Throwback Thursday: World War Z by Max Brooks

On June 17, 2022August 9, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Audiobook, Five-Star Books, Horror, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday12 Comments

Publisher: Random House Audio (Audiobook – 14 May 2013, originally published 12 September 2006)

Series: Standalone

Length: 12 hours and 9 minutes

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Welcome back to my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For my latest Throwback Thursday review I take a look at the zombie horror classic, World War Z by Max Brooks, a truly epic and outstanding read.

One of the biggest novels that I have been meaning to read for ages was the highly regarded zombie novel, World War Z, also known as World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Written by Max Brooks as a follow-up to his first book, the non-fictional The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z is a unique novel that fully examines a zombie apocalypse from multiple perspectives. I had heard some great things about this novel, and I even enjoyed the movie adaptation when it came out (more on that later). Unfortunately, I never got a chance to read it and I kind of figured for a while that it might stay in my to-read pile for a while. However, it moved much higher up my list of books to check out after I read Brooks’s 2020 novel, Devolution, which was one of my favourite novels of 2020 (as well as one of my favourite all-time horror novels). I had also heard a lot of praise for World War Z‘s awesome audiobook edition, so when my wife and I needed some entertainment during a recent cross-country road trip, this was our first choice.

Plot Synopsis:

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.

Holy hell, that was an exceptional book! I loved the powerful and expansive narrative contained within World War Z as Brooks attempts to fully encapsulate the entire experience of a zombie apocalypse in impressive detail. Literally all the good things I heard about this book were true, and I loved his unique and very captivating way of capturing the horrors of this sort of experience, both from the zombies and other humans. An exceptional and impressively inventive read, World War Z gets an easy five-star read from me.

I cannot get over how awesome and distinctive World War Z was as a concept. Rather than a traditional novel, Brook’s masterpiece is written as an epistolary novel, written as in-universe oral history anthology of a zombie apocalypse. The book, which was compiled by this universe’s version of Max Brooks, contained multiple testimonials and interviews, as Brooks seeks out and talks to multiple people who experienced the apocalypse and pulls together their various unique stories. This book contains around 40 individual stories set out across five chapters which look at the various stages of the zombie war, from its origins all the way up to the postwar ‘new normal’.

At this point I need to make a quick note about the version of World War Z that we checked out. There are a couple of different World War Z audiobooks out there, but for our trip we listened to the World War Z: The Complete Edition, which combines two separate audiobook adaptations of the novel, and contains all the stories from the original book. I did look over a paperback edition of World War Z before I started this review, and it looks like our audiobook version covered the full stories well, although I did notice that some of the stories were shortened or missing minor parts. In addition, the audiobook version did not feature any of the paperback’s footnotes, which contained technical details and notes from the author. However, I don’t think I lost out on too much of the plot from some of these missing gaps.

I really fell in love with the various individual stories contained with World War Z as Brooks went out of his way to produce the most unique and moving tales that he could. These are mostly standalone tales, although there are a few interesting crossovers as the book continues, with some character’s mentioning events or supporting figures from other stories in their interviews. However, as you follow the stories within these five chapters (made up of Warnings, Blame, The Great Panic, Turning the Tide, and Good-Byes), you get a full sense of the entire war, and it quickly comes apparent how cleverly Brooks was crafting everything here. I personally deeply enjoyed both the individual shorter tales and the much larger connected story of World War Z, and I was deeply impressed with the excellent writing style behind it. Brooks is a true master of writing deeply personal, character-driven tales of survival, and you swiftly become attached to the various protagonists as they tell their unique stories. The action within is gruesome, fast-paced and deeply terrifying, and there are multiple over-the-top descriptions of zombie and human violence that will stick with you forever. This was easily one of the best zombie novels I have read in terms of storytelling and action, and everything about this tale is so damn compelling.

As I mentioned, there are roughly 40 separate stories contained within this anthology, each of which contains its own unique protagonist, supporting characters, settings and unique circumstances. Naturally, with so many stories you have a bit of a range in terms of storytelling, with some being substantially better than others. However, I felt that Brooks did a very good job of writing each of these stories extremely well, and there were none that particularly dragged the novel down. There is a real mixture of narratives here, with particularly gruesome horror stories mixed in with more human-focused narrative, political plotlines, military thrillers, stories that balance on the edge of science fiction, and everything in between. The spread of these stories works pretty well, with Brooks providing an entertaining mixture of storylines throughout the book so readers aren’t constantly bombarded by tales of horror or tragedy. Instead, there are often fascinating, humorous and humanising stories thrown in amongst the horror. This works to make the entire novel flow at a fantastic pace.

