Rhiannon Frater

Was the writing this awful in the first two books? Most likely it was, but there was too much happening to notice, or I was distracted by the zombies. What I notice now is that someone got out her thesaurus and did her very, very best to replace every single "said" with another verb. They confided, decided, answered, suggested and scoffed. It sounds like that point when you know your writing is lacking in skill and sophistication, and you are trying to jazz it up, but can't think of what to do. Then there's the weak attempt to add descriptors. A bit in the pine trees had me annoyed with its 'fragrant' needles and 'crackling' needles (which were they? a little herb secret: usually fragrant and dried don't go together). Even a gun-toting super-Loca couldn't save me when I read about the zombies' "delighted moans" as they chomped on a human feast. Oh-oh. Is someone channeling a romance novelist?

"Siege" begins with a variation on the last two books, the image of Jenni waiting for her baby to poke his fingers under her bedroom door. She's fallen asleep on a supply run, and is rudely awakened by a zombie slathering at her car door. They pick up a few more survivors on the way home, after another zombie altercation, and integrate them into fort life, with the exception of Rune, a Harley-loving medium (as in "I see dead people," not the size. Actually, he's a rather large guy). Troubles at the fort peak again, leading to one of the few incongruities I've noticed in the series--an evil character shoots someone in the chest and they stay dead. The violence results in the survivors realizing they lack medical equipment (!), and the solution is to make a run on a hospital, which have been "notorious death traps" (we know this because every character says or thinks so) due to the outbreak first being treated as an illness. The hospital scene is done in best zombie movie style, but it surprised me that we are on book three and the survivors still seem to be failing the learning curve for fighting zombies. On the way out, two of the scavengers are hijacked by a military unit contemplating action against the fort.

One thing you can say about Frater is, she knows her character tropes. There isn't much subtlety in the forces of human selfishness here, and that's a shame. Blanche, the fort "Whore of Babylon" (as labelled by Frater in the chapter heading), and her sister, the equally selfish and evil senator, are described without nuance, and run true to every rich-witch stereotype, even though they apparently grew up in the trailer park. They had multiple plastic surgeries, are racist, have affairs, are obsessed with material goods, manipulate men through sex, believe might makes right, and most importantly, they foolishly believe the normal world will return and their wealth will still have meaning. Zombies are such an obvious villain; the interesting part of apocalypse novels is what happens with the human element, and by depriving the antagonists of subtlety, Frater minimizes the drama and opportunities for deeper meaning in her book.

Speaking of tropes, when the Vigilante was revealed, I was completely unsurprised, except by the apparent effort to turn him into a schitzophrenic. What a character cop-out--she should have left the character the courage of conviction without mental illness.

Ah well, it is what it is, right? Filled with all the best zombie tropes(except for the ones where the heroes turn into zombies as well), it's about what one could expect. This book in the series was a little more self-consciously referential. A little more mystical. I believe there may have been talk of a savior that sounded suspiciously like Terminator. But it was a fast read, a pleasant break, and now the series is done. Hurray for book OCD.… (more)

I blame it on Trudi.

I started off rather indifferently, forcing myself through the opening scene of a troop of young recruits heading into battle against the living dead, otherwise known as the Inferi Scrouge. It's a powerful visual image (which is why it is used in combat movies) but there isn't enough emotional investment, and when next scene opens a year later, it causes mental whiplash. Maria, the lead we followed into combat, is waking up in bed with one of the commanders of the assault. The cheerful domesticity is no doubt meant to contrast with the earlier bloody battle, as well as a set point for 'happy' against the troubles to come (standard in the disaster genre). As an aside, Maria comes from a Dominican/Puerto Rican heritage which seems to not matter at all for the plot. Kudos, Frater.

