Customer Reviews

Autumn

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The mundane reality of a zombie attack might just be that - a mundane attack that doesn't present itself as something fast-paced and bloody but as something that imprisons people amongst themselves. In the beginning there were the problems with the air, and the coughing and gagging that led to Patient Zero quickly began infecting the population, Soon there were cities filled with bodies and ghosts, highways clogged with asphalt debris, and there were also the survivors. As far as the survivors go, there was the community center that sheltered individuals, almost paper walls and a lack of both patience and food, and later there were other places with one thing in common. Within each place, amidst all of the walls, there are explosions of what makes humanity all-too-human.
That's what Moody offers - a look into the way people deal with one another when confined into a societal coffin.

When I first started reading Autumn, it took me a while to get into the "flow" of the book because the pacing can seem to drone on a bit. It took me a while to figure out that it wasn't the "flow" that was causing me problems - it was the expectations that I brought to the table when reading the book. When thinking of the atypical zombie book, I don't expect everyone to fall down and the survivors to have to come to terms with what is taking place, hoping beyond hope that something good will come of it. Within Autumn, however, that is exactly what transpired. He used his writing talents to track multiple characters, sometimes over thirty at a time, and tracking thirty characters is a lot different than trying to keep up with a few people under the press of teeth and timing.
With a rest and a second try I saw that and, as I moved on, I found I really liked the book.

Admittedly, this book IS NOT for everyone. A lot of people called it slow-paced and that is true; introducing a montage of personalities really takes a long time. If you need something new to try out, however, you should look into the book and see if you like the pacing. If you search the internet for the book you can find free samples of the literature, and this is only something that grows and grows as the problem continues to grow.
While not my favorite read ever, it does get high marks for excellence in continuing the genre in new ways. Check out what exists by keywording Moody and Autumn and see if you like it. If so, you have a lot of books to look forward to.

I would think that the technical ability to write would be a minimum requirement for an author and having a compelling story would be key to publishing a novel. Worst case, an editor can fix the former, but the lack of the latter spells doom. This book fails on both counts.

If I was kind, I'd attribute the swtich from first to third person naration as an attempt to be artsy, but it is seemingly so random that I can't believe that. Oh, and here's a tip, you don't need to refer to the three main charcters by their first name in every scene. If I had a dime for ever sentance that contained some variation of "Emma, Michael and Carl ...," I'd be a rich man. Here's a good drinking game: every time a charcter asks, "Are you OK?" every downs a shot. I'll bet a large amount of money that even sailors couldn't make it through the first chapter.

OK, so, even if you loose an experienced editor on the copy, this is what you'd have:

* An aftermath in which the dead do not rise until several days later and when they do, it is several more days before they even hint at being dangerous.

* A lack of desire to arm ones self. OK, this does not take place in America with a plentiful supply of guns, but there's gotta be a few in Britain. When they do find one, there is actually argument over whether to even carry it.

* Unreasonable fear in EVERYONE.

"I'm locked in this building with nothing to eat but canned soup. I'm dying for some real food that I could get in the place just across the street. I will NOT, however, go retrieve it because there are dead bodies everywhere."

"What? You fear for your life that they'll try to eat your brains?"

"No, heck, they're not even moving. I'm just scared, so I'll sit here and wait."

"Wait for what?"

"I don't know, a better plot line?"

This story begins at a relatively slow pace and builds some steam towards the end of the novel. I think the tempo could have picked up earlier on, but I realize this is just the first of several Autumn books so I can forgive the author a bit of extended character development and time to build some suspense before diving head long into the meat of what will likely be the real story for several books to come. I would presume the future books will continue at the pacing set in the last 100 pages of this one, or at least I hope they do.

The zombies, a.k.a.: ticked off undead who hate the living, really do not show up until about half way through the book. They are not traditional Romero-esc type zombies though in the truest sense: they don't crave your flesh as much as they just want you to be quiet. You see, 99.9% of the worlds population died all at once and that makes for a pretty serene environment. But those few remaining pesky living folks still want to make a lot of noise and interupt the stillness. So the undead tend to show their disatisfaction with this by showing up in ever increasing numbers and like a cranky neighbor are ready to really complain vehemently about the racket you are creating.

The dialogue in this book is a little repetitive. I am sure if I faced a crisis such as this I would be as glum and moody as these folks, but hearing some of it over and over was a bit tiresome. I was also a slightly disappointed by what seemed a rather predictable character arc with Carl. He appeared to have come to terms with reality late in the story and then all the sudden loses his grip yet again at the most inopportune time. Certainly within the realm of possibilities, but I guess I just didn't appreciate how that played out that much.

Even with the criticisms I have laid out above, I feel this story was entertaining overall and this world worth revisiting at least for one more of David's books. I got this one free on line and I feel it is worth paying for the next story and seeing where this leads to. If he can sharpen up the dialogue and keep the pace he employed at the end of this book, the rest of the series should be pretty interesting.

