Customer Reviews

Barren Earth

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I don't usually write a negative review, but I was extremely disappointed in the quality of the writing and the gaps in the plot.

First, I was recommended this book by Amazon since I purchased the book Dead Tide, by Stephen North. I wasn't disappointed with that book, and I did enjoy his character development. But I have not read anything else by Eric Brown and having not done so, that perhaps that is why this book was an overall disappointment. I am especially surprised at this as the other reviews were high ratings with positive comments.

The basic premise of the plot was interesting to a zombie fan such as myself. A deep exploration vessel returns to a zombie infested earth. The first chapter went into how the zombie world came about, but it had plot holes. First, the aliens who attacked, there were remains of homo sapiens and yet there were aliens, infected on the planet. (I suspect this might be explained in earlier books by Eric Brown, and perhaps it should be warned to read ahead of time), then is the curiosity of how the infection crosses from alien to human, how the medical facilities on the first contact ship failed to detect the infection and isolate the victims, and how the ship "returned" to infect the rest of earth with a feral crew (Assuming the exploring crew actually was far away just as the "hero's" vessel was also).

The story then goes to the perspective of the returning ship and the story then moves along at a rather rushed pace, with little to no explanation of how events have progressed. In fact, return to earth turns out to be a very small part of the story as the survivors don't remain long at all. I will refrain from discussing any more holes in the plot so not to spoil the book for those who still might enjoy it.

The "intelligent" zombies are not zombies, but more like vampires without the defect of sun exposure. The basic feral zombie in the stories are only exposed for a very short while and never in the story do you get the feeling of terror by being confronted by the living dead. Instead you have a race of undead humans that embrace violence, but still some of them are able to unit and fight alongside humans?

The characterization is very shallow . At no time do I find a connection to any of the characters and they are never really developed to give any depth to their existence. The story feels more like an outline that was barely fleshed out. I really felt it could have been done better.

So my recommendation is to avoid this book if you haven't already read earlier books by the authors and enjoyed those.

Overall, this was a good, quick read. The characters weren't quite as developed as I would like but this is more of an action tale so it's understandable. I was unsure how this whole combination of sci-fi and zombies would play out but I was pleased with the story and I found myself really enjoying it.

Now, this isn't a perfect book. There are some grammatical errors, a common occurrence in Library of the Living Dead publications, and the story does switch back and forth so that you never really have a chance to dig deeper into the characters.

Stephen North is a very good writer, I highly recommend "Dead Tide" for all you zombie fans, but this is the first I have read from Eric Brown.

Potential readers of this title need to appreciate that there can be more to a zombie story than staggering, rotted corpses shambling around moaning "brains..."

All in all, a fun read that broadens the zombie genre.

I'm not going to flame the author or write mutliple paragraphs setting forth why this book is so bad. Instead, here are the highlights:

1) Bad grammar, misused words, improper punctuation
2) Worst plot I've ever witnessed (truly nonsensical)
3) Unduly liberal interpretation of the zombie horror genre that bears no relationship whatsoever to ANY zombie book ever written (don't mistake this for an endorsement of the author as someone that has upended conventions in a good way because he hasn't)
4) No character development (including the lack of detail of prior events that certain character's actions are based upon)
5) No science in the science fiction

Do not waste your money on this steamer.

There were a lot of things wrong with this story (and I sure wouldn't compare the writing to Ray Bradbury as some do) but that written, I still enjoyed the story. It kept me interested all the way to the end and I liked the concept of two different evolving types of zombies - in space.

Did it always work? No. Explanations and background of motivation were light. Character development was almost nonexistent. I would like to see this developed into a full-length novel that expands on all these things (with better editing). I think it could be great. I caught glimmers of that greatness periodically and that's what kept me reading.

I would have liked much more on the Cormorant and its characters and its arrival back on Earth. There's a big middle section missing with little explanation. I would have liked to have had Botts be a continuing character throughout the story.

But - I still liked the story. And I really liked the cover art.

Boy, did I have to struggle through the 1st chapter of this book. It included some of the most absurd, unnecessary and redundant dialogue I have ever read. Really awful. I nearly threw the thing out.
Perseverance is required here. If you lower your expectations enough and settle for a pretty good plot then you should be happy with this one. After all, the zombie genre and Library of the Living Dead Press aren't known for their Shakespearean prose.

Give it a go. It's not a bad story line but man, the dialogue can be more frightening than the damn zombie's.

Am not a huge space/sci fi guy, but anything with zombies and I am down to read it. Wow, this book was a big dissappoointment especially since the I truly enjoyed the authors other writings...Way too many plot holes and no real character development. It was sorta a basterdized version of the "I Am Legend" book. The zombies werent your steroetypical zombies, which is good and bad. They were just to smarmy and egotistical. They cared about their looks then about eating live flesh. Overall, I dissappointed by this book. Wouldnt recommend it.

Subject says it all, corny, wasted my money on this so called book.......doesnt deserve even one star...

This is the type of story you just have to love. Sci-Fi and zombies mashed up into a great tale of the undead vs mankind across the stars.
If I had one gripe, there should have been more. This story idea could have been fleshed out into an absolute epic.
But I loved every minute...

I am a huge fan of Stephen North and Eric S. Brown, these guys wrote a fantastic book together. Not too many books out there that have zombies in space, and I loved it. What else could you expect but the best from the two zombie author kings. I highly recommend you pick up a copy today.

I loved both of these authors going in to this collaboration, and I have to say I was surprised by my inability to tell who wrote what. I feel that each has their own style/voice, and was impressed that they were able to gel together for the sake of a cohesive story.
Zombies in space, what more could a girl ask for on a cold winter's Saturday night?
These guys write man-fiction, okay, but it's well-written man-fiction and I'm sure if you like Bradbury or Cherryh you'll enjoy this as well. Read it and have fun!