21 replies to this topic

[MisterOJ]

So I really enjoyed World War Z and I'd be interested in reading some other really good zombie novels.

How about a few recommendations. I've gotten some ideas from goodreads, but I trust y'all more than just the random folks that hand out 5-star ratings like candy.

So how about it? Where's a good place to start?

[Maithanet]

I am Legend is sort of a mix of zombie/vampire apocalypse, but it is excellent.  If you have seen the movie, don't worry - the things that made the book great aren't in the movie at all.

[Tuco]

I, Zombie by Hugh Howey. It's a very different take on the zombie genre, basically it's told from the 'zombie's' viewpoint as if there are still the person they were before infection, just trapped in a body they can no longer control. it's terrifying on a whole different level. I'm about 1/3 of the way through now and it isn't for the squeamish.

[kurokaze]

Feed. Mira Grant. That is all.

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

I mentioned it a few times on the WWZ thread, but Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne and its sequel Beyond Exile are both good, if quite short. It's the diary of a Navy pilot from San Antonio in the zombie apocalypse. There's a third book on the way. Quite good, very gripping though not perfect, and as far as I can tell pretty realistic (it compares favorably to WWZ in that regard). The political views of the author (who is actually a Navy pilot who writes slowly due to being deployed) do come through occasionally, but it's not a big bother. They were mentioned to me by Peterbound.

Also read The Passage if you haven't already. Not zombie apocalypse, and arguably quite similar to I Am Legend, but same broad genre of apocalypse. Excellent book, one of the best books published in 2010 in any genre IMO. Plus it's sequel comes out in October. It's by Justin Cronin.

[Lexicon Devil]

There were a couple of pretty good zombie novels by Brian Keene, I don't recall the titles right offhand but I liked them quite a bit. The Rising might have been the first one. They are written in a very contemporary horror style so YMMV.

[SkynJay]

So far WWZ is the only one i truly liked.  Feed had a great premise, but was too heavy on some cliches(not zombie ones, just in general).

[Simon Steele]

Try http://www.amazon.co...39141201&sr=8-1 my book Archetype, only available for Kindle download. It has two reviews so far, both seem to like it--and one of them is a poster around here!

It is bad ass zomberie in my humble opinion.

[MisterOJ]

Simon Steele, on 29 August 2012 - 12:20 AM, said:

Try http://www.amazon.co...39141201&sr=8-1 my book Archetype, only available for Kindle download. It has two reviews so far, both seem to like it--and one of them is a poster around here!

It is bad ass zomberie in my humble opinion.

If I had a Kindle, I would totally buy that and check it out - especially at that price point. But, I'm a Nook person. Does Barnes & Noble not allow for self-publishing?

[MinDonner]

Feed was fun, and a nice new take on the zombie apocalypse approach, but the plot left a lot to be desired (cartoon bad guys for the lose!) as did the swiss-cheese-like setup which really strained credibility. Saintly pro-gay-rights pro-choice pro-environment-protection anti-corporation Republican Primary candidate with a shot at prez? All news provided by bloggers who fund themselves by T-shirt sales? The walking corpses are probably the most plausible thing in the book....

[awesome possum]

Lexicon Devil, on 28 August 2012 - 08:37 PM, said:

There were a couple of pretty good zombie novels by Brian Keene, I don't recall the titles right offhand but I liked them quite a bit. The Rising might have been the first one. They are written in a very contemporary horror style so YMMV.

Keene rubbed me the wrong way.  He wrote The Rising and meant it to be a standalone, but then because his fans bugged him so much about a sequel he wrote one that was just a massive turd sandwich (zombie cockroaches??).  And unfortunately, I read the sequel first without realizing it was a sequel.  Couldn't get into the first one after that.

MinDonner, on 29 August 2012 - 08:30 AM, said:

Feed was fun, and a nice new take on the zombie apocalypse approach, but the plot left a lot to be desired (cartoon bad guys for the lose!) as did the swiss-cheese-like setup which really strained credibility. Saintly pro-gay-rights pro-choice pro-environment-protection anti-corporation Republican Primary candidate with a shot at prez? All news provided by bloggers who fund themselves by T-shirt sales? The walking corpses are probably the most plausible thing in the book....

I agree, and this was the book I first thought of when I saw this thread.  It's fun while being pretty bad.  Apparently it also has two sequels, though I haven't been inclined to seek them out.

Edited by awesome possum, 29 August 2012 - 12:30 PM.

[Monday]

Have any of you read Pontypool Changes Everything ? It's on my to read list. I loved the movie based on it.The virus spreading through language is a unique idea, surreal almost the way they showed it. I understand the book is written almost like someone with the virus?

[MisterOJ]

I'm bumping this because I am hoping for a few more recommendations.

One thing I have ran into while looking into the Zombie lit subgenre is that most of it appears to be YA books. I'd prefer to avoid those, if possible.

Thanks, y'all.

[RedEyedGhost]

This Dark Earth by John Horner Jacobs is supposed to be excellent.  I haven't read it, but I did read his Southern Gods which was great.

[Sci-2]

Curious if anyone read Zone One, which was supposed to be the "literary" zombie novel?

[gougef]

It's more a "vampire" type creature , but The Passage is about a zombie-like infection that has a little bit of everything over a long time period. IMHO it is a very good book, but YMMV. The "virals' in this book are some scary-ass creatures.

[MisterOJ]

RedEyedGhost, on 11 December 2012 - 03:04 PM, said:

This Dark Earth by John Horner Jacobs is supposed to be excellent.  I haven't read it, but I did read his Southern Gods which was great.

sciborg2, on 11 December 2012 - 03:06 PM, said:

Curious if anyone read Zone One, which was supposed to be the "literary" zombie novel?

After checking these books out on goodreads, I am really glad I decided to bump this. They both seem to be just what I'm looking for and are going on my tbr list.

Thanks, fellers!

[WrathOfTinyKittens]

I read Zone One. It was really weird but was actually quite fantastic. It started slow, but the final act left me literally unable to stop reading, to the point where I overran my lunch break by a good 15 minutes. I also recently read Tooth and Nail by Craig DiLouie which was also fantastic. It follows a company of Army soldiers deployed in Manhattan to defend a hospital. I don't know how accurate the military jargon and whatnot was, but it felt extremely authentic and was an all-around great book.

Craig DiLouie has several other zombie and apocalypse books but I haven't read them.

I'll also plug Day-by-Day Apocalypse again. I reread it after my post above and it held up to a reread, so I feel happy in my recommendation.

Another author with supposedly excellent books (I haven't read them) is ZA Recht. He (along with diLouie and JL Bourne of DBDA) is published by Permuted Press. Unfortunately Recht died recently, so there won't be any more books, but his Morningstar zombie trilogy was completed already.

[Rody]

I bought The Passage when it came out, only read chapter 1, and never touched on it. Guess I will start tomorrow, since everyone keeps mentioning it.

[gougef]

Rody, on 12 December 2012 - 03:23 PM, said:

I bought The Passage when it came out, only read chapter 1, and never touched on it. Guess I will start tomorrow, since everyone keeps mentioning it.

The first chapter is much different then the rest of the book.

I will admit it is a hard book to read but worth it. Two things that I like - the mythological/Biblical/historical aspect on how the events are looked on from the future, and the scary, realistic thought processes of "broken" people in the series, like the author was inside their head.

Even in the first chapter, on the first page, the author describes the protagonist in a religious historical way.