I'm sorry to say I was seduced into purchasing this novel by several factors. In general I like post-apocalyptic survivor stories (I Am Legend, Year Zero, The Stand), but I was also influenced by positive comments from readers. Which goes to show that book reviews -- as well as books -- are best left to professionals.

"Autumn" is not slow moving in terms of events, but it is plodding. The writing is so amateurish, it leaves me wondering if "Infected Books", the publisher, is a vanity press. The paperback itself is printed with a cheap-looking typeface in a fairly large print.

Occasional chapters are narrated in first-person point of view from one or another of the several main characters, but since there is no discernible difference in their voice or tone, this just seems silly. Not only are the characters barely distinguishable, they are also inarticulate and unsympathetically drawn, and the dialogue is tediously repetitious, basically: "Are you all right?" "No." "What should we do?" "I don't know." Over and over again.

Were it not for the profanity, it might be acceptable as juvenile fiction. Only the most undemanding readers will be able to tolerate this poorly told tale.

I'll give this two stars instead of one, because there are a couple moments of suspense. Still...

Not recommended at all.

Yes, it's slow to those who just want blood and gore with no substance(Um, there's movies for that). But for those who want a slow build up with suspense and plot, this is the shiznit. I've read ALL the books in the series so far and it only gets better. Each time you think what next? Moody GIVES you a what next. There's 5 books, of COURSE they're not all going to die in the first 100 pages, HELLO? Yes, some of the people are whiners but if some reviewers would have stuck it out, there's some very "nice" things in store for most of them, and who's to say only nice, polite, lovable people would survive something like this? There's a story for a dimwit....5 nice people survive a zombie disaster and have tea every day while fighting the hordes. Each book adds and subtracts characters, you're not really following a A-B-C story here. Anyhoo, I like the book and the series. 2 thumbs up and 8 fingers to boot. MORE, MOODY, MORE!

The novel Autumn by David Moody is in one word bleak. In minutes about 99.5 percent of the population of a British city is dead. The few survivors that remain watched everyone around them suddenly choke on their own blood and suffocate to death. Millions upon million of people lay dead in the street, in their offices, and homes. Autumn follows three survivors: Michael, a company executive who watched an entire High School die within seconds, Emma a medical student who was at home with a cold, and Carl a mechanic that came home to find his wife and child dead.

The novel follows the three survivors as they find each other and start to prepare how they can go on surviving in a city that in a few weeks will be crawling with disease and pests. Much to the horror of the survivors their plans are complicated by the fact that the dead, after a few days, have begun to rise and as the dead begin to regain their most basic senses they also start to turn violent.

I really enjoyed Autumn but when I call the novel bleak I'm not kidding. It's so depressing you just start to wonder why the survivors don't just go ahead and kill themselves. Autumn is the first in the series so the open-ended ending didn't bother me too much. Although almost the entire population drops dead this is not a blood and guts type of thriller it's more a cerebral thriller that keeps you asking the question "what would you do if all your options pretty much sucked?"

Please note: This post will have many spoilers.

Some stories are about people and some stories focus on a situation and what people do. Autumn seemed to be about the latter. I personally don't really feel this is a horror novel. It seemed to be more of a survival story. There was some gore and rotting zombies and corpses, but it didn't really instill a sense of fear or dread in me. The only really scary chapter turned out to be a dream.

I would have liked to have seen more showing in this book, but unfortunately, it felt very narrative throughout most of the novel. The events were basically the three main characters trying to get through the days. Because of the style, it took me several pages to figure out who was speaking and there were sentences that didn't make sense and it was distracting to me.

I would have also liked to have seen traits that make the characters stand out or expose who they are. They are sad and upset and they understand that the world has changed and they reminisce from time to time but they don't explore their feelings in depth. The only thing I got from their personalities was that Carl is rude and Michael is arrogant and bossy. These traits can be interesting, but I couldn't find anything behind their words and actions. When Emma and Michael say that they are upset after Carl leaves the farmhouse, it surprised me because I really didn't see anything to back up their feelings. They just argued with him and tried to bully him into staying. There was also a part where Michael states that he'd come to rely on having Emma around and even though they hardly knew each other they shared "...more pain, despair, and raw emotion with her than any other person." However, this is not shown to my satisfaction.

The characters also fight a lot. I understand that emotions are high, but there is constant bickering, criticizing, hairsplitting and going over arguments again and again. The people reminded me of dysfunctional family members more than survivors who needed to work together.

There were also some moments that were touched upon that could have been very special and I wish they were explored a little further. Michael wants to rebuild but he thinks they have to clear out their old life first. While this may seem a little presumptious of him, I think he has a good point. However, he only expresses this opinion by arguing and not explaining. The trio also don't like doing anything normal in the "new world" because it reminds them of what they lost. This could have been very poignant and I would have liked to have seen it explored a little further.

In Autumn's defense, I do have to say that the story itself was believable. I never once thought, "...that could never happen..." even though it was a zombie novel.