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29th out of 87 books
—
269 voters
I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas
by
Adam Roberts
Marley was dead—again. From the author of Yellow Blue Tibia, it's the Dickensian Zombie Apocalypse—God Bless us, every one!
The legendary Ebenezeer Scrooge sits in his house counting money. The boards that he has nailed up over the doors and the windows shudder and shake under the blows from the endless zombie hordes that crowd the streets hungering for his flesh and his mi...more
The legendary Ebenezeer Scrooge sits in his house counting money. The boards that he has nailed up over the doors and the windows shudder and shake under the blows from the endless zombie hordes that crowd the streets hungering for his flesh and his mi...more
Hardcover, 153 pages
Published
October 1st 2011
by Gollancz
(first published October 1st 2009)
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Fun, fun, fun! I read this book after a rather heavy reading and looking for something light to cheer me up, and it delivered fully. Mind you, this is a bit of literary-inspired silliness as there are few out there. Towards the end the explanations for what's going on become preposterous and are perfectly aware of it (the final bit trying to force the origin of Christmas as a memory of past zombie attacks is especially ridiculous), and not one bit of seriousness is to be found. As the title sugg...more
Firstly, I have to admit that I've never read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I know, it's shameful to admit, but for some reason I've skipped a lot of the classics. :( Still, that didn't stop me from being very interested in this book when I first heard about it. For one, it's about zombies. And I've said it before, nothing says 'Merry Christmas' like zombies tearing the world apart.
I also know enough about the tale of Scrooge to recognise the many similarities in this fun story.
Ebenezee...more
I also know enough about the tale of Scrooge to recognise the many similarities in this fun story.
Ebenezee...more
Well, well, well, should every reader be flattered by the alternate histories of Ebenezeer Scrooge’s? If they are, if they intend to get up from the lazy chair after this read about bucolic dead eaters of brains they need embrace this latest novel version in theology and a last glimpse of Christmas. I can’t be shocked easily. And neither would you. This will wholly take readers by surprise. The writing is a little YA in making my enthusiasm seem to dwindle time and again. On another perspective...more
‘I Am Scrooge’ merges the Christmas classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens with the more modern zombie novel ‘I Am Legend’ by Richard Matheson. I am a huge fan of the original Victorian classic, with it’s lovable characters, strong morals and enchanting winter London setting, so naturally, when I spotted this in the library I was a bit apprehensive, having never read ‘I Am Legend’. I decided to pick it up anyway, and immediately fell in love with the writing style. It isn’t trying to imm...more
Dickens' immortal tale, centered around zombies.
Christmas and zombies are two of my favorite things, and I love humorous writing, so I was immediately drawn to this book. Sadly, Adams fails to deliver.
The writing is meant to be funny, irreverent and clever. The story begins: "Marley was dead, to begin with. Dead for about three minutes, that is: then he got up again." A good start. Sadly, it's a lonely hit in a sea of misses. Relying frequently on cheap tricks (when speaking of Scrooge's sang-...more
Christmas and zombies are two of my favorite things, and I love humorous writing, so I was immediately drawn to this book. Sadly, Adams fails to deliver.
The writing is meant to be funny, irreverent and clever. The story begins: "Marley was dead, to begin with. Dead for about three minutes, that is: then he got up again." A good start. Sadly, it's a lonely hit in a sea of misses. Relying frequently on cheap tricks (when speaking of Scrooge's sang-...more
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The Christmas Carol is probably my favourite book by Dickens. As a result I have a shelves full of different editions of this story.
Given the current fascination with zombies, I guess it was inevitable that Scrooge too would soon become a part of the walking dead.
Marley was dead, to begin with. The legendary Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his house, his riches forgotten. Downstairs, his front door shudders and shakes under the blows from the zombies that crowd around it hungering for his flesh and his...more
Given the current fascination with zombies, I guess it was inevitable that Scrooge too would soon become a part of the walking dead.
Marley was dead, to begin with. The legendary Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his house, his riches forgotten. Downstairs, his front door shudders and shakes under the blows from the zombies that crowd around it hungering for his flesh and his...more
I bought this as I have enjoyed the current trend for silly literary mash-ups (which has also got me reading more classic literature, so that's a bonus), and as such thought it might be fun. Unfortunately, even with this book being as short as it is, that turned out to be a vain hope. I read it over two days and still really struggled to find the will to finish the wretched thing, as the clumsy and unsubtle attempts at humour really irritated me. The author clearly seemed to think the prose was...more
Tis the season for zombies! And this time its Ebenezeer Scrooge’s turn to face them down, which begins on Christmas day morning with the zombie Marley bursting through Scrooge’s door, which leads Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, Christmas present and Christmas of yet to come to a fight to stop the zombies from taking over the world while at the same time Ebenezeer discovers what Christmas means to him.
