The novel is exactly what the subtitle suggests: a series of interviews with survivors of the world-wide zombie apocalypse, ten years after "VA DAY." The preface sets up the story, introducing you briefly to the man conducting the interviews, and after that he mostly vanishes into the woven narratives of each individual interviewee.
The people (it's difficult to think of them as "characters") are spread across the globe. You being in China, spread to South Africa, Israel, Iceland, Canada, Antarctica - it isn't until part two that you have your first American interview. Many of the narrative voices were quite distinct, though for a section two-thirds of the way through the book the series of militaristic interviews began to blend together a little for me (too many acronyms and weapons-types, though clearly Brooks did his research). For the most part each narrator had strong character and specific ways of talking.
The book focuses on the macro-scale, and that's what makes it so fascinating. You get a very realistic-feeling portrayal of what might actually happen were the dead to rise around the turn of the new millennium. Most of my horror came from the realization that I could see everything going down exactly as Brooks imagines it. And that is mostly NOT a good thing.
The macro-scale never seems cold or devoid of humanity, because of course every story is in a way one human's story. Most of them are talking about their jobs, and there aren't your typical zombie movie cliches like having to shoot your mother because she's been bitten. This is massive scale stuff. The first third (more of less) of the book is about the outbreak, the middle about the Great Panic and the initial stages of the war, and the third about the clean up and "victory."
The best part of the book was the few occasions when the narrative suddenly drops out of macro and into a very real moment of terror, courage, depravity, or hope. Several of these moments were chilling or heartbreaking. (The most chilling moment caused my arms to break out in goose-bumps despite reading outside in 98 degree weather.)
I was never really afraid, so if you're looking for genre horror, this isn't it. This book is more about politics, war, philosophy, humanity, and the world itself, and the device that leads to some great stories just happens to be... zombies.
I'd liken it to the movie INDEPENDENCE DAY, but without any comic relief.
I should add that overall the book is hopeful, since you know from the first page that humanity wins. This is an apocalypse, but not THE apocalypse. You're meeting the interviewees because they SURVIVED. So even in the worst moments you've got that to latch on to.
Overall, an excellent read. I want to reread several of my favorite interviews already.
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<![CDATA[new comment from Tessa]]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50753849
Tessa's review of
Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1) byMaggie Stiefvater
Angela wrote: "Wow, you've convinced me!"
EXCELLENT!
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<![CDATA[Tessa added 'Shiver']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/50753849
to: Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1)byMaggie Stiefvater
SHIVER is one of those books I thought about for a long time after finishing it. Not only for the emotional journey, but for the writing itself, which was haunting and lovely, with occasional bursts of quirky. My favorite kind!
Grace and Sam have known each other for years, but haven't exactly had a relationship, since Sam spends his winters as a wolf. When circumstances finally bring them together as two teenaged human beings, their love is simultaneously as passionately epic as you'd find in Elizabethan drama and as simple as holding hands on the beach.
The love story is the main plot arc, and their efforts to remain together despite Sam's peculiar situation. But there are several external complications and a handful of well drawn secondary characters. I was particularly fond of Grace's friend Rachel and the snob-turned-ally Isabel, both of whom were very good for some of that quirk I mentioned above.
One of my favorite things about SHIVER is that after reading it there are several moments that stick with me for their sheer angst, their beauty, and their subtle magic. A golden forest, a summery song, a bathtub, and an achingly lonely trip outside to feed the birds, to name a few.
I could go on for days, but the important thing is that I'd put this book into anyone's hands and that it left me clutching at my heart in all the right ways.
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