Book! Feed, by Mira Grant
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
I love books.
This is a mild understatement. I adore books. I am addicted to books.
The good things about books are that, unlike heroin or LSD, you can carry as many books as you feel like without being arrested. You can indulge in them in public and no one minds too much if you've read too many. Also, on their own books won't make you fat.
Recently, I had some spare change and decided I'd buy a new book - Feed by Mira Grant, which promised to be a new sort of Zombie book. It caught my attention because it had a clever title, didn't appear to be another exploration of the world ending and had zombies in it. I'm not a massive fan of zombies, although I do like most of the Romero films and Shaun of the Dead. I'm generally quite happy to watch zombie flicks because they tend to be pretty predictable. Zombie fiction, on the other hand, has to be pretty interesting before it will really hold my attention.
Feed grabbed me by the lapels and wouldn't let me go. Eventually I had to slip out of my jacket and sneak away while it was gnawing on the collar.
It's about a trio of intrepid bloggers. Yes, bloggers. And it's set after the zombies have risen. Quite a long time after. It's a cunning book. On the one hand, Mira Grant gives me something like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail and at the plants the whole thing in a zombie infested future. On the other hand, she's writing something about the power of the "new" media and about the value of blogging, social media and citizen journalism. For those reasons alone this book is worth a read, but, you know, zombies. As a bonus.
I don't want to spoil the plot, because I want you to buy the book and read it so you'll tell all your friends about it. Instead of a breakdown, here's what worked and didn't work for me.
What Worked
The Characters.
At first, I thought the characters were not much more than pencil sketches. By half way through the story that opinion changed and I began to anticipate what they'd do. At one point, I can remember thinking "Ohhh, that's only going to make her mad", and I was right. Bloggers Georgia Mason and her brother Shaun are well realised and you will come to know them well even if you don't like them much. Georgia in particular is hard to like but easy to understand and sympathise with. This makes her a very successful character in my eyes because getting to know her is like getting to know a real person. Who says protagonists have to be nice?
She is also not feisty, sassy or spunky. She is committed, professional, honest, sarcastic and intelligent. She has integrity. She earns my respect. Not many protagonists have done that.
Here's a lesson for many other writers. Georgia is a strong female character without ever being a cliche. Probably because she's written by a woman, who writes male characters with equal facility and skill. It's so good to spend some time with a character who I'd actually enjoy the chance to meet in real life. Georgia has flaws and frailties, unlike a lot of other protagonists I've read recently, and it makes her more admirable and more interesting.
The Plot.
This is a book on the edge of several ideas and it juggles them all beautifully. I wanted to see more of the world, so I'm delighted that there are sequels, and I wanted to spend more time in the company of Georgia and Shaun. But, as the Rolling Stones say, you can't always get what you want and this is a book with Zombies in it. So, you know, it won't necessarily end well for everyone.
The Style.
This is not a book packed with purple prose of florid description, thankfully. I was left with the impression that the world might be quite a hard place to look at and, consequently, people might not pay much attention to static details because they'd be much more interested in the sort of detail that shambles, moans and eats people.
What Didn't Work
Almost nothing.
I was disappointed when the book ended. Luckily, Blackout and Deadline carry on the story and I'm looking forward at throwing money at them.
This is a mild understatement. I adore books. I am addicted to books.
The good things about books are that, unlike heroin or LSD, you can carry as many books as you feel like without being arrested. You can indulge in them in public and no one minds too much if you've read too many. Also, on their own books won't make you fat.
Recently, I had some spare change and decided I'd buy a new book - Feed by Mira Grant, which promised to be a new sort of Zombie book. It caught my attention because it had a clever title, didn't appear to be another exploration of the world ending and had zombies in it. I'm not a massive fan of zombies, although I do like most of the Romero films and Shaun of the Dead. I'm generally quite happy to watch zombie flicks because they tend to be pretty predictable. Zombie fiction, on the other hand, has to be pretty interesting before it will really hold my attention.
Feed grabbed me by the lapels and wouldn't let me go. Eventually I had to slip out of my jacket and sneak away while it was gnawing on the collar.
It's about a trio of intrepid bloggers. Yes, bloggers. And it's set after the zombies have risen. Quite a long time after. It's a cunning book. On the one hand, Mira Grant gives me something like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail and at the plants the whole thing in a zombie infested future. On the other hand, she's writing something about the power of the "new" media and about the value of blogging, social media and citizen journalism. For those reasons alone this book is worth a read, but, you know, zombies. As a bonus.
I don't want to spoil the plot, because I want you to buy the book and read it so you'll tell all your friends about it. Instead of a breakdown, here's what worked and didn't work for me.
What Worked
The Characters.
At first, I thought the characters were not much more than pencil sketches. By half way through the story that opinion changed and I began to anticipate what they'd do. At one point, I can remember thinking "Ohhh, that's only going to make her mad", and I was right. Bloggers Georgia Mason and her brother Shaun are well realised and you will come to know them well even if you don't like them much. Georgia in particular is hard to like but easy to understand and sympathise with. This makes her a very successful character in my eyes because getting to know her is like getting to know a real person. Who says protagonists have to be nice?
She is also not feisty, sassy or spunky. She is committed, professional, honest, sarcastic and intelligent. She has integrity. She earns my respect. Not many protagonists have done that.
Here's a lesson for many other writers. Georgia is a strong female character without ever being a cliche. Probably because she's written by a woman, who writes male characters with equal facility and skill. It's so good to spend some time with a character who I'd actually enjoy the chance to meet in real life. Georgia has flaws and frailties, unlike a lot of other protagonists I've read recently, and it makes her more admirable and more interesting.
The Plot.
This is a book on the edge of several ideas and it juggles them all beautifully. I wanted to see more of the world, so I'm delighted that there are sequels, and I wanted to spend more time in the company of Georgia and Shaun. But, as the Rolling Stones say, you can't always get what you want and this is a book with Zombies in it. So, you know, it won't necessarily end well for everyone.
The Style.
This is not a book packed with purple prose of florid description, thankfully. I was left with the impression that the world might be quite a hard place to look at and, consequently, people might not pay much attention to static details because they'd be much more interested in the sort of detail that shambles, moans and eats people.
What Didn't Work
Almost nothing.
I was disappointed when the book ended. Luckily, Blackout and Deadline carry on the story and I'm looking forward at throwing money at them.
1 comments:
Thank you. The idea and its fruition made me very happy
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