Sinnful Books: rhiannon frater

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Book Review — Fighting to Survive

Title: Fighting to Survive
Author: Rhiannon Frater
Genre: Post-apocalyptic with zombies
Published: November 2011
Publisher: Tor Books
Author Links: Website ♠ Twitter
Rating:

"The hundred or so survivors in the fortified heart of Ashley Oaks are running out of food and room. The newly-renovated historic hotel seems a perfect sanctuary—if can be emptied of zombies.

"A pitched battle in the banquet room is the start of a harrowing, room-by-room struggle from Reception to roof. The connection between beauty and death has never been more apparent to Katie, Travis, Jenni, and Juan than when they celebrate and mourn in the hotel’s lovely rooftop gazebo.

"As search-and-rescue teams bring food, supplies—and more survivors—back to town, they draw unwanted attention. Bandits see the fort’s citizens as competition for dwindling stocks of unspoiled provisions . . . and as a ready source of women to be used and abused. The bandits’ first few attacks are minor skirmishes, but Travis and Juan, unofficial leaders of the community, know there is worse to come.

"Outside threats are not the fort’s only concern. The mayor’s failing health spurs a battle for power erupts. Travis’s vow never to kill faces its greatest test. A vicious assault on Katie leads to vigilante action that shatters the rule of law. Jenni’s tenuous hold on sanity begins to slip. Juan is accused of murder.

"And beyond the fort’s walls, the zombies shamble, moaning, eyes fastened hungrily upon the living."

~ Author's website

Thoughts: I loved the first book, so we got it for my dad as an audio book. Since I never got around to buying the second book, he talked me into listening to it. While I can go through periods of listening to a lot of audio books, I really do not devour them the way he does. Needless to say, this took me awhile to get through. Unfortunately, my thoughts are not completely coherent and fully formulated. Please hang with me on this one!

I was happy to see continued character developments in our favorite heroines, Katie and Jenni. It was also nice to see how the relationship between Juan and Jenni was progressing and helping her move past her pre-zombies life. However, as a few people have pointed out, I don't really like the descriptions Frater always relies on. For example, Nerit is always seen as being cold, Jenni is always loca, and Katie is the one who likes girls. Granted, it changes for Katie as the story moves along. But, for me, that took a little away from the story. After the first book, I would have liked to see Frater branch out a little more with the characterizations, especially since the audience already had some time to get to know them.

Nerit's involvement in this book was stellar! Since Katie and Jenni first met her on their flight from the city, I have loved the character. It was nice to get some of her back story. Being a sharpshooter for the Israeli army really wets the reader's appetite, and I was not disappointed! However, I would still like to know more.

By biggest beef with the story was the climax and antagonists. While the zombies appear to be the most visible antagonists, Frater talks about a roaming group of bandits in the first book. It was rather obvious that she was bringing them back for an encore in this book. However, it took too longer for the conflict to finally happen. She dealt with getting the residents of the fort into the hotel, politics, and rescuing survivors for various reasons. Some of those reasons were the bandits. They did keep an eye on them and, eventually, lured them out into the open. But the final conflict was over too quickly and ended to easily. Yes, life was lost, but it was wrapped up too nicely.

Frater does think a lot about the logistics of a zombie apocalypse. Even though the bandits did not stay in the picture very long, it made sense that the fort would have to end up dealing with psychopaths. Not everyone is going to think about banding together and trying to survive. I also liked that she was very thoughtful about the fact of internal politics in the fort. People want leadership. (Although that also ended a little too easily for my tastes.) Further, I liked her addition of the crazy, conspiracy chaser. When he asked Nerit out/for sex, I nearly choked!

I enjoyed this book! At first, the narrator got of my nerves, but she grew on me. With the ending, I am glad I had the third one ready to go! There are so many interesting things coming up, and I am curious to see how Frater lets them play them out.

