Customer Reviews

Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is another twist in the zombie genre. Unlike the survivor's journal Day by Day Armageddon, this is more like a research journal complete with statistical research, illustrations, and personal experiences. In this documentated book, the survival information is more sporadic than The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead.

People fell ill, died, and reanimated. No scientific explanation. In some cases, infection spread without bites or any other obvious contact. Mobility/strength depends on the original physical fitness of the person and bodily damage, but variables like rigor mortis are unknown. While some of the personal accounts may remind you of other zombie-apocalypse stories (ex: pharmecutical company may have had a hand in it), there are a few sick surprises that I haven't come across in my zombie obsession.

i totally loved that it takes place in the year 2012. I really felt like I was reading someone's notebook with drawings, rather than a graphic novel. There is no lack of gore, for those of you who prefer the gut-ripping undead. Even though the book is written from the doctor's point-of-view, the other characters were believable, as far as their decisions, reactions, and so forth.

If you truly believe yourself to be a zombie fanatic (or your friends tell you to "shut up about zombies, already"), you definitely need to add this to your collection.

Other unusual zombie-literature include Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your...Brains, Z.E.O.: How to Get A(Head) in Business, and Zombies for Zombies: Advice and Etiquette for the Living Dead.

Don Roff and Chris Lane have given all us zombiephiles a beautifully illustrated and chilling account of the inevitable zombie apocalypse. Dr. Richard Twombly, a hematology-oncology specialist at a Seattle blood treatment facility, uses his birding journal to write down his daily observations of a mysterious virus that at first seems to only make people violently ill. When humans begin to viciously attack and eat each other, Dr. Twombly and the few other survivors try to barricade themselves from the attackers until Twombly finds himself alone and running out of food. Luckily for us, the good doc has his ink with him, and he's able to include detailed illustrations of the decay process, methods of killing the hungry undead, other survivors, etc. He also leaves little clues about what might have caused the virus (surprise, surprise...we do it to ourselves), as well as the frightening possibility of evolution of the undead.

Given the subject matter, it might sound odd to say this is a beautiful book, but it truly is. The illustrations are so detailed, and a lot of the pages look like pieces of art. I know some have complained that there is "nothing new" here, but there actually are some unique bits added to the zombie genre. This is a good, solid story with amazing illustrations, and it's a fun read to find out what happens to dear Dr. Twombly. My only complaint is that this is an oversized paperback. If this were hardcover, it would make the perfect gift/coffee table book for a diehard zombie fanatic. I'm glad I took a chance on this one, and if Roff and Lane want to continue the saga of this apocalypse, I'll gladly line up to read it!

We seem to be obsessed with the undead these days. That being said, the same stories seem to be told over and over again. Watch ten Zombie movies and you'll be able to pick out similar themes and characters in all of them. Someone in the group of survivors under scrutiny is always hiding an infected bite. Characters are going to be killed just when you started to like them. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong. I could go on, but you get the point. ZOMBIES doesn't do a whole lot to deviate from the formula, but it excels at changing how the formula is presented.

ZOMBIES isn't your typical novel offering a narrative concerning a group of survivors and their misadventures after the Zombie apocalypse. ZOMBIES is presented as an illustrated journal (kept by a doctor) that was found in an abandoned cabin in Canada. It is not known what happened to the author and it is reproduced, unedited, just as it was found. Think of it as a relic from an alternate reality.

It is printed like handwriting complete with words scratched out. Most entries are accompanied by fantastic illustrations of things that the author has seen. The illustrations are very creepy, very well done and varied in style and color pallette. This book does an amazing job of drawing you in to every nail biting encounter and each glimmer of hope felt by the author. I honestly don't think I've been as engrossed in a Zombie book before. This book is brilliantly put together and wonderfully paced. If you're a fan of Zombies or just of the macabre in general, this is a MUST read.

First let me say that I am a BIG fan of the Zombie genre. I love the Walking Dead graphic novels, the Max Brooks' series of books and the many films and games set in such situations. I was very interested reading what looked to be a Zombie journal done in the style of a naturalist's sketch book.

The production quality of the book is excellent, thick and semi-gloss pages with full color artwork over a textured background give the book the right feel for a "found journal". The text is all a font designed to resemble handwriting and while it gets the job done I think the limited amount of text would have been better done by hand by the artist. Fonts like this are ok for short notes and things but it is distracting when used so much as it obviously isn't what it is trying to resemble.

The format of the book is in a journal style that follows the 1 page picture, 1 page notes layout with some pages being a mixture of text and notes like a detail drawing. The story itself is pretty bland without anything new for Zombie fans. I thought once the author arrived at the assumed source that the story would take a turn at revealing perhaps the back-story or foreshadow possible future complications but instead it just turns into another stop among many along the road. There is no ah-ha moment or sense of building tension so the story tends towards to the dull side. I understand it is supposed to be a journal not an "entertaining book" but I think the formula was too strictly followed.

The artwork is variable. Some pieces are really haunting and well done while others have an amateurish bent. Since this is supposed to be a journal illustrated by the single fictional author I thought the artwork should not have had the variance it had. I think the effect they were going for is that some artwork was supposed to be done in a "rushed" style while some was intended to be more detailed and meticulous. I don't think the effect came out all that well and instead gave an uneven appearance that detracted from the immersion.

A "found manuscript" book like this is really all about immersion since you are trying to get reader to subtly go along with the idea of the content being handmade. The overused font and uneven artwork took away the immersion for me and all that was left was a point A to point B travel log with Zombies. Some of the characters introduced during this travel log, like the rock band or the female loner, had TONS of possibility to take the book in an entertaining direction but failed to go anywhere.

In short I think this book tried to replicate a travel journal too much and the result was as boring as a real one, despite taking place in a Zombie apocalypse. Great premise for a book but poor execution of the idea.

Its is an oversize book, which makes the drawing all the more better. It is a journal type book, which is an interesting way of looking at the invasion, and the drawings are pretty good. I'm glad I got it!!

Very good book.. only a short novelette but written in a diary style.. I liked it, the girlfriends kids liked reading it and it kept me entertained...Worth buying.

My only complaint about this book was that it wasn't long enough. I read this in under an hour, in one sitting. The illustrations are fantastic, the writing is decent. Wish it had been ten times longer!

I love zombies and everything "living dead". The recent zombie "explosion" in books, film, and tv is both a blessing and a curse - some works are great, others are just awful. This is one of the good ones if you're a zombiephile. Good story, good art, and all around well done. If you're into serious survival fiction in the world of the living dead, this is for you.

This book is has some of THE BEST zombie illastrations. Its images are detailed and the story is intresting.

I was hooked on this book till the very last page.

To mention this book was the top most selling book in Chicago's art museum. <3 Even the artists love it..

Buy it read it, and then read it again.

My guy loves this book and is trying to read it slow so it will last. He says the illustrations are great, wishes there was more from this author on the subject.