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Autumn (Autumn)

by David Moody (Goodreads Author)

3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 · rating details · 2,551 ratings · 307 reviews

A bastard hybrid of War of the Worlds and Nightof the Living Dead,Autumn chronicles the struggle of a small group of survivorsforced to contend withaworld torn apart by a deadly disease.After 99% of the population of the planetiskilled in less than 24 hours, for the very few who have managed to stay alive, things are about to get muchworse.Animated by "phase two" of some u...more

Paperback, 308 pages

Published October 26th 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published January 6th 2005)

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Mar 04, 2012 Jo Anne B rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a really good zombie book. I liked how it took a different perspective on the zomibie topic by focusing on the characters so much and how they are dealing with the fact that the world they knew is gone and the new one is full of zombies. It had more of a real time feel to it than other zombie stories. Everything is happening slowly and you felt like you were right there with the charcters seeing it as it happened and feeling like they do, totally devastated wondering what in the world t...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Melki rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, zombies

Ninety-nine percent of the population has died in less than twenty-four hours, most of them dropping dead wherever they happened to be when the sickness struck.

A group of survivors makes its way to a flimsy community center.

When some of the dead suddenly struggle to their feet and begin to wander about, three of the group decide they might be better off holing up in the less populated countryside. The others, forgetting what happened to the idiots who decided to wait for help in the dining roo...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Lauren rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zombies

If this had been survival of the fittest in the beginning, the characters would have been the first to die, because some of the stuff they did was so stupid it was utterly jaw dropping. There's a moment in the book when they're hiding out and realise they're being steadily surrounded by zombies. Why? Because of a loud 'constantly thumping' generator, the house being lit up like Blackpool and smoke pouring out the chimney from a nice hearty fire. When they realise they might have to forgo these t...more If this had been survival of the fittest in the beginning, the characters would have been the first to die, because some of the stuff they did was so stupid it was utterly jaw dropping. There's a moment in the book when they're hiding out and realise they're being steadily surrounded by zombies. Why? Because of a loud 'constantly thumping' generator, the house being lit up like Blackpool and smoke pouring out the chimney from a nice hearty fire. When they realise they might have to forgo these things, they get sad because they can't imagine life without treats. The country in tatters, friends and family dead, dead people walking around and potential human extinction is something they all make an effort to get over, but no electric to watch DVDs? Unacceptable, apparently.

The characters were infuriating. Apart from them boomeranging from one extreme personality to the next, they were such dull, one dimensional people I would have much preferred to go it alone than be stuck with them during the end of the world. One moment Michael is telling Emma that, regardless of her feelings or opinions, humanity is gone, never coming back, no use crying about blah blah blah, the next he's anxiously asking whether or not mankind can rebuild itself and what they can do. Carl goes outside, touches plenty of the zombies, Michael doesn't hesitate to hurtle through a crowd of them, then a few pages later they're too scared to go outside again and have to (alternately) talk each other round. I think the problem is they're never developed. The only one who does any sort of changing is Carl, and that's mostly downhill.

You know how in Dawn Of The Dead when Anna steps outside to see the world gone to hell? I love that. I love the uncertainty, the fear and the adrenaline fueled mayhem as survivors battle to save their arses. There is nothing of the sort here. People literally just drop down dead and then it's 10+ pages of the survivors being too scared to go outside. I didn't dislike the way the people died, nor the order of things when they started getting back up, but, my god, give me something to sink my teeth into. Where's the carnage?! The chaos? Save for the odd pile-up and the constant references to 'decaying corpses', there's nothing new and exciting happening. One character just goes home and goes back to bed 'in a panic' when things kick off.

The writing is very, very flat, not to mention fairly poor. It doesn't read easily and suffers from A LOT of repetition. The only way he can describe something is 'decayed/decaying', every character starts every second sentence 'Christ!' 'Jesus,...' or 'Bloody hell!'. The conversation goes round...and round...and round, no issue is ever resolved.