While pretty much all these stories are fun and tell some outstanding tales of the zombie apocalypse, there are a few that stood out to me as being a cut above the rest. I had some early fun with the Stanley MacDonald storyline, which showed an amoral illegal surgeon in Brazil unwittingly transfer a zombie heart into a patient, which led to one of the earliest outbreaks in South America. The Jesika Hendricks plot showed a brilliant, if very dark, take on ordinary citizens trying to flee the zombies only to experience the other dangers of surviving the winter in a desperate community. There are several amazing and cynical storylines, such as the Breckinridge Scott and Grover Carison testimonies that showcase the capitalist opportunism that surrounded the initial outbreaks. I also really liked the South African focused storyline around Paul Redeker, which showed a former Apartheid strategist using his stark and brutal plans to save the country from the undead hordes. I loved the particularly inventive and clever testimony surrounding the character of Arthur Sinclair Junior, which focuses on how America was reorganised after the initial stages of the war, with the country setting its sights towards industry, construction and warfare, which really highlights the author’s impressive insights into the world.

Two other fantastic World War Z storylines set in Japan focus on two unique individuals, one an “otaku” (a computer-obsessed outsider who tried to live entirely online), and a blind “hibakusha” (a person affected by the atomic bombs used in WWII). Both characters were outsiders in Japan before the zombie war, but the zombie invasion changed their entire lives and led to them becoming renowned warriors and survivors against all the odds. These two storylines are extremely compelling, and I loved the way that the author utilised unique subsections of Japanese society and tried to imagine how those sorts of people would survive the zombies. There was also a really intense storyline, told by Admiral Xu Zhicai, that details a Chinese submarine’s attempt to escape the zombies with their families, which turns into a brilliant, powerful and occasionally disturbing tale of survival, loyalty and family. I also must mention the Terry Knox testimony that details the actions aboard the International Space Station and the Darnell Hackworth story that looks at the US army’s canine units that helped scout and herd zombies (yay for mini dachshunds, the real heroes of this book). However, out all the testimonies featured within World War Z, my favourite had to be the ones focussing on soldier Todd Wainio. Todd battled the zombies at multiple stages of the war, and his multiple entries paint a pretty grim picture but are easily some of the best depictions of the horror of the zombies and the challenges faced by the armed forces. His first testimony about the army’s initial inability to combat the zombies is very chilling, and it was fascinating to hear about the changes to his training and equipment as the military adapted to fight this new and strange enemy. I am honestly just scratching the surface of these testimonials here, as pretty much all of them were great in their own way. However, the ones I mentioned here were my personal favourites, and I had a blast listening to them and seeing how they fit into the wider narrative.

For me, one of the main highlights of World War Z was Brooks’s incredible inventiveness and insights when it came to envisioning a potential world-wide zombie apocalypse. Thanks to his amazing range of stories, Brooks showcases a vast global catastrophe that impacts everyone no matter where they are. I loved his depiction of how the apocalypse emerged, and rather than a continuous attack that pretty much destroys everything in a single day, Brooks imagines a gradual catastrophe that is initially ignored and mishandled before it spreads uncontrollably. This is covered in the early chapters of the book with some substantial skill, and you really get to see how and why everything falls apart, with appropriate zombie violence included. While there is an understandable focus on America, I found it fascinating to see how Brooks imagined different countries would deal with this crisis, with different culturally informed strategies, and there are even some compelling references to real-life figures (the Nelson Mandela facsimile reacts in a very different way than you’d expect). The author really dives into all the details of a zombie attack and examines all the pros and cons of various strategies humans could utilise, from fleeing, staying in defensible positions, or fighting back. There are some brilliant testimonies that cover all of them, and Brooks’s dark depictions of unprepared or overconfident humans failing to understand the threats in front of them and paying the price for it are shocking, bleak and captivating. Brooks also comes up with some truly unique and clever problems or impacts of the zombies, many of which are referenced or experienced by multiple characters, including floating zombies, marine zombies, feral children who survived without their parents, looters, civil wars, and even crazed humans pretending to be zombies.

These intriguing insights from Brooks’s imagination are further expanded on in the later chapters of the novel, where the author explores how the world order changed because of the zombie war. Again Brooks dives into multiple countries here, and it was fascinating to witness which countries the author imagines will be destroyed by the zombies and which would thrive. I really enjoyed his examinations of the way that America needed to reorganise itself and its subsequent battleplans, which were perfectly covered by several of the best characters. Seeing countries likes Russia, China, Japan and more change in drastic ways a result of this apocalypse was really cool and compelling, especially as the author covers it in such a reasonable and logical manner. Countries like Cuba and the West Indies thriving due to their isolation was pretty fascinating, and they stood as an interesting contrast to more prominent countries that were disadvantaged or never stood a chance thanks to their socioeconomic issues or unsuitable landscapes. I loved some of the unique issues that some countries experienced, such as the infested Paris catacombs or the mystery around North Korea, and they leave some intriguing afterthoughts as a result. Brooks also cleverly examines other unique impacts that the zombies are having on the world, such as extinctions (goodbye whales), changes in global relations, and long-term problems, and I was deeply fascinated and enthralled by all this impressive thinking. All of this compelling insight and imagination really enhances the stories being told by various characters, especially as they all impact humanity’s potential survival, and I really lost myself in the author’s powerful and impressive vision of a zombie apocalypse.

