65. Love in a Time of Zombies by Paul Gude
I got this for a couple of dollars through my kindle app. A bargain! And well worth it, it was a lot of fun.
Sex and zombies. That's all you really need to know. (That's the very helpful product description on Amazon).
I love this book, so far it's been my favourite zombie book to date. I know the above Sex and Zombies sounds kinda eww, and while there is some boomchica it's mostly between the non infected. (Y'all can rest easy now ;D).
I don't know if it was supposed to be as funny as it was. At the time I was reading this I was playing Zombie Farm on my iPhone a lot. When the zombies are running round the farm they yell out "brains? brains?" All in a tiny high pitched voice. So that's the voice that all the zombies in the book had while I was reading it - the zombies in the book all run around asking "Brains". They stop at crossings, drive cars, anwser the phone and in general - just want hugs! Not quite the usual zombie, but still just as creepy.
The story centers around Roy and Kim, exes who are trying to get outta Seattle without getting dead. They do this with lots of sarcasm, witty banter, smexy flirting, violence and some shop lifting. I think it also helps that they're both a little crazy. In fact, most of the characters that you meet along the way are a little skewed.
The whole infection part of the story is kinda hazy, it's explained a little, but not in any depth. I think this part of the story could've been expanded and the correlation between the infestation and Roy's dreams.
But overall, this was fun, perfect for some breezy holiday reading. And really - who doesn't love some crazy zombie capers.
101. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
I actually really enjoyed this novella, I felt that it was slightly better written and I liked the Bree character, I enjoyed her more than some of the other characters introduced in Breaking Dawn, it's a pity that she gets dead as I think she would've added a nice dynamic to the last book. And although they barely take off, I enjoyed her relationships with both male vampires that befriend her.
This is written as one long chapter, which made for easy reading and gave a nice insight into the newborns and how they were manipulated, it further touched on the dynamics of their group, that you only saw glimpses of in Eclipse. For those that liked the Riley character, it also has a tiny bit more about his relationship with Victoria, (although the character is only referred to as 'She' throught the novella). Although I felt like he was manipulated by Victoria in Eclipse, in the novella it seemed like he knew more about what was happening, so it made me like the character less.
The alternate story unfolding around the events in Eclipse flesh out the original story and compliment it well. Although there is nothing to say this couldn't be read as a stand alone if you didn't want to read the rest of the series.
Obviously, if you like the original series, you'll end up reading this, if you don't continue to feel free to hate on it. I know that this series is wildly popular in both love and hate camps. But when all's said and done, I enjoyed this just like the others, not as anything literary or spectacularly written, just as another wee slice of fun and frivolity and for a change there's no mooning, brooding, creepy stalking and sadly no smexy abs *sigh* (Okay maybe a little brooding, but it wouldn't be Twilighty goodness without it!)
And lastly, but certainly not least - Whedonverse :)
102. Spike: After the Fall by Brian Lynch; art by Franco Urru
It was great to be able to see what had happened to the rest of the gang, post apocalyptic Angel & Co. Vs Wolfram & Hart fight to the death. This takes off after the fight, LA has been transported to Hell, Wesley is dead, Spike and Fred/Illyria have teamed up and are fighting the big bad in Hell, there are cameos from Gunn and Connor/Stephen (I always wondered if the name was picked intentionally with the ‘I know my first name is Stephen’ movie in mind - sorry, tangent!). Angel doesn’t appear (he’s got his own After the Fall series). But I’m assuming that there will be crossover. I don’t love the illustrations, but it was great to see Spike back to his tally ho bad guys days and I like the Fred/Illyria characters slipping between each other. It adds a nice dynamic to the character. And what’s this – could there be romance budding between our two heroes?? Which could be kinda cool, but I don’t know 100% about that yet, cause even though he's dead I'm still a fan of the Fredly combo. I read this over the weekend and was then 'forced' to watch the last episode of Angel, the one where Fred gets infected by Illyria and the puppet episode (just for giggles). Needless I was all a bit crying at the end, remembering the good old days, both Buffy and Angel are still favourites of mine and it’s nice to visit Whedonverse every now and again. I've been constantly impressed with the Buffy/Angel comics, they don't let fans down, IMO.
Enjoy. I know I did. And HELLO! I've made it to the grand old total of 111 read so far, 3 more than last year and am partway through books, 112, 113, & 114 :) I'm so awesome, I'm kicking my own arse!
C.