The constant exaggeration wasn't really necessary, since it didn't add any sort of fear to an already dull plot. I think the author used it as a (cheap) ploy to make the situation appear a lot more dangerous but, for reasons I'm not really sure about, it aggravated me. I get that the newly quiet world means sound carries and causes a chain reaction but the 'thousands upon thousands upon thousands' of 'decaying corpses' find their way to a house the main characters had trouble finding just stinks to me. Especially since the zombies were supposed to have to attention span of a 6 month old.

I did like the cycle of the zombies and how they became more vicious over a length of time. I also picked up on the enthusiasm of the author, which is always a good thing. I can't get away from the fact this book was published way before David Moody was ready, though. I know that it was put online for free when he was a 'frustrated writer', presumably when he had had no luck with traditional publishing houses. If so, reading through this shows that they were not wrong to turn him down. Saying that, I do realise this was written about 10 years ago and so I'm holding out for Autumn: The City to see if he's improved.
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May 29, 2007 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2007

“Billions died in less than 24 hours.”

Most zombie stories begin the same way. Take a random, ordinary day; add a mysterious plague that kills a great percentage of the population; focus on a handful of survivors as they seek each other out and come to terms with the fact that their loved ones are now flesh-eating undead. I really don’t see the need for re-writing the classic Night of the Living Dead gig, unless there’s a new (or at least interesting) twist to it. Like 28 Days Later, where the ne...more “Billions died in less than 24 hours.”

Most zombie stories begin the same way. Take a random, ordinary day; add a mysterious plague that kills a great percentage of the population; focus on a handful of survivors as they seek each other out and come to terms with the fact that their loved ones are now flesh-eating undead. I really don’t see the need for re-writing the classic Night of the Living Dead gig, unless there’s a new (or at least interesting) twist to it. Like 28 Days Later, where the never-identified-as-zombies “Infected” have a very different sort of affliction, and even Shaun of the Dead with its comic twist. Autumn, sadly, offers nothing new or exciting in its story.

True to the genre formula, the book begins with an ordinary autumn day turned gruesome, as people begin to asphyxiate and literally drop dead, leaving very few survivors. By the end of the next day, half of the bodies “wake up” and start walking around aimlessly. And then they start reacting to sound and light… And then they start attacking the living... Not really all that suspenseful if you’ve ever seen a zombie flick.

But that’s ok, that’s what makes it a horror story. Author David Moody (if he - a horror writer - was actually born with that last name, it would be a crazy coincidence) still has a chance to wow me with his writing skills and characterization. We can look into the human condition; we can sympathize with the characters and bite our nails when it looks like they have no way out. We can be mentally transported to the cottage in which the survivors huddle and feel part of the story. At the very least, since it is a horror story after all, we can be supremely grossed out.

Or not.

Moody’s writing is disappointingly amateurish and repetitive (if I read the phrase “unexpected and inexplicable” one more time, I would have slammed my head into a wall). His descriptions are flat and the characters are mind-numbingly dull. We skim the surface of them – age, sex, occupation – but never delve into what they are feeling. Their interactions mainly consist of: “What should we do?” “I don’t know,” and, “Are you ok?” “Yes, are you ok?” I think the zombies could have had more interesting conversation!

The overall lack of suspense made the entire story seem anticlimactic. Nothing, truly nothing, happens. Even the undead are boring. They don’t eat a single brain in the entire book. Everyone knows zombies eat brains! I believe the closest we get is reading how one man is “swallowed up by the crowd” or something similarly un-detailed and not-interesting. Yawn.

Maybe the story gains momentum in one of the four sequels Moody penned for Autumn, but I’ll never know, because I won’t be reading them.(less)

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Dec 13, 2008 Erin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Zombie lovers

Shelves: fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I just finished AUTUMN by David Moody and, uh, wow. I will never get those hours back.

First off, I want to get in contact with this author and ask him. Am I supposed to like Michael? I mean that as a serious question, because I can't tell. I mean, if I'm meant to go "Wow, what a lol edgy lol aspie douchebag." and dislike him, then A+ job David Moody! You managed to make a detestable main character!

