How to Be a Zombie: The Essential Guide for Anyone Who Craves Brains by Serena Valentino Review

by Serena Valentino
Candlewick Press
ISBN:978-0763649340
Review Posted: 11/19/2010

Zombies are everywhere. In movies, books, and even T.V., but what if you were a zombie or wanted to be one and had a hard time figuring stuff out?

Well How to be a Zombie by Serena Valentino is a guide so that you don't sweat the small stuff.

Inside descriptions of different zombies, different zombie fashion looks, how to look like a zombie before you make the final dive into actually becoming one and how to deal with your human counterparts and much more.

I found this book just funny in some cases and the pictures and descriptions for each section not too bad. Though there were some things about zombies they choose as the best for movies ect. that I may disagree with, this book gave a look at what could be a guide to all us zombie lovers.

Breaths in Winter: A Collection by Donna Burgess Review

by Donna Burgess
Naked Snake Press
ISBN:978-1453868621
Review by: Rob Walter
Review Posted: 11/16/2010


Breaths in Winter: A Collection contains 31 stories. Some are dark, some more intense and some just plain out disturbing. The stories make your heart flutter in not so good ways, makes you look under your bed at night and some are just amazing to read.

Three of these stories stuck out the most as what I thought were the best of this collection: Teenage Zombie Homecoming Queen, Scarecrow John, and The Vampire's Tale.

The best overall story was Teenage Zombie Homecoming Queen. The story goes by way of what is called 'Deadgirl's Blog' and takes you through the days of Audrey who with some freak running into what was considered to be a 'deader', was bit. She then describes her days as a new 'deader' and how life as a teenager goes with her new found status.

This collection brings about joy in the hearts of any horror fan. It brings forward interesting topics, twists and turns and just an overall feeling of disappointment when you get to the last page.

Well, done Ms. Burgess on giving us a new exciting look at stories and letting this reviewer enjoy your work.

Pomegranate Stories by Gay Degani Review

by Gay Degani
Lulu Publishing
ISBN:978-0557222100
Review by: Rob Walter
Review Posted: 11/3/2010

Pomegranate Stories is Gay Degani’s newest collection of eight short stories for conversation. Published by Lulu Press it includes the following stories:

Dani-Girls Guide to Getting Everything Right
Hawaiian Hairdo
Rim Shot
Listing Lisa
Chair Girl
Pomegranate
Spring Melt
Monsoon

The stories in this collection all feature the mother-daughter relationship at the core of the story. These relationships range from how to survive in a dysfunctional family to what is or should be important in life. Without giving away the stories, Pomegranate and Monsoon were two that really caught my attention and forced me to spend time with.

Pomegranate was really disturbing as it explores the mother-daughter connection and how that can sustain you over distances and through difficult times. The circumstances and emotions drawn out by the story hit so close to my life and served as a cautionary tale.

Monsoon rang a reality bell to reinforce what is important in one’s life vice what we let distract us. It took me awhile to put the book down after I finished reading.

Ms. Degani is a good story teller and quite talented with drawing the reader into the story and getting them to empathize with the characters in the story. The emotions generated are quite real and power the reader into the story. The stories serve to get the reader to examine their own lives in a different light.

This isn’t my normal area of enjoyable reading, but I was quite surprised to find that I liked the collection of stories.

Overall, I recommend this collection.

We're Living in a Science Fictional Universe- a review of "How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe" By Charles Yu Review

by Charles Yu
Pantheon
Hardcover Ed.
ISBN:978-0307379207
Review by: Jim Cherry
Review Posted: 10/29/2010

When I was a kid and I thought, or tried to think, about what life would be like in the year 2000 it seemed a far off date that was more science fiction than real. Now we have traveled to this future, so I guess we now live in a science fictional universe, at least according to Charles Yu in “How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.”

Yu wrote what could have been a fairly typical time travel story about a father and son who work on creating a time machine but get separated in time and space with its invention. However, Yu deconstructs the structure and format of the novel with a genius and imagination perhaps not seen since Phillip K. Dick. It is deconstructed to the bone. It seems like it could be a schematic for a science fiction novel. All the elements of a time travel story become fair game for Yu's pen and wit. All aspects of a time travel novel are torn apart and examined, characters reasons for wanting to travel through time, the existential ramifications, the paradoxes created, even grammatical tenses, and the process of writing the book itself.

I don't want to give anyone the idea that the book is overly academic or studious. Yu has a great sense of humor and freely plays with the genre including meshing, or mashing genres such as L. Skywalker making an appearance. Not Luke Skywalker but his ne'er do well son Linus.

“How to Live Safely in Science Fictional Universe” is a fresh approach to a well established genre. Yu is willing to play with the elements that make up the story, and share that sense of literary adventure while taking the reader through the time machine of a novel. When you emerge on the other side you'll have a slightly different perspective than you did before entering.