While World War Z is primarily about survival and the wider impacts of a zombie apocalypse, Brooks also takes the time to cover a few interesting themes. In particular, he uses this novel about zombies to examine humanity. While there is a certain overlying theme about the indomitable human spirit and our ability to triumph no matter the odds, there are some very noticeable depictions of the worst parts of human nature. I found his initial depictions of most people ignoring or ridiculing the slow rising zombie threat to be pretty realistic (keep in mind that this was written 14 years before COVID). There are also some major critiques about corruption and government incompetence in the face of disaster that I also found to be very intriguing and insightful. Many of the early chapters that talked about military attempts to fight back had some interesting parallels to the wars in the Middle East, and I really appreciated the author’s clever critiques of these conflicts through the medium of a zombie war. I felt that Todd’s testimony about the first major battle of the zombie war was a great example of this, as he regales the reader with how politically motivated leadership and incompetence led to a massacre. All of this added a thought-provoking and entertaining edge to many of the storylines in the novel, especially the earlier testimonies, and I felt that Brooks did an amazing job bringing some of his own insights and critiques into his writing.

As I mentioned a few times above, I listened to the extended audiobook adaptation of this novel, which I personally felt was the absolute best way to enjoy this epic read. Running at just over 12 hours in length, we absolutely powered through the World War Z audiobook during our road trip, and it served as an excellent entertainment for a long drive. I often find that having a story read out to you really helps you to absorb everything about the story, and this was particularly true with World War Z. Not only did the narration allow you to focus on all the details of the testimonials, but the horror elements and action felt a lot more intense, especially when you were dragged into some of the more gruesome scenes. I also feel that the audiobook version of World War Z had a better flow than the paperback novel. The testimonials with the audiobook are a lot more separated out, treated as a new chapter each time the narrator changes. This is very different from the paperback version, which throws multiple testimonials in a quick fire manner, with everything crammed together into the five chapters. As such, I really felt the audiobook helped to highlight the uniqueness of each testimonial and you really got to focus on each story a lot more.

However, easily the best thing about the World War Z audiobook was the truly impressive voice cast that were featured within. Brooks, a voice actor himself, recruited a crack team of international actors to fill out his cast, including several A-listers, who give some outstanding and amazing performances. All these actors really dive into their various roles here, conveying the emotion, fear and insights of their protagonists, and their great voice work definitely enhanced the already cool stories of their characters. I deeply enjoyed all their voice work throughout the audiobook, and I know that I enjoyed several testimonies even more because of the talented actors voicing them. This cast is led by Brooks himself, who voices the interviewer, asking all the questions and meeting all the various figures the novel is set around. Brooks does a really good job here, and his calm, collected interviewing style and additional narration helps to set the scene for the entire novel and moves the other character’s stories along at a great pace.

Aside from Brooks, there are a good 40 or so voice actors featured in the World War Z audiobook, and I was pretty impressed with all their performances. Some standout early performances include a brief appearance from Nathan Fillion as Canadian soldier Stanley MacDonald; Paul Sorvino, who gives a very fun performances as the sketchy doctor Fernado Oliveira; and Martin Scorsese, who gives an unrepentant portrayal of corrupt businessman Breckinridge Scott. Other great performances include Kal Penn as Sardar Khan, an Indian soldier who serves an excellent witness to an act of heroism; the late, great David Ogden Stiers, who brings Ukrainian solider Bohdan Taras Kondratiuk to life perfectly as he watches a great act of evil from his government; Common as dog trainer Darnell Hackworth; and Rob Reiner as “The Whacko” a radical politician/former Vice President who shares his strong opinions in a very fun outing. I really need to highlight some intriguing voice performances from Simon Pegg, who does a pretty good Texan accent in the role of Grover Carlson; and Alfred Molina, whose Australian accent was pretty accurate (a rare talent).

The performances of Masi Oka and Frank Kamai really brought to life the two Japanese characters I mentioned above, as does Ric Young for Chinese Admiral Xu Zhicai’s elaborate testimony. I also really need to highlight the brilliant work of Alan Alda in this book as he voices pivotal administrator Arthur Sinclair Junior. Alda, whose voice I have loved since M*A*S*H, perfectly inhabits the role of this intriguing figure, and I loved hearing his narration of how America’s economy was changed. However, out of all the voice actors in World War Z, my favourite was the always impressive and remarkable Mark Hamill, who voiced standout character Todd Wainio. Hamill was one of the main reasons why Todd was such a great character, and I loved his outstanding performance as a former ground soldier recounting all the horror of the front line of the zombie war. There is so much weariness, trauma and cynicism in Hamill’s voice as he narrates Todd’s testimony, and you really feel the character’s resentment and anger. The way that Hamill describes all the gruesome gore and zombie violence was just so great, and his impressive range and tone helped to really enhance the insanity and horror of the moment. These voice actors, and the rest of the impressive cast, are extremely epic here, and they turned this production into something extremely impressive.