If not, uh... I mean, there are large parts of this book that read like a teenage boy's idea -- and...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

There seems to be mixed feelings about this book, with typically strong feelings one way or the other. I can understand why.

The book itself was a real page-turner and I was able to finish it within the 24 hours I'd gotten it. I'm not a particularly fast reader, mind you, so that was a bit of a surprise for me. Something about the book demanded my attention and kept me fully engrossed in it. What aspect was it that kept me rapt? I'm really not sure.

It wasn't the characters. While I wasn't repelle...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Sonya rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: did-not-finish, zombie-apocalyptic

When i started this book, i was prepared for a good "hunker down" zombie read. The beginning somewhat even promised this, millions die within a day, just fell like being struck by lightning. All over the world people died. Then we are lead to a small group of survivors. As per usual.. we are introduced to the "important" ones ; That is when it drags down to nothing. I couldnt get past the "woe is me" type thoughts of the characters (of which there are MANY thoughts like this) and not to mention...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Ryan Parr rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: zombie fans

Big fan of the genre. I am enjoying the series so far. Just finished book 2 and while I know the first book in the Autumn series is a little slow. SPOILER - In fact, I don't believe the dead turn threatening until the last few chapters of the books (and even then you can make a case they aren't malicious, just wayyyyy too many of them to be thought of as 'safe'). In any case, this story follow a few individuals who splinter from a larger group and head out to the country. The second book follows...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Holden Attradies added it

Recommended to Holden by: Alexis Winning

Shelves: horror, fiction, zombie

First off it really blew me away how mixed the reviews of this book were. Most of the bad reviews seemed to come down to just a couple of things: the writing of the book was not near perfect and the main characters where not likable enough.

Personally, I found the writing to be great. Yes, it wasn't perfectly polished and came off feeling a bit like the authors first book, BUT I read it in almost one sitting. It was so good, so hard to put down, and a very relaxing read. As far as the characters...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Jason rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012, e-books

4 Stars

I am not sure why the reviews are so all over the place with this book. This is a top notch zombie thriller that is a slight variation on the standard post apocalyptic story. This is my second David Moody novel which I have read, Hater being the first.

Things that make this book stand out. One interesting aspect was, wholly shit Moody wasted no time wiping out the human population. From one minute to the next, schools, towns, cities, and then countries fell dead to an apparent virus. A sec...more

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Jan 31, 2012 James rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Autumn is good page turner. It’s a short book with plenty of action but suffers from lack of character development and detail. The story is set in the UK where a possible virus infects everyone and leaves few survivors unscathed. These survivors must now deal with the basic issues, food, shelter and utilities not to mention the thousands of dead bodies lying around pretty much everywhere. A small group of survivors take refuge in a community center that has seen better days and there is the usua...more Autumn is good page turner. It’s a short book with plenty of action but suffers from lack of character development and detail. The story is set in the UK where a possible virus infects everyone and leaves few survivors unscathed. These survivors must now deal with the basic issues, food, shelter and utilities not to mention the thousands of dead bodies lying around pretty much everywhere. A small group of survivors take refuge in a community center that has seen better days and there is the usual Alpha Male dance that goes on within the group. Moody sets the tone of the story pretty quick and there is no lack of action once the dead bodies get back up and start moving around.

Later in the story as three of the community center survivors decide to start looking for a better, more secure location, there is a potential for some internal character turmoil as this new group consists of 2 males and 1 female. This potential to develop the relationship between the characters is overlooked and could have added to the overall story.

As with any story about the undead there has to be a climatic element that increases the tension and that comes fairly quickly as the now reanimated bodies seem to operate with pack mentality and become more aggressive towards those that are not like them. As the story in based in the UK there is no typical gun play as one would find in other novels. This does not detract from the storyline but actually helps it as the survivors must find other ways to protect and defend themselves from the now hostile reanimated bodies.

