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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
I have been on a zombie reading frenzy lately – I see a zombie book and I must read it, I can’t help myself. And the books are coming fast and furious, especially in the YA area. Some are good, some are awful, and some are outstanding. Jonathan Maberry’s Rot and Ruin falls somewhere just shy of outstanding. It reeks of EPIC WIN.
So yeah, I love this book and before I go all fangirl over Tom Imura and squee my head off let me highlight why you should start this series:
1) It is very well-written -- that’s not always a given, even from talented authors -- see my review of David Moody’s [b:Autumn: The City|8723188|Autumn The City|David Moody|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317064078s/8723188.jpg|255395]. Moody is the man, but even he can write a zombie novel that sucks. Maberry has already established his reputation in the horror genre (his [b:Ghost Road Blues|125965|Ghost Road Blues (Pine Deep, #1)|Jonathan Maberry|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348799957s/125965.jpg|121320] snagged him a Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel). This is his YA debut and I’m impressed to say the least.
2) It is a highly charged, emotional story where some heavy shit goes down and you really fucking care who it’s happening to. This comes back to the all-important character development. I don’t scare if I don’t care, and I cared plenty here (even about the zombies!!!) Through the eyes of 15 yr old Benny Imura, we come to understand that zombies are not just mindless monsters out to gouge and consume humans. We see the tragedy of what they’ve become. Benny’s older brother Tom forces him to confront who they used to be:
3) It’s a fascinating examination of what fear does to people. Just imagine a world that survives an actual zombie apocalypse. As groups of survivors ban together in fenced enclaves to try and eke out a semi-normal existence, who will these people become? How will they interact with each other, with the world that’s left to them? I know it’s a personal bias of mine, but I figure a zombie novel hasn’t done its job if it doesn’t convincingly show that humans can be the real monsters. Maberry hits that out of the park and I want to smooch him for it.
I was going to put my sober, hyper-critical hat on and give this four stars, but piss on that. For all the reasons described above and more, I'm happy to give this book five, fat fearsome stars.
So yeah, I love this book and before I go all fangirl over Tom Imura and squee my head off let me highlight why you should start this series:
1) It is very well-written -- that’s not always a given, even from talented authors -- see my review of David Moody’s [b:Autumn: The City|8723188|Autumn The City|David Moody|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317064078s/8723188.jpg|255395]. Moody is the man, but even he can write a zombie novel that sucks. Maberry has already established his reputation in the horror genre (his [b:Ghost Road Blues|125965|Ghost Road Blues (Pine Deep, #1)|Jonathan Maberry|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348799957s/125965.jpg|121320] snagged him a Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel). This is his YA debut and I’m impressed to say the least.
2) It is a highly charged, emotional story where some heavy shit goes down and you really fucking care who it’s happening to. This comes back to the all-important character development. I don’t scare if I don’t care, and I cared plenty here (even about the zombies!!!) Through the eyes of 15 yr old Benny Imura, we come to understand that zombies are not just mindless monsters out to gouge and consume humans. We see the tragedy of what they’ve become. Benny’s older brother Tom forces him to confront who they used to be:
Look at that woman. She was, what? Eighteen years old when she died. Might have been pretty. Those rags she’s wearing might have been a waitress’s uniform once….She had people at home who loved her….People who worried when she was late getting home.So the zombies are not just plot devices or mere window dressing here; they serve a real purpose and are an important part of the story.
3) It’s a fascinating examination of what fear does to people. Just imagine a world that survives an actual zombie apocalypse. As groups of survivors ban together in fenced enclaves to try and eke out a semi-normal existence, who will these people become? How will they interact with each other, with the world that’s left to them? I know it’s a personal bias of mine, but I figure a zombie novel hasn’t done its job if it doesn’t convincingly show that humans can be the real monsters. Maberry hits that out of the park and I want to smooch him for it.
