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8th out of 53 books
—
74 voters
This Dark Earth
by
John Hornor Jacobs (Goodreads Author)
The land is contaminated, electronics are defunct, the ravenous undead remain, and life has fallen into a nasty and brutish state of nature. Welcome to Bridge City, in what was once Arkansas: part medieval fortress, part Western outpost, and the precarious last stand for civilization. A ten-year-old prodigy when the world ended, Gus is now a battle-hardened young man. He d...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
July 3rd 2012
by Gallery Books
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I picked this book up not because I'm a fan of a good zombie book (even though I am), but solely on the strength of the reviews of his debut novel Southern Gods.
No, I haven't read it, but I will now.
This Dark Earth takes us from the beginning of the zombie apocalypse through the early development of a new civilization. Not treading a whole lot of new ground here are we?
And I think that's what's blowing me a way with this book is that it's nothing new, but at the same time it felt fresh and vibr...more
No, I haven't read it, but I will now.
This Dark Earth takes us from the beginning of the zombie apocalypse through the early development of a new civilization. Not treading a whole lot of new ground here are we?
And I think that's what's blowing me a way with this book is that it's nothing new, but at the same time it felt fresh and vibr...more
32 likes · like · see review
view all 13 comments
Let me lay all the cards on the table and let me tell it to you in a straight and simple way of what we have here before us.
In this story John Hornor Jacobs has put before us a case of
the good, the bad and the ugly!
The Good = a mum, son and a father = courageous, survivors and fighters.
The Bad = the Slavers = enslave women and men, selfish and want to control the living.
The Ugly = the Shamblers = the undead, cannibals and ugly.
The scene is set the desolate earth the dark earth of ruin and destru...more
In this story John Hornor Jacobs has put before us a case of
the good, the bad and the ugly!
The Good = a mum, son and a father = courageous, survivors and fighters.
The Bad = the Slavers = enslave women and men, selfish and want to control the living.
The Ugly = the Shamblers = the undead, cannibals and ugly.
The scene is set the desolate earth the dark earth of ruin and destru...more
16 likes · like · see review
Apr 29, 2013
Carol
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
committed zombie readers only
Recommended to Carol by:
Seak (Bryce L.)
Shelves:
apocalypse,
zombies
And the award goes to Gallery Books for Most Deceptive Cover Ever, with a second award for the Most Misleading Book Blurb in the Zombie Genre.
My blurb? Seven interconnected stories follow a doctor, her son and a trucker as the zombie apocalypse goes down. The son is a cold-blooded Messiah figure while the trucker provides him with emotional guidance. Humanity remains largely cruel and selfish, although some people will martyr themselves for the good of the herd. Let the rebuilding commence!
*****...more
My blurb? Seven interconnected stories follow a doctor, her son and a trucker as the zombie apocalypse goes down. The son is a cold-blooded Messiah figure while the trucker provides him with emotional guidance. Humanity remains largely cruel and selfish, although some people will martyr themselves for the good of the herd. Let the rebuilding commence!
*****...more
21 likes · like · see review
Cross-posted on Readerling
So, I was recently watching The Dark Knight Rises, and kind of craughing to myself about what a brilliant expression of post-9/11 fascism it is. I don't mean the term "fascist" in its sloppy usage of "stuff I don't like" or "dad", but the more old school definition of authoritarian militarism that positions the arbiter of justice not in law, but in an idealized übermensch, you know, with your usual racial and nationalistic overlay on what makes the mensch über. Bad guy...more
So, I was recently watching The Dark Knight Rises, and kind of craughing to myself about what a brilliant expression of post-9/11 fascism it is. I don't mean the term "fascist" in its sloppy usage of "stuff I don't like" or "dad", but the more old school definition of authoritarian militarism that positions the arbiter of justice not in law, but in an idealized übermensch, you know, with your usual racial and nationalistic overlay on what makes the mensch über. Bad guy...more
40 likes · like · see review
The zombie thing has been done - gore, brain eating, fast and slow - and for the most part, there's been a reliance on tropes. A few novels play with these tropes, turning them on their heads, making them something new, creating stories with heft or humor or gravitas. S.G. Browne's BREATHERS comes to mind as does WORLD WAR Z, and now so should THIS DARK EARTH. Gripping and intelligent, the cover declares it a zombie novel, but you'll find it to be so much more.
