New York, NY : Balzer + Bray, [2013]
369 p. ; 22 cm.
If you have any doubts that The End Games has been well-received, check out the praise on T. Michael Martin's website - wow! I wish I could say I loved this book. I guess I'm just not enough of a zombie fan to completely enjoy the book - though I did appreciate the quality of the writing. That is a positive trend that I've noticed with many YA books - really top-notch writing across many subjects and genres.
I would agree with critics that the book is very imaginative. I like how it draws on video-gaming language and knowledge in a way that is thoroughly integrated into the plot. I also liked the unusual pairing of an older brother with a very young brother who has autism. The plot device of two characters bound up in a survival/journey ordeal is well traveled (think Huck and Jim in Twain's masterpiece, the father and son of McCarthy's The Road, or the Alex and Darla in Mullin's Ashfall) and is well done here. But for me, I found several key actions of the plot confusing and overwrought, certain characters almost cartoonish, and just too many actions where I had to suspend disbelief and just accept the improbability. I really found the deranged Capt. Jopek a bit much - his abilities with weapons makes him seem more superhuman than real. I also just never felt the emotional pull I was supposed to feel with the main character's memories of his troubled homelife that existed before the zombie apocalypse.
But problems aside, the book is fast, exciting, dramatic, action packed, and written with striking and fresh language. It has some gory scenes, but rarely seems written for shock effect. The language is also amazingly free of obscenities, and there is a nice romance woven into the plot with a soft touch. Not bad for a first novel. So, if I have a student asking about a good zombie novel - I'll definitely send them looking for The End Games.
Oh, and "Bellow and Shrieks"? Bellows is the name that the main character, Michael, gives to the zombies. Shrieks? Well, you'll have to read the novel to figure out that reference.
No comments:
Post a Comment