They held each other and wept as the night closed its fist around their tiny shelter, and the world below them seethed with killers both living and dead.4) Tom Imura – squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited over a character from a book and reading as much YA as I do, most male protagonists are still battling hormones and attitude. But not Tom. Tom is in his 30s. He is a survivor. He is a specialist. He has been forged in battle and now is as strong and unbending as his katana - (no, not that! ... the Japanese long sword he uses). In a world that's been plunged into Hell and lived to tell about it Tom has retained his humanity. He is deep and soulful and will kick your ass in 2 seconds flat. He’s a mix of Master Li Mu Bai from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Morpheus from The Matrix, and my beloved Dean Winchester from Supernatural. How could a girl NOT fall in love?
I was going to put my sober, hyper-critical hat on and give this four stars, but piss on that. For all the reasons described above and more, I'm happy to give this book five, fat fearsome stars.
Zombies have taken over the world. Benny and his older brother have survived the first night and live in a fenced in town free of zombies. Benny is turning 15 and must find a job, so that he can keep receiving the same amount of rations. After trying several jobs, he decides to finally give his brother's occupation a chance. Tom is a bounty hunter, he seeks specific zombies and puts them down. Benny has always thought that his brother was a coward, but going out to the rot and ruin with his brother changes everything Benny has accepted about the world.
Overall this was a great zombie book that I liked. However, it has too much gore for girls and too much romance for boys (this is not to say that they can't read it and I am making a terribly gross generalization, but it does not follow the standard protocol in a bad way). It took me a minute to get into, super slow to start. Benny was irritating and seemed much younger than he was. In the end it came back around, but it took some time to get there.
Overall this was a great zombie book that I liked. However, it has too much gore for girls and too much romance for boys (this is not to say that they can't read it and I am making a terribly gross generalization, but it does not follow the standard protocol in a bad way). It took me a minute to get into, super slow to start. Benny was irritating and seemed much younger than he was. In the end it came back around, but it took some time to get there.
Finally, a zombie book that doesn't leave me ashamed of having read it! Far from perfect, but worlds better than [b:Feed|169756|Feed|M.T. Anderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266487672s/169756.jpg|163928], [b:World War Z|8908|World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War|Max Brooks|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165766703s/8908.jpg|817], and others I've read.
Wow.
To be fair, there was one thing that really irritated the crap out of me when it came to this book... coffee. I feel like coffee should have been a luxury, not something that the residents of Mountainside drank like water...
Other than that I found this book to be quite simply amazing.
To be fair, there was one thing that really irritated the crap out of me when it came to this book... coffee. I feel like coffee should have been a luxury, not something that the residents of Mountainside drank like water...
Other than that I found this book to be quite simply amazing.
No other zombie books are very satisfying after the Newsflesh trilogy. I liked this book, but I just kept wanting more info about how the zombies worked. Mayberry is doing interesting things in humanizing the "Zoms." I like Benny's development in the story--coming to realizations about the people, and zombies, around him. In some ways this book was annoyingly YA, and it also takes itself too seriously, but it was fun. The ending was satisfactory to me. I don't think I'll be reading more of this series.
A great comic book read. Although it’s not from the point of view of the zombie, Rot and Ruin takes a kinder, gentler look at zombies and sheds a tear for the people behind the monsters.
The characters are fairly flat and lack depth and motivation for their actions, and the pace drags a bit in the beginning, but in the end the adventure keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you’re a comic book fan, this one is for you.
The characters are fairly flat and lack depth and motivation for their actions, and the pace drags a bit in the beginning, but in the end the adventure keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you’re a comic book fan, this one is for you.
At first glance it might be easy to peg Jonathan Maberry's Rot & Ruin as just another zombie. However, doing so does this teen-centric title a huge disservice. Rot & Ruin for all its violence and actions manages to tell a fascinating and emotionally engaging story about life after the rise of the undead. The novel focuses on the life of young Benny Imura. Benny, about to turn 15, must find a job or have his rations cut by half. His utter dislike of his zombie hunting older brother Tom sees him trying to find somewhere, anywhere else, to work. Unfortunately for Benny (or so he thinks) circumstances force him to take an apprenticeship under his brother.