Full post at www.bookgasm.com:
Two scuzzy, “spun” meth-heads take their first glance out the window after a few days’ sabbatical from the world and get a glimpse of apocalypse: They see a small girl, a vision of “innocence,” approaching a fierce-looking Rottweiler, and they fear for her. And then the dog crouches in fear, cowers away, and the child leaps for it. Hearts hammering, they shriek and close the curtain. A couple moments later, they cautiously peek back out.
Innocence is standing two fe...more
Two scuzzy, “spun” meth-heads take their first glance out the window after a few days’ sabbatical from the world and get a glimpse of apocalypse: They see a small girl, a vision of “innocence,” approaching a fierce-looking Rottweiler, and they fear for her. And then the dog crouches in fear, cowers away, and the child leaps for it. Hearts hammering, they shriek and close the curtain. A couple moments later, they cautiously peek back out.
Innocence is standing two fe...more
2 likes · like · see review
Standard zombie-apocalypse fare. Not too badly written, but the point of view changes from character to character, and you only have one first-person pov at a time. It's a unique way to tell a story, but I don't see how it made the story better. I subtracted a few stars for inaccurate use of medical terminology, the use of graphic rape scenes to villify his villain, and a transparent use of the novel to air the author's idea that an interstate overpass is a good locale for a survivor settlement...more
Kind of up and down. Some parts I really enjoyed, others...not so much.
To call the beginning over-the-top is likening a nuclear explosion to a "sizable bang". I thought it was far-fetched. Like Sandra Bullock jumping a gap in a bridge with a metro bus far-fetched. I also thought the medical jargon was unnecessary was well, other than to show that, yes, Dr. Ingersol really *was* a doctor. But if you like frenetic action in the opening sequence of your books, this one definitely delivers.
Another...more
To call the beginning over-the-top is likening a nuclear explosion to a "sizable bang". I thought it was far-fetched. Like Sandra Bullock jumping a gap in a bridge with a metro bus far-fetched. I also thought the medical jargon was unnecessary was well, other than to show that, yes, Dr. Ingersol really *was* a doctor. But if you like frenetic action in the opening sequence of your books, this one definitely delivers.
Another...more
That was my worry, if I’m honest - like the Twi-hard copyists, there does seem to be a glut of zombie fiction out there at the moment. I’m not complaining and if it’s selling, good for them; whatever rubs your Buddha. And I’m not ruining the book for you by telling you this: there’s zombies in it it - lots and lots of zombies.
What I liked about John’s second book was that everything changes when the zombies arrive and yet, everything stays the same. Humans don’t change over night into a bunch of...more
What I liked about John’s second book was that everything changes when the zombies arrive and yet, everything stays the same. Humans don’t change over night into a bunch of...more
The reviews on this book wax poetic on how fantastic this was so I think this kind of skewed my expectations somewhat which may have dropped my eventual rating. The plot of this is very much typical of any book in the zombie genre - people escaping during the intitial chaos, and then rebuilding and fighting off potential disaster in the form of both zombies and evil humans.
Jacobs has a good ear and the book is well written for the genre but it wasn't ground breaking or anything new or particula...more
Jacobs has a good ear and the book is well written for the genre but it wasn't ground breaking or anything new or particula...more
I've been in a post-apocalyptic mood lately (I'm sure the election tomorrow has NOTHING to do with it) and a friend of mine recommended this book (she was the one responsible for acquiring the book for the publisher, in fact), so I checked it out from the library.
