Benny and perhaps a jet

18. Rot & Ruin – Jonathan Maberry

If there’s any author who can be easily trusted to bring zombies to YA in a solid, respectable style, it’s Jonathan Maberry. Rot and Ruin, and the rest of the series, are very YA in that there is much drama and emotion coming out of those 15 year olds, but there is enough action and post-apocalyptic world intrigue to keep up a nicely paced plot.

Benny Imura is our just a little bitter about losing his parents to zombies main character and his older brother, Tom Imura, is a total badass who goes after zombies in the “Ruin” aka the not safe part of the world. Benny doesn’t think Tom is all that cool because he totally did not save their parents – but, because Tom is a zombie hunter-dude and they have some issues, they must team up to go on an adventure and learn how to be a family again while Benny learns some shit about what’s really going on out in the wasteland and who his brother really is. Very YA, but very not saccharine or annoyingly predictable.

Ozymandias went on adventures that involved imitating a mountain goat on an armchair, as opposed to zombie killing in a wasteland, so he is not exactly ready to become a bounty hunting apprentice. Yet.

 

3. Dust & Decay – Jonathan Maberry

Let’s leave Sanctuary! You know, considering what Sanctuary is like in this story and the Walking Dead, well, I just don’t think that anyone save Quasimodo should ever be looking for any place called that. It’s like when you come across words like “patriotism” that mean very different things to very different people. Moving on, this one’s a journey story and that means I’m likely to be pleased with it. Stuff has to happen when going on journeys through zombie-filled wastelands with your badass brother and your best friends.

Without the emotional set up of Rot and Ruin, this wouldn’t have been possible, but I liked this one better than the first one. For one thing, there’s a rhino. I love rhinos because we are similarly stubborn and nearly extinct. But even without the rhino, Dust and Decay is twisty and exciting and fun to read.

The Oz-venture on the back of this chair continues.

 

6. Flesh & Bone – Jonathan Maberry

I swear, every time the world ends or even is supposed to end, some jerk with charisma finds a way to amass some followers and if one looks at the whole mess from the outside, it’s easy to ask, “Really? That guy?” But in Flesh and Bone “that guy” is quite scary and used to be a serial killer (Is there really a “used to be” in that arena? I feel like if you’re not in jail, then there’s no incentive to stop- yeah, no.) The world of the Ruin greatly expands in this third installment, which also brings down some serious heaviness on the characters and the relationships between them and also a military presence.

Ozymandias was always keen to improve his climbing skills. Pumpkins are a much more challenging surface to conquer than chairs.