Jim Cherry is the author of The Last Stage at www.jymsbooks.com

Season of Death by Eric S. Brown Review

by Eric S. Brown
Pill Hill Press
Hardcover Ed
ISBN:978-1-61706-020-5
Review by: Gina Desory
Review Posted: 10/16/2010

Season of Death is another novellas collection by author Eric S. Brown. The four novellas are Undead down Under where a character named Kyle who you met in Season of Rot one of another novella collection that came before, fights the crocodile-demons in Australia. In How the West went to Hell is a horror western that a book editor travels to the small town of Reaper's Valley to research a dead author's manuscript where he discovers more than just some kind hospitality, plus a yellowed-eyed demon. Kinberra Down is the science fiction novella that is co-authored with Jessica Marie Roberts where Kinberra crew stumble upon an icy planet that is loaded with creatures beyond their imagination. Ragnarock Island is the sequel to the Queen story Eric S. Brown wrote dealing with the survival of the character Scott races through the undead and the troubles that come everywhere he looks.

This is a collection that has many twists and turns. The most noted novella that had a wonderful twist was How the West went to Hell. Eric S. Brown took a western, wrapped it with horror situations and turned the story into a gem.

I found that Kinberra Down lacked holding my interest for very long. There were some really good parts to the story, but the first section dragged a bit. It was not typical Brown writing and perhaps reading Science Fiction by this author is not what readers maybe used to. It is not to say lovers of Science Fiction may not like this, but I found it to be a bit simplistic.

Ragnarock Island took my breath away. If you have read his story called the Queen, you will see the brilliance that came about when this story out of Season of Death was done. The thrill of seeing what the characters were going to do next, what leaped out here and there, it gave chills down my spine waiting to see what would happen as I read. This story certainly is at the top when it comes to this collection.

Undead down Under left a bit of a hole as I read it. It did not present itself as a separate novella. If you didn't read the original story, you as a reader could be lost. Was it good, yes, only because I had read the original story. The strange demons and such portrayed in this story left me craving for me.

Should you buy this collection? I give it a yes and yes. There are some parts where you maybe sighing a bit, however, this is a must buy for Eric S. Brown fans and if you have not read any of his stuff, make sure to get Season of Rot and Season of Death, but reading Season of Rot first to get a grasp of some of these characters.






Buy from Amazon below:

Season of Death

Zomblog by T.W. Brown Review

by T.W.Brown
May December Publications
ISBN:978-0-9845372-1-1
Review Posted: 10/16/2010

Samuel Todd on his spare time starts a daily blog. He had no idea that his life would suddenly change and his accounts of what seemed to be a weird infection break-outs he would be documenting in his online diary format.

I normally don't like any story that has to deal with blog type or even diary types formats. However, this one not only caught my attention by its name of Zomblog, but pulled me in right from the start.

Brown handles Samuel Todd the character who writes in the blog in the most amazing way, he makes him human. Todd goes through these dates of about a year's time describing what happens to him and his family during an infection outbreak. This is done with the dates of a blog. What Brown does with these is allow the reader an insight to what a person could and most likely would do during what is thought of as a zombie outbreak.

Brown writes the character of Todd with precision. There is Todd thinking twice about helping someone because he is scared. Well, who wouldn't be in such a situation? This is just one of the things I love about this book.

Then there is the way the blog posts are written. There is not a dull moment as sometimes you read with certain posts about whatever they did that day. The posts are the thoughts of Todd yes, but a glimpse into a scary situation that can be felt through each word.

Zomblog is a story that has such human heart to it that you will be feeling each moment with Todd and then have to wonder and look outside to make sure the outbreak is not occurring by you.

Eye Witness Zombie Anthology Review

Edited by T.W.Brown
May December Publications
ISBN:978-0-9845372-2-8
Review Posted: 10/15/2010

Now before you say 'not another zombie anthology,' let me tell you this:
Eye Witness Zombie is an eclectic taste of brilliance. First we start off with the cover. I normally don't mention covers unless they are so striking or bring attention to the book; this one does. I mean nothing says eye witness like a news station, but not any news station but one filled with zombie reporters.

And the cover needs to be opened. Inside you have the 15 stories that will make you laugh, make you squirm and just feel your thoughts with delightful tales of zombies. There are even character drawings of each of the authors before they stories along with their signatures below it.

What makes this anthology so pleasing to read is it is not your typical end of the worlds scenario. It has well established characters, sometimes more sarcastic than most, but hey end of the world time here people, and amazing situations that you gasp out, laugh at and go wow at. Nothing says a good zombie anthology such as Eye Witness. Normally I would have a favorite story, but I loved them all.

This is a great anthology to pick up for Halloween or any time that you need to be reminded that zombies can be gory, but they can also be interesting, funny and out right dangerous.