Feed (Newsflesh, Book 1)

When going on holidays recently, I asked FaceBook friends for some reading recommendations (this was despite having about forty books in my “to-read” pile). Feed, by Mira Grant was one of them and, why I chose it from the many other wonderful suggestions I received was the way it was “sold” to me by another writer, the lovely Mandy Wrangles. I still remember. She wrote something along the lines of, “It’s a zombie book, only, it’s not. It’s so much more. Don’t let the zombie thing put you off. This is an amazing book, dystopian and about communication, the media and politics and it’s just incredible…”To be fair, Mandy said it far more eloquently than that, but that’s how I absorbed it and was intrigued. Much preferring zombies on the screen than on the page, I’d resisted anything remotely zombified before, but I was going on a holiday, why not challenge myself? Take a holiday from my usual genres? Am I glad I did. Oh. Boy. Mandy was right, this book was not what I expected – even with Mandy’s wonderful affirmations, it thoroughly exceeded my expectations.Set in the very near future, after a zombie plague has basically wiped out a great deal of the civilised world, facilitated the establishment of gated communities, serious and constant health checks, and armed protection services, and seen the mainstream media not replaced, but in healthy competition with bloggers (the reason being that when the uprising of zombies began, the media were in denial and, due to government control and censorship, inclined to perpetuate fallacies – it was bloggers who told the truth and won reader loyalty and trust), this tale centres around prominent blogger, Georgia Mason, who along with her brother Shaun and their IT specialist, win a contract to accompany a political candidate throughout the drawn-out US presidential election. Overjoyed at such a coup, they quickly accept and join the convoy, travelling throughout parts of the US, being given insights into not just the political machinations of the party and those who belong, but the media and the plots and cunning of desperate men, including the biggest secret of all – the terrible conspiracy behind the infected....This is a wild, hold-on-to-the-edge-of-your-seat book that, after an ETesque opening (but with zombies, death and destruction on the protagonists’ bicycle tail), immerses you in this post-apocalytpic reality of a country/world torn apart by a mass infection and its consequences. Orphaned at a young age, brother and sister Georgia and Shaun, though they’ve been adopted, have to survive on their wits and intelligence and neither of these are in short supply. Nor is their sense of justice and determination to see it meted out.Though the zombies (the infected) hover at the edges of the story the entire time, bursting into the narrative at opportune and sometimes unexpected moments, the real story here is the politics – not simply Republican versus Democrat, though that’s there, but personal politics as well. How individuals manoeuvre themselves into positions of power, the politics around the stories we tell, about ourselves, each other – what’s omitted, what’s included, the impression we strive to give and maintain- and the strength of meta-narratives to colour and infect the smaller ones. It’s also about belonging, connectivity, being an outsider – of family, society and beyond. It’s about truth, lies and everything in-between. It’s about when to compromise – morally, physically, intellectually – and when it’s appropriate not to.As story-tellers with credibility, Georgia and Shaun know how important their job is, how much the surviving masses rely on them to keep the lines of communication open, to spread the “truth” and to provide informed opinion. But story-telling in this world is also big business, and ratings are important. Hence, risks must be taken, not with the truth, never with that, but with reputations, uncovering relevant information and, for Georgia and Shaun, it also means putting their lives (and that of others) on the line.This never becomes more important or real than when they discover the truth about the zombies…This is such an original and compelling book. Alternately shocking and heart-wrenching, capable of blood-thirsty scenes and great pathos, the characters are strong, purposeful to a fault, but also ever-so vulnerable, the combination is intoxicating and nerve-wracking. You invest so heavily in both Georgia and Shaun, shout at and with them from the sidelines, revel in their ingenuity and disingenuousness. The narrative twists and flows in ways that are never predictable but always true to the overall arc and intentions of the book – you believe in everything that’s happening and the rationale behind it. An example of this is the reasoning behind why there are