Codex Nekromantia by Greg X Graves: Zombies, the Apocalypse and Survivalism
Greg X Graves, author of Bears, Recycling, and Confusing Time Paradoxes, has just released Codex Nekromantia, a tale of survivalism in a dystopian world after a zombie epidemic.
Necromancers have filled Constantinople…with zombies!
No, not that Constantinople.
Constantinople, Illinois, a nucleus of urban sprawl in the middle of midwestern soybean fields.
Codex Nekromantia is the chronicle of the survivors of the zombie catastrophe. Well, survivors makes them sound organized. Stragglers is more accurate – besides, how can the self-raised corpse of the city's founder count as having survived anything? Greg X. Graves tells the story of life, love, necromancy, the fragile human condition when caught between the jaws of a very robust human condition, and wholesale zombie slaughter.
$2.99, available in the Amazon Kindle Store (print coming soon)
I also recently had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Greg X Graves about his newest book.
TW: Tell us a little about Codex Nekromantia. How did you begin writing it? What made you decide to?
GXG: I began writing it in 2005. At the time, I was working on a SERIOUS BZNZ science fiction novel that never took off. Which is a shame, because it involved lots of airborne travel, zeppelins and floating cities and the like. Codex Nekromantia developed as a way to blow off my frustration towards the Novel That Wouldn't Work.
As is the way of things, my blow-off project eclipsed by main project, both in my excitement level and the completeness of the draft. Still, I've written about a dozen versions of the Codex Nekromantia plot, several of which have abortive drafts attached to them. None of them have the humor of the finished product. But you won't know that until I'm dead. They will never see the light of day while I'm alive. My wife has permission to sell them after I die in case she decides to get into the writing advice market with examples of what not to do.
TW: This is your second book published by 1889 Labs; the first being humor. What made you decide to take on an apocalyptic/dystopian genre?
GXG: While I was writing Codex Nekromantia I didn't really notice the brutality of the plot. In retrospect, yeah. Wow.
In the darkest times people let their light shine. I think that the book betrays my general optimistic feelings towards humanity. Humans are pretty neat. That's unpopular to think, let alone say. And there's plenty of reasons not to: look at all the bombs that we have invented because that town over there is 1. intact 2. not on fire 3. isn't full of enough corpses.
But then again, people are always proving my point, like dragging other people from burning buildings. Don't believe what sour internet commentors or the news say about humanity. They're the equivalent of that loud, angry little man in my head that is constantly shouting about how dull, fat and incapable that I am. He'll be there pouring out his rage and indigestion while the rest of my brain's getting on with life and enjoying a mighty fine sandwich.
Apocalypses magnify otherwise ephemeral qualities, and what I see through that lens is a good humor. I hope that shines through.
TW: Do you have any other works in progress?
GXG: You know that science fiction novel that I mentioned earlier? With the zeppelins and floating cities? The one that spurred me to start a whole new novel so that I didn't have to work on it? In keeping with my newfound tradition of finishing novels that have been knocking around for years, I'm finishing that up this fall.
If you're a fan of World War I, Nikolai Tesla, Marie Curie, really huge explosions, or international intrigue, I hope that you'll check it out.
If you're a fan of quiet little books where not much happens, well, sorry. Lots and lots of stuff will happen, often all at once and to many different characters. Perhaps, um, go have a lie down instead of reading it?
TW: Are there any authors or works that have been an inspiration to you?
GXG: Two major names come to mind: Kurt Vonnegut and Terry Pratchett. Both prove that that fun, interesting and profound are not mutually exclusive.
TW: Aside from writing, what other interests do you have?
GXG: I have served as a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon master, and have written all of the campaigns that I've run. That was always a blast.
A historian by training, part of what draws me to writing is the research.
Apparently, looking around my office, I'm also interested in putting together particleboard furniture.
Finally, Starcraft 2 infests my brain. I'm a frequent lurker on the Starcraft subreddit and watch day9′s excellent web series whenever I get a chance.
TW: What are three things you plan on doing before you die?
GXG: Being awesome.
Really awesome.
Super awesome.
Get your copy of Codex Nekromantia HERE