A quick final note about the World War Z film. Until I read this book, I really did not appreciate how wildly off-book the film adaptation was. None of the true magic from the original story appears in the film at all, as they turned it into a generic action flick rather than a clever analysis of how a zombie apocalypse would change the world. While I did enjoy the World War Z movie on its own, it is a terrible adaptation, with only small elements from the book appearing in the film. While I can appreciate that this is not the easiest book to turn into a film, they didn’t even try. I really do hope that someone does a proper adaptation of World War Z at some point, as it frankly deserves a lot better than what it got (perhaps a television series with each episode recreating one of the testimonies).

As you can clearly tell from the massive essay above, I deeply enjoyed World War Z by Max Brooks. This was easily one of the best zombie novels I have ever read, and it definitely deserves its epic and highly regarded status. Brooks’s distinctive and brilliant story was just plain amazing and I loved the outstanding combination of smaller testimonies coming together into one connected and thought-provoking tale. The author cleverly examines every single aspect of a potential zombie apocalypse, and you find yourself not only loving the insane horror elements, but the fascinating political and social impacts that come with such an invasion. Best enjoyed in the full audiobook format which features so many impressive voice actors, World War Z comes extremely highly recommended and I cannot hype it up enough!

Amazon

Devolution by Max Brooks

On July 1, 2020August 16, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Horror21 Comments

Devolution Cover

Publisher: Del Rey (Trade Paperback – 16 June 2020)

Series: Standalone

Length: 286 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

Get ready for a deeply addictive and exceedingly clever new horror novel based around a classic American legend from highly acclaimed author Max Brooks, Devolution.

Welcome to Greenloop, a sustainable, high-tech town built in the wilds of America. Greenloop is home to a small community of artists and intellectuals, and seems like an ideal place for newcomers Kate Holland and her husband Dan. However, their dreams of a fresh start are shattered when the nearby Mount Rainier erupts, isolating the town from the rest of America and stranding its residents in the middle of woods.

While Greenloop appears to have avoided much of the damage and confusion that the eruption inflected on the rest of America, the inhabitants of the community need to find a way to adapt and survive without any food and resources as winter approaches. However, even as they come together and begin to formulate a plan to endure the harsh conditions, something else comes to Greenloop that is primal and destructive and determined to survive.

Based upon the vivid and detailed journals of Kate Holland that were recovered from the bloody wreckage of Greenloop, this book examines a terrible tale of bloodshed, death and destruction, as ancient creatures of stories and folklore invade. Are the tales contained within these journals real? Find out what happens when the legend of Bigfoot comes to life and once again unleashes its fury on humanity.

Wow, now that was a heck of a lot of fun. Devolution is a captivating and impressive new novel from Max Brooks, who is best known for his iconic zombie novel, World War Z. The moment that I heard Brooks was creating a new horror novel that was focused on Sasquatches, I knew that it was a book that I needed to get myself a copy of, and boy am I glad that I did. Devolution, which was also released as Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre, is an impressive and unique release which uses Brooks’s trademark writing style to craft together a captivating and powerful tale of survival and humanity while facing impossible odds. I absolutely absorbed this impressive read, which felt especially relevant for 2020.

In order to tell this distinctive story, Brooks once again utilises the epistolary style that served him so well in World War Z. As a result, Devolution is told using a variety of different sources combined together to make it feel like a history of an alternate version of America where a major volcano erupts impacting the entire country. This non-fiction novel (which I believe is written by that universe’s version of Max Brooks), combines the recovered journal of the novel’s protagonist, Kate Holland, with a number of interviews, historical articles, scientific discussion and background information on some of the inhabitants of Greenloop to create a full account of the events that occurred in the town.

I am a big fan of epistolary novels, although it is often a difficult writing style to utilise successfully. Luckily, Brooks is easily one of the more accomplished users of this writing style, and he was able to craft together an epic and clever horror story in this novel. Devolution contains a well-thought-out and masterfully presented tale that quickly grabs the reader’s attention and does not let go. Brooks does a fantastic job of setting the scene, introducing the characters and then presenting the adversity that they all face. The antagonistic monsters get a good amount of build-up, with signs of their presence providing tension before they make their grand and terrifying appearance. What follows is an exciting and compelling, if somewhat short, third as the protagonists attempt to react to their new reality and effectively fight back. The epistolary elements worked extremely well throughout the book, and I quite enjoyed having all the extra information and backstory they provided as you were going through the main narrative, especially as it attempted to analyse and explain the events that the protagonist was recording. I did think that the story concluded a little too early, and perhaps the book could have benefited from another 50-100 pages at this point (geez, I’m only asking him to increase the length of his book by around a third, I’m not being unreasonable or anything!!). Devolution’s conclusion is rather interesting as well, and I liked some of the resultant uncertainty that surrounds the entire narrative. Overall, this proved to be an intense and exciting story, and I had an absolute blast reading it.

