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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Such enjoyable guilty pleasure reading. Just scary enough.
I enjoyed this, though I probably shouldn't have read it when I did because it set my heartrate off. It wasn't as good as World War Z, but it was better than I expected. Brooks really knows how to write convincing dialogue, it didn't feel forced or hokey at any point, and he accurately captured the misplaced confidence of city dwellers in the face of emergency.
I have very mixed feelings about this book.
I'm a horror junkie who loves me some Bigfoot—and, so, I was very excited to get this book when it came out. Max Brooks' World War Z was an interesting take on the zombie apocalypse genre, and so I wanted to see what he did with America's famous great ape legend.
And that's where the mixed feelings come in.
A lot of research went into this. Brooks is well-versed in the Bigfoot mythology. Everything shows up in here. Howling, whooping, tree-knocking, rock-throwing—it's all there. It also looks like he did his research on ancient great apes, like the Gigantopithecus. Because of this, the fictional interviews that appear in the book—mostly focusing around ape behavior—were fascinating and did a great job of ramping up the tension.
But the story itself? Eh. The book is supposed to be taken from a journal of a woman living in a small, isolated community in the shadow of Mount Rainier. The journal entries start out realistic enough; but they quickly devolve into just an ordinary first person narrative.
Here is an excerpt:
I feel strangely calm, alert, focused.
I'm ready.
Another howl. Closer.
Here we go.
No one writes their journals like this. I could give dozens of examples of passages like this throughout the book. At first, I thought that maybe it was on purpose. At the beginning of the book, it's hinted that people think the journal might be a hoax (since its subject matter is Bigfoot); and that would make sense—a journal that reads like a first person horror novel WOULD definitely set off "its a hoax" alarm bells. But, nope, by the end, it's made clear that the authorities and scientists believe its contents to be a real account of Bigfoot, so the journal itself is just... supposed to be written like that.
I get that Max Brooks likes writing these monograph-like novels that are supposed to read like a real world history book, or a book written by a journalist, but if you're going to write the journal entries as a first person story—just write the first person story. "Dracula" manages to tell its entire story off of scraps of letters and journal passages, so I think it isn't asking too much for Max Brooks to do the same.
The rest of the story is pretty typical of animal attack stories. Replace Bigfoot with wolves and you've got the plot of THE GREY, that one movie Liam Neeson did a few years back. Hell, even a few Sci-Fi Bigfoot movies have the same (or a similar) plot. And that's ultimately why this book is three stars. Well written if one can get past the unrealistic journal entries. Decent suspense, great action. But just an overall predictable and overdone plot.
3 out of 5.
I'm a horror junkie who loves me some Bigfoot—and, so, I was very excited to get this book when it came out. Max Brooks' World War Z was an interesting take on the zombie apocalypse genre, and so I wanted to see what he did with America's famous great ape legend.
And that's where the mixed feelings come in.
A lot of research went into this. Brooks is well-versed in the Bigfoot mythology. Everything shows up in here. Howling, whooping, tree-knocking, rock-throwing—it's all there. It also looks like he did his research on ancient great apes, like the Gigantopithecus. Because of this, the fictional interviews that appear in the book—mostly focusing around ape behavior—were fascinating and did a great job of ramping up the tension.
But the story itself? Eh. The book is supposed to be taken from a journal of a woman living in a small, isolated community in the shadow of Mount Rainier. The journal entries start out realistic enough; but they quickly devolve into just an ordinary first person narrative.
Here is an excerpt:
Spoiler
Fear and anxiety. I've lived with the latter all my life. Now it's gone. The threat is here.I feel strangely calm, alert, focused.
I'm ready.
Another howl. Closer.
Here we go.
No one writes their journals like this. I could give dozens of examples of passages like this throughout the book. At first, I thought that maybe it was on purpose. At the beginning of the book, it's hinted that people think the journal might be a hoax (since its subject matter is Bigfoot); and that would make sense—a journal that reads like a first person horror novel WOULD definitely set off "its a hoax" alarm bells. But, nope, by the end, it's made clear that the authorities and scientists believe its contents to be a real account of Bigfoot, so the journal itself is just... supposed to be written like that.
