Monster Island: A Zombie Novel by David Wellington Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Monster Island: A Zombie Novel
Book Review: Decent zombie novel
Summary: 3 Stars
A very enjoyable though hardly amazing horror novel which has a great concept of a character being able to retain his 'brains' after death. Some great 'action' scenes as some young soldiers battle through the city to get some AIDS medicine. Solid and entertaining Book Review: Action and humour in great combination
Summary: 5 Stars
Well written, funny, thought-provoking and just the right dosage of action for action's sake (although a lot of the action drives the story forward), this was a thoroughly entertaining piece of literature.
Think "Dawn of the Dead meets Battle Royale, but on paper" and you get the idea.
Book Review: A cracking read
Summary: 5 Stars
David Wellington's first in his zombie trilogy is one of those most pleasureable of pleasures: a riveting page turner from start to finish. Surrounding the aftermath of The Epidemic, an infectious mutation that has created a flesh-hungry breed of zombies, the world has been plunged into a harrowing apocalypse. I won't divulge too much of the story but the plot is a strong one and it keeps you glued to the page right until the end. The characters are well-drawn and show enough frailty in the face of such hopelessness to make you believe in, and feel, for them. The zombies are creepy and there's some nice takes on their myth to keep fans happy.
I haven't yet read Wellington's sequels, 'Monster Nation'and 'Monster Planet', but if they continue in this vein then they should be a treat. 'Monster Island' is inventive, has plenty of action, lots of zombie-splatter, a Scottish druid, a Somalian child army, mummies and even zombie pigeons! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good monster mash-up, with an intelligent story-teller driving the narrative. Top notch stuff.
Book Review: A trip to New York
Summary: 4 Stars
Monster Island is an inventive take on the zombie genre which works apart from a reasonably large plot hole.
The story involves a group of Somali girl soldiers who accompany a former weapons inspector to a zombie infested Manhattan to acquire some antivirals for their warlordess. There they meet Gary the thinking zombie, and a group of survivors, and things develop.
When not asking why they are more likely to find anti viral drugs in New York than sub Saharan Africa, and taking into account the novel features zombies, the story works.
And you'll never look at pigeons the same way again.
Book Review: Inventive Zom-horror lacks depth
Summary: 3 Stars
The Zombie genre is a well trod, yet stubbornly narrow path. Despite these limitations people still find ways to create new variations of worlds where the undead have rule the earth.
Monster Island is one particular variation I haven't seen before. The story begins with Delkab, an ex-UN Inspector who travels to New York from Somalia via a sea-trawler on a mission to retrieve life saving drugs for a African overlord, months after a zombie outbreak has destroyed any semblance of modern society. An interesting twist - involving a zombie who's just a bit smarter than the average bear - occurs a third of the way in and Delkab finds himself and the Somalian girl-warriors diverted from their mission to save themselves and the living who remain in the city.
New York is a perfect location for the undead, being both beautiful and poetic in its transition from tourist hub to a lifeless tomb to the death of modern society. Wellington makes an effort to show us all the sites, shorn of their light and bustle and life. It's not quite a bleak post-apocalyptic world (if you can call a zombie infestation such) as, say, Cormac McCarthy's weightily-grim The Road, but the story takes us to a deadly silent Times Square and invites the reader to imagine such a dead, empty world with great effect. Sadly, Wellington's novel never reaches the gravitas that McCarthy attains with heartbreaking ease.
Monster Island is a zombie story through and through. It even has 'A Zombie Novel' printed on the front of the paperback. It nails its colours to its mast. Be in no doubt here; the characters are all a backdrop to the actual meat of the story itself - the undead. Because of this the story both fails and succeeds. Wellington has some good ideas, taking the genre in an interesting direction, but singularly fails by very lightweight characterisation, cringe-worthy dialogue and not knowing when to reign the invention in. Most notable is the ending which requires various energetic leaps of faith by the reader. This particular reader wishes Wellington's editor had been paying closer attention with the naughty stick.
He also lacks the writing chops to convey the story beyond a very flat narrative. Wellington tells us what goes on: he can't evoke. The horror isn't any deeper than the 'click here to add more gore' approach and there's little dimension to any of the characters beyond a bit-part character in a Buffy The Vampire Hunter episode. Simply put: it lacks ambition.
But give Wellington some chops. In spite of the above I enjoyed the action scenes and he weaves a good story. But for those who are after more than a shock-horror-gore-zombie novel - be prepared for disappointment. If you are - great. If not - it is a shame because the ideas are worth much more than box-ticking genre-pulp fiction. If this was in the hands of a writer who had more enterprise, or one who was less blinkered to the genre, then Zombie Island could have been something quite special.
King would have aced it.