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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
Rot and Ruin is one of my favorite books, and the best zombie novel I have ever read. Will you join Charlie Pink-Eye and his gang of murders? Or Benny and Tom and their band of samurai warriors who protect the Ruin?
3.5 stars
“Benny Imura couldn’t hold a job, so he took to killing.
It was the family business. He barely liked his family – and by his family he meant his older brother ‘Mr. Freaking Perfect Tom Imura’ - and he definitely like didn’t like the idea of ‘business.’ Or work. The only part of the deal that sounded like it might be fun was the actual killing.”
Benny and Tom live in a post-apocalyptic world that is mostly overrun by zombies. Though the small town they live is relatively safe, it is surrounded by the Rot and Ruin, where zombies roam free and very few humans would ever dare to go. Benny idolizes bounty hunters like Charlie “Pink-eye” Mathais and his partner, the Motor City Hammer, who go out into the Rot and Ruin to kill zombies. Benny’s brother Charlie is a bounty hunter too, but in Benny’s eyes he is not nearly as cool as Charlie and the Hammer. Benny still remembers First Night – the night that the zombie apocalypse began. Even though he was just a baby at the time, Benny has a memory of Tom running away with Benny in his arms as their parents are attacked and turned into zombies. So it’s only after trying every other job in the want ads that Benny agrees to join Tom in the family business – zombie hunting. Benny soon finds out there’s more to the family business than he ever could have imagined and that the real evil may lie within humans rather than zombies.
I avoided this book for while even though I was intrigued by the reviews. I think I was put off by the cover. It made me think, “This book will be either scary or gross or possibly both.” While there are definitely scary moments and gross moments, they do not dominate the book. It’s a great adventure story with relatable characters and relationships. The world of the book has a definite Wild West vibe, which I really enjoyed. It did take me a little while to get into the book as there is a lot of world building and not much plot as Benny and Chong search for jobs. At first Benny got on my nerves, but then I realized the things that were annoying me were very realistic teenage boy things, and he grows and matures throughout the book in a way that is very satisfying. Tom Imura is a great character as well, and the developing relationship between the two brothers adds depth to the novel. Some reviewers have commented that Tom could be very preachy, and I guess I can see their point. However, I did not find his conversations with Benny to be too lengthy nor did they take me out to of the book. It reminded me of For the Win by Cory Doctorow in that these occasional tangents were necessary for a deeper understanding of the characters and the world they live in. Overall, the book really exceeded my expectations and I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
“Benny Imura couldn’t hold a job, so he took to killing.
It was the family business. He barely liked his family – and by his family he meant his older brother ‘Mr. Freaking Perfect Tom Imura’ - and he definitely like didn’t like the idea of ‘business.’ Or work. The only part of the deal that sounded like it might be fun was the actual killing.”
Benny and Tom live in a post-apocalyptic world that is mostly overrun by zombies. Though the small town they live is relatively safe, it is surrounded by the Rot and Ruin, where zombies roam free and very few humans would ever dare to go. Benny idolizes bounty hunters like Charlie “Pink-eye” Mathais and his partner, the Motor City Hammer, who go out into the Rot and Ruin to kill zombies. Benny’s brother Charlie is a bounty hunter too, but in Benny’s eyes he is not nearly as cool as Charlie and the Hammer. Benny still remembers First Night – the night that the zombie apocalypse began. Even though he was just a baby at the time, Benny has a memory of Tom running away with Benny in his arms as their parents are attacked and turned into zombies. So it’s only after trying every other job in the want ads that Benny agrees to join Tom in the family business – zombie hunting. Benny soon finds out there’s more to the family business than he ever could have imagined and that the real evil may lie within humans rather than zombies.
I avoided this book for while even though I was intrigued by the reviews. I think I was put off by the cover. It made me think, “This book will be either scary or gross or possibly both.” While there are definitely scary moments and gross moments, they do not dominate the book. It’s a great adventure story with relatable characters and relationships. The world of the book has a definite Wild West vibe, which I really enjoyed. It did take me a little while to get into the book as there is a lot of world building and not much plot as Benny and Chong search for jobs. At first Benny got on my nerves, but then I realized the things that were annoying me were very realistic teenage boy things, and he grows and matures throughout the book in a way that is very satisfying. Tom Imura is a great character as well, and the developing relationship between the two brothers adds depth to the novel. Some reviewers have commented that Tom could be very preachy, and I guess I can see their point. However, I did not find his conversations with Benny to be too lengthy nor did they take me out to of the book. It reminded me of For the Win by Cory Doctorow in that these occasional tangents were necessary for a deeper understanding of the characters and the world they live in. Overall, the book really exceeded my expectations and I am looking forward to reading the sequel.
This one didn't totally blow me away, but it was okay. Recommend to teens who enjoy either zombie or adventure stories. Less appeal for teens who enjoy survival stories because Benny has an established home throughout most of the book. Not one that I would recommend to reluctant or struggling readers because of the sometimes complex prose and the length--look at Zom-B by Darren Shan for a similar topic for reluctant readers.