I get that Max Brooks likes writing these monograph-like novels that are supposed to read like a real world history book, or a book written by a journalist, but if you're going to write the journal entries as a first person story—just write the first person story. "Dracula" manages to tell its entire story off of scraps of letters and journal passages, so I think it isn't asking too much for Max Brooks to do the same.
The rest of the story is pretty typical of animal attack stories. Replace Bigfoot with wolves and you've got the plot of THE GREY, that one movie Liam Neeson did a few years back. Hell, even a few Sci-Fi Bigfoot movies have the same (or a similar) plot. And that's ultimately why this book is three stars. Well written if one can get past the unrealistic journal entries. Decent suspense, great action. But just an overall predictable and overdone plot.
3 out of 5.
A very entertaining read.
While Kate’s journal seems far too detailed to be real, it’s a cool way of transmitting the story to the narrator.
In the right hands, this could be a great horror movie.
While Kate’s journal seems far too detailed to be real, it’s a cool way of transmitting the story to the narrator.
In the right hands, this could be a great horror movie.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loved this new novel by Max Brooks! Seriously creeped me out when I went camping after reading it!
I was surprisingly delighted by Brooks' [b:World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War|8908|World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War|Max Brooks|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528312647l/8908._SX50_.jpg|817]. I thought it would be silly and thoughtless, but it turned out to be an unusually well-thought-out examination of what a zombie outbreak and aftermath might look like (the zombies actually had difficulties when the temperatures dropped too low, which I don't see come up often enough). The large and talented cast made the audio particularly wonderful. The movie version was disappointingly generic, but the book was excellent.
So I had high hopes for Devolution, which I thought would have a similar flavor but with a new focus on Bigfoot. I am not a Bigfoot believer, but I have always been intrigued by him. I grew up in the PNW (Bigfoot Ground Zero) and had a teacher who searched for Bigfoot and purportedly found tracks.
My absolute favorite part of this book was both the science about apes and the pseudoscience about Bigfoot. Brooks does a good job of making these fact (and "fact") sections lively and fascinating, and he ties together many ideas to give a good basis for the "real" existence of Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti. I had never known, for instance, that Gigantopithecus was a true prehistoric giant ape that "could" be the basis for Bigfoot.
If this was just science and pseudoscience around Bigfoot, I would have given this book a solid 5 stars. Unfortunately, Brooks throws in the most pathetic excuse for characters as monsterbait, which I wish the monsters had eaten faster. (Too) much of this book is the "found" journals of Kate Holland, a meek worrywort who has moved to the eco-friendly planned community of Greenloop designed by tech genius Tony, who is explicitly compared to Elon Musk. Tony and his model wife Yvette live in this planned community, with a handful of other households of the rich and the famous. When Mt. Ranier erupts, everyone is trapped and a clan of Bigfoot (feet?) are driven out of their traditional hunting grounds straight to the unprepared Greenloop.
It feels like Brooks wanted to lazily recreate a zombie apocalypse scenario where there's a group of survivors with no help on the way. But it doesn't work here. First, I don't care how many budget cuts there have been (Brooks' excuse), Mt. Ranier would still be monitored and there would still be some warning it might explode. Second, I highly doubt Seattle would start rioting within days. Third, I 0% believe that a marketed, on-the-map community like Greenloop, where the equivalent of Elon Musk is currently residing would not be rescued for the entire winter because of the excuse of "the government help lines are busy and their family/friends can't get through!" No one from Tony and Yvette's life could charter a helicopter to land on the convenient helicopter pad that is in place in the middle of Greenloop?