The pacing of the story is quite brisk and the action continues all the way through. One minor issue as mentioned previously is the lack of character development, the reader is introduced to each character by name and with some very minor background and then that’s it. However, throughout the story there are some subtle insights into the characters that try to show who they are and their motivation besides staying alive. Secondary characters are introduced then quickly forgotten becoming 1 dimensional backdrops.

Overall, Autumn is an interesting read and was made into a Direct to Video (DTV) film in 2009. While I haven’t yet seen the film at the time of this review, from what I’ve heard the adaption was not worth watching.

If you’re looking for a quick read to get your zombie/undead fix, I recommend Autumn.
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Jan 31, 2012 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Suddenly, some sort of virus attacks and 95% of the earth's population drops dead. There are a handful of survivors, and they must deal with the fact that everything that they know is gone forever. The entire novel actually spans the first week and a half after the disaster. Unfortunately, as with many dystopian books, Autumn is absent GLBT people, people of colour and disabled people. Though this is a common trend, it still reads as genocide of historically marginalized people. How is it that h...more Suddenly, some sort of virus attacks and 95% of the earth's population drops dead. There are a handful of survivors, and they must deal with the fact that everything that they know is gone forever. The entire novel actually spans the first week and a half after the disaster. Unfortunately, as with many dystopian books, Autumn is absent GLBT people, people of colour and disabled people. Though this is a common trend, it still reads as genocide of historically marginalized people. How is it that historically marginalized people are always the first to go? It is particularly alarming because in a dystopian setting, the author has the ability to completely remake the world and to fall back into a position where only privileged people survive chooses an extreme lack of imagination and a wallowing in self privilege.

The suriviors must first come to terms with the fact that they somehow were not infected by whatever virus attacked the dead. Everywhere they turn are the bodies of the dead, and they serve to remind them of everything that is gone. The survivors are barely accustomed to the change, when the unspeakable happens - the dead begin to rise and walk. At first they are harmless and unaware of their environment, but that does not last long.

Autumn is about how one survives, when the world as you know it is gone. Can you deal with the loss of everyone that you loved, and is life even still worth living? Even conversation becomes a struggle, because everything always leads back to the fact that the world is gone. Even though the book covers such a short time period, the characters are so clearly damaged. Each breathe the survivors take is an absolute struggle. Though everything is free for the taking now that society has crumbled, getting food is a danger because of the threat of the zombies. Even everyday necessities like hydro, running water and heat become luxuries. The survivors quickly learn that the things once prized are worthless now, because they do nothing to aid in subsistence.

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Jan 03, 2012 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: finished-reading

"Billions died in less than twenty-four hours. William Price was one of the first."

William Price and his wife die in 4 minutes after becoming infected with an unknown virus. One minute after that the whole street is dead.
Carl Henshawe was on his way home from work when he realized something was horribly wrong. One moment he was listening to music on the radio and then total silence. Cars start running off the road right in front of him. He tries to call the police but no one answers. In fact he...more "Billions died in less than twenty-four hours. William Price was one of the first."

William Price and his wife die in 4 minutes after becoming infected with an unknown virus. One minute after that the whole street is dead.
Carl Henshawe was on his way home from work when he realized something was horribly wrong. One moment he was listening to music on the radio and then total silence. Cars start running off the road right in front of him. He tries to call the police but no one answers. In fact he is unable to call anyone. Fearing the worst for his family he hurries home. On the way he watches as people just suddenly fall over dead. As he arrives home his worst fears are confirmed when he finds his wife and daughter dead.
Michael Collins watches a classroom of 16 year olds suddenly fall over dead. Before he can even get out of the school everyone is dead.
Emma Mitchell is at the drugstore when the virus hits. Everyone in the store suddenly falls ill and dies in less than a minute. Scared and not knowing what else to do she returns to her apartment.
"She went into her room, drew the curtains on the nightmare outside, got back into her bed and pulled the covers over her head."
As the day draws on, the few remaining survivors are all huddled together at the Whitchurch Community Center. At first no one speaks, they are still shell-shocked. Gradually as the hours pass the small group realize that the worse is still to come as some of the dead start to rise.
Three of the survivors decide they need to leave the safety of the community center. They believe it will be safer if they are outside of the city.
The small group spends the day traveling as far away from the city as they can get. They take refuge at a farm where the owners are now dead. The trio realize too late that they may have been better off staying in the city.