If you enjoy the film, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ you will love this book, it has the same hu...more
If you enjoy the film, ‘Shaun of the Dead’ you will love this book, it has the same hu...more
Jan 31, 2011
David Gallagher
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Zombie/parody fans with low standards
Shelves:
books-i-own,
read-in-2011
Zombology seems to be the latest trend in books, and some authors boldly take on the task of adding monsters of all sorts to classic books. Dicken's story (upon which this book was based) is probably by favorite Dicken's book and my favorite Christmas tale. I'm quite open when it comes to parodies, but I don't feel as though Adam Roberts knew what he got himself into.
The zombie slash-rip-tear-gobble bloodbath is quite disgusting to read, but the best thing about this book. There are a couple of...more
The zombie slash-rip-tear-gobble bloodbath is quite disgusting to read, but the best thing about this book. There are a couple of...more
What to think of this book?
I had read only one book by Adam Roberts called The Splinter which I didn't enjoyed. I stop reading after a hundred pages. It is still there to be read but after reading this book I still say I won't come back so soon.
One thing that it was better on this book was the writing style. Well and it had zombies. And it was of Scrooge. So I think it would not go wrong. Interesting or not, a movie with Jim Carrey also featuring Mr Scrooge was released around this time so I thi...more
I had read only one book by Adam Roberts called The Splinter which I didn't enjoyed. I stop reading after a hundred pages. It is still there to be read but after reading this book I still say I won't come back so soon.
One thing that it was better on this book was the writing style. Well and it had zombies. And it was of Scrooge. So I think it would not go wrong. Interesting or not, a movie with Jim Carrey also featuring Mr Scrooge was released around this time so I thi...more
Blurb From Goodreads
The legendary Ebenezeer Scrooge sits in his house counting money. The boards that he has nailed up over the doors and the windows shudder and shake under the blows from the endless zombie hordes that crowd the streets hungering for his flesh and his miserly braaaaiiiiiinns! Just how did the happiest day of the year slip into a welter of blood, innards, and shambling, ravenous undead on the snowy streets of old London town? Will the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Futur...more
The legendary Ebenezeer Scrooge sits in his house counting money. The boards that he has nailed up over the doors and the windows shudder and shake under the blows from the endless zombie hordes that crowd the streets hungering for his flesh and his miserly braaaaiiiiiinns! Just how did the happiest day of the year slip into a welter of blood, innards, and shambling, ravenous undead on the snowy streets of old London town? Will the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Futur...more
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What can I say about this book? It's certainly different... gory... entertaining. A story based on Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol' with brain eating zombies, what's not to like? Sounds like a great fun read. Well, it was, to a point.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Victorian London and the imagery was really good, I could definitely see the detail in my mind of the zombies gorging on brains. However, there were a lot of jokes with the intention of making the reader laugh which failed for me. Aft...more
I really enjoyed the atmosphere of Victorian London and the imagery was really good, I could definitely see the detail in my mind of the zombies gorging on brains. However, there were a lot of jokes with the intention of making the reader laugh which failed for me. Aft...more
I loved this book, read it in a single sitting (although it is only 153 pages so that's not as impressive as it sounds) and was merrily chuckling to myself throughout. Roberts has combined the well known and much loved tale of Ebeneezer Scrooge with that of a global zombie apocolypse, the result of an evil mastermind whom Scrooge must defeat. This isn't a conventional tale in any sense as Roberts goes off on short tangents as he debates which phrase to use in an amusing and helpless manner. And...more
I don't know what I was expecting exactly but it wasn't what the story ended up being. Scrooge travels through time accompanied by the Spirits to view the progression of the zombie takeover. There are references to current pop culture things, such as using modern lyrics as parts of the dialogue, that I found humorous. I also found it fun that various authors were characters in the book. Overall, it was an ok quick-read with bits of cleverness tossed in.
