
Mira Grant, a penname of Seanan
McGuire, has written a series of popular zombie apocalypse books (titled as a
whole: Newsflesh). Rise: The Complete Newsflesh Collection,
which recently came out, is a compendium of all of the short fiction Grant has publihsed
within the Newsflesh universe, as well as two never published novellas. Before
jumping into this review, I should note that I have never read the Newsflesh series, though I have read
work by Grant (and by McGuire, under her own name). This may have made me a
harsher reviewer; however, arguably the problems I had with the collection
would be ones I’d find in the series as well.
There are eight pieces in the
collection, which clocks in at a hefty 644 pages, and many of them are of
novella length. The stories primarily seem to concern characters that Grant
wished to explore more fully, apart from the book series, and a few standalone
pieces set during the zombocalypse of her series—one even takes place during
Comicon. While most of the pieces are enjoyable on some level—Grant is skilled
at pacing—they also all suffer from things I’ve found in her other works. The
longer pieces all feel far more like fleshed out outlines rather than full
works—action, action, action, with no sense of beauty in the story itself. This
not only makes for flat reading, it also makes for flat characters. These are
stories about people during a breakdown of the world and I desperately wanted
to feel something for them—but they all felt like what they usually turned out
to be: zombie fodder.
Of the pieces that work best,
“Please Don’t Taunt the Octopus” was the most fun. It tells of an underground
virology lab and has a decent sense of playfulness within it—particularly in
how Grant pokes fun at some staples of the “mad scientist” image. However, it
charts such a predictable storyline that I felt myself wanting to skim sections
(something I refuse to do). Still, it does feature an octopus.
The story that was the most
bothersome was one that should have been the most emotionally intense. “The Day
the Dead Came to Show and Tell” depicts one horrific day in the life of a first
grade teacher—who tries to protect her students during a school lockdown filled
with zombies. However, it came across as in such poor taste that I actually
felt physically angry at the book. This could have been a deeply powerful
story; instead, it felt like shock cinema.
If the book has a saving note, it
is in the shortest of the stories, “Everglades.” This piece shows a single
character making a choice while trapped on a zombie-filled campus. The writing
is more graceful than elsewhere and I genuinely felt for the narrator. It’s
possible that Grant’s style simply works better in short bursts.
Overall, this collection might be
a boon to fans of the series who are looking for more character back stories
and more time in the series’ universe. For anyone else, I’d suggest seeking
your zombie-tainment elsewhere.
The Math
Baseline Assessment: 3/10
Bonuses:+1 for octopi, +1 for fans of the series
Penalties: -1 for cardboard dialogue
Nerd Coefficient: 4/10 "problematic, but has redeeming qualities"
Baseline Assessment: 3/10
Bonuses:+1 for octopi, +1 for fans of the series
Penalties: -1 for cardboard dialogue
Nerd Coefficient: 4/10 "problematic, but has redeeming qualities"
***
POSTED BY: Chloe, speculative fiction fan in all forms, monster theorist, and Nerds of a Feather blogger since 2016.
POSTED BY: Chloe, speculative fiction fan in all forms, monster theorist, and Nerds of a Feather blogger since 2016.