Autumn: The City [Paperback]

David Moody (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 1, 2011

A bastard hybrid of War of the Worlds and Night of the Living Dead, the Autumn series chronicles the struggle of a small group of survivors forced to contend with a world torn apart by a deadly disease. After 99% of the population of the planet is killed in less than 24 hours, for the very few who have managed to stay alive, things are about to get much worse.  Animated by "phase two" of some unknown contagion, the dead begin to rise. At first slow, blind, dumb and lumbering, quickly the bodies regain their most basic senses and abilities... sight, hearing, locomotion...  As well as the instinct toward aggression and violence.  Held back only by the restraints of their rapidly decomposing flesh, the dead seem to have only one single goal - to lumber forth and destroy the sole remaining attraction in the silent, lifeless world:  those who have survived the plague, who now find themselves outnumbered 1,000,000 to 1...

 

While the first Autumn novel focused on those who escaped the city, Autumn: The City focuses on those who didn't.

 

Without ever using the 'Z' word, the Autumn series offers a new perspective on the traditional zombie story. There's no flesh eating, no fast-moving corpses, no gore for gore's sake. Combining the atmosphere and tone of George Romero's classic living dead films with the attitude and awareness of 28 Days (and Weeks) later, this horrifying and suspenseful novel is filled with relentless cold, dark fear.

 

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This vague sequel to Autumn, a novel of the undead (Moody eschews the word "zombies") that was first made available as a free download in 2005 and published by St. Martin's in 2010, covers familiar ground well, but doesn't add any insights into what it would be like to survive a calamity that wipes out most of humanity. The bland lead characters, who live in an unnamed city with a British feel, are somehow unaffected by the illness that turns most of the populace into walking corpses. As the undead become more aggressive, the survivors realize that their future depends on escaping from the city and reaching a nearby underground military bunker. Moody pays little attention to either the psychology of the survivors or the moral challenges of their situation, robbing the story of any emotional power. (Feb.)
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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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Original edition (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312570007
• ISBN-13: 978-0312570002
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Moody grew up on a diet of trashy horror and pulp science fiction. He worked as a bank manager 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 spawned a series of sequels and a movie starring Dexter Fletcher and David Carradine. Film rights to HATER were snapped up by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) and Mark Johnson (producer of the Chronicles of Narnia films). Moody lives with his wife and a houseful of daughters and stepdaughters, which may explain his pre-occupation with Armageddon. His latest novel, TRUST, is currently available free online at www.trustdavidmoody.com. Visit Moody at www.davidmoody.net.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as it's predecessor, but still a worthwhile read December 20, 2005

By CreepyT VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

In David Moody's follow-up to the acclaimed zombie novel, Autumn, we are introduced to several new characters. Donna Yorke is an office worker who went in early on that fateful morning when all the world seemed to collapse into utter desolation. Paul Castle was also at work when everyone around him died horrible deaths. Jack Baxter was coming home from work when the apparent disease hit. After hiding out in his home for several days, he ventured out into the vastly changed city where he meets up with Clare, a young girl who helplessly sat and watched her father die and has endured alone on the street while watching the dead rise again. Meanwhile, Doctor Croft and several others have found some comfort and safety hiding within a university accommodation block.

Cooper is a member of the military who has spent weeks in a secret base, hidden from the goings-on of the outside world. When he is ordered to emerge from the base to obtain a status report along with several others, what he finds is more appalling than anyone from that tucked away sanctuary had surmised. When Cooper's military reconnaissance troop leaves him behind, he eventually meets up with the group living within the college dormitories and they all quickly turn to him for some semblance of hope.

However, Emma and Michael, from the previous novel, also make an appearance. Since leaving the farmhouse, the two have been on the run in a motor home, seeking safety. When they come across the military vehicles entering and exiting the nearby hidden base, they decide to find a way into the shelter. It should be noted that these two do not show up until almost halfway through the novel.

Though still just as intriguing as the previous novel, I found many parts to be rather slow. In addition, it was both interesting and tedious to read about the whole ordeal all over again. I found reading about the death and disease from different viewpoints to be a fascinating way to begin the novel. Yet, it also seemed rather redundant in many respects for those who have read the previous novel to have to re-hash the previous occurrences. That does, however, enable people who have not read the novels predecessor to pick up this book without having missed much at all. Furthermore, Moody's zombies don't seem to have evolved much more in this book than they had in the previous one. Throughout the first novel, the risen dead are in constant flux, becoming more and more attuned to their surroundings and evolving ever-so-slightly with each passing day. In Autumn: The City, there seems to be little progression in this respect. Autumn: The City doesn't take the opportunity to build very much off of the foundation laid by it's predecessor.

It should also be noted that this is not a series in which you will find lots of action and gore. The scares and drama found herein are much more subtle. However, that is not to say that these books are any less worthy of a read. They are simply geared less towards the in-your-face splatter horror audience.

Though I didn't find this novel as enthralling as the first, I will still go on to read Autumn: Purification. Despite some minor qualms, I still highly recommend this series to anyone who is a fan of zombie fiction.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite up to par with the first book. March 13, 2007

By Robert P. Beveridge HALL OF FAMEVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

David Moody, Autumn: The City (Infected Books, 2003)

David Moody's Autumn Quartet continues on with The City, a book that starts out concurrently to Autumn. Don't expect to see your dysfunctional heroes from that book for a while, unfortunately; you've got a new crop of characters to think about here.

This is an ensemble piece, more than the last book was; there can't be said to be any real main character. There's a ragtag band of survivors who start off apart, mostly, but come together piece by piece. There's also a military installation who sally forth now and again to try and assess the situation, two of whose members get left behind during one mission. And, eventually, a few folks from the first novel show up, so we come full circle.

The book suffers a bit from middle-novel syndrome (Autumn was, remember, originally envisioned as a trilogy); we have new characters, but the basic situation is the same, and this isn't helped by the fact that we know what's in store for the first half or so of this book, having read the first novel. It picks up once the timeline merges with the end of the first book, and the ending was the strongest section of the book (it got me to pick up Purification immediately to find out what was coming next). So the series flags a bit, but a slow start leads to a strong finish. Don't give up halfway through. ***

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Solid zombie series, could use more bite August 28, 2006

By S. Keel

Format:Paperback

I was a fan of the first Autumn book so I quickly bought this and the 3rd book Purification. I figured that the first book was basically a setup, a quiet before the real storm. Perhaps my expecations were too high for blood and gore and gruesome deaths because this series really isn't about all of that. Sure, its descriptive when it comes to the decaying zombies and what the world has become. But if you're looking for some Romero-style attacks, gore, killings, this series comes up a little short.

The City introduces us to some new characters since the first book, which is cool as you get to experience the zombie rising all over gain from completely different perspectives. Thankfully, our heroes from the fist book reappear, even if as a subplot.

What's good about City is the descriptive outlook of the city and the surrounding areas. Reading various people's reactions is interesting and things move at a solid pace.

What's not as good is that Moody loves to bog down the story in generic reactions (How many times can a character react the same, angry way to the situation?) and the story grinds to a halt at times as we wait for the characters who will fight to weed through all the whining and complaining of those who won't. Certainly its necessary to show all the reactions, but we got the point the first 7 times someone said "What's the point?"

If you enjoyed the first book, you're probably going to go for this one as well. And if you go that far, you'll want to find out what happens in Purification (a decent, if not thrilling, conclusion).