototypical Herbert female lead). Yes his characters are formulaic but you don't go to a Steven Segal movie for the acting, you go to see bad guys getting beat up and stuff getting blown up. Here's how the plot line goes. The heroes first get knocked into hell with the nuclear blasts. They manage to escape the first rat onslaught because Culver gets lucky enough to find the bureacrat Dealy (actually Dealy gets lucky enough that Culver saved his arse from the nuclear blast, which made Dealy temporarily blind, instead of leaving him to die which Dealy surely would have done to Culver had positions been reversed), along with Kate, but it is Dealy who knows where the "secret entrance" to the government fallout shelter is. There is a calm where the heroes are in the government installation and being treated for the disease the rats carry. Culver gets it especially bad and we find out a lot about him from his fevered ramblings. But what happens eventually . . . You guessed it. The war ends and everybody ends up on a fallout free tropical island in Tahiti. NO, the rats come. They always do, and they always come ready to eat and with plenty of company. After that things go from bad to worse. A few of the people from the shelter barely manage to escape only to be thrust into the hell that is postnuke London. They get attacked by wandering thugs, as they wander to the "main shelter" that Dealy told them about. I'll leave you with that. I don't want to spoil the ending. All of you guys know they have to be attacked a couple of times more but the real kicker doesn't actually come until the second to last page! I thought I had Herberts formula down but I was so wrong I owe him an apology. Get this book from any out of print book dealer, Amazon's real good with this kind of thing. Get it if only for the last page alone. Herbert really delivers with this last installment in the Rats Trilogy.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Survivors battle mutant rats in post- WWIII London,
By Elizabeth med445@aol.com (Buffalo, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Domain (Hardcover)
Note-this is a sequel to The Rats-but it's not necessary to have read the first book-- London is hit with 5 nuclear bombs. Two men struggle to reach a secret government facility hidden within the tunnels of the subway system. Once there, relief is quickly supplanted by horror as they discover that they are sharing the tunnels with giant mutant rats--awakened and emboldened by the nuclear attack. Driven out of the tunnels into the horrible wreckage of the city, their battles continue with their hopes that help will arrive fading quickly. This book was written in a time when the Cold War was still being waged and the realistic portrayal of the decimation of the city and the horrors that follow the bombings was chilling, even now in 1998 with our amicable relationships with Russia and China. At the time I am writing this, India and Pakistan are headline news-each testing their own nuclear weapons...
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
London's Burning,
This review is from: Domain (Hardcover)
London is a sprawling, busy metropolis until the unthinkable happens: a sudden, unexpected nuclear attack that takes everyone by surprise. The city is panic-stricken as people try to run from the bombs. For most of them it is too late. Steve Culver is one of the fortunate ones. With the help of a V.I.P. he reaches the safety of a secret government shelter, hidden near the Underground. The fact that London is now a flattened jumble of twisted wreckage with a poisonous atmosphere would be bad enough in itself. But James Herbert has brought back some familiar characters from two earlier books: a mutant breed of killer rats who now have the upper hand. The premise itself is good. Being trapped underground, beneath a city of rat-gnawed corpses, wandering what hope there is. Eventually the survivors are forced out of their shelter, and attempt to get out of London, while being chased by millions of sqeaking, bloodthirsty vermin. "Domain" is a disturbing book to begin with. Herbert's description of things like radiation sickness and the way the rats attack helpless survivors are very graphic. But after a while the gore starts to get a little repetitive. There is a good sense of fear as the characters walk through the sewer tunnels. Very dark and claustrophobic. If you like survival novels, "Domain" is certainly worth a read.
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