The most clever thing about Rot & Ruin, and something I have never seen in the burgeoning mass of zombie fiction is precisely what the zombie hunters are hired to do. Benny, like the reader, are seriously misinformed to some degree about the role of zombie hunters. For Benny his perceptions is informed by his earliest memories of his mother being brought down by his zombified father; his hatred of zombies sees him focus on that part of the zombie hunter's job. Readers, likely informed by past experience with zombie media, are similarly biased. However the true nature of the zombie hunter job, particularly as it is perceived by Benny's older brother Tom, is something completely different.
Those of us who grew up on the seminal zombie classic, Romero's Night of the Living Dead (and the original Dawn of the Dead) often have our own preconceived notions about zombies and zombie fiction. Those notions are so ingrained that it is often difficult to see beyond what we know to the large picture. Finally with the explosion of zombie presence in a variety of media (television, comics, video games, books, movies all in the last 3-5 years) we art starting to see some works beginning to explore some aspects of zombie fiction that we have yet to see. Books like World War Z, Rot & Ruin, The Dead Tossed Waves, and even John Ajivde Lindqvist's Handling of the Undead owe more to novels like Earth Abides than they do to the world and works of George Romero. It is extremely rewarding to see these novels starting to tackle the social, political, and emotional effects that the walking dead have on people beyond the immediate need for survival. It is easy to focus on the horror of the living dead. It is much more difficult to extrapolate the emotional impact of the living dead; thankfully Rot & Ruin handles it with a deceptive and often surprising ease.
In addition to crafting a believable emotional landscape for his characters Maberry also deftly casts a believable post-apocalyptic world. Using and liquid made of rendered zombies (I think that was the primary component) to mask human scent, the notion that zombies naturally gravitate downhill, and a cult centered around the living dead all represent some small touches Maberry uses to give his world a more fleshed out feel. The brunt of the novel rests on the shoulders of its characters and their relationships. Maberry crafts a believably complicated relationship between the Imura brothers, with Benny's childish resentment for his brother slowly changing over time as the nature of Tom's work becomes more apparent. The confused teenage romance between Benny and his friend Nix is also handled deftly never overdrawn it manages to be cute without be cloyingly sweet and Benny's stumbles over the course of the relationship are amusing foibles of youth.
While many people might be growing a bit weary under the deluge of zombie fiction that seems to have been flooding the market over the last few years it is still refreshing to see that author's can shed the cliches and tropes of the genre to craft fascinating and original stories. With Rot & Ruin, Maberry has cast a familiar world with a fresh light. While the zombies are certainly a pervasive presence the real focus is on the people that exist in this world. Rot & Ruin is a novel about being human in face of inhumanity; even when that face is a familiar one (and not always undead). Rot & Ruin is the first in a series and the second novel, Dust & Decay, should be available today.
The most clever thing about Rot & Ruin, and something I have never seen in the burgeoning mass of zombie fiction is precisely what the zombie hunters are hired to do. Benny, like the reader, are seriously misinformed to some degree about the role of zombie hunters. For Benny his perceptions is informed by his earliest memories of his mother being brought down by his zombified father; his hatred of zombies sees him focus on that part of the zombie hunter's job. Readers, likely informed by past experience with zombie media, are similarly biased. However the true nature of the zombie hunter job, particularly as it is perceived by Benny's older brother Tom, is something completely different.
Those of us who grew up on the seminal zombie classic, Romero's Night of the Living Dead (and the original Dawn of the Dead) often have our own preconceived notions about zombies and zombie fiction. Those notions are so ingrained that it is often difficult to see beyond what we know to the large picture. Finally with the explosion of zombie presence in a variety of media (television, comics, video games, books, movies all in the last 3-5 years) we art starting to see some works beginning to explore some aspects of zombie fiction that we have yet to see. Books like World War Z, Rot & Ruin, The Dead Tossed Waves, and even John Ajivde Lindqvist's Handling of the Undead owe more to novels like Earth Abides than they do to the world and works of George Romero. It is extremely rewarding to see these novels starting to tackle the social, political, and emotional effects that the walking dead have on people beyond the immediate need for survival. It is easy to focus on the horror of the living dead. It is much more difficult to extrapolate the emotional impact of the living dead; thankfully Rot & Ruin handles it with a deceptive and often surprising ease.