Now let’s talk monsters. Devolution’s most defining feature is its amazing choice of monstrous antagonist in the form of the Sasquatches. As I mentioned above, the moment that I found out that Brooks was going to set a story around a Bigfoot attack in modern America, I knew that I was going to love it. Sasquatches are such an iconic part of American folklore, and all the mystery and obsession that surrounds them serves as a great basis for a horror novel. Brooks really dives into the Bigfoot lore throughout the book, exploring where the legends come from, how they have affected American culture, and the science behind the Sasquatch’s potential existence, all of which is presented to the reader alongside the protagonist’s account of their attack in Greenloop. I thought that the author did an amazing job examining and utilising the Sasquatches in this book, and he paints them as an ancient predator of humankind who, after avoiding us for millennia, are forced by circumstances to devolve and hunt us again. I liked how the author portrayed how similar they are to humans, including their intelligence and group dynamics, especially as these traits are the main reason that they are such an effective and haunting threat. All of this makes for a distinctive and compelling monster for this horror tale, especially as they prove to be a very dangerous and destructive force, and the author’s decision to utilise Sasquatches in this book ended up being a really clever choice.

Another great feature of this book is the characters who inhabit Greenloop and who end up encountering the Sasquatches. Since Greenloop is an experimental, planned, sustainable eco-community, it has naturally drawn a group of intellectual elites and artists to live there. This makes for a diverse bunch of opinionated and arrogant jerks, most of whom are reluctant to go against the group. They of course prove to be extremely unprepared for the events of the book, whether it is the volcano erupting or the attack from the Sasquatches, and they end up making a lot of selfish and stupid mistakes. The only exception to this was Mostar, a blunt older lady with a mysterious past, who has a good read on every other character and is the only one who is prepared for the hardships. She was easily my favourite character, and she had a rather compelling storyline, while also proving to be a major inspiration for the protagonist to step up. The rest of the characters are less appealing, especially at the beginning of the book, and I was kind of rooting for the Sasquatches for a good part of the novel. However, most of them (the ones who survive) do grow on you as the book progresses, and there are some interesting character developments. I also personally liked the way that that these ultra-modern characters, became a little more savage as the book progressed, reverting to more archaic technology and utilising more aggressive tactics, showing that the title, Devolution, can have multiple implications.

One of the more surprising things that I liked about this book was the way in which it resonated with me during the age of coronavirus. One of the major plot points of this book was the fact that the inhabitants of Greenloop find themselves cut off from the outside world due to a volcano. This naturally proved to be a major disruption for their normal lives and they soon find themselves without any new supplies or the ability to communicate with the outside world. Because of this, the characters, particularly the protagonist and her husband, need to adapt to this new situation, and a quite a bit of the story shows how they attempted to survive these unprecedented circumstances. There are some really relatable moments throughout this part of the book, with the protagonists cataloguing food, bemoaning their lack of certain materials, having discussions about where they could get more essentials, as well as examinations of the role of community and the impact of socialisation. Later, when the Sasquatches arrive, you have several scenes where the protagonists hide in their homes and attempt to feel secure within, as they worry about the previously unknown threat that lurks outside. There were also some rather interesting description of the United States government being completely unprepared for the disaster, which in this book is the volcano erupting, and completely blowing their response, the parables of which with the real world are very evident. Naturally, a lot of this felt familiar to me at this point in time, and this aspect of the book proved to be a noticeably compelling addition to the story, especially as it was likely written pre-coronavirus and represents some astute predictions from Brooks.

Overall, Devolution by Max Brooks turned out to be quite a fascinating and clever read, which makes full use of its distinctive monster element to craft a fantastic horror story. I was really impressed with the outstanding narrative, especially as Brooks once again enhanced his tale by turning Devolution into a compelling epistolary novel. This book comes highly recommend, and I cannot wait to see what epic craziness that Brooks comes up with next time.

Amazon

Guest Review – The Power by Naomi Alderman

On January 23, 2020April 6, 2023 By The Unseen LibraryIn Five-Star Books, Guest Review, Science Fiction, Throwback Thursday1 Comment

After reviewing some of 2019’s most intriguing reads with Pan’s Labyrinth, The Testaments and The Fowl Twins, my amazing editor/wife Alex (editor is the important part there) attempts to muscle in on my Throwback Thursday territory in her latest Guest Review by checking out The Power by Naomi Alderman.

Publisher: Penguin (Trade Paperback – 27 October 2016)

Series: Stand Alone/Book One

Length: 341 pages

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Amazon

I’m on a mission to conquer my habit of buying more books than I can read. I picked up The Power because I recognised Naomi Alderman’s name from one of my favourite apps, Zombies, Run!, for which she is the lead writer. Zombies, Run! is primarily an exercise app, but its best feature is its compelling and immersive narrative about a community of survivors of a zombie apocalypse. So when I stumbled upon a copy of one of Alderman’s books I was immediately keen to check it out. Unfortunately, my reading of it was interrupted and it has been sadly shelved for the last year and a half. When I resolved to tackle my collection of unread books this year, I knew The Power had to be first on the list.

