Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy #1) by Mira Grant - Left me hungry for more zombies
In the not too distant future, cancer and the common cold are things of the past. But in the vain of “I Am Legend,” the cure to one (or two in this case) leads to an even worse pandemic that will change the course of humanity as we know it. Fast forward two decades and we see a new world where the infected roam, humans, while maintaining some sense of civilization, are as paranoid and as ever, and the country looks towards leadership to continue the fight to restore the “land of the free and home of the brave” to its former zombie-less glory. But with power comes corruption, and the brother sister blogging team of Shaun and Georgia Mason are determined to expose this corruption in order to deliver the truth to the people, no matter the cost.
This book was certainly one of the more unique takes on the genre that I’ve seen. It gets very technical and scientific, but it also gets very political. The thing is, if the second book is more of the same with practically 20 pages of zombie action among 550+ pages of just about everything else, I think I might pass on continuing down this road. In fact, I’m probably more likely to just read The Road. I didn’t see the need for 571 pages here and the next books are even longer. I interrupted my progress more than once by reading other novels because this just wasn’t keeping my interest as much as I would have hoped. Since this is a favorite of many, I tried my best to muddle through it. In the end, I need more tension and action in these kinds of stories. Politics is fine and dandy, but I would have liked to have seen a better balance with actual zombie screen time. The plot kind of shambled along, like the zombies this book is supposed to be about. It became annoyingly repetitive at times, from the countless blood screenings to countless references to Georgia’s eye condition.
It did offer an extensive amount of world building that made scientific and technological references believable in the scope of the story. It was occasionally thought-provoking and there were a few moments that had potential to get me hooked, but ultimately it never really took off. However, the last 15% was boldy executed and if that intensity was maintained for a larger portion of the novel, I would read the rest of the series without a doubt. In fact, it gained one extra star for that alone.
In the end, I wasn’t scared, the zombies were more like a backdrop to drive the plot (so much so that they could have been arguably interchangeable with some other pandemic, but I doubt this book would have sold as well), and I was mildly intrigued at best for the majority of the book. If I continue it won’t be anytime soon. I’m certainly in no rush.
San Diego Comic Con 2012 (Friday) - Report, Pics, and Vids
While this was a Robert Downey, Jr. impersonator, the real RDJ was there.
So I’ve been holding off on this for a little while, but I guess I should get going on my reports! I would make one big post, but I think I will break them out day by day.
I’ll try not to make it too long, but there is no experience like San Diego Comic Con. This was my second year and I had just as much fun, but the overall experience felt different. And it’s for this reason that people come back again and again…if you can survive the badge process of course.
I’ll spare you the details of Thursday since I already wrote about it. I’ll just move on to Friday:
Just a piece of advice for those of you who would like to go one of these days; become well acquainted with lines. I’m talking about super long lines (there’s 135,000 people there after all, what do you expect?). Many people will camp out for days for a major celebrity panel, and one lady even died waiting for the Twilight panel. As for me, I paid hundreds of dollars per night for a swanky room (in a hotel where the celebs stay; we caught Stan Lee coming out of the elevator), so I damn sure planned to use it every night, and I did. There’s a price to pay for this, however. I was determined to get into the infamous Hall H this year and I did…after a good 6-7 hour wait. If you’re willing to sacrifice most of your day for something big, that’s up to you. But I promise there are tons of little things to do as well. You certainly have enough to keep you entertained.
Luckily I was able to get into the Resident Evil and Total Recall panels. I was SO CLOSE to giving up so that I could make the Spartacus panel, but it all worked out! (more…)
Human Sister by Jim Bainbridge - Not what I was expecting
I was hoping for a bit more than I got with this book. The perspective primarily focuses on Sara Jensen, a young teen girl who has lived a sheltered life, becoming an experiment of her grandfather as she is used to create an android. Though the world has been populated with thousands of these beings, this new android, Michael, grows and develops by being directly tied to her experiences. This helps humanize their kind a little more. However, the government wants to outlaw these practices and eliminate the world of all androids, believing that they pose a thread to the human race. So her family must keep the existence of their beloved Michael and their other androids a secret, going to amazing lengths to do so. But will their efforts be in vain?
To be quite honest, the beginning had a lot of promise, but it slows down for me immensely for the majority of the book. This book is classified as science fiction and that’s honestly all you get. The themes are thought provoking, but not to surprising. There is not a lot of plot progression, just pages and pages of useless detail. While the jargon wasn’t totally over my head, it’s an extremely cerebral read and you should be prepared for that. It’s so cerebral that it comes off as clinical and I honestly felt as if I was reading a text book most of the time. I really wanted more story, conflict, and drama. It gets there eventually, but I was tempted to stop reading for the majority of the book. It didn’t really feel like a climax either; it just happened.
This also reminded me at times of the film Artificial Intelligence(starring Haley Joel Osmet) with similar themes and an anti-android agenda. But I was genuinely more attached to that story.
I think the book would have been improved if it featured Michael’s POV as an android. I think it would have made more of an impact to get into his head and compare it to our own thought processes and emotions as normal humans. I would have enjoyed comparing the nuances that would give away that his kind is not quite right, but still ambitious.
I don’t see myself reading this again and I can’t really recommend it. It’s certainly strange and out there at times, but I’m sure there are other sci-fi books that accomplish this while moving the plot along at a good pace.
Follow YOUR URBAN FANTASY
crystal on 
Anne on 