Current Pages: 12,113
Current Progress:

39/50 books

Guest Post Rhiannon Frater

My Love Affair With Zombies

By

Rhiannon Frater

The shambling undead did not enter my life until I was around eleven years old. The popular monsters of my childhood were Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers. I wasn’t even aware of zombies until one afternoon when I happened to catch Night of the Living Dead on television. My brothers and I weren’t supposed to watch horror movies, but we turned the sound down low and huddled close to our old TV hoping our parents wouldn’t notice what we were watching. I had never seen anything as horrific as the zombies slowly and methodically beating their fists against the farmhouse windows, anxious to eat the humans within. I was absolutely traumatized and vowed never to watch another zombie movie again. The mere idea of zombies was so terrifying I had trouble sleeping for many nights afterward.

One Sunday afternoon when I was a teenager, I walked into the living room when Day of the Dead was on HBO. The notorious disemboweling scene with the nefarious Captain Rhodes was taking place and I ran to the bathroom and threw up. Once again, I vowed I would never watch another zombie flick.

Strange what we’ll do for love. Years later, in my twenties, one of my former boyfriends talked me into watching Night of the Living Dead again. At this point I was a big fan of Hammer films and other horror movies, but could not bring myself to watch anything related to zombies. He dared me to watch it with him, and I did not want to be seen as a wimp. So I sat down on the couch and watched the movie that is now my favorite zombie film. Somehow, my fear of zombies was transformed into fascination.

It was difficult to find George A Romero’s films on dvd, but I finally tracked down the trilogy. My new boyfriend (the man I would marry) and I had a marathon of the old movies before going to see the new version of Dawn of the Dead in the theaters.

I have to say the remake completely solidified my love of all things zombies and I was forever hooked.

But even though I was a fan of the genre, I never dreamed I would end up writing my own zombie epic. The monsters of my childhood nightmares were vampires. I tend to write about what I fear, so I honestly believed my success would come first from my vampire stories. I was very surprised when a short story I wrote on a whim became the beginning of a three book trilogy that I wrote online between 2005 to 2007.

For those two years I lived with zombies shambling (or running) through my nightmares. Their presence was a constant in my dreams. I became acutely aware of my surroundings as I went about my daily life, the fear of my characters infecting me during daylight hours. I would enter a building and instantly plan my escape. Every day I would write a bit more of my zombie story, creating a taunt tale of Texans surviving the zombocalypse. Though the AS THE WORLD DIES zombie trilogy is a character driven action adventure tale, the zombies definitely had their moments. I had fun creating new ways to kill them or to make them dangerous.

At first I tried to stick with the Romero rules of zombiedom, but quickly realized that this was my tale to tell. Since Texas has a gun culture, I knew that for Texas to fall the zombies had to be fast. Yet, I still loved Romero’s shambling zombies, so I found a way to slow mine down. I spent far too many hours thinking about how much trauma the body of a zombie would go through every day. Since they aren’t intelligent and can’t feel pain, they would inflict massive damage on themselves very quickly. Also, the elements would take their toll. Slowly, I created my own zombie mythos.

In 2008 I started to self-publish my zombie story in three complete volumes to appease the fans of the online story. I never dreamed it would have such brisk sales or end up garnering accolades from fans, other writers, and review sites. The series won the 2008 and 2009 Dead Letter Award for THE FIRST DAYS and FIGHTING TO SURVIVE and was optioned for a possible TV show. In 2010, my literary agent sold the trilogy to the genre publishing powerhouse Tor. With the guidance of my editor Melissa Singer I was able to return to the world I loved so much and revise it into a leaner, meaner, and better version. I consider the Tor versions to be the ultimate versions of the series. I am incredibly proud of them.

As I have moved on to other projects, I am often asked when I will return to the world of the zombies. I am done revising AS THE WORLD DIES for Tor, but I have plans to publish two follow-up short story collections to my self-published AS THE WORLD DIES UNTOLD TALES VOLUME 1 this year. The short stories highlight minor characters and their side adventures in the deadlands. I am also currently working on a futuristic zombie tale that has a whole new kind of zombie to fear.

Though I will go on to write about other monsters and other horrific scenarios, the shambling undead will always have their place in my nightmares and my heart.

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the AS THE WORLD DIES zombie trilogy and the author of several other books: the vampire novels PRETTY WHEN SHE DIES and THE TALE OF THE VAMPIRE BRIDE and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. The first two books in her zombie trilogy, THE FIRST DAYS and FIGHTING TO SURVIVE, are available now in bookstores.