In addition to crafting a believable emotional landscape for his characters Maberry also deftly casts a believable post-apocalyptic world. Using and liquid made of rendered zombies (I think that was the primary component) to mask human scent, the notion that zombies naturally gravitate downhill, and a cult centered around the living dead all represent some small touches Maberry uses to give his world a more fleshed out feel. The brunt of the novel rests on the shoulders of its characters and their relationships. Maberry crafts a believably complicated relationship between the Imura brothers, with Benny's childish resentment for his brother slowly changing over time as the nature of Tom's work becomes more apparent. The confused teenage romance between Benny and his friend Nix is also handled deftly never overdrawn it manages to be cute without be cloyingly sweet and Benny's stumbles over the course of the relationship are amusing foibles of youth.
While many people might be growing a bit weary under the deluge of zombie fiction that seems to have been flooding the market over the last few years it is still refreshing to see that author's can shed the cliches and tropes of the genre to craft fascinating and original stories. With Rot & Ruin, Maberry has cast a familiar world with a fresh light. While the zombies are certainly a pervasive presence the real focus is on the people that exist in this world. Rot & Ruin is a novel about being human in face of inhumanity; even when that face is a familiar one (and not always undead). Rot & Ruin is the first in a series and the second novel, Dust & Decay, should be available today.
At first glance it might be easy to peg Jonathan Maberry’s Rot & Ruin as just another zombie novel. However, doing so does this teen-centric title a huge disservice. Rot & Ruin for all its violence and actions manages to tell a fascinating and emotionally engaging story about life after the rise of the undead. The novel focuses on the life of young Benny Imura. Benny, about to turn 15, must find a job or have his rations cut by half. His utter dislike of his zombie hunting older brother Tom sees him trying to find somewhere, anywhere else, to work. Unfortunately for Benny (or so he thinks) circumstances force him to take an apprenticeship under his brother.
The most clever thing about Rot & Ruin, and something I have never seen in the burgeoning mass of zombie fiction is precisely what the zombie hunters are hired to do. Benny, like the reader, are seriously misinformed to some degree about the role of zombie hunters. For Benny his perceptions is informed by his earliest memories of his mother being brought down by his zombified father; his hatred of zombies sees him focus on that part of the zombie hunter’s job. Readers, likely informed by past experience with zombie media, are similarly biased. However the true nature of the zombie hunter job, particularly as it is perceived by Benny’s older brother Tom, is something completely different.
Those of us who grew up on the seminal zombie classic, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (and the original Dawn of the Dead) often have our own preconceived notions about zombies and zombie fiction. Those notions are so ingrained that it is often difficult to see beyond what we know to the large picture. Finally with the explosion of zombie presence in a variety of media (television, comics, video games, books, movies all in the last 3-5 years) we art starting to see some works beginning to explore some aspects of zombie fiction that we have yet to see. Books like World War Z, Rot & Ruin, The Dead Tossed Waves, and even John Ajivde Lindqvist’s Handling of the Undead owe more to novels like Earth Abides than they do to the world and works of George Romero. It is extremely rewarding to see these novels starting to tackle the social, political, and emotional effects that the walking dead have on people beyond the immediate need for survival. It is easy to focus on the horror of the living dead. It is much more difficult to extrapolate the emotional impact of the living dead; thankfully Rot & Ruin handles it with a deceptive and often surprising ease.
In addition to crafting a believable emotional landscape for his characters Maberry also deftly casts a believable post-apocalyptic world. Using and liquid made of rendered zombies (I think that was the primary component) to mask human scent, the notion that zombies naturally gravitate downhill, and a cult centered around the living dead all represent some small touches Maberry uses to give his world a more fleshed out feel. The brunt of the novel rests on the shoulders of its characters and their relationships. Maberry crafts a believably complicated relationship between the Imura brothers, with Benny’s childish resentment for his brother slowly changing over time as the nature of Tom’s work becomes more apparent. The confused teenage romance between Benny and his friend Nix is also handled deftly never overdrawn it manages to be cute without be cloyingly sweet and Benny’s stumbles over the course of the relationship are amusing foibles of youth.