First off, it's an easy and fast read; I finished in two days. Second, while the book contains plenty of the standard zombie cliches I expected, it does still manage to throw in a couple of unique twists and turns, just enough to keep m...more
First off, it's an easy and fast read; I finished in two days. Second, while the book contains plenty of the standard zombie cliches I expected, it does still manage to throw in a couple of unique twists and turns, just enough to keep m...more
If there is one thing you Elitist Book followers are aware of about me it has got to be the number of things I don't like in fiction - and how good authors can subvert these preferences and make me eat crow. So in another installment of "Things Nick Hates" I present you (drumroll please) zombies. I'm sorry, but they bore me. I used to like them and I still hold onto the belief that THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE and WORLD WAR Z are some of my favorite books of all time. Still, there is a saturation o...more
ineedabookbrenna.wordpress.com
I have an obsession with zombies. It's weird and twisted, I know. When I think about the horror movies that have left me most terrified and the only ones that really come to mind are zombie related: 28 days later, 28 weeks later, Dawn of the Dead, even the sketch comedy / horror versions like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead leave me with vivid nightmares. I think it has something to do with the fact that everyone you know and love becomes a monster. Oh, and the fac...more
I have an obsession with zombies. It's weird and twisted, I know. When I think about the horror movies that have left me most terrified and the only ones that really come to mind are zombie related: 28 days later, 28 weeks later, Dawn of the Dead, even the sketch comedy / horror versions like Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead leave me with vivid nightmares. I think it has something to do with the fact that everyone you know and love becomes a monster. Oh, and the fac...more
zombies - end of the world stuff - but this story is told from different points of views over a few years - first there is Lucy, a doctor, and Knock-out - the trucker with whom she survives with and who helps her save her young son Gus. Then Gus picks up the narrative as a group have created a 'city' to withstand the zombies. But it turns out that the zombies aren't really the danger - that is being managed - it is the expected arrival of a group of humans/slavers lead by someone so evil and dan...more
I really wanted to like this book. And I don't like giving harsh reviews because writing is a very personal thing and there's no sense in being overly critical. I'll just list some of my observations and the things I did not like about this book.
The book was set in Arkansas, which I was very excited about because I am from Arkansas. That being said, some of the geography was inaccurate (I-40 is not anywhere near White Hall or Arkadelphia). I know that may be a nit-picky thing to get distracted f...more
The book was set in Arkansas, which I was very excited about because I am from Arkansas. That being said, some of the geography was inaccurate (I-40 is not anywhere near White Hall or Arkadelphia). I know that may be a nit-picky thing to get distracted f...more
This is a zombie experience like no other...
Let me explain.
Though there are zombies galore in this book (I mean, of course there are...It's a zombie book. Duh!)
This book is about so much more than the shambling undead.
It is stories of people who survive the end of the world as we know it and the creation of another as they come to understand it.
The dialogue and situations are raw and real, as they would be in any war. This is after all a collection of stories detailing a fight to the death for t...more
Let me explain.
Though there are zombies galore in this book (I mean, of course there are...It's a zombie book. Duh!)
This book is about so much more than the shambling undead.
It is stories of people who survive the end of the world as we know it and the creation of another as they come to understand it.
The dialogue and situations are raw and real, as they would be in any war. This is after all a collection of stories detailing a fight to the death for t...more
Um, that was nightmarish. Damn.
And: Pynchon-inspired paragraph!
And: Pynchon-inspired paragraph!
Absolutely the best horror, zombie,end of the world, apocalyptic book I have read. This dark earth by John Hornor Jacobs hits the ground running from page one to the last page and leaves you begging for more. The main characters are Lucy, a self-reliant hard working doctor who is better with the microscope than dealing with patients, her son Gus a 10 year old who's world has turned into a living nightmare and Knock-Out, a trucker who comes into their lives at the right or wrong time, you decide....more
Once again, Jacobs' storytelling skills and excellent character development make a tale of zombies a fun and engrossing read. Set in Arkansas and told from the perspective of several different characters, this apocalyptic story explores human behavior and needs--the good and the bad--when left without rules and authority. We see people rise to an occasion for leadership and others sink to abysmal levels becoming the worst kind of dictators. It was a little bit "The Road," a little bit "I Am Lege...more
I'm not normally a fan of the zombie genre. A friend gave the kindle version of this book and I read it with some reservations. My reservations were unfounded. Instead of the standard tropes of the genre, the author presents a plausible world with well developed characters. Instead of people making stupid decisions, his characters take acts that are both believable and intriguing. It has the grittiness you come to expect from zombie novels and such without letting it overwhelm the human aspect....more
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This is the zombie novel to end all the zombie novels. There is much garbage written in that genre, but this demands both your seriousness and admiration. Covering the ENTIRE scope of a zombie apocalypse, from D-Day to the new, clan-based societies emerging from its ashes. There are many narrators for the different turning points of the story, giving it a fresh outlook every time. It's a fascinating, exhilarating and sometimes stomach-turning read that will keep your innards tied into a knot. Ja...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A solid 3 1/2 stars- if you want a good zombie read, pick this one up.
