Zomby Dick or, The Undead Whale

by J.D. Livingstone, Herman Melville

Ishmael was raging after zombies killed his wife and child. He became a legendary member of the reviled Militia, fighting the undead horde that had begun to lurch out of California three years earlier. Laudanum helped blunt the pain of what he had seen and done, and from what he had yet to do. Finally, bone-weary and spent after completing that last horrible task, Ishmael wallows in the November of his soul. He flees the plaguey land to ship aboard the ill-fated Pequod, ruled by mad dismasted Captain Ahab.

Fedallah, ancient Parsee mystic and zomby master, shares arcane knowledge with Ahab in the quest for the White Whale, including the secret of two rare zomby types, and a recipe for immortality. On deck, all is not as it seems to Ishmael, whose dark past continues to haunt him.

On The Pequod with crazy Captain Ahab, Ishmael and his tattooed friend Queequeg are in even greater peril than they were ashore. The secrets Ishmael discovers in Ahab’s log change everything he knows about Ahab’s insanity, the source of the undead plague, and the life-cycle of zombies.

Couldn’t get through the original? Want to re-experience the yarn? Melville’s enduring classic has been shamelessly edited to cut the boring bits and the addition of Ishmael’s tragic backstory and Ahab’s logbook add dark fathoms of depth to Melville’s epic.

Genres: Horror, Zombies

394 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 9, 2012

About the author

JD Livingstone bought his first boat at age nine with money he earned selling sea urchin shells and Alaska license plates to cruise ship tourists; he eschews television to spend time staring at other things, like words and water. He has won awards and fellowships for his writing, including a fellowship at Fishtrap. Livingstone, in the sailor's tradition after first crossing The Line, was inked by a Maori master tattooer. A wanderer, he has been known to take two-year road trips. Look for him under your boot soles.

Reviews

[Daffney · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those readers who struggled to plod their way through Melville’s original, Zomby Dick is a delightful, and more readable, blend of Moby Dick and the ever-so-popular undead that is (unlike its source material) a gripping and gory read.

As in the original text, Ishmael is a haunted man who has lost his family,—in this version to a rampaging zombie horde—found himself a societal outcast,—however, this time for both his drug addiction and membership in an anti-zombie militia— and found himself on Captain Ahab’s fabled, and ill-fated, Pequod. Much to Ishmael’s dismay, his new sea bound position, the zombie sickness laying waste to the world, and the Captain’s quixotic obsessions meld together—a fact made startlingly clear by what is found in Ahab’s logbook.

Both a rollicking and absorbing read, Zomby Dick is a literary treat. Fans of both the original text as well as hordes of zombie fans will greatly enjoy this delightfully gory novel!

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won this book from the First Reads giveaway. I was excited when I read the description for this book because I had so much fun reading Pride, Prejudice & Zombies along with other books like it. However, I've gotten half way through this book and can't bring myself to read anymore. Aside from the few mentions of zombies that I've seen at the beginning and a couple of mentions since....this book is pretty much Moby Dick straight through. I've already read Moby Dick, and if that's what I really wanted to read that's what I would read.

I'll try actually finishing the book later maybe. But for now, I can't get through it.

[Amy (DemonKittie) · Rating 5 out of 5]

*This book was won from a First Reads giveaway on goodreads.com*

This book was pretty good. It is long, and took some effort to read, but I found it worthwhile.

I really love how the book tied everything together. It is a book that takes a long time to read, and I am told that I read at a higher than average rate, or so I am told. It also has some words that I haven't come across in ages and I did have to look a few up. Keep that in mind as well.

I was so excited to win this from a giveaway, and it did not disappoint.

If you love these types of stories, I recommend you give this a try.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Take Moby Dick and add zombies to the story. Everything is written in Melville's style. Ahab is still possessed by his vendetta against Moby Dick. Ishmael ships out to be away from zombies and his role in the militia protecting humans from zombies. Of course he does not quite escape the zombies. Ahab has his confrontation with the unstoppable whale which poses the question: could Moby Dick be a zombie?

[Susan Kelley]

unable to finish