Zombie Appreciation Month has been my first attempt to focus on a particular theme. I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the experience or not. I have to admit, I was concerned about spending an entire month reading about only one subject. It turns out my fears were groundless The novels that I have read this month have covered the full gamut of emotions. From the upbeat detective fun of Nekropolis to the gut wrenching fear of Zombie Apocalypse! Everything I’ve read has brought something new to the zombie mythos. I was impressed by different authors’ views and how their ideas were so elegantly expressed. There are quite a number of zombie novels out there and the good news is that they all strive to be unique. I’ve learned a couple of valuable lessons during this month. Firstly, always have a couple of back up book options just in case. I very nearly didn’t manage to get a copy of Handling the Undead and that would have left my carefully planned reading order in tatters. Secondly, pace yourself. When reading for pleasure I can quite happily manage two or three books in a week. If I want to then write about…
To round off Zombie Appreciation Month I’ve decided to read Handling The Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Set in Stockholm, during the midst of a heatwave, strange things are starting to occur. Electrical appliances won’t switch off and everyone is suffering from unexplained headaches. Over the course of a single night, every person that has died in the previous two months is reanimated, including those that have been buried. The ever pragmatic authorities move from one disastrous idea to another when trying to find a solution to the problem. The dead are all collected and taken to a hospital but the staff are unable to cope with the demands of caring for the deceased. It seems that when brought together in groups, the ‘reliving’ are able to channel the emotions of the living. They also cause spontaneous telepathy amongst the living. These mental stresses prove too difficult for the doctors and nurses to manage. Unsure sure of how to proceed, the government try to relocate the reliving to disused housing and secure them behind an electric fence. There is a certain degree of ambiguity regarding the cause of reanimation. I liked this as it gave the author an opportunity to let his…
“The Good News: We Survived. The Bad News: So Did They“. Imagine a world where scientists have cured cancer and defeated the common cold. Sounds idyllic, but what if this medical breakthrough leads to the creation and distribution of a virus that reanimates the dead. In Feed by Mira Grant we find an Earth where humanity has done just that. The infected are a fact of life and everyone has been forced to live with the constant threat of zombies. In addition everyone has the virus. Unlike most of the other zombie novels I have read this month there is a rather optimistic feeling to the novel’s opening. The world has changed since the time of the initial outbreak, but humanity has persevered. We have learned to adapt. Everyone knows to take precautions when venturing outside, and when moving between secure locations regular blood tests are the order of the day. The way people receive information has also changed. When the first outbreak occurred it was the blogging community who were first to raise the alarm. Individuals have moved away from traditional media and get their news direct from web based sources. Distinct types of bloggers have evolved including Newsies who,…
“They’ll chase you, they’ll rip you open, they’ll feed on you…” I have a confession to make. I’m thirty six years old and when I first decided to do a zombie themed month on The Eloquent Page I didn’t even consider including any young adult fiction. In the last couple of years I have read exactly two books that could be described as YA fiction. Both were pretty good, and I’ll be reviewing one of them next month but I never thought something like zombie fiction could really exist for a younger readers. Let’s be honest, flesh eating killers tend not to be the most upbeat bunch. In my experience, a lot of zombie fiction isn’t really what you would consider ideal for a younger audience. I guess, in hindsight though, that is the challenge – creating a zombie novel that does work for teens. Initially, I was somewhat sceptical of The Enemy by Charlie Higson. A couple of years ago I tried to read Silverfin, his first Young James Bond novel and failed rather epically. It’s not that the book was bad, I just tried to read it at a time when I could not give it the attention…
“This place has always been ruled by the vampire lords. Now they are plotting to destroy the city. Over my dead body”. For the second entry in Zombie Appreciation Month we move away from the end of the world toward a detective novel with a twist. I’m sure you can guess the nature of the twist? Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner is the first outing for the zombie detective. Hundreds of years ago, Father Dis and the five lesser Dark Lords brought all of the Darkfolk together. To avoid continued persecution by humans they left Earth and travelled to an alternate dimension where Father Dis created Nekropolis. The city is split into five different dominions with one of the lords in charge of each. In Nekropolis you’ll find vampires, lykes (shapeshifters), demons, witches and warlocks, the undead and everything in-between. Matt Richter is an ex-cop from Cleveland who stumbled into Nekropolis during the course of an investigation. While there he died but has since been reanimated as the city’s only self-willed zombie. Unable to return to Earth due to his undead state, he does favours for people in return for dark gems. He uses the dark gems to pay for the…
Welcome to Zombie Appreciation Month. Throughout October The Eloquent Page will take a look at different interpretations of zombies in modern literature. To begin with I’ve decided to start with a classic theme. I give you The End of the World. Will humanity triumph over the worldwide zombie plague, or will the walking dead inherit the earth? It seems only fair that the first book that I’m looking at is the one that gave me the idea in the first place. There were a number of book launches at this year’s FantasyCon in Nottingham, and this book immediately caught my eye. With a few notable exceptions, I’m not a huge fan of anthologies. As a rule, I prefer to read novels written by one author, but in an effort to broaden my horizons I decided to take a chance. Zombie Apocalypse! chronicles the worldwide spread of ‘The Death’. Starting in London, and then rapidly spreading across the globe the reader is given the opportunity to delve into the lives of those affected. In this case I think having multiple authors was entirely the right decision. There is one world, and one event, but each author has the opportunity to have…
Throughout October The Eloquent Page will be concentrating on all things undead. I’ll be reviewing a number of different literary interpretations of zombies. From the latest anthology, via detective novels through to young adult fiction – I’ll be taking a look at how everyone’s favourite brain munchers have re-invented themselves over the last couple of years. You have been warned. Join me if you dare! [fb-share]