Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I usually like more zombies in my zombie stories, August 24, 2006
This review is from: The Dead Shall Inherit The Earth (Paperback)
I bought this book with a bit of anticipation. Sci-Fi horror? Cool! Zombies? Cool! So Sci-Fi horror + Zombies? AWESOME!!!
I knew going into this that it was the first work of Vince Churchill plus it was self published (not 100% sure, but pretty positive on both counts). So I was going to forgive him some gramatical grenades as long as there were plenty of grenades being lofted at the undead. At 184 pages I figured our merc heros would be hip deep in undead space zombies no later than 75 pages in. Unfortunately, that was not the case here.
As far as writing mechanics, the one thing that really bugged me was that on several instances the author would put one person's actions in the same paragraph with another speaking. Normally that is ok, as long as there is some clarity as to who is speaking...otherwise I just assume it is the same person who is doing something. Not the case here. Usually it is the person from the previous paragraph speaking and the actions are from another character. I spent more time than I cared to re-reading a few paragraphs here and there to make sure I had it straight who was saying what. Other than that, I felt it was fairly easy to read. Not great, but not painful either.
I have always loved the idea of terror in space; a distant planet or a starship. Either way you are far removed from the rest of humanity usually and the evil that stalks you is generally unavoidable. You can't run, you can't hide. I was hoping that this feeling of claustrophobia would be rampant in this book. Give it the flavor of Aliens along with a bit of Event Horizon with a creepy evil ghost ship as the setting and you get some real chills and thrills.
Instead, the majority of this book is spent in character development. We get an indepth analysis of Jefferson Gale, the leader of the Mercs. Through pre-mission experiences and flashbacks, we learn more and more about him. Honestly, quite a bit more than was necessary for what amounts to a action adventure tale. Certainly, if this was the first book in a series on the exploits of the professional soldiers of Omni Corporation, the volume of detail spent on getting to know the characters might be acceptable. But this is a stand alone story and I generally tend to like to spend more than about 30% of a horror/action adventure getting scared or getting a rush.
Vince did a good job describing the zombies and the 50 pages or so of action at the end of the book was pretty scary and I enjoyed that, but it just was not enough. In addition, the back cover of this book gave the impression that if this crew did not stop the zombie menace, all of humanity might be in jeopardy. Not at one point in the entire book did I ever feel that humanity was truly at risk. Instead, there is some political deception and revenge motives uncovered. How that is dealt with is decidedly unsatisfactory to me-after all these guys are mercs, not politicians themselves. The end result of that just left me disapointed.
I still give this book 3 stars because even though the zombie action was brief, it was pretty entertaining. I could see this author getting stronger and improving his skills and coming back with another book that gets to the point a lot faster and keeps me glued to the page. I think he could have cut out a lot of the character development and flashbacks and made a 100 page book that would have been a real hoot here. So I liked certain parts enough that I wish there just had been more of that instead of feeling it was a blown effort.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Imagine 28 DAYS LATER meets ALIENS, February 17, 2006
This review is from: The Dead Shall Inherit The Earth (Paperback)
This debut by Vince Churchill combines elements of the above films and impales them together for a giddily gruesome, supercharged action/horror novel. A team of potent mercenaries are hired on a mission that ends up with them against a society of virus-infected people acting on their most violent, vile actions. Matters only worsen when the killed are resurrected as zombies. While the storytelling does sometimes played fast-and-loose to cater to the plotting, this is nevertheless a fast-paced, rousing read with plenty of scares and suspense. In particular, the author thrives with occasional glimpses into the debauched acts of the crazed. A flashback to the grotesque, prolonged death of a former crew member is also quite memorable. After completing DEAD, I look forward to reading Churchill's latest novel, THE BLACKEST HEART.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alienation with Zombies!, April 22, 2005
This review is from: The Dead Shall Inherit The Earth (Paperback)
Vince Churchill's "The Dead Shall Inherit the Earth" amalgamates the best elements of science fiction and zombie horror to form a nasty, little tale of alienation and despair in the modern world.
After the outbreak of a terrible virus (reminescent of the one that sweeps through England in "28 Days Later") on a distant off-world colony, the Earth world government arranges for a group of mercenaries to retrieve bodies, samples and some of the living infected, if possible, for study. Once the mercenaries arrive and begin their task, things quickly go awry as they tend to do in zombie fiction-- human errors, technological failures and the overpowering will of the disease to spread all lead up to an action-packed, frenetic, disturbing climax.
While Mr. Churchill's writing and research are fully up to the task of expounding this wonderful, tried-and-true tale, the real high point of "The Dead Shall Inherit the Earth" is in his running treatment of the theme of the alienation throughout the novel. For fans of zombie horror, alienation is a topic oft-discussed and considered (albeit often sub-consciously, as readers are often unable to articulate what exactly about zombie horror appeals to them). Almost every zombie novel is fueled by juxtaposition of a few lone human survivors holding out against wave upon wave of undead conformity. However, extreme advances in science, vast interstellar distances and the subsumation of the shared bonds of humanity in the lonely discipline and terrifying rigors of space duty immeasurably heighten the reader's sense of isolation, alienation and despair in the face of zombie assault.
The characterizations of the space mercenaries themselves constitute the high point of this examination of alienation. Though many readers have previously lambasted Jefferson Gale and his Omni Corp. hired muscle as "stereotypical","cardboard", or one-dimensional, I think Mr. Churchill's choice and development of the characters was well-played. These "cardboard" characters (i.e. hulking, super-assassin males and chesty, muscle-bound fems for the most part) must face such quintessential human situations as the desire to have and raise children, love and tragic loss throughout the course of the novel. Their very super-specialization and sublimation, coupled with the terrifying diminishment of their abilities/powers in the face of an almost unstoppable zombie menace (a science fictional themes also interestingly dealt with in films such as "Blade Runner" and "Aliens"), is tested against these normal human urges.
The results of this narrative/literary collision provides important lessons on the meaning and value of being human that all readers might enjoy.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