Website: rhiannonfrater.com & astheworlddies.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/astheworlddies
Twitter: twitter.com/rhiannonfrater
Blog: rhianonfrater.blogspot.com

Sinn

Zombie Month Book Review -- First Days

Title: First Days: As the World Dies
Author: Rhiannon Frater
Genre: Post-apocalyptic
Pages: Oversize paperback, 331
Published: 2008, 2011
Opening Lines: "So small. So very, very small."

"It begins on a peaceful, beautiful morning. Katie, a prosecutor, is driving to work when a dead man jumps into her car and tries to eat her. Elsewhere in the city, Jenni, a housewife opens a bedroom door to find her husband devouring their infant son.

"Fate puts Katie outside Jenni's door when the younger woman flees her zombified family. Fate—and Katie's quick reflexes behind the wheel—see them safely out of the city while most of the living are quickly chased down by the undead.

"The two women begin a cross-Texas odyssey to rescue Jenni's oldest sin and hopefully find safety . . . somewhere . . . Jenni discovers the great joy of watching a zombie's head explode when she shoots its brains out. Katie learns that her analytical mind is perfect for planning the best attacks and escape routes.

"A small, isolated, fortified town is their only hope. Fewer than one hundred people have gathered there, clinging to civilization and to hope. They all know the zombies will come for them. But until that day, they will live, and love, and maybe even laugh."

~ Jacket copy

Thoughts: I first ran across this book back in 2008. I'm not sure if I found it during a casual zombie search of Amazon or if I saw it mentioned somewhere. One way or the other, I was completely and utterly drawn to this book. However, for various reasons mostly focusing on forgetfulness, I never ended up buying it. So, when I decided to host Zombie Month, it was the first book on my list!

First Days follows the story of Jenni and Katie—two women thrown together through unfortunate circumstances. Katie is a prosecutor and Jenni is a battered housewife. Both women are from completely different walks of life; however, they find solace and resolve in each others company. After fleeing the city, they decide to rescue Jenni's remaining son. Camping up in the National Park, Jenni hopes that he has escaped the dangers of the city. On the way, the meet Narit, an ex-Israeli sharpshooter, and her husband Ralph at a small hunting store. The four form a quick bond. With Ralph and Narit's help, the girls now have a plan—and guns—to rescue Jason. While everything seems to be going good, the women are chased by a horde of zombies and find they are far away from the safety of the hunting store with a dangerously low fuel line. Through Ralph, Narit, a small town sheriff, and a CB, the women are led to a safe area in a small town. Even with such a crazy and action packed beginning, their story has barely started!

Throughout the book, the POV shifts between Jenni, Katie, and sometimes other characters. This can be problematic for some authors; however, Rhiannon does an amazing job of keeping each voice unique while supporting the integrity of the story. It also gives the reader a well-rounded view of the zombie situation and the characters. To me, this really added to the reading experience.

Even though Jenni had her short-comings and desperately needed to get over her victimization at the hands of a abusive husband, it was refreshing to read a novel with strong female leads. In fact, I found Jenni's abuse was a wonderful vehicle to show character development and the realities of fighting for survival. Along those lines, I felt that she put a lot of thought into her characters and their reactions to the situation. The unknown vigilante and the renegades at the end really show that. Also, the whole controversy surrounding the views of Richie, Shane's response to Katie, and so on goes a long way to show the tenuous nature of their small society. As Juan said, in-fighting tends to make the zombies win.

The scenery of the book was amazing! I never felt bogged down by descriptions. On the contrary, I felt Rhiannon gave enough details to allow me to form a mental picture. It was obvious that she knew he way around Texas. That lends an authority to the novel. Further, she does an amazing job turning the zombies into background scenery.

My only misgiving about the book is editing. On the whole, the book has very good editing; however, there are occasional mistypes and sentences to be reworded. A few times, I had to reread sentences. It kind of slowed down the reading and broke illusion. But, as stated above, this was not all the time.

Honestly, this book was worth the wait! I found myself intentionally slowing down, so I could make the book last longer. It is action packed, but has a very deep plot. Rhiannon definitely put a lot of thought into the book. If you love zombie books, I highly recommend this one!