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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Few Clunkers but a Strong Anthology overall, March 30, 2010
This review is from: The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology (Paperback)
The New Dead is an all-new zombie anthology edited by Christopher Golden and featuring nineteen never-before-published stories by an incredible cast of writers including: Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene, Tad Williams, Tim Lebbon, Kelley Armsrong, Joe Hill, David Wellington, Mike Carey, and more...
The anthology kicks off with John Connolly's "Lazarus", one of the best tales in the volume and a different take on the biblical tale of the resurrected Lazarus. Fans of urban fantasy writer supreme, Kelley Armstrong will no doubt enjoy her story "Life Sentence" that contains all of the elements that have made her an enormously popular writer in recent years. Hear a magician devises a way to become immortal while beating cancer.
I love Brian Keene, and his tale "The Wind Cries Mary" was a moving tale of a zombie outbreak but its only four pages long. Keene's work was one of the ones I was looking forward to the most and for it to be such a minor contribution was disappointing. Balancing this disappointment was Tad Williams' "The Storm Door". Known best for fantasy, Williams delivers a story about a supernatural investigator's horrific discovery. Other standout stories include "Among Us" by Aimee Bender, "Family Business" by Jonathan Maberry, "Weaponized" by David Wellington, and "What Maisie Knew" by David Liss.
More disappointing than the Keene entry was Joe R. Landsdale's "Shooting Pool". It's a fine enough story but, um...there's no zombies in it. It's the strangest and most out of place inclusion in the book and if you are scoring at home, that means that two of the biggest names contributed two of the most disappointing stories. Still most of the nineteen stories are above average and should satisfy the tastes of most zombie fans.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A very uneven and dishonest book., March 10, 2010
This review is from: The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology (Paperback)
There are some very strong entries in this book, Ghost Trap, The Wind Cries Mary, Lazarus, Second Wind, and Closure, Limited range from very solid to very good short stories.
However, some of the stories are very terrible. For example, the Zombie Who Fell From the Sky is poorly written and half the time doesn't even make sense. Among Us is another story which makes me wonder if Golden even read some of these entries. Among Us is pretentious and dull. Family Business starts out interesting but quickly becomes boring.
***Warning, Minor Spoilers ****
However, the worst stories have nothing to do with zombies. For example,The storm door is not about zombies, but rather spirit possession. The worst offender though is Shooting Pool. Not only does it not have a zombie it the story, but it contains zero elements of the supernatural, it is just a story about a guy getting shot in a pool hall. Seriously...
I wouldn't mind the inclusion of such stories, but the book makes it clear the stories are about zombies, the word "zombie" is used several times on the back cover. The front of the book have what most people would call "zombies." I found including nonzombie stories to be somewhat dishonest. Call me crazy, but when I buy a book about zombies I want all of the stories to include...guess what? Zombies!
However, the zombie stories that are included are pretty good, I just would wait until the book becomes on sale, or you can find it used.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
No Rejoicing in Zombieville, June 27, 2010
This review is from: The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology (Paperback)
I really enjoyed Max Brooks' "Zombie Survival Guide" and "World War Z." Hardly "War and Peace" on either score, but a heck of a lot of fun to read. And if you are wanting some zombie fiction, since zombies indeed seem to be replacing vampires as the spooky darlings of popular entertainment, you might want to stick with those. This book was a genuine disappointment.
I have to applaud what the authors of the various short stories are trying to do. They are trying, as best able, to explore the "walking dead" with new and fresh approaches. And a couple, most notably Connelly, Maberry, and Liss, have actually penned tales that are thought-provoking and disturbing, if not for the weak-stomached. But, I thought the rest was experimentally flat, even boring when not silly outright. So, I have to wonder if "zombies" beyond what they already are in folklore, pop culture, horror, and satire can really be a vein worth mining.
Also, this is not really an anthology in the way I understand that word. You get about fourteen short stories from modern authors. And that's it.
I will say, though, that the book is very well-constructed on heavier end paper. So, it is "built to last" like the undead denizens haunting its pages.
Still, as much as I would like to recommend it, I cannot. But if you want a copy, I would buy used and save a little money.
No recommendation except for the die-hard fan.
(UPDATE 10/13/2010): A commenter pointed out my technical misuse of the word "anthology," and is absolutely right. I was thinking about "anthology" from the consumer point of view and not the literary, meaning that I found the book sparse compared to weightier and, I think, more reasonably priced anthologies like those published by Norton and Penguin. In "The New Dead," I think, you don't "get enough for your money" in a "new book" purchase. Sorry for any confusion!
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