The Power chronicles a world in which young women develop a biological power to create and manipulate electricity. There are four main threads in the story, following a small collection of key characters on their adventures during the first decade of the change. The first is Roxy Monke, the child of an English gangster, who uses her power with devastating effect to build and control a vast criminal empire. Tunde Edo is a young Nigerian man who discovers a passion for photojournalism when he happens to capture video of an early attack using the power. He travels the world documenting the great upheavals and rebellions that the power inspires. Margot Cleary is an American politician, and through her we see how the change affects government. Allie is a young American runaway with perhaps the greatest control over her power of any woman in the world, which she uses to establish herself as a respected and feared cult leader of women. There is also an extensive cast of excellent side characters, including Margot’s daughter Jocelyn, who struggles as a young woman without a fully developed power, and Tatiana Moskalev, the wife of the president of Moldova.

What I always enjoy most about speculative fiction with several narrators is the way that readers get to experience so much of the world that has been created. This is particularly true in The Power, since each of the characters (especially Tunde) is very well travelled, and as a result we get a glimpse of how the power affects societies all over the world, as well as how the world changes over the 10 years covered in the book. We see the initial scepticism of women spontaneously evolving the power to emit and control electricity. We see the fear set in as it becomes clear how dangerous the power can be, both when it is used as an attack against individuals and when women band together to challenge misogynistic and oppressive regimes and governments. We see how cults and societies develop as the status quo is forever changed and the new power imbalance between men and women becomes firmly established. The events that unfold in Moldova are particularly fascinating. All in all, there’s not a dull moment in the whole book, and though it is at times brutally violent it is always deeply compelling.

I really loved the way the narrative is framed as a dramatisation of historical events, in a fashion similar to that of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments. The book begins and ends with correspondence between Neil, who appears to be a budding historian and author, and Naomi, who is surely his mentor or perhaps his publisher. Neil and Naomi speculate on the accuracy of the story, given that they are removed from these events by several hundred years and have only the archaeological record to guide them. I was also very pleased to find chapters interspersed with illustrations and interpretations of artefacts from the time of the change, such as idols, grave sites and internet forum threads. These elements in particular made the archaeologist in me very happy.

The Power is a fantastic exploration of a world suddenly and dramatically shaken to its core. I’m going to have to check out some more of Naomi Alderman’s work, and I’m only sorry I hadn’t read this one sooner.

Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker

On December 13, 2018August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Thriller4 Comments

Dracul Cover

Publisher: Bantam Press

Publication Date – 2 October 2018

Amazon Book Depository

You think you know the story of Dracula? Prepare to have your understanding of one of history’s greatest horror novels completely turned on its head as Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew presents a captivating new story of horror based off Bram Stoker’s notes and his original version of the iconic book.

The year is 1868, and a young Bram Stoker has barricaded himself in the top room of an abandoned abbey. This room has crosses carved on every wall, mirrors hanging from every angle and garlic smeared around the door frame, while Bram himself is armed with roses, holy water and a rifle. Outside the room lurks an ancient evil, its greatest desire to enter the room and claim the man waiting within. As Bram waits for the sun to rise, he writes in his journal, desperate to describe the events that lead to this moment.

The tale he tells is an intriguing tale of horror and mystery set in the midst of 19^th century Ireland. Bram was born a sickly youth whose constant illness stopped him from leaving his bed for most of his early life. One of the few points of comfort in his life was his nanny, Ellen Crone, who nursed him through the worst of his maladies. Bram seemed destined for a short life, until one day a miracle occurs and Bram’s sickness is cured by the mysterious intervention of Nanny Crone. But as Bram and his sister Matilda investigate the suspicious behaviour and abilities of Nanny Crone, she disappears, leaving behind questions about who, or what, she really was.

Years later, it appears that Ellen Crone has returned, as strange and bloody events haunt the lives of Bram, Matilda and their older brother Thornley. As they investigate further they find that the mysterious Ellen Crone has not aged a day, is accompanied by those who died years earlier and has a strange hypnotic hold over Bram. But even as the siblings attempt to find answers, they soon realise a far more powerful and malevolent creature is hunting in Ireland, one who will forever change the life of the Stoker family.

This is one of the most intriguing books of 2018, as it is a reimagining of the origin of one of the world’s most iconic horror novels, Dracula, which was originally published in 1897 by author Bram Stoker. The authors of this new book are the team of established horror writer J. D. Barker, and Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker. This is not the first Dracula book that Dacre Stoker has had his hand in, as he also wrote the 2009 book, Dracula the Un-dead with Ian Holt, which serves as the official sequel to the original Dracula.