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
This was a fantastic read. The story pulls you in pretty quickly and once the action gets going, the pace turns it into a page-turner. This is really much more about humanity than about zombies. I like how the main character, Benny, acts like a realistic teenager and not some bad ass warrior just because he lives in a post-zombified world. At times, he's bratty, confused or vulnerable. The only thing that kept reminding me this was a young adult book was the font size. I'm looking forward to more of this story and I'd be way surprised if this book isn't made into a movie.
3.5 stars.
I started this book last year and got about 30% of the way through before I gave up and moved on to something else. I guess you could say it had a slow start, but it picked up from there! Pretty decent zombie novel, but I've read better. :P
I started this book last year and got about 30% of the way through before I gave up and moved on to something else. I guess you could say it had a slow start, but it picked up from there! Pretty decent zombie novel, but I've read better. :P
I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this book. At some level, I anticipated the traditional zombie-apocalypse with teenagers as the central characters. However, this book really teaches valuable life lessons and forces the reader to take a closer look at society.
Wanting to find the easiest and most entertaining job they can, Benny and Chong, his best friend, start trying out jobs they find listed in the help-wanted pages. After Chong finds his dream vocation up on the watch towers, Benny is left struggling to find something before his rations run out. Even though he hates his brother and thinks of him as a coward, Benny decides that becoming Tom's apprentice is the only option. Expecting a boring job of killing masses of undead for bounty money, Benny is faced with the horrible truth behind human nature in the Rot and Ruin—where there are no rules and those strong enough will take what they want . . . By any means necessary.
From start to finish, this book was engaging! Even though I understand Benny's feelings towards Tom, I couldn't fully understand why he felt zombie killing would be a boring job. After all, he loved to spend hours at a time listening to Charlie Pink-Eye and The Hammer talk about their zombie killing adventures. Using that as a judge, it was surprising to be how insistent he was on the boring nature of the job.
I felt that Maberry did a wonderful job fleshing out the characters as well as the surroundings. To me, the Rot and Ruin was as much a character as the people. Each deserted town, Lilah's cave, etc. had it's own personality. Further, even though the zombies were a vehicle for the plot, he manages to make them characters in his own right.
Maberry put a lot of thought and time into this work. He uses it to address deep issues of true human nature and the nature of evil. He questions whether zombies can really be called bad a or evil since they lack any awareness. They are driven by an insane hunger they cannot control, and, from all outward appearances, seem to have no brain function outside of this insatiable hunger for human flesh. Therefore, they cannot be blamed for their actions and those actions cannot be seen as malicious. The people, however, choose to torture zombies, throw lost children into pits with zombies for entertainment, and so on. Tom challenges Benny to look at the true monster in society.
The concept of the zombie being the "noble-savage" reminds me a great deal of The Last Man On Earth. What makes us human? What separates us from the animals? What keeps our baser instincts in check? This book was amazingly deep, engaging, and well extremely well written.
Wanting to find the easiest and most entertaining job they can, Benny and Chong, his best friend, start trying out jobs they find listed in the help-wanted pages. After Chong finds his dream vocation up on the watch towers, Benny is left struggling to find something before his rations run out. Even though he hates his brother and thinks of him as a coward, Benny decides that becoming Tom's apprentice is the only option. Expecting a boring job of killing masses of undead for bounty money, Benny is faced with the horrible truth behind human nature in the Rot and Ruin—where there are no rules and those strong enough will take what they want . . . By any means necessary.
From start to finish, this book was engaging! Even though I understand Benny's feelings towards Tom, I couldn't fully understand why he felt zombie killing would be a boring job. After all, he loved to spend hours at a time listening to Charlie Pink-Eye and The Hammer talk about their zombie killing adventures. Using that as a judge, it was surprising to be how insistent he was on the boring nature of the job.
I felt that Maberry did a wonderful job fleshing out the characters as well as the surroundings. To me, the Rot and Ruin was as much a character as the people. Each deserted town, Lilah's cave, etc. had it's own personality. Further, even though the zombies were a vehicle for the plot, he manages to make them characters in his own right.
Maberry put a lot of thought and time into this work. He uses it to address deep issues of true human nature and the nature of evil. He questions whether zombies can really be called bad a or evil since they lack any awareness. They are driven by an insane hunger they cannot control, and, from all outward appearances, seem to have no brain function outside of this insatiable hunger for human flesh. Therefore, they cannot be blamed for their actions and those actions cannot be seen as malicious. The people, however, choose to torture zombies, throw lost children into pits with zombies for entertainment, and so on. Tom challenges Benny to look at the true monster in society.
The concept of the zombie being the "noble-savage" reminds me a great deal of The Last Man On Earth. What makes us human? What separates us from the animals? What keeps our baser instincts in check? This book was amazingly deep, engaging, and well extremely well written.