This is a great story. This is the first book in a series of 5. Mr. Moody does an excellent job of creating horror and fear without the usual "gross out and gore" you find in most novels such as this.(less)

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Dec 07, 2011 Baba Yaga rated it 1 of 5 stars

Autumn chronicles the struggle of a small group of survivors forced to contend with a world torn apart by a deadly disease. After 99% of the population of the planet is killed in less than 24 hours, for the very few who have managed to stay alive, things are about to get much worse. Animated by "phase two" of some unknown contagion, the dead begin to rise. At first slow, blind, dumb and lumbering, quickly the bodies regain their most basic senses and abilities... sight, hearing, locomotion... As...more Autumn chronicles the struggle of a small group of survivors forced to contend with a world torn apart by a deadly disease. After 99% of the population of the planet is killed in less than 24 hours, for the very few who have managed to stay alive, things are about to get much worse. Animated by "phase two" of some unknown contagion, the dead begin to rise. At first slow, blind, dumb and lumbering, quickly the bodies regain their most basic senses and abilities... sight, hearing, locomotion... As well as the instinct toward aggression and violence. Held back only by the restraints of their rapidly decomposing flesh, the dead seem to have only one single goal - to lumber forth and destroy the sole remaining attraction in the silent, lifeless world: those who have survived the plague, who now find themselves outnumbered 1,000,000 to 1...

Is it considered a crime to be drawn in by the lucrative covers of books? For once more, I have made this fatal error of judgement, and ran drooling over to Autumn, drawn in by the fly trap that is the cover of this book.

And I shall tell you, here and now, that it is a lie. Long have I been a fan of the "zombie" and "horror" genre-despite its drawbacks-but this book was the proverbial final nail in the coffin. The events (which are growing fuzzier by the minute, so few were the good moments of this book or a sign of my rather bad memory) that happens in this book that entail the survival of these few people are so...so...improbable that even one such as I find it hard to believe, which is not an easy thing to do, might I add.

The writing is average in the way that you note it and discard the information you saw almost immediately, which further solidifies the reason why I can barely remember just what happens (I dimly recall (view spoiler)) in the story itself, and the complete pit of nothing that is supposed to be the character profiles.

All in all, I found nothing worthwhile in this book, nor good points to take the time to mention, but, if you can find or remember one, feel free to note it, it might make the horrendous taste it left in my mouth dissipate a little bit more.

Do svidaniya, my friends,

Baba Yaga(less)

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Dec 10, 2010 Carissa Anne rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: futuristic, horror

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 05, 2010 Gregory rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really wanted to like this... I really, really did. But after about a hundred pages, I just couldn't continue. The dialog was stilted, the actions of the survivors was *horribly* unrealistic, and there were little writing issues that I found incredibly jarring. I'm told that it does get better, but I'd long since stopped caring for any of the characters, and there's simply too many books on my plate to bother with this mediocre effort. For those looking for zombies, I'm sure you can find somet...more

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Nov 05, 2010 Patrick D'Orazio rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story begins at a relatively slow pace and builds some steam towards the end of the novel. I think the tempo could have picked up earlier on, but I realize this is just the first of several Autumn books so I can forgive the author a bit of extended character development and time to build some suspense before diving head long into the meat of what will likely be the real story for several books to come. I would presume the future books will continue at the pacing set in the last 100 pages of...more This story begins at a relatively slow pace and builds some steam towards the end of the novel. I think the tempo could have picked up earlier on, but I realize this is just the first of several Autumn books so I can forgive the author a bit of extended character development and time to build some suspense before diving head long into the meat of what will likely be the real story for several books to come. I would presume the future books will continue at the pacing set in the last 100 pages of this one, or at least I hope they do.

