Mini-Review: “Impact” by Adam Baker (Hodder)

Superb fourth novel in Baker’s horror survival series

The world is overrun by an unimaginable horror. The few surviving humans are scattered in tiny outposts across the world, hoping for reprieve – or death. Waiting on the runway of the abandoned Las Vegas airport sits the B-52 bomber Liberty Bell, revving up for its last, desperate mission. On board – five crew members and one 10-kiloton nuclear payload. The target is a secret compound in the middle of the world's most inhospitable desert.

All the crew have to do is drop the bomb and head to safety.

But when the Liberty Bell crashes, the surviving crew are stranded in the most remote corner of Death Valley. They’re alone in an alien environment, their only shelter the wreckage of their giant aircraft, with no hope of rescue. And death is creeping towards them from the place they sought to destroy – and may already reside beneath their feet in the burning desert sands.

Impact is the gripping, suspenseful fourth novel set in Baker’s post-apocalyptic reality. Everything I liked about Terminus, the previous novel in the series, is evident here: the tightly-plotted story, the stripped-down prose, realistic characters, sinister atmosphere, and addictive, chilling suspense. From the first page until the last, I was hooked.

Short Fiction Review: “The Bloody Deluge” by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Abaddon)

A very good post-apocalyptic story from the author of the Shadows of the Apt series

WHEN THE WORLD ENDED...

The Cull swept the world in the early years of the twenty-first century, killing billions and ending civilisation as we know it. Only a fortunate few, blessed with the right blood, were spared. But in times of need, heroes rise. Leaders, soldiers, rebels – even children – take a stand, to hold back the tide of savagery and set a light in the darkness…

Katy Lewkowitz and her friend and old tutor Dr. Emil Weber, fleeing the depredations of the so-called New Teutonic Order, take refuge among the strangely anachronistic survivors at the monastery of Jasna Góra in Western Poland. A battle of faith ensues, that could decide the future of humankind…

This is the first non-fantasy story of Tchaikovsky’s that I’ve read. It is also the first story I’ve read from Abaddon Books’ Afterblight series. With that in mind, I approached it concerned that I would be lost, missing important backstory and context for this post-apocalyptic world. However, I was very pleased to discover that this works perfectly well without past experience with the series. It’s very well-written, and moves at a pretty brisk pace. This is a good story.

Hinterkind, Vol.1 – “The Waking World” (Vertigo)

Writer: Ian Edginton | Artist: Francesco Trifogli

In a post-apocalyptic world where humans have been pushed to the edge of extinction by the creatures of fantasy and fables, THE HINTERKIND tells the story of one young woman’s quest to fulfill her destiny and put the world right again.

Fifty-seven years after an unspecified biological event has all but wiped out the human race, a green hand has moved over the face of the Earth. Leaf, root and shoot have steadfastly smothered the works of man, remorselessly grinding the concrete, glass and steel back into the minerals from whence they came. Mother Nature is reclaiming what’s rightfully hers but she's not the only one…

The Hinterkind have returned. They come from hiding places in the lost corners of the world: Centaurs, Satyrs, Elves, Dwarves, Ogres, Trolls, Werewolves, Vampires…

They’re also known as “the Hidden,” “the Twilight People,” the “walkers-in-shadow,” collective names for the menagerie that mankind has hung its tales of myth and magic upon – but these aren’t fairy tale creatures. They are flesh, blood and passion, and they have a long simmering hatred of humanity.

They are a divergent species. Exotic evolutionary try-outs that couldn’t compete with the rapacious ape. Hunted to near extinction through fear and ignorance, they fled to the great forests and deserts, losing themselves in the shrinking wilderness of an ever-expanding world.

Now the wilderness is the world and mankind is in the minority.

Collects: HINTERKIND #1-6

This is a strange, promising, and yet somewhat flawed start to a new series.

The first issue presents a fantastic post-apocalyptic world – one in which human society has been near-destroyed, global populations brought to the brink of extinction. Our protagonists are based in Central Park, New York, and have built a working community: foraging for leftover items in the over-grown city around them, hunting the wildlife. It’s a stunning start, actually, and I was immediately drawn to the setting. The characters and writing were strong, and they were well-realised by the artwork.

“The Girl With All the Gifts” by M.R. Carey (Orbit)

A superb novel, one of my favourite so far this year

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her “our little genius”. Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh. Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favourite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

I have long been familiar with Carey’s comics work – mainly the amazing Lucifer and The Unwritten, both of which I am addicted to. It took me a long time to get around to reading this novel, though, for reasons I cannot quite figure out. Long-time readers of the blog will know I’m a fan of certain types of post-apocalyptic-zombie novels. The Girl With All the Gifts is absolutely brilliant, and one of this year’s Must Reads. I loved it.

“Prince of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence (Voyager/Ace)

Review by Abhinav

“Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me, I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother’s tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that’s true enough, but there’s something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse.”

From being a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg has the ability to master the living and the dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father’s castle, Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.

