Monster Nation: A Zombie Novel by David Wellington Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Monster Nation: A Zombie Novel
Book Review: Uneven and silly with very few scares
Summary: 2 Stars
What started out as promising quickly fell into a mystical cross country adventure that felt totally out of place in a zombie story. Wellington creates a realistic world of the undead and then keeps adding more outlandish plot points, completely pulling me out of the story. I don't think I'll be coming back for more.Book Review: Yum more brains!
Summary: 4 Stars
In Monster Nation, we learn of the Zombie-pocalypse through the eyes of two characters. Nilla is a confused zombie just trying to find her way in the world. We catch, Bannerman, a military commander, having a nice dinner when all hell breaks loose.
I really enjoy zombie stories and this one didn't dissapoint! I really liked the characters and the creativity. I found the Dr. Stranglove-ish character very amusing. Yes, let's add some cold war paranoia to our zombie novel. Very creative Mr. Wellington!
I just have to say something about the writing style! I feel like all these awesome ideas were thrown into a pot and we got book-ghoulash. The plot was a little disjointed! And don't get me started about the ending! It was a little abrupt!
All in all, I recommend this book if you want to get your GNAW on.
Book Review: Great characters, well-paced, and a wonderful addition to the genre
Summary: 4 Stars
Monster Nation is a rare sequel which can stand on its own, but is definitely more satisfying if the reader has already read the first book, in this case, Monster Island: A Zombie Novel.
Monster Nation tells us how the zombie epidemic that eventually engulfs the world began. There are a few main characters, on both sides of the dead/undead divide, who we follow as the epidemic spreads and the nation slowly but surely falls to the rampaging zombie horde. David Wellington has a knack for crafting characters who are all imperfect, and entirely justified in all of their actions. Even the zombies, who are out there clawing through the brains of every living thing they can find, rarely come off as purely evil. I mean, zombies gotta eat, right? When someone is actually going to be evil, though, he doesn't pull any punches, and gives us great villains that are just as compelling as our heroes. He also does a fantastic job of giving each character a very clear voice and personality, so we feel like we're actually watching real people in real places, instead of listening to an author talk at us for a few hundred pages.
It's ambitious to tell a story that moves people from California to Colorado to Washington and back, but he really pulls it off. I thought it hit all the right notes without being too graphic and gory, and was very well-paced. Just like Monster Island, Monster Nation brought some new ideas and mythology to a genre that should have run out of original ideas a long time ago.
I give it four rotting corpses out of five, and can't wait for Monster Planet to come out.
Book Review: I Liked It...Until the Ending
Summary: 4 Stars
First off, I didn't realize when I began reading MONSTER NATION that it's the second in a trilogy. I'll now have to go back and read Monster Island: A Zombie Novel, just because I do want to read the entire story, but MONSTER NATION can and does stand on its own.
The story is basic enough: zombies are taking over the US; the career military person in charge, Bannerman Clark, wastes a lot of time refusing to believe these creatures are actually dead; there are a couple of more-intelligent-than-normal zombies trudging their way through the craziness.
That's the storyline in a nutshell. The problem, for me, didn't come until the end of the book, when what had been building up to a gigantic climax through 250+ pages was resolved (or, actually, NOT resolved at all) in a page and a half.
Don't ge me wrong. This book is entertaining, gross, and a verifiable zombie-lover's delight. It made we want to go back and read the first book in the series. But it's ending definitely leaves you hanging and frustrated. For those who love zombie stories, you'll appreciate the new and different approach to the genre. For those who hate abrupt endings, you'll throw the book against the wall. When all is said and done, though, reading MONSTER NATION was time well spent.
Book Review: Uber-zombies II
Summary: 3 Stars
While enjoying the book to some degree I don't like the Uber-zombie that has an internet mind-link to control other zombies. I also prefer human over animal zombies. It certainly is possible for a disease (or effect) to be limited to one species. I have read both of Wellington's zombie books and will probably read any others he writes but I won't keep them for my collection. I will resale them as I have already done with these.