The zombies, a.k.a.: ticked off undead who hate the living, really do not show up until about half way through the book. They are not traditional Romero-esc type zombies though in the truest sense: they don't crave your flesh as much as they just want you to be quiet. You see, 99.9% of the worlds population died all at once and that makes for a pretty serene environment. But those few remaining pesky living folks still want to make a lot of noise and interupt the stillness. So the undead tend to show their disatisfaction with this by showing up in ever increasing numbers and like a cranky neighbor are ready to really complain vehemently about the racket you are creating.

The dialogue in this book is a little repetitive. I am sure if I faced a crisis such as this I would be as glum and moody as these folks, but hearing some of it over and over was a bit tiresome. I was also a slightly disappointed by what seemed a rather predictable character arc with Carl. He appeared to have come to terms with reality late in the story and then all the sudden loses his grip yet again at the most inopportune time. Certainly within the realm of possibilities, but I guess I just didn't appreciate how that played out that much.

Even with the criticisms I have laid out above, I feel this story was entertaining overall and this world worth revisiting at least for one more of David's books. I got this one free on line and I feel it is worth paying for the next story and seeing where this leads to. If he can sharpen up the dialogue and keep the pace he employed at the end of this book, the rest of the series should be pretty interesting. (less)

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Oct 08, 2010 Cissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was somewhat of a page-turner, but the writing was (to my mind) rather flat, and I do not see that Moody added any interesting new spins to the usual Zombie Menace tropes. Apart from the ever-increasing menace from the zombies, the plot did not seem to have anything to say, and the characters had inklings of individuality but were ultimately flat.

Also- and understand that I come from more of a science fiction perspective here- I do not think a virus can kill within seconds of infection; it...more

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Oct 07, 2009 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopian-future

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was initially put off by the speed of the infection and death - and the author did specify that it was only a few moments between the two, thus making it very hard for me to believe the disease. I mean, it has to spread somehow, and that somehow hasn't yet been explained, leaving me very frustrated. Starting the story with something that feels unbelievable (the bad kind) made me stumble -- as did the immediate loss of power, phone lines, etc. I'm not talking a day or a couple hours - I'm talki...more I was initially put off by the speed of the infection and death - and the author did specify that it was only a few moments between the two, thus making it very hard for me to believe the disease. I mean, it has to spread somehow, and that somehow hasn't yet been explained, leaving me very frustrated. Starting the story with something that feels unbelievable (the bad kind) made me stumble -- as did the immediate loss of power, phone lines, etc. I'm not talking a day or a couple hours - I'm talking maybe two minutes.

I did, however, like the dichotomy of an unbelievably swift death and the slow, glacier pace at which the dead returned. It was more than a day between when the disease struck and when the dead began moving, and more time passed between then and when the dead began to be able to... function, for lack of a better word. I'm so used to the stories where the transformation from dead to undead is flash-fast, that this was a nice change of pace. It's also interesting (though not unique) that not everyone who died rises again. There are plenty of bodies that just stay dead. This makes things a bit more manageable for the survivors, of course... but all of this also makes for a rather slow start. It doesn't quite become a psychological piece until much later either, thus the slow zombification process doesn't help the telling of the story, other than to get the characters used to the wandering dead, and it should let them feel at least somewhat safe, as they begin to draw conclusions about the walking dead.

But they never do feel safe, or even safer. There is always a sense of foreboding in their thoughts and actions, as though they are, much as the reader is, just waiting for the zombies to get going and start nomming on people. It makes for an uncomfortable read, as I spent a lot of the story feeling as though the fourth wall had been violated, carefully reconstructed, and everyone was wandering about whistling and saying "what fourth wall? I don't see any fourth wall, do you?" (An example: they find a rifle and their first thought is of defense, not hunting. The rifle could be a great way to supplement their food stores (which sound relatively limited), and food is always an immediate concern. But instead, they moan and groan about how they hope they'll never have to use the gun, how they don't need it and should get rid of it, etc.)