Brooks was also all over the place with the characterization of his hapless monster munch. The ONLY character that was worth the ink was Mostar, the cranky, direct, ruthless elderly survivor of the Croat-Bosniak War of 1993-94 who basically single-handedly drags her neighbors into some semblance of readiness. Everyone else was...like a mockery of what people think the liberal elites are. No one has guns (I refuse to believe that Tony, the 2013 version of Elon Musk wouldn't have some high-powered expensive arms. And suspicious war survivor Mostar wouldn't have firepower? Yeah, right). But they also had no survival supplies. Has Brooks been to Portland or Seattle or the PNW? These are rich folks who want to live in the woods. They want to camp/hike/backpack and can afford ridiculous amounts of the best gear to do so. NO ONE has a room full of brand new REI gear? None of them backpack (or buy the gear because they're convinced they will backpack)? They don't have a box of Mountain House freeze dried meals? And no one puts up a garden besides Kate (who is bullied into it by Mostar)? I would believe in Bigfoot before I believe that not a single affluent, liberal stereotype who wants to live in a forest is a gardener. The problem is that Brooks is not even consistent with his characterizations - it's not how these characters may actually react to this situation, it's what he needs them to do for the plot he wants (which is: everyone is useless and monster fodder until a big final confrontation). The most ridiculous were Tony and Yvette, who are poised to be antagonists who fight for leadership with Mostar after the eruption, and then because the plot isn't interested in that anymore they literally disappear from the narrative for days and it turns out that I was even disappointed with the tactics that the survivors use in the Ranier Sasquatch Massacre - some of them were clever, but they never took advantage of the higher ground (second story/roofs). I would have preferred a long period of them being, you know, worth something, and an effective siege instead of them being useless until one final underwhelming battle. Then the ending was even more stupid:
P.S. Do books have product placement these days like TV shows? I swear Halo Top ice cream paid for product placement in this book. It is the only ice cream any of these folks eat and Kate is ecstatic about the taste of stevia (?!?) (literally: "the cold mix of cream, ice, and sweetener cocktail: sugar, stevia, and what, heaven?" - seriously is this Halo Top ad copy??). Brooks even throws in a line to highlight Halo Top's extra protein! I get calorie conscious Kate eating Halo Top, but the character who hoards it is actually an old, conceited male academic. He seems more like someone who would eat full cream and sugar ice cream, like Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Dazs.
P.P.S. I did like the full cast audio narration. Like World War Z, the audiobook is worth it. I do wish they had sprung for sound effects, though. Bigfoot would sound scarier with some real growls.
So I had high hopes for Devolution, which I thought would have a similar flavor but with a new focus on Bigfoot. I am not a Bigfoot believer, but I have always been intrigued by him. I grew up in the PNW (Bigfoot Ground Zero) and had a teacher who searched for Bigfoot and purportedly found tracks.
My absolute favorite part of this book was both the science about apes and the pseudoscience about Bigfoot. Brooks does a good job of making these fact (and "fact") sections lively and fascinating, and he ties together many ideas to give a good basis for the "real" existence of Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti. I had never known, for instance, that Gigantopithecus was a true prehistoric giant ape that "could" be the basis for Bigfoot.
If this was just science and pseudoscience around Bigfoot, I would have given this book a solid 5 stars. Unfortunately, Brooks throws in the most pathetic excuse for characters as monsterbait, which I wish the monsters had eaten faster. (Too) much of this book is the "found" journals of Kate Holland, a meek worrywort who has moved to the eco-friendly planned community of Greenloop designed by tech genius Tony, who is explicitly compared to Elon Musk. Tony and his model wife Yvette live in this planned community, with a handful of other households of the rich and the famous. When Mt. Ranier erupts, everyone is trapped and a clan of Bigfoot (feet?) are driven out of their traditional hunting grounds straight to the unprepared Greenloop.
