They thought space was the final frontier - they were wrong. I love looking through the fiction section of my local library. Its always 'oooo I want to read that', or 'I will get there one day'. But it is always interesting to see what I come home with. When it comes to fiction I read a broader range of genres than I do non-fiction wise. But it can also be frustrating as its the old proverb, so many books not enough time!!
I pulled this one out on a whim and instantly put it under my arm once I read Star Trek, sci-fi, and zombies on the back cover. I love zombie movies and after I am Legend this really appealed. When I think back over the years I've never actually read a zombie novel so I was keen to see how the genre would relate to the written word.
First off this is written by a couple of self confessed sci-fi geeks/nerds!! The writing style is competent and readable but be aware it is at about the level of the best written blogs we read. In saying that it is still reasonably written and an unchallenging read. In essence it is two amateurs having a go at writing a novel about their hobby. Good on them and it is a good entertaining attempt.
The premise revolves around an ex-solider who has left the army and now works in a Houston, Texas hotel. It is host to a Star Trek convention and slowly the main protagonist realises that something is terribly wrong. The novel starts with the cliqued outbreak in a secret military base which sets the tone for the whole novel. It is chock full of cliques on everything sci-fi from Star Trek to Star Wars to 28 Days Later to Wolverine!! The title should be a give away as the 'Trekkies' are quickly zombified except for a small handful of survivors who are dwindled away to three by the end of the novel.
As stated it is cliqued but it is humorous in its delivery. The novel really is a parody and is funny without being laugh out loud. I loved it and just got into the whole geek/nerdiness of it. These two authors have great motivation in writing about their hobby and have written quite a unique original novel in mixing sci-fi elements of a Star Trek convention with that of horror with zombies. I believe it has been made into a low budget movie at same stage. It reads almost like a screenplay and would have adapted to a movie relatively easily.
Surprisingly there is very little real gore or even swearing. Shit is used once and that is the only swear word in the whole novel! The gore is there but not in over dose quantities and if anything it works better for it because it is the sci-fi Star Trek buzz that is more what the novel is about. Right throughout there are plenty of in house Star Trek jokes and heaps upon heaps of Star Trek facts and figures being hurled about. It is great stuff and since it involves zombies there are several references to zombie movies as well.
In short an original novel that pokes quiet tongue in cheek fun at the sci-fi community. I love the premise of a sci-fi convention being over run by zombies! I hope the two authors make a bit of cash from this as it is a fun look into the world of the geek/nerd sci-fi aficionado!! It is competently written without being professional in nature and easily read in about 4 hours. Amazon has this with 4 1/2 stars out of 5 from 78 reviews. Have fun because that is what it is all about, and it will appeal to both sci-fi and zombie lovers!
No comments:
Post a Comment