Once we finally DO get zombies, they're pretty watered down. They're the standard shamblers, but they're weaker than normal. Thus the relentlessness you often sense in zombie stories is lacking here - the zombies can barely cross any barrier at all. Still, the author uses the phrase "constant and relentless" like a motto, frequently reminding readers that something or other - usually fear - is constant and relentless.

On top of that, I didn't really care for the characters. Their stupidity might have had something to do with it, but... I never really felt close to them, or felt that I understood them.

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May 31, 2009 Christopher rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people I hate

Recommended to Christopher by: some kid

This kid came into the library the other day and started ordering zombie books.

He was like, "I'm really into zombies. It's kind of my thing. I read tons of zombie fiction."

So then he recommended this novel, citing it as a gem of the genre.

And if that's the case, it's a sad sad thing for the genre, because this book was pretty awful.

First of all, I know that Moody published this himself, but there were all kinds of typos littered throughout the book. That's a shame. And it's distracting.

The dialo...more

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Apr 13, 2009 Dreadlocksmile rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Autumn is the beginning to David Moody’s four book zombie series which follows the few remaining survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. As the book begins, the reader is quickly confronted with the harrowing situation of a world that is suddenly turned upside down. Like Romero’s classic work, the novel turns more towards the struggles of a few survivors who have to cope with the situation both mentally and physically. When the undead begin to show signs of aggression, the desperate predicament b...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Sue Rundle-hughes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: zombie, horror

I loved ‘Autumn’, a story about zombies and survivors. It begins with a disease that violently kills most of the population in less than twenty-four hours. A handful of survivors manage to find each other and, for a few days, they live together in a community centre, confused, scared and in shock. At first, the dead are like normal corpses, but then they start to rise and walk around. They are harmless at first but the zombies are learning and evolving. The novel concentrates on three of the sur...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Shaheed Rashid rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Everyone loves a good zombie book. That's the main reason I picked this book up. I've read both Hater and Dog Blood by the same author as this book, David Moody, and liked it so much that I didn't mind picking up this one by the same author. Low and behold, I liked this one just the same for all the aspects of diction, imagery, details, and language.
The diction was good. Page 11 says, "...as he touched his skin. It felt clammy and unnatural, almost like wet leather." I like how the author chose...more Everyone loves a good zombie book. That's the main reason I picked this book up. I've read both Hater and Dog Blood by the same author as this book, David Moody, and liked it so much that I didn't mind picking up this one by the same author. Low and behold, I liked this one just the same for all the aspects of diction, imagery, details, and language.
The diction was good. Page 11 says, "...as he touched his skin. It felt clammy and unnatural, almost like wet leather." I like how the author chose to describe the skin of the dead kid as clammy and unnatural versus something cliche like 'it felt cold to the touch.' The effect this has on the readers is instantaneous because he can then imagine just what the author wants us to imagine; a specific type of dead perhaps and not the usual dead skin feel.
The imagery was immediate. Page 59 says, "He felt dirty. He'd have paid any price to have been able to relax in a hot bath or shower and follow it up with a night spent in a comfortable bed." The author could have stopped when he said the character felt dirty. I thought of obviously dirt on his face perhaps or on his clothes but 'dirty' could mean a lot of things and paints a lot of pictures. The author went on to tell us how he wished for a shower and a good night sleep which effected the readers because they could see the author meant a different type of dirty; one where he might have itched all over and grimaced at himself as he sat there.
The details were superb. Page 33 says, "The corpse was that of a teenage boy...his head against the curbstone. His neck was broken, twisted around at an unnatural angle, his glazed eyes staring up into the sky." Although this could easily be tied into imagery, I chose it as details. The author went a good length to accurately describe just what he wanted the readers to see. It wasn't just a boy whose head was broken, his head was facing the sky, "as if he was searching for explanations."
The language was good. Page 190 says, "He felt most sorry for Veronica, the girl who'd come to them looking for help and shelter. She'd have been better off staying away..." The ellipsis at the end is actually a part of the quote and doesn't signify me excluding words afterwards. The sentence ends like that. The effect this has on the readers is that we have to take the initiative perhaps to fill in the blank. The author could have ended with a period and the sentence would be just fine. The ellipsis has a different effect.
Overall, the book was not bad.(less)

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Oct 19, 2012 Stuart rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Perhaps the worst book I've ever bothered to finish. I read that the author was rejected by tons of publishers before deciding to self-publish, but one wonders whether the radical notion of, say, writing a second draft even entered his mind during this process.

