Zombies! discussion
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*GASP*! Could there be....a BAD zombie book!?!
I loved The forest of hands and teeth and the sequel but was disappointed by the eagerly awaited final part of the trilogy
I've read plenty of bad zombie books. Forests of Hands and Teeth was not one of them though, I loved that series.The last meh Zombie book I read was Dead Things by Matt Darst. It was okay but not nearly what I expected. Plus not enough Zombie carnage, I dont think he knew how to properly write the scenes so he skipped over them.
Loved the series! And I haven't read anything like it since, and I read alot of zombie books. So I also have to give the author credit for that.
With so many fellow writers churning out zombie stories, I would bet that it would be impossible not to run across a few stinkers.
The First Days (As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy #1) and Fighting to Survive (As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy, #2) are personally the worst books i have ever read....i purchased the two books based on goodreads reviews and read them before i was going to buy the final one, but after reading the first two, forget it.
Ooh, those are on my TBR pile. Thanks for the heads-up.
Zone One is probably the worst one I've read. Was difficult to follow when he's jumping from past to present and don't feel there was enough zombie carnage as Kristin put it. Then again everyone's opinion is different and something I don't like someone else might like.
Mokieblylk wrote: "The First Days (As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy #1) and Fighting to Survive (As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy, #2) are personally the worst books i have ever read....i purchased the two book..."Isn't it funny..I loved those and have disliked others that people love...reading taste is individual and what you like even in a specific genre is individual..the ones you should name and shame are the ones so badly written you can't even follow....reviewed one on Amazon that in the middle of burying a guy the corpse changed his name to Eric!!!.and I read one the other day on Kindle where Rachael suddenly got rechristened Julie for a few lines..spoilt the whole ruddy story for me!!!
Aaron wrote: "Zone One is probably the worst one I've read. Was difficult to follow when he's jumping from past to present and don't feel there was enough zombie carnage as Kristin put it. Then again everyone's ..."I said that about Dead Things not Zone one :)
I personally loved The As The World Dies trilogy. Jenny was a bit annoying but honestly what book doesn't have that one annoying character in it.
i thought every character was annoying in the two that i read, but i do know that i am in the minority when it comes to disliking that series.
Apparently so am I with The Forest of Hands and Teeth...
I know you were talking about another book i was using refering to the not enough zombie carnage part.
The AS The World Dies trilogy does have plenty of zombie carnage, that is what allowed me to finish it.
I'm getting sick of zombie carnage... where's the love? And more unicorns and rainbows, too...Armand Rosamilia
Armand wrote: "I'm getting sick of zombie carnage... where's the love? And more unicorns and rainbows, too...Armand Rosamilia"
Your reading the wrong genre then lol. Zombie carnage is what makes the whole zombie genre interesting.
LOL... nah, I love me some gore and blood zombies...Armand
The First Days (As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy #1) and Fighting to Survive (As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy, #2)Are my hands down favorite zombie books every... I liked The Forest of Hands and Teeth but I did find the story a little slow.
My Life As a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie, #1) was another book I loved. It was not the typical zombie book however.
I have read so many BAD zombie books I can't even name them lol
Oh, good Lord, I have come accross some really awfull Zombie books. The best by far is 'World War Z'. I have yet to come accross any as good as that one.
The 'As the World Dies' trilogy is pretty good tho.
World War Z is one of my least favorites. I'm having trouble getting through it because I find it so boring. I've checked it out of the library twice and I'm only about a third of the way through it.
The worst zombie book I ever read was The Hole by Aaron Ross Powel.
The absolute worst zombie movie was Weekend At Bernie's... wait, what are we talking about?Armand Rosamilia
Armand wrote: "The absolute worst zombie movie was Weekend At Bernie's... wait, what are we talking about?Armand Rosamilia"
But he wore Hawaiian shirts! How can that NOT be considered funny?!?
I think I can change your mind Armand. Check out Johnny Sunshine or Dorm of the Dead (2006).
Oh, I can list a dozen horrible zombie movies, actually... while I love to read (and write) zombie stories, there aren't many really good zombie movies out there, and I've been watching since I was a kid in the 70's and 80's...Armand
I loved Dead Things by Matt Darst. He has avoided all the repetative scenarios that so many zombie novels are doing these days. Instead of just filling his pages with gore and fighting. He has wrote an intelligent story filled with great characters in a brilliant world - that just happens to have zombies in it. The main story behind his novel is the fall of society and how individuals will deal with a new regime. Zombies are sprinkled in to lighten the story and add some character.
Not all zombie books should be filled with gunning slinging survivors, out for revenge in a tank. Or. 1 million zombies ripping apart 10 people. (Though these books still rock my boat also.) I want variety in my zombie fiction.
I liked Dead Things, but I think a lot of people looking for a zombie story would be disappointed with it.
How amusing that I should see this thread just as I posted a review of a bad zombie book! A Zombie Apocalypse by Keith Adam Luethke was BAD. So, so bad.