I stumbled upon this book quite by accident and bought it just out of curiosity. It turned out to be a wonderfully subverted story akin to Blackadder. Witty, original and really intune with Dickens and A Christmas Carol. It's not long, but well worth a read if you like intelligent humour and the occassional brain-eating zombie thrown in for good measure.
OK this is the first time i have read any of these humorous retellings (Pride and Prejudice with Zombies is another) and i wasnt sure what i would find. Well i was certainly surprised and entertained. Ok these are not for everyone - hey i found this one miss filed in a shop under childrens !!!! But all the same a fun read.
Took me a while to get into this as my mind kept wondering back to the original story. Once I got over that it was an okay read. Much better than another zombie/classic book I've read, which means I will no longer be put off them. I liked how it described why christmas things are all related to zombies. A fun festive read.
To be honest, there were a few points while I was reading this when I wanted to throw the book accross the room out of disgust. That said, except for a few sections, the story gets better as you go, and so long as you read with the appropriate silly attitude it can be an okay if not a good read. the confused narator bit i think has been done better elsewhere already, however, there were a lot of funny jokes. the christmas spirits...at times i loved them, at times i loathed them. over all, its wo...more
This book was hilarious. It took a story that I never would have actually sit down and read and turned it into something that was a quick and easy read. There was no sense to it. At times it was incredibly silly and far-fetched but we all need that occasionally. It was very shallow and simple but that is what made it work. It was just a silly piece of fiction. Read it and laugh.
May 21, 2012
Maria (Discuss It Book Group)
marked it as to-read
This novel lost to `The Christmas Train` in the December 2010 vote over at Discuss It Book Group. We have no current plans to reintroduce it, though if our members would like to give it a second chance, please let us know!
I couldnt get into this at all. I read over half of it which sounds like a lot but its only 150ish pages long. I tried to finish it but i couldn't. I was excited to read it because i love christmas and i love zombies but it just didnt do it for me. The author seemed to think that he was a lot funnier and cooler than he actually was. Sometimes i found myself cringing at his jokes. Like when he said "Dickens! Zom-in the bungalow" which probably won't make sense to americans but it sounds like Dick...more
This will only be a short review of this book by Adam Roberts. To imagine this story just think of A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens) with zombies. Scrooge has to stop the world from being taken over by zombies. He does this with the help of the demon hunters (Past, Present and Future) who are able to travel throughout time. For example, they are able to take Scrooge into the future so he can see what happens when zombies rule the world. Definitely a book to read if you love zombie stories o...more
It's a really funny zombie story, though something the autor just tries too hard to crack a joke. Recomended for all zombie freaks!
I loved loved loved this version of the Christmas Carol story. I will have to read it again and again, every Christmas :-)
It started off a bit lame, picked up in the middle and I didn't like the ending at all..so 2 stars for the middle.
A Christmas Carol with zombies. I expected to love this but found that apart from the occasional titter it was mostly meh.
Imagine if Dickens wrote about zombie gore in addition to Victorian life. This is what that would be like.
This is a very entertaining zombie retelling of A Christmas Carol.
Roberts takes the basic story idea runs with it and twists it to his purposes along the way. This does make the story feel forced from time to time, but there's so much cool zombie mayhem that I didn't mind too much.
I wouldn't advise this story to people who take their literature or Christmas serious, because this story makes a fun parody out of both the original story and Christmas.
Overall this is a fast-paced read that get's you...more
Roberts takes the basic story idea runs with it and twists it to his purposes along the way. This does make the story feel forced from time to time, but there's so much cool zombie mayhem that I didn't mind too much.
I wouldn't advise this story to people who take their literature or Christmas serious, because this story makes a fun parody out of both the original story and Christmas.
Overall this is a fast-paced read that get's you...more
Pretty enjoyable, even though I've never read the original -shock horror-
Thank you Cyndi
Thank you Cyndi
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Adam Roberts (born 1965) is an academic, critic and novelist. He also writes parodies under the pseudonyms of A.R.R.R. Roberts, A3R Roberts and Don Brine. He also blogs at The Valve, a group blog devoted to literature and cultural studies.
He has a degree in English from the...more
More about Adam Roberts...
Adam Roberts (born 1965) is an academic, critic and novelist. He also writes parodies under the pseudonyms of A.R.R.R. Roberts, A3R Roberts and Don Brine. He also blogs at The Valve, a group blog devoted to literature and cultural studies.
He has a degree in English from the...more
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May 15, 2012 12:33pm