So I just finished a novel called "Feed" by Mira Grant, and my review of it has changed since I first started it. I'm not sure how the book came onto my radar, but I've had it in my 'to read' pile for a couple of years. Finally deciding to give it a read, I went into it knowing the bare basics of the plot. It's a zombie book, and blogging is a big part of it. While I enjoy zombie movies, and even The Walking Dead TV show, I'm not big on reading zombies. Other than Max Brooks "World War Z" I can't really name a zombie book I've liked. I'm sure there's some great ones out there, but the genre isn't at the top of my interests to continue delving into it. That's why it took me so long to read this one.
Instantly my fears were confirmed. The year is 2040 or so and the zombie outbreak happened 20 years ago. Children since have often been named George or Georgia in honor of George A. Romero because of his zombie movies. From the beginning it felt like a shameless plug to show the author 'knows' the genre or the source material. At some point early in reading the book, I learned it was a trilogy and I wanted to jump ship right then and there because I knew I wasn't finishing this book, let alone picking up the other two...
Then something amazing happened, Mira Grant (real name Seanan McGuire) showed she not only knows what she's talking about, but that she's put a lot of thought into this post zombie outbreak world. We see how the world continued in a different path after the outbreak, we see the advancement of necessary technology in this infested world where people try to live their lives. Also two of the things she did exceptionally well was to 1) explain why in the world 'blogging' would be crucial or even relevant in this world (ironic of me to discredit blogging on my own blog, I know), and the reason has to do with equal parts sharing of information and the 'real' news failing to acknowledge the existence of zombies, and 2) explain the origin of the zombies. Too many times a zombie story sweeps the reason of their existence under the rug with a generic 'virus' answer. Mira took the extra steps to detail their genesis.
The book follows three bloggers who are brought onto the campaign trail of a presidential hopeful, the first candidate to acknowledge and accept bloggers as a crucial part of the media. Of course, when zombies and/or presidents are involved conspiracies abound. This, I must admit, is the weakest part of the writing. Not so much what the conspiracies are, but the who behind them. The author didn't put the best of efforts to conceal who was behind everything, and in all honesty that may have been her intention.
In any case, I've already picked up the second book to the Newsflesh trilogy "Deadline" and won't wait as long to read this one.
Rating:
This started out as a "75 Page" read and review, however the author's knowledge and dedication to the genre comes through and makes this an easy...
"Cover to cover"
If the zombie genre interests you at all, this will certainly satisfy your flesh eating needs until The Walking Dead returns in October.
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