As I remarked in my review of Mazarkis Williams' The Emperor's Knife, I rarely do negative reviews. I fully support doing negative reviews, but I try and do as few of them as possible, since I’m far more interested in telling my readers about the great books that I’ve enjoyed reading. Mark Lawrence’s debut novel from last year, Prince of Thorns, unfortunately falls in the category of novels that I did not enjoy reading at all. It wasn’t as tough a read as The Emperor's Knife, but it was quite close.

Video Interview: ADAM BAKER

Bit of a change to the usual interview format this week. Adam Baker – author of Outpost and Juggernaut – decided to film his answers to my questions. So, without further ado, I pass things over to Mr Baker.

Enter video caption here

“Marksmen” #1-5 (Image)

Writer: David Baxter & Dave Elliott | Artist: Javier Aranda, Garry Leach & Jessica Kholine

Sixty years ago the oil ran out and debts were called in. Civil war followed that splintered America into warring fiefdoms. New San Diego is a technocratic utopia that offers the last bastion of peace and prosperity, provided you live within its walls. Drake McCoy is its best protector. McCoy, an expert marksman, defends the city from the numerous threats in the wasteland outside the walls. But when the oil rich Lone Star state sends a powerful army to steal New San Diego's energy technology, even Drake’s leadership and skill may not be enough to fend off the siege.

Marksmen is a post-economic-apocalypse mini-series. It takes the current dire economic state of America and extrapolates a worst-case scenario. Blending a number of post-apocalyptic tropes (feral gangs living in the wilds and cannibals, for example) with some original elements, this is a pretty good series. It has a few more flaws than I would ordinarily like, but it should still appeal to fans of the genre who want a short series to read.

Another Look: “The Reapers Are The Angels” by Alden Bell (Tor)

With the recent paperback release of Alden Bell’s highly praised post-apocalyptic zombie novel, here’s a new perspective on the novel. [Original review, by Shevaun, here.]

Reviewed by Shane Collins

Older than her years and completely alone, Temple is just trying to live one day at a time in a post-apocalyptic world, where the undead roam endlessly, and the remnant of mankind who have survived, at times, seem to retain little humanity themselves.

Temple has known nothing else. This is the world she was born into. Her journey takes her to far-flung places, to people struggling to maintain some semblance of civilization – and to those who have created a new world order for themselves.

When she comes across the helpless Maury, she attempts to set one thing right, if she can just get him back to his family then maybe it will bring forgiveness for some of the terrible things she's done in her past. Because Temple has had to fight to survive, along the road she's made enemies – and one vengeful man is determined that, in a world gone mad, killing her is the only thing that makes sense...

It is a standard of horror movies to wait until close to the final curtain to allow the audience a really decent look at the monster of the tale. When the director does let us stare into the eyes of the beast it is often in the moment of their death. I’ve always felt an uncomfortable tenderness in that brief period of staring. It is a final moment in which it is hard not to feel some kindred spirit with whatever alien creature has been chasing teenagers about this time. For this reason I often find zombies rather hard to hate. Unlike other monsters we frequently do get to stare at them long and hard, and indeed directors often draw great humour from moments of apparent familiarity in their strange behaviour.

Capsule Review: “The Reapers Are The Angels” by Alden Bell (Tor)

Reviewed by Shevaun

Intriguing, yet slightly flawed, Post-Apocalyptic Zombie fiction

Older than her years and completely alone, Temple is just trying to live one day at a time in a post-apocalyptic world, where the undead roam endlessly, and the remnant of mankind who have survived, at times, seem to retain little humanity themselves.

Temple has known nothing else. This is the world she was born into. Her journey takes her to far-flung places, to people struggling to maintain some semblance of civilization – and to those who have created a new world order for themselves.

When she comes across the helpless Maury, she attempts to set one thing right, if she can just get him back to his family then maybe it will bring forgiveness for some of the terrible things she's done in her past. Because Temple has had to fight to survive, along the road she's made enemies – and one vengeful man is determined that, in a world gone mad, killing her is the only thing that makes sense...

The Reapers Are The Angels is one of the year’s most hotly-anticipated novels in the post-apocalyptic genre. The novel is certainly entertaining and ticks many zombie-fiction boxes, but it is not without its faults or shortcomings.

“The Unit”, by Terry DeHart (Orbit)

A bleak family tale in a Post-Apocalyptic America

Jerry Sharpe is an ex-marine and, for him, survival means protecting his family by any means necessary.

Susan is learning just how far a mother will go for her children. But how far will she go for a man she doubted before the bombs fell? As Jerry’s training and instincts take over, she is certain of one thing – her children need her.

Melanie was going to go to college. Now, she is struggling to find a way to live in a world gone mad without losing sight of what she believes in.

Scotty has a new mission – more than survival. He was saved, and he’ll be damned if he won’t fight for what’s right.

And Bill – Bill was locked up, but the power went out and the guards left. Now he and his fellow inmates have realised that everything is free for the taking... if you’re strong enough to hold on to it.

