David Moles

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(Spoilers within)

This is another case of 'I finished reading a while ago but I didn't have time to write a review'. But this was a very short story and I remember it fairly well.

I'm neither for nor against the zombie apocalypse genre. I think a zombie story can be done very well, but I don't get the current zombie craze. This was like a snippet of a zombie story.

The main protagonist is a small child named Tommy. He's about five, and traveling with his mother, who is only called "Mother" (fair enough, it probably would be the only name a child that young would know her by) and a man named Bill. They're being chased by zombies, or 'sweet ones', so they're driving away hoping to find someplace safe. They eventually come upon a house that they decide to try and barricade.

Some soldiers also happen to come to the same house later, and as a small group they try to defend it when the zombies get there. That's essentially the entirety of the story, leaving out the details of exactly what happens.

Before the soldiers arrive, Bill has been injured. Naturally, when the soldiers do show up they assume that his injury is from a zombie. They manage to argue for Bill to stay. "Mother" scratches her leg every now and then and I already knew what was going to happen. That isn't to say there wasn't any tension - this story paints some pretty frightening zombies. Not because they're super fast or anything, but because they're smart. They know to do things like reach inside of a door and turn the knob, or climb up and break in the second floor of a home.

That made me wonder how they had even survived this long. These zombies tracked them for miles and miles, got to the exact house they stopped at, and then proceeded to attempt various methods of getting in. If they knew the zombies could do this I'm not sure why they would bother stopping at anything other than a fortress. Mother and Bill had argued about whether to continue or not, and it seems like the only wise thing to do would be to check for supplies and continue. Your average home isn't going to be that secure when it comes to intruders that have no reason to fear to police or anyone else from stopping them.

Zombies make it into the kitchen because someone forgot to lock the door and one of the soldiers is killed. They barricade off that part of the house as best the can, then they hear something upstairs, and a soldier goes to clean up the upstairs rooms. All the while Bill is barely able to move because of his injury but tries to help and Mother keeps scratching her leg.

Tommy is left wondering if they're going to be able to keep 'the bad people' out. It is a tense situation (which, again, left me wondering how they survived this long if zombies are this resourceful, but I guess I can assume some people must have gotten lucky). The writing is fine and I was wondering if they were going to make it.

The biggest question for me was the ending. Not that I don't get what it was going for. Tommy is scared, and Mother hugs him to comfort him. Then she turns and bites him. The soldiers have to kill her and, because he's bitten, they kill Tommy, too. Bill's injury was the red herring, and while they were busy arguing whether it was okay to keep him around it turned out Mother was the one bitten the whole time. I wasn't surprised by that, I saw it coming the second she scratched her leg.

I didn't get her motivation. Did she not know she was bitten somehow? It seems like it would be hard to miss. If she knew and hid it, why? She knew she was going to be near Tommy and that she'd end up killing him that way. Was it part of the disease that she felt the urge to hide it until she could eat them? Her actions seem to be protective of him before she turns, so I'm not sure if that's it.

With how short the story is we don't get to know the characters very well or understand their motivations. I'm not even sure why Bill is traveling with them. I'm guessing they met up at some point, but maybe they knew each other before the zombie break out.

It's not bad. If all you're looking for is to read a short, desperate struggle, you would probably enjoy it. It's not long enough to get indepth with the characters it introduces. It doesn't stand out in any particular way to me, but I wasn't bored. I think it could be pretty good with some editing, and perhaps extending it. For me it needed more to it. With the short length of the novel most of the characters were little more than names and I was left wanting more explanation.

Read more reviews here.… (meer)

Twenty Epics

Edited By David Moles and Susan Marie Groppi

Publisher: All Star Stories

Published In: Berkekey, California, USA / Basel, Switzerland

Date: 2006

Pgs: 363

Summary:

Epics have lost their charm. There was a time when you finished an epic. When an epic left you feeling not discontent and exhausted, but joyous, melancholy, rejuvenated, satisfied…left you feeling that you were a better person for the experience.

Twenty Epics attempts to bring that feeling back.

In ten thousand words or less.

The best of the lot…

Cup and Table-love the characters and the story. Has great sweep and impact.

Have You Any Wool-love the villains. The psychic aliens making the fairy tales and stories of cultures solid and using them against their enemies is an awesome weapon.

The End of the Road for Hybeth and Grinar-feels like a great, long term DND game that has reached a spot where it can end…or coalesce into a new beginning.

The Rose War-the feudals using their vampire roses to conquer their enemies…and their allies is awesome. When the rose men arise in service to their queen…and their queen lays down with them to introduce their blood…pulp…whatever into the genetic heritage of the noble family…well…the story is well done.

Choose Your Own Epic Adventure-I give credit to the author for attempting it. It’s disjointed and a hard read, but credit and appreciation for the attempt.

The Rider-you don’t know if she’s just crazy or if she is just one of those aspects of War’s ritual as she explains it. She’s not the Walker or the Runner. She’s the Rider and when she shows up, it’s too late for all the other stuff. Too late for good or bad…it’s just time to die. You know…unless she’s really crazy like the guy who she’s been hitchhiking with suspects…but isn’t sure.

The Muse of Empires Lost-mankind has fallen. The people who live beyond the atmospheres of the planets have lost touch with the mudbound…and the ships, asteroids, and planetesimal colonies have largely lost touch and cohesion with each other…to the point that many don’t even realize that they are living within asteroids or ships.

Five Hundred and Forty Doors-Vikings fans/family war veterans go to Valhalla and together set about stopping Ragnarok.

Life Sentence-Groundhog Day meets The Shawshank Redemption meets Benjamin Button meets Dorian Gray meets The Bridges at Toko-Ri.

The Last Day of Rea-is the fall of empire with barbarians at the gate with magic and flying carpets, spaceships, and lasers.


Genre:

Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction

Main Character:

N/a

Favorite Character:

Carlsbad from Cup and Table. He’s a tarry, black void like Plastic Man mixed with Proteus and Armus from Star Trek: TNG. He’s rumored to be a fallen god or the immortal evil that lurks in the hearts of men…but he acts to help the Doctor and the Table stave off doomsday.

Least Favorite Character:

Scott William Carter from Epic, The. It’s just Flowers for Algernon wrapped differently.

Favorite Scene:

The moment in The Muse of Empires Lost when Jemmi stood up to Yee.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:

Some of the stories never clicked, but no real plot holes.

Last Page Sound:

Pretty cool.

Author Assessment:

I would take a long hard look at the authors of the stories that I liked. There are some pretty damned good ones in this book.

Disposition of Book:

Keep it! Re-read it!… (meer)