Dracul is a clever and compelling read that takes a deeper look at the story behind the classic horror novel. The plot of this novel is apparently based upon Bram Stoker’s notes, journals and around 100 pages that were culled from the original draft of Dracula by his editors. As a result, the authors of Dracul strongly hint that Bram Stoker and his family actually encountered a vampire, and that his experiences led him to publish Dracula as a warning to people about the dangers that were hidden around them and the apparent weaknesses of these creatures. There is a great quote at the very start of this novel that the authors attribute to Bram Stoker and indicate was part of Dracula’s original preface: “I am quite convinced that there is no doubt whatever that the events here described really took place, however unbelievable and incomprehensible they might appear at first sight.”

This new novel by Stoker and Barker is an outstanding piece of fiction. Not only is it a powerful piece of horror fiction in its own right but it has a number of clever and intriguing connections to Dracula. The horror elements of this book are fantastic, and the authors do a great job of highlighting the dread that surrounds the protagonists as they investigate the horrors that surround them and their family. There are a number of great scenes throughout this book where the characters encounter supernatural elements that slowly seek to drive them mad with fear or horror, and the attacks come from a variety of sources. I have to mention the fact that the monster who inspires Dracula is particularly fearsome in Dracul and the authors really paint him as a powerful and soulless being far beyond the comprehension of the human protagonists. I really loved the overall story of Bram and the other Stokers as they find themselves bound to this adventure at an early age and slowly encounter all the horrors around them. There are some very clever turns throughout this book, and there are some surprising twists. This is a great chronicle of Bram’s life and the writers even try to answer some interesting unanswered questions, like why Bram Stoker left instructions to have his body immediately cremated upon his death, an unusual custom for the time.

I really loved the way that this story is told, especially as Stoker and Barker have set large portions of this story out in a similar manner to the original Dracula novel. Like Dracula, a large part of Dracul’s story is told in an epistolary format, featuring a series of diary entries from Bram and Thornley Stoker, as well as several letters from Matilda Stoker. This serves to provide the reader with a large amount of backstory to the Stoker lives and show how they initially met their first vampire and the crazy events that followed them uncovering her secret. This epistolary format is used for around the first two thirds of Dracul, and these journal entries are interlaced with short chapters set in the story’s present, with Bram stuck at the top of a tower and an evil force trying to get into him. These scenes are particularly awesome, as they show strange forces trying to get through the door in front of Bram, while the protagonists utilise a number of techniques to force it back. As the book continues, the reader is given a view into why Bram is up in the tower, what he is facing and the truth to everything that is happening to him, revealing a completely different story than you were expecting. All of this is a fantastic and unique way to tell this story, and I felt it added a lot to the book, especially as the lack of knowledge about what Bram was facing in the tower at the start of the book really increased the book’s early horror elements. These notes are also an item within the story, as the characters combine their journals together and the letters to Nanny Crone appear in a number of places that the protagonists are exploring. At one point, the characters even arrange some of the older journals together to form a more coherent story, indicating that these journals and letters formed the basis of Bram Stoker’s original novel, and play into the idea that the events of Dracul could have actually happened.

While this book is a fantastic horror novel in its own right, fans of Dracula will appreciate how this book calls back to the original novel in a number of captivating ways. For example, the major character of Nanny Crone has her backstory explored at one point and her real name is revealed to be Countess Dolingen of Gratz. Fans of Stoker’s work may recognise her as a vampiric character featured in Bram Stoker’s 1914 short story, Dracula’s Guest. While very little about this character was revealed in Dracula’s Guest, Stoker and Barker flesh her out in this book, creating a fascinating backstory for her and an interesting connection to Dracula, perhaps even explaining why she featured in Dracula’s Guest. There are a number of other interesting features of Dracul that call back to the original novel. For example, a large part of Dracul is set in Whitby, England, a major setting in Dracula. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of real life historical figure Ármin Vámbéry as a major character in this book. Vámbéry, a noted scholar and a close friend of Bram Stoker, is considered by some to be the inspiration for Professor Van Helsing in Dracula, and in Dracul he plays a similar role, understanding the threat that is before them and providing the Stokers with the tools to fight against the Vampires. I also really appreciated the vampiric lore that Stoker and Barker put into Dracul, as the vampire characters only have the vampiric traits found around the time that Dracula was published, and not the ideas that have been included in more recent versions of the vampire legend. As a result, Dracul comes across as an intricate and clever tribute to Dracula, which fans of the original novel will greatly appreciate.

Dacre Stoker and J. D. Barker have produced an incredibly exciting and deeply fascinating novel that breathes new life into the familiar story of Dracula. Setting the plot around the life of a pre-Dracula Bram Stoker and his family is an amazing idea that works incredibly well to create a dark and captivating horror story. One of the more unique books of 2018, Dracul is definitely worth checking out, especially if you have an appreciation for one of fiction’s greatest and most iconic monsters.