As the story progressed, I was thankful someone seems to have hired a fabulous editor, as the glaring immaturity of the writing in her "As the World Dies" series was a serious barrier to enjoyment. However, while her writing has greatly improved, some Fraterisms still snuck through:
--"The large, long rectangular guns perched on the city wall were boxy in appearance due to the many barrels packed on top of each other."
--"Blood, bone and viscera poured onto the dry soil."
--"Blackness surged up to claim her, and she fought not to drown in it. Pulling herself onto her elbows, her body felt numb and her helmet was gone."
--"A smile flitted across his lips."
--"Glancing back, she saw Dwayne heading in the opposite direction."
I kind of liked it, though--my eyes haven't gotten enough exercise lately and needed some rolling action. Frater's still on a mission to avoid the word 'said' during dialogue, no matter how convoluted the result. In chapter one, for instance, Maria and the Commander muttered, yawned, answered, teased, promised, vowed, sighed, reminded, exhaled, protested, decided, and whispered. It feels forced enough that I find myself longing Charlie Huston's style in Joe Pitt, notable for a lack of dialogue markers.

Chapter one didn't pull me in either; it mostly provided personal events in the past year while building a romance worthy twu luv. Elements of a bossy family, infertility issues, and keeping the relationship secret all began to sound a lot more like modern chick-lit than I hope for with my zombie books, but Trudi suggested perseverance. Of course, she was right.

The story changed again, becoming a transformative, soldier-team-against-all-odds with a zombie twist I absolutely did not see coming. Frater deserves applause just for that idea. The story had me interested until halfway through (literally, per Kindle) where it transformed again, turning into a conspiracy story. While the conspiracy was mildly interesting, the feeling that Frater might have over-reached herself started to nag. It solidified as the conspiracy became more complicated: Super intelligent zombies? A shadowy power grab? Virus manipulation? Aliens?? Optometrist stat! I pulled an eye muscle. Too much, too much. Frater isn't China Mieville and she brought in more concepts than she could adequately deal with.

In regards to world building, I remained annoyed with the advanced technology civilization encountering the zombie apocalypse. There's some things I'm able to overlook, but when Frater drew attention to the technology or societal problems like electrical shortages, I was drawn out of the story and into the logistical puzzle of the society For instance, why would you train your soldiers using holographic simulations when there isn't enough power? Or run trains at all? Ultimately, the society just didn't make sense to me and it started to feel like it was created strictly as a backdrop for plot points. Still, damn if Frater didn't grab me with her zombie plot twist and leave my technological and societal issues in the dust, at least for a little while.

However, one remarkable idea and interest in half a book with noticeable world and language issues isn't enough to push that third star to shine. Two and a half stars.

Spoilery thoughts:



1) The futuristic technology was poorly done. I suppose she felt she needed some device so inside people could communicate with outside people, thus sustaining her love story.

2) The historical timeline was odd--if you have a society that can build a monorail in a mountain valley, why aren't they devoting those resources to the zombie apocalypse? You can build a 12 foot wall, farms, ranches and aquifers, but not secure it adequately or have back-up plans?

4) Which leads me to the doomsday cult--an interesting idea in the zombie apocalypse. It didn't go far enough, so it ended up feeling like a deus ex machina for why the wall came down and the Scourge was able to enter. I was also puzzled as to why this remained a community puzzle--the government didn't want to blame it on terrorists? Or the terrorists didn't claim the destruction? I fully expected the cult to pop up again--maybe they should have been collaborating with the zombies.

5) The intelligent zombies controlling the Scrouge. At this point, narrative became a little ridiculous, and Frater had to quickly invent new names to help us differentiate all the different types of zombies. Again, interesting idea if it is based on virus mutation. But because what Frater was really focused on was the protagonist survival/love story, it didn't go very far.

6) A doctor that throughout the story has been extremely loyal to the research cause turns out to have botched the research by 'sneaking in' the original virus. Deus ex machina actions again--I didn't believe it from one of the few carefully created characters.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/06/16/the-last-bastion-of-the-living-a-futur...… (more)

At the heart of it, aren't most zombie books/movies the same? The crisis starts and the challenge becomes dodging flesh eaters while reuniting and rediscovering humanity. One of the things I love about the apocalypse is that everyone is prey. Division of sexes, ages, races, sexualities all become so arbitrary when it's human versus undead. What do people do then? Further divide or overcome difference?