It feels like Brooks wanted to lazily recreate a zombie apocalypse scenario where there's a group of survivors with no help on the way. But it doesn't work here. First, I don't care how many budget cuts there have been (Brooks' excuse), Mt. Ranier would still be monitored and there would still be some warning it might explode. Second, I highly doubt Seattle would start rioting within days. Third, I 0% believe that a marketed, on-the-map community like Greenloop, where the equivalent of Elon Musk is currently residing would not be rescued for the entire winter because of the excuse of "the government help lines are busy and their family/friends can't get through!" No one from Tony and Yvette's life could charter a helicopter to land on the convenient helicopter pad that is in place in the middle of Greenloop?
Brooks was also all over the place with the characterization of his hapless monster munch. The ONLY character that was worth the ink was Mostar, the cranky, direct, ruthless elderly survivor of the Croat-Bosniak War of 1993-94 who basically single-handedly drags her neighbors into some semblance of readiness. Everyone else was...like a mockery of what people think the liberal elites are. No one has guns (I refuse to believe that Tony, the 2013 version of Elon Musk wouldn't have some high-powered expensive arms. And suspicious war survivor Mostar wouldn't have firepower? Yeah, right). But they also had no survival supplies. Has Brooks been to Portland or Seattle or the PNW? These are rich folks who want to live in the woods. They want to camp/hike/backpack and can afford ridiculous amounts of the best gear to do so. NO ONE has a room full of brand new REI gear? None of them backpack (or buy the gear because they're convinced they will backpack)? They don't have a box of Mountain House freeze dried meals? And no one puts up a garden besides Kate (who is bullied into it by Mostar)? I would believe in Bigfoot before I believe that not a single affluent, liberal stereotype who wants to live in a forest is a gardener. The problem is that Brooks is not even consistent with his characterizations - it's not how these characters may actually react to this situation, it's what he needs them to do for the plot he wants (which is: everyone is useless and monster fodder until a big final confrontation). The most ridiculous were Tony and Yvette, who are poised to be antagonists who fight for leadership with Mostar after the eruption, and then because the plot isn't interested in that anymore they literally disappear from the narrative for days and it turns out that
Spoiler
they have apparently both had a complete mental breakdown in less than 2 weeks since the eruption and just became shut-ins. Tony and Yvette are portrayed as charismatic narcissists - no way would this be both of their reactions.Spoiler
Kate and the child Palomino both survive and it's implied that they disappear into the wilderness to hunt Sasquatches?!? First of all, how did Kate become an expert butcher of Sasquatch meat after ONE demonstration on a rabbit by Mostar. And second, they have no cold weather camping gear, no wilderness survival skills, and apparently only have dried Sasquatch meat to live on(did they even eat the organs where many of the key nutrients are?!?). I hope Kate and Palomino enjoy getting scurvy. And I have no belief that canonically scrawny (and now malnourished) Kate and a child can take on a giant ape in hand-to-hand combat. Even with a weapon, the height and strength advantage would be incredible. And it's not like Kate or Palomino have any first aid or field medicine ability for when they inevitably do get injured).P.S. Do books have product placement these days like TV shows? I swear Halo Top ice cream paid for product placement in this book. It is the only ice cream any of these folks eat and Kate is ecstatic about the taste of stevia (?!?) (literally: "the cold mix of cream, ice, and sweetener cocktail: sugar, stevia, and what, heaven?" - seriously is this Halo Top ad copy??). Brooks even throws in a line to highlight Halo Top's extra protein! I get calorie conscious Kate eating Halo Top, but the character who hoards it is actually an old, conceited male academic. He seems more like someone who would eat full cream and sugar ice cream, like Ben & Jerry's or Haagen Dazs.
P.P.S. I did like the full cast audio narration. Like World War Z, the audiobook is worth it. I do wish they had sprung for sound effects, though. Bigfoot would sound scarier with some real growls.
A bit slow at the beginning for my taste, but definitely picked up in the second half.
I’ve never read horror before, but this was a fun read. A bit slow and annoying in the beginning, but immensely exciting at the end. The interviews had me wondering if Sasquatch is really real.