My Rating:

Four and a half stars

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A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

On May 30, 2018August 23, 2022 By The Unseen LibraryIn Five-Star Books, Horror, Science Fiction5 Comments

Publisher: Hachette

Publication Date – 29 May 2018

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From the inspired mind of Raymond Villareal comes one of the most captivating and thought-provoking literary achievements of 2018. Have you ever wondered what would happen if vampires came into existence in the modern world? Villareal’s debut novel, A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising, explores the possibility of such an event through a comprehensive fictional oral history, much like Max Brooks’ observation of a zombie apocalypse in World War Z.

The body of a young woman in an Arizona morgue awakens and disappears into the night. This mysterious event will start a chain reaction around the world that no one could predict. The CDC investigator consulting on the case soon discovers that the woman was suffering from a mysterious disease with several incredible symptoms. Subjects are stronger, faster, suffer a violent reaction to sunlight, have unnaturally long lives and are utterly enthralling to humans. More importantly, they must consume blood to survive and can pass the disease on by biting another human. As attempts to quarantine the disease fail and additional bodies start disappearing, the world quickly realises that vampires are real and here to stay.

As more and more people are infected, many of those who have been turned begin to reintegrate back into society. These new creatures call themselves ‘gloamings’, finding the term ‘vampires’ to be derogatory. Soon, many of the rich and famous are flocking to the gloamings, hoping to join their ranks and be re-created. With their natural talents enhanced, the gloamings start accumulating significant wealth, power and influence as they infiltrate all levels of human society while attracting followers to their side. Gloamings infiltrate the government, powerful companies and the Catholic Church. One gloaming even begins a run for high political office.

However, not everyone is enamoured by the gloamings. A faction of the church is determined to stop the vampire incursion and has formed its own militia to fight gloamings throughout the world. Following a series of high profile cases, the FBI starts a taskforce focusing on crimes by gloamings. The original CDC investigator continues her research into the virus despite intense political and social pressure to stop. In New Mexico, a skilled political motivator soon discovers a terrible secret about his employers. This is the start of the vampire uprising; the world will never be the same.

Written in the format of a history book, A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising is an epistolary novel that uses a series of fictional documents and testimonials to tell the story. Villareal presents a large portion of the story within chapters representing testimonials from certain characters specifically taken for a history book. Other chapters are written in the format of important documents from the fictional world and are made to represent interrogation notes, congressional transcripts, government reports and articles in scientific and legal journals. In addition to these longer chapters, Villareal has also included numerous shorter entries that are presented as news stories, public interest articles, transcripts pulled from popular media sites, emails and the comments section of a message board. As a result of all these different formats and documents types, A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising has the uncanny feel of an actual history book, which is further reinforced by the inclusion of footnotes in most of the longer chapters, and three short appendices slipped into the back on the book. This is a marvellous way to structure the book and it speaks to Villareal’s skill that he was able to tell such a captivating narrative using this style of writing.

By employing fictional testimonies and documents originating from a number of different characters, Villareal is able to tell an extremely wide-reaching story about the introduction of vampires. Most of the longer chapters are written in the style of testimonies from characters in the United States, while many of the shorter articles show a wide view of the rest of the world. This allows Villareal to focus his main story in one specific country and focus his analysis on how the United States would react to such an event. At the same time Villareal is also able to illustrate a much wider story showing how the vampire uprising would affect the entire world. Exceptions to this are the chapters featuring the gloamings causing a religious and ideological schism within the church. These chapters focus the plot on characters throughout Europe and represent some of the more fascinating fictional postulations within A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising.

While the book contains numerous narrators, authors and interviewees telling their specific stories, Villareal is still able to produce a clear overall narrative about the introduction of vampires to the world. While Villareal initially has the individual narrators tell their own stories, eventually the characters meet and interact, allowing the multiple storylines to combine into one overarching plot. The smaller articles and extra details within some of the longer features also allow the reader to have an amusing examination about how some social groups and individuals may react to the introduction of vampires, including celebrities such as Taylor Swift. The end result is very well-done, overarching narrative that takes the multiple storylines within and turns it into an exciting and comprehensive overall plot.

While this is a piece of fiction, it also serves as an examination and critique of modern society. Villareal postulates that if vampires ever did appear society would be split between distrusting such creatures and worshiping them, while the rich, famous and powerful would all try to join them, turning the gloamings into the ultimate elitist clique. Villareal examines extremely plausible ways in which the gloamings could influence humans and attempt to win them to their side, with one chapter in particular describing how a vampire might win an election. The result is a perceptive and astute examination of current human nature that will leave readers spinning.

A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising is one of the most impressive books of the year. Raymond Villareal produces an insanely compelling story while using a unique and clever format that clearly highlights his skill and imagination. In addition to being incredibly entertaining, A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising is also an insightful piece of social commentary that will greatly amuse readers. This is a truly magnificent piece of fiction and an outstanding debut from Villareal.