Things I enjoyed:
Bridge City: It is what it sounds like, a city on a bridge. A pretty amazing way to keep yourself protected from zombies and as far as I know, a unique idea in zombie-lit (?) Given that I'm from the City of Bridges, I now have a strategy when the zombies finally get here.
There are well placed bits of humor in a pretty dark book that definitely made me smirk.
Even though the story jumps to different characters,...more
Things I enjoyed:
Bridge City: It is what it sounds like, a city on a bridge. A pretty amazing way to keep yourself protected from zombies and as far as I know, a unique idea in zombie-lit (?) Given that I'm from the City of Bridges, I now have a strategy when the zombies finally get here.
There are well placed bits of humor in a pretty dark book that definitely made me smirk.
Even though the story jumps to different characters,...more
Liked it overall, but I did have my problems with it.
The Good:
1. The zombies (aka zeds, shamblers, revs (short for revenants)) -- there is nothing unique about Jacobs' zombies: they are slow, and gooshy, and stink. They are dangerous in hordes and are attracted to sound. All this we've seen before; nevertheless, the descriptions are remarkably vivid -- skulls shattering, teeth splintering, intestines bursting, and always the terrible, gag-inducing smell of rot.
2. The first 121 pages are a comp...more
The Good:
1. The zombies (aka zeds, shamblers, revs (short for revenants)) -- there is nothing unique about Jacobs' zombies: they are slow, and gooshy, and stink. They are dangerous in hordes and are attracted to sound. All this we've seen before; nevertheless, the descriptions are remarkably vivid -- skulls shattering, teeth splintering, intestines bursting, and always the terrible, gag-inducing smell of rot.
2. The first 121 pages are a comp...more
18 likes · like · see review
A pretty solid book, and an easy read.
It was a bit interesting because there is one character who is the "main" character, but the author wrote parts of the book through the eyes of other characters, so it jumped around a bit.
Speaking of jumping around, the time of the book jumps around, with the first part just as the zombie outbreak was starting, and concluding a couple of years after it broke out.
I thought some of the sections focusing on other characters gave a richer background to some of...more
It was a bit interesting because there is one character who is the "main" character, but the author wrote parts of the book through the eyes of other characters, so it jumped around a bit.
Speaking of jumping around, the time of the book jumps around, with the first part just as the zombie outbreak was starting, and concluding a couple of years after it broke out.
I thought some of the sections focusing on other characters gave a richer background to some of...more
Let's start with the upside: It's better than that asinine thing by Madeleine Roux with the zombie attack squirrel. The downside? Pretty much everything else. Jacobs' weakly-plotted kill-fest blasts direct from outbreak to postapocalypse in what seems like a weird acceleration for a novel so clearly aiming to be the first in a series. The narrative skips unconvincingly from one thinly-differentiated character to the next, relaying on cliches and (in at least one plot development) our willingness...more
Fans of The Walking Dead will LOVE this book! It is a very entertaining, yet dark read. Some possible YA crossover but there are some sex scenes and violence. If you liked Rot and Ruin, World War Z Hollowland or any other zombie tome, this book is for you! If you read any post apocalyptic books or dystopian, this would be a good crossover into the zombie world. I strongly recommend.
This is a zombie book, plain and simple. It doesn't really do anything new with the sub-genre that seems to to be unstoppable (how many books, movies, video games, TV shows, internet shows, comic books, breakfast cereals, etc. are zombies in now?) but what it does it does very well. If you are a fan of the cavorting cannibalistic corpses, a fan of John Hornor Jacobs based off his first (and in my opinion, slightly better) book Southern Gods, or just a fan of a good, solid, horror story, then you...more
Killer book! Lots of zombies. Starts when everything start happening with the outbreak and ends 4 years after so it gives what most of us want in a good zombie book and that's a taste of the beginnings of reanimation, survival and adaptation to a new and deadly way of life, good depth into characters and there interaction with one another. Needs a sequel tho.
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John Hornor Jacobs has worked in advertising for the last fifteen years, played in bands, and pursued art in various forms. He is also, in his copious spare time, a novelist, represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. His first novel, Southern Gods, was published by Night Shade Books and shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award. His second novel, This Dark Earth, was published...more
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