Randy wrote: "I liked Dead Things, but I think a lot of people looking for a zombie story would be disappointed with it."Exactly if they were just called Monsters maybe then I could glance over the issues I had but to have it be touted as a Zombie book it really left me feeling disappointed.
The worse zombie book I've read so far is one called Drop Dead Gorgeous. It takes place in Ireland, and the intital story starts off fine, with people just dropping dead for no reason. Survivors gather together in varies parts of Ireland, and in that it's a good end of the world survivor story. But finally at the end of the book, only dead women are reanimating and it just gets all stupid. Plus it's clear after reading it, that it's just a set-up for a next book. LAME!
Manda wrote: "How amusing that I should see this thread just as I posted a review of a bad zombie book! A Zombie Apocalypse by Keith Adam Luethke was BAD. So, so bad."
Manda, you had me scared there for a minute until i read the author's name. LOL I've really had some strong in doubt days of my ability to tell a story.
I liked The Forest of Hands and Teeth series, but it was underwhelming as a Zombie story. The best part of Zombie stories is the suspense that at any moment a zombie could pop up and ravage you. That was missing from the series.
Randy wrote: "World War Z is one of my least favorites. I'm having trouble getting through it because I find it so boring. I've checked it out of the library twice and I'm only about a third of the way through it."I have to agree. Although it is certainly not a 'bad book', it seems very dry and reads like a textbook. I've had it on my Kindle forever and it just puts me to sleep. I guess that's the point... But... Yawn.
The Forest of hand and teeth was a painfull read. I can't even count it as a zombie book, zombies just happened to be there. It's by far not only the worst "zombie" book I've read, but also one of the most poorly written books I've read all year.Also, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies turned out to be way lower than my expectations. While reading it all I wanted to do was find a copy of Pride and Prejudice and read it again. The prose was bad and the jokes were poor.
Anelis wrote: "The Forest of hand and teeth was a painfull read. I can't even count it as a zombie book, zombies just happened to be there. It's by far not only the worst "zombie" book I've read, but also one of ..."Yes I agree with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It was good but not nearly as awesome as the original.
For the most part, the worst zombie books I've read are because of the number of typos and grammatical errors.There also seem to be a lot of short story Kindle eBooks lately. It's relatively easy to write a short story about the initial outbreak of a zombie apocalypse (bite, get up, bite, get up, etc). A bit harder to write a meaningful long-term story AFTER the apocalypse -- then you have to develop characters and a plot.
Randy wrote: "For the most part, the worst zombie books I've read are because of the number of typos and grammatical errors.There also seem to be a lot of short story Kindle eBooks lately. It's relatively easy..."
So true!!
Randy wrote: "For the most part, the worst zombie books I've read are because of the number of typos and grammatical errors.There also seem to be a lot of short story Kindle eBooks lately. It's relatively easy..."
This is so true! I have reached the point where I use the Look Inside feature on the zombie freebies to check for typos, spelling and grammar errors. If it's bad, I pass on the book or story. Amazing how many books have poorly written first lines....
Faize, I also found The Forest of Hand and Teeth underwhelming and disappointing so you are not alone! I have also yet to finish World War Z. I've tried to read it twice with no success and get bored about a third of the way through it.
World War Z is the least zombish zombie book out there, it's basically just a bunch of bad luck end of society stories (very badly) strung together with zombies as a common theme. heck, you could take the book and substitute every instance of the word zombie/zombies for something like Killer Rabbit and it'd probably be a better book. And funnier too.
I am about half way through World War Z and I have to agree. It is dry. Just as I get into a part the interview stops and I'm left hanging.
Was anybody else bothered by the blatant propagandistic comments on Cuba's and Russia's regime in World War Z? It almost ruined the book for me. Well that and the fact that you could tell it was the same person narrating all the stories and the portrayal of Japanese people only through stereotypes.
Randy wrote: "I think I can change your mind Armand. Check out Johnny Sunshine or Dorm of the Dead (2006)."My all time favorite Zombie movie was Return of the Living Dead. I never laughed so much in my life!!! Of course I was high at the time but it's still hilarious now.
Doug wrote: "I am about half way through World War Z and I have to agree. It is dry. Just as I get into a part the interview stops and I'm left hanging."A very boring book. I've tried 3 times to read it and always put it down about 100 pages in. It's just sooooo slow.
My favorite zombie books so far are The Fallout Series by Mark Tufo. Amazing books. I also love Rhiannon Fraters As the World Dies series. They both have great storylines and keep you coming back for more.
Tammy wrote: "My all time favorite Zombie movie was Return of the Living Dead. I never laughed so much...""You mean the movie lied!?"
One of my top 3, behind the first two Romero films (and I loved their remakes as well).
Books mentioned in this topic
White Flag of The Dead (other topics)Dead Things (other topics)
The Forest of Hands and Teeth (other topics)
However, I just finished reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Talk about underwhelming. I was disappointed. The protagonists annoyed me.
Anybody else share the same opinion?
Tell me, zombie-lovers, are there any zombie books out there you're ashamed to admit disappointed you?