Blank dialogue, hateful pseudo-"everyman" mannequins (none of whom think, talk or behave like an actual human being) as protagonists, vague and dull locations, endless, irrelevant conversations and the most embarrassingly immature romance...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Lumpenprole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, science-fiction, 2012, borrowed

Honestly, I think a good part of this book dragged. And I almost never say that. Perhaps I've simply gotten so used to horror, SF and Fantasy novels with a level of action equivalent to a pinball machine that I'm no longer able to appreciate a plot that develops slowly and characters who don't enter a story with a double-backflip spin kick from some obscure martial art while infected with a lethal disease while being chased a demon-vampire half-breed for whom she harbors an secret affection. In...more

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Nov 28, 2011 Flint rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: zombies

In Moody's novel, "Autumn" something like 99 percent of the people in the city of Northwitch drop dead in a matter of minutes; after a day or so, about a third rise up again a day and begin shambling around as reanimated corpses. Three survivors find each other and decide to hole up at an old country farm house.

Evidently, the zombies in this book don't actually eat people; they just attack and get violent, but can't actually infect anyone like they typically do in other zombie stories. There's...more

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Feb 11, 2011 Cathy/The Crazy Bookworm rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I first read the premise for Autumn, I couldn't wait to read it. If there is one thing I love more than vampires and werewolves it's ZOMBIES! You can't help but let this book get into your head and under your skin. The very thought of something like this happening to you in real life is terrifying enough on it's own. The nagging question keeps running through your head "What would I do?"

David Moody knew how to deliver a solid, frightening story! His setting descriptions alone were enough to...more

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Oct 13, 2011 Marcus Blakeston rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This seems to be a love it or hate it book, probably compounded by the fact that there is two very different versions of it (or 3 if you include the American translation).

The original Infected version was written first person perspective from the point of view of various characters, whereas the Golancz version is written third person perspective and adds/changes a few key scenes. The dialogue is also tidied up a bit in the new version, with the slightly clunky lines fixed.

I've read both versions...more

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Oct 31, 2011 sj rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: grrr-arrgh

I probably would have rated this book higher (as well as the series as a whole), but Mr Moody needs to invest in an editor. If he already has one, he needs to fire that person. Sentence structure is poor, punctuation is ridiculously bad and words are misused or spelled incorrectly. He switches between first and third person, which is a bit disconcerting and the first person narrative is atrociously written.

That being said, I'm still giving three stars because the *story* is excellent. People who...more

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Oct 14, 2011 Cecilia Solis-sublette rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-dystopia

A different kind of zombie, novel, I found this one to be quite suspenseful. In the beginning, the zombies are very lethargic, non-moving, unresponsive to stimulus altogether. As the novel progresses, the zombies become more alert, more purposeful in their movements, more aware. This makes for the suspense. Just when you get used to what the zombies are like, today, they change into something just a little bit worse the following. There is specific zombie attack either, per se. What we witness i...more

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About David Moody

David Moody was born in 1970 and grew up in Birmingham on a diet of trashy horror and pulp science fiction books and movies. He worked as a bank manager and as operations manager for a number of financial institutions before giving up the day job to write about the end of the world for a living. He has written a number of horror novels, including AUTUMN, which has been downloaded more than half a...more

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“Surviving is one thing," he said quietly, his voice suddenly calmer, "but you've got to have a reason to do it. There's no point in living if you don't have anything worth living for.” — 24 people liked it

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