The background for the novel is only revealed piecemeal, so just a quick summary: Turns out, the US government has told the people that terrorist bombs were set off in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. This lead to intense panic, a “survivalist heaven”, and the obligatory all-guns-blazing US retaliation against seemingly everyone foreign. The cycle of death is begun,

“And then people went all to pieces. There were plenty of guns and not enough food, and so here we are.”

The Unit feels pretty much exactly as you would imagine a post-apocalyptic survival tale would feel: bleak, dangerous, depressing. The novel is good, and DeHart is a confident writer, but I’d be lying if I said I found it particularly innovative or original to begin with. It was a little dull, I’m afraid. Partly, this is because it wasn’t clear what was going on (where, for example, are they walking to, and why?). It’s also not clear if or when anything interesting is going to happen. This meant that I contemplated putting the book to one side, but I chose to stick with it. I’m not the biggest fan of the genre, you see, which I should say coloured my impression of the book as a whole.

The multiple, frequently changing perspectives did strange things to the narrative - slowing it here, speeding it up there, derailing it from time to time, but not hiding the lack of activity or events. Also, strangely for something written in the first-person, you're never given enough time to get to know the characters - which is why one's feelings are a little disconnected and not what one would expect (though still acute) when Melanie is put through possibly the worst treatment imaginable for a woman. Bill Jr acts tough and cold on the outside, wanting his band of lost boy “pirates” to fear him, but also keen on gaining respect and warring with his unexpected desire to get to know Melanie beyond the physical.

DeHart’s understanding of the human spirit and human nature is the strongest aspect of this book. It becomes clear that the multiple perspectives is a device to take a look at the various personality types and traits that come out when people face adversity and tragedy, not to mention delve into the misunderstandings, selfishness, and egoistic internal monologues of his characters. Some of our narrators rise to the challenges of post-apocalyptic America with a sense that is almost pleasure (Scott, and certainly Bill Jr.); others hold on to long-remembered mores of yesterday and perhaps faith (Melanie and Susan); while others just get the job done (Jerry particularly, and also Bill Snr.). As the story develops, however, the characters go through changes, a hardening. In the case of the family, they grow closer and there are a few touching scenes as they draw strength from each other to get through the latest trial they are confronted by; while still retaining certain conflicts (internal or external) that all families must deal with and work through.

Melanie, the daughter, is the “peacenik” idealist who was meant to go off to Berkeley (she’s the typical bleeding-heart liberal, almost - hater of guns and “neocons”). Melanie is a difficult character to like at the beginning – her stubborn liberal ideals were annoying and self-defeating, and made it hard to empathise as much as we were perhaps meant to (I don’t want to spoil it, but something terrible – yet predictable – happens to her pretty early on in the novel). What redeemed her in my eyes was her continued capacity to care for others, despite what she goes through.

Scott has become more gung-ho, with a furious familial loyalty -“There’s only love and family now, and I’ll blow the shit out of anyone who threatens us. It’s down to love and hate, baby, and I’ve never felt so alive.” Scott’s probably the most fun character, as the disaster seems to have awakened his inner survivalist: of his life before, he says,

“There wasn’t any real meaning at all, that I could see, so shoot me if I don’t hate this new world. At least this shit isn’t boring.”

It is somewhat heart-warming to see the family pull together as they go on, and there’s clear character development throughout the novel. This redeemed the book for me, but I still didn’t enjoy reading this as much as I had hoped. The tale’s just so bleak, with only some occasional black humour to provide ‘levity’. You won’t finish this novel happy – rather, you’ll probably close it hoping the apocalypse never comes, but still consider stocking up on canned goods and looking into a firearms training course...

There’s a Wild West feel to some locales – as if the United States has regressed to the wild, lawless mentality of pre-expansion (there’s even an old-style saloon featured in Virginia City, adding to the wagons west feel – if only for a short while).

If I wanted to be glib, I would say this is a more commercial The Road by Cormac McCarthy, only with appropriate use of language and proper spelling. Bill’s crew are like a post-apocalyptic Lord of the Flies-with-guns crew, devolving into their baser, animalistic instincts (faster than most, given their delinquent, juvenile offender nature). It’s a bleak, brutal, and rather depressing.

“A writer can entertain, pull readers away from their daily troubles into worlds of speculation and, hopefully, small truths.”

The author says this in the interview included at the end of the book. DeHart’s The Unit is high on uncomfortable truths, but a bit too bleak for me to provide too much entertainment.

The most depressing thing about the book – and where its power lies – is that it’s entirely believable that in a post-apocalyptic world, there will be pockets of “civilisation” – not just in America, but all over the world – that will become this bleak and brutal.

Plenty of action, some excellent analysis of the human condition and human nature, this should appeal to fans of the post-apocalyptic genre of science fiction.

For Fans of: Cormac McCarthy, Alden Bell, Dark Future, Mad Max, The Book of Eli