Autumn [Paperback]

David Moody (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2005

In less than twenty-four hours a vicious and virulent disease destroys virtually all of the population. Billions are killed. Thousands die every second. There are no symptoms and no warnings. Within moments of infection each victim suffers a violent and agonizing death. Only a handful of survivors remain. By the end of the first day those survivors wish they were dead. Then the disease strikes again, and all hell breaks loose... The classic free underground novel finally bursts into the mainstream. Cold, dark, relentless and uncomfortably plausible. A Night of the Living Dead for the 21st Century. "the perfect zombie story" "nothing written in the genre has grabbed me in the same way as AUTUMN" "an equal to Romero's Night of the Living Dead"

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Originally self-published and offered as a free download, Moody’s sluggish apocalyptic survival story follows three characters as they deal with the aftereffects of a virus that kills most of the population, then turns them into zombies. When the dead first rise, they are harmless and unresponsive, but eventually they regain their most basic senses and turn violent. Most survivors, having become accustomed to the undead being rather benign, are unprepared for this change and perish quickly (though regrettably off-page), but Michael, Carl, and Emma, barricaded in an isolated farmhouse, remain secure—for a little while. While the staged progression of the virus makes for an interesting premise, the execution is lacking, with excruciatingly slow pacing, repetitive dialogue, and characters as dull and aimless as the dead. While the story picks up around the 200-page mark, concluding with an exciting escape scene that leaves two of the characters’ fates undecided, zombie fans may want to give this first in the Autumn series a pass and read Moody’s superior Hater (2009) instead. --Krista Hutley --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

“With AUTUMN, David Moody paints a picture of a marvelously bleak dystopian future where the world belongs to the hungry dead.  It’s the creepy start to a compelling series.” --Jonathan Maberry, multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Patient Zero and Zombie CSU

 

"Zombie fans rejoice!  One of the original zombie novels is back from the grave to remind us all why the walking dead are so scary, and what it means to have a front-row seat for the end of the world.  Autumn is genuinely creepy, an atmospheric study of what happens when the dead come back--and what we have to do just to survive."

--David Wellington, Author of Monster Island, Monster Nation, 99 Coffins

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: INFECTED BOOKS (January 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955005108
• ISBN-13: 978-0955005107
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,017,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Here are my biographies from my UK and US publishers. They both seem to tell half the story each!

David Moody was born in 1970 and grew up in Birmingham on a diet of trashy horror and pulp science fiction books and movies. He worked as a bank manager and as operations manager for a number of financial institutions before giving up the day job to write about the end of the world for a living. He has written a number of horror novels, including AUTUMN, which has been downloaded more than half a million times since publication in 2001 and has spawned a series of sequels and a movie starring Dexter Fletcher and David Carradine. Film rights to HATER have been bought by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) and Mark Johnson (producer of the Chronicles of Narnia films). Moody lives outside Birmingham (UK) with his wife and a houseful of daughters and stepdaughters, which may explain his pre-occupation with Armageddon.

DAVID MOODY self published Hater online in 2006, and without an agent, succeeded in selling film rights to Guillermo del Toro (director, Hellboy 1 & 2, Pan's Labyrinth and the upcoming Hobbit series) and Mark Johnson (producer, The Chronicles of Narnia). With the official publication of Hater, David is poised to make a significant mark as a writer of "farther out" fiction of all varieties.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing New Spin on Zombie Fiction, November 12, 2005

By 

CreepyT "CreepyTendencies" (Colorado, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Autumn (Paperback)

On one mundane autumn morning, what appears to be a virus spreads rapidly throughout Northwich. Within minutes, the vast majority of the population is killed and lies strewn all over the streets of the city and roads of the outlying country. Emma, a medical student, Michael, a manager at a computer company, and Carl, a maintenance worker, are among a small handful of survivors. Within a small and somewhat shoddy community center, the survivors sit and wait for aid.

A few days later, and still no aid has come. However, a new challenge appears as the dead begin to rise from the surrounding streets. Food supplies diminish, tempers begin to flare, and slowly but surely hope dwindles.

Autumn is not quite like previous zombie novels I've read. Though the plot, at first glance, appears to be a cut-and-paste version of most other zombie books and films, the author approaches this material from a slightly different perspective. David Moody, rather than giving the reader fountains of gore, fighting, and violence, chooses to dissect the human condition. Moody delves into the heart of human emotions in times of crises, and interpersonal relationships when all hope seems lost. This may be a turn-off to those looking for an all-out splatter-fest, but you have to give him credit for trying a different angle in a genre that seemingly had little else to offer. The personalities of the characters are laid out quite well, leaving you caring about what happens to them by the end of the book.

I must admit that, at times, this slant can make for a somewhat slower read, and hence the four stars instead of five. However, the ending does pick up the pace quite abruptly, returning to the gore and tension more characteristic of the genre, and paving the way for the rest of the books in the series. The conclusion indeed leaves the reader wanting to indulge in more that Moody has to offer.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will pick up the remaining books in the series. It should be noted that this novel is also available as a free download from the author's website for those interested in checking out the series and saving a few bucks in the process.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow moving undead novel., October 24, 2005

By 

Kevin D. Holloman "K_dee_H" (Oak Harbor, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Autumn (Paperback)

Just finished reading David Moody's first novel of the Autumn series. I cannot say I was either blown away or disappointed. Fans of Romero style zombie tales will be surprised by the overall behavior of Moody's undead. For the vast majority of the novel the zombies wander the land aimlessly, oblivious of the living. Be warned: This novel is SLOW, but does pick up the pace the last 75 pages. I have just started Autumn: The City and I am expecting much more from the Author. Overall, I would say Autumn is worth reading if you are planning to read the entire Autumn series. If not, pick up Brian Keene's "The Rising" and skip this novel entirely.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best in zombies, December 24, 2006

By 

Mark Crfat "obannonxo" (Maine, USA!) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Autumn (Paperback)

I was very excited about reading this book, especially knowing it was a series. The hope to carry characters through a cataclysm is one that intreges me. Unfortunatly, although the concept around the story is a good one, the characters are incredibly unsympathetic. They are either bickering or whining, even close moments when you feel that they are going to connect it turns into a confronation. At the end I really didn't care if they lived or died.And the language is unbelievably harsh, yes, I don't mind the occasional f-bomb, but at times it seemed unrelenting. If you agree with this review and have read the other books and Mr Moody's writing style has changed please let me know.