This book? Cherry Twizzlers all the way, baby. You know, you eat one and it's cherry goodness, so maybe you have another because you're hungry and are working a 12 hour shift. Kind of satisfying to chomp on. And before you know it, you've eaten half a bag of licorice and suddenly feel vaguely ill, still hungry and wondering why on earth you ate all that licorice?

For a nice overview, check Andrea's review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/322571578 She's right, characterization is rather awful. There's numerous logical problems and there's a large helping of zombie tropes. Word choice was simple and at the proverbial sixth-grade level of adult eduction material. There was a terribly awkward four-way love/sex interest. And yet.

And yet I still couldn't put it down, except when I had to take a break because I was getting too apprehensive about the hordes of zombies chasing our heroines.

I guess if you include zombies, a married lesbian and a German shepherd puppy, I can forgive a lot.… (more)

Sometimes when a plan goes awry, it still works out as intended, side effects and all. After finishing Frater's first book, [b:The First Days|9648068|The First Days (As The World Dies A Zombie Trilogy #1)|Rhiannon Frater|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1312075271s/9648068.jpg|5431515], I quickly ordered the sequel from the library, planning to save it for a slow and deadly boring night of the living dead shift. Unfortunately, I was placed 'on-call,' which meant while I didn't have to work that moment, it was quite possible in the next eight hours I would be needed for brains to work. I celebrated my night almost-off by staying up afraid of zombies to read "Fighting," taking another hour to ratchet down from zombie-caused tension and ended up being up until 4 a.m. anyway, accomplishing the goal of reading and wakefulness--however unnecessary.

Briefest of summaries: survivors are walled off in a town center post-zombie apocalypse. Survivors are trickling in, putting pressure on space and resources. The goal becomes expanding into a store block for resources, and a nearby hotel to provide living space. Relationships continue to grow among the central characters, and individuals continue to deal with emotional fallout after having their loved ones turned into zombies. As the camp is taking a breather, internal malcontents trouble the group's unformed justice system, followed by problems from external marauders.

A bundle of improvements since the last book made it more compelling than the last. Similarly to the first book, the plot moves briskly along, making this a quick and engaging read. There are plenty of zombies, all the better to eat you entertain. you. As far as writing style, there was more sophistication in word choice, making for a better reading experience. However, there is still a tendency to describe repetitively people in single notes, which seems more of an author issue with characterization. Jenni, one of our heroines, is the loca one, Nerit is the icy sharpshooter, Curtis the red-faced inexperienced cop, etc. I get that a large group of people new to each other might tend to repetitively generalize, but eventually it's too easy for the author and the shortcuts make for shallow graves characters that are defined by one or two traits.

Speaking of characterization, my hackles rose a little when it was pointed out the bisexual character was finally in "comfortable shoes and casual t-shirts." Because, isn't that where all lesbians bisexuals (yes, we are still making an issue of her sexuality in this book) prefer to be? And why did the heavyset young black female come with stereotypical gay-boi sidekick with equally stereotypical dialogue? The rich people were right out "Rich Snob Here" character casting, and it is only a matter of time before the trophy wife becomes zombie bait. Honestly, Frater, you aren't being inclusive in the post-apocalypse community if the only thing you are including are stereotypes.

Still, the zombie bits are done well, and the (as always) living human meat-heads in and outside the fort are providing much of the threat. The scenes clearing the hotel were hair-raising and contained the full shiver-inducing complement of horror movie tropes. I devoured read that section very quickly! I also give Frater full credit for a creative set-up for her survival situation. The downtown construction site is creative and seems possible, with the materials enabling survivors to build sturdy zombie-barriers. However again, the brief appearance of the internet was a bit much. CB radio is slightly more believable, as the tech and electricity is so much lower.

I can't seem to help it; despite the aforementioned glaring problems, it was an addictive read, and I've got the next book on hold at the library. I guess that tells you all you need to know about the book, or about my addiction. I wonder if there's an opening in Z.F.A.? (Zombie Fans Anonymous)

Three stars for being a challenge to survive put down.… (more)