While many people might be growing a bit weary under the deluge of zombie fiction that seems to have been flooding the market over the last few years it is still refreshing to see that author’s can shed the cliches and tropes of the genre to craft fascinating and original stories. With Rot & Ruin, Maberry has cast a familiar world with a fresh light. While the zombies are certainly a pervasive presence the real focus is on the people that exist in this world. Rot & Ruin is a novel about being human in face of inhumanity; even when that face is a familiar one (and not always undead). Rot & Ruin is the first in a series and the second novel, Dust & Decay, should be available today.
The most clever thing about Rot & Ruin, and something I have never seen in the burgeoning mass of zombie fiction is precisely what the zombie hunters are hired to do. Benny, like the reader, are seriously misinformed to some degree about the role of zombie hunters. For Benny his perceptions is informed by his earliest memories of his mother being brought down by his zombified father; his hatred of zombies sees him focus on that part of the zombie hunter’s job. Readers, likely informed by past experience with zombie media, are similarly biased. However the true nature of the zombie hunter job, particularly as it is perceived by Benny’s older brother Tom, is something completely different.
Those of us who grew up on the seminal zombie classic, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (and the original Dawn of the Dead) often have our own preconceived notions about zombies and zombie fiction. Those notions are so ingrained that it is often difficult to see beyond what we know to the large picture. Finally with the explosion of zombie presence in a variety of media (television, comics, video games, books, movies all in the last 3-5 years) we art starting to see some works beginning to explore some aspects of zombie fiction that we have yet to see. Books like World War Z, Rot & Ruin, The Dead Tossed Waves, and even John Ajivde Lindqvist’s Handling of the Undead owe more to novels like Earth Abides than they do to the world and works of George Romero. It is extremely rewarding to see these novels starting to tackle the social, political, and emotional effects that the walking dead have on people beyond the immediate need for survival. It is easy to focus on the horror of the living dead. It is much more difficult to extrapolate the emotional impact of the living dead; thankfully Rot & Ruin handles it with a deceptive and often surprising ease.
In addition to crafting a believable emotional landscape for his characters Maberry also deftly casts a believable post-apocalyptic world. Using and liquid made of rendered zombies (I think that was the primary component) to mask human scent, the notion that zombies naturally gravitate downhill, and a cult centered around the living dead all represent some small touches Maberry uses to give his world a more fleshed out feel. The brunt of the novel rests on the shoulders of its characters and their relationships. Maberry crafts a believably complicated relationship between the Imura brothers, with Benny’s childish resentment for his brother slowly changing over time as the nature of Tom’s work becomes more apparent. The confused teenage romance between Benny and his friend Nix is also handled deftly never overdrawn it manages to be cute without be cloyingly sweet and Benny’s stumbles over the course of the relationship are amusing foibles of youth.
While many people might be growing a bit weary under the deluge of zombie fiction that seems to have been flooding the market over the last few years it is still refreshing to see that author’s can shed the cliches and tropes of the genre to craft fascinating and original stories. With Rot & Ruin, Maberry has cast a familiar world with a fresh light. While the zombies are certainly a pervasive presence the real focus is on the people that exist in this world. Rot & Ruin is a novel about being human in face of inhumanity; even when that face is a familiar one (and not always undead). Rot & Ruin is the first in a series and the second novel, Dust & Decay, should be available today.
The best YA zombie book I have come across in a while, perhaps ever. I liked the characters, I liked the plot, I liked the world. There wasn't the type of whining that other zombie books are plagued with (I'm talking to you Forest of Hands and Teeth). The main character is a 15 year old boy who is complex enough but not too emotional and there are many strong female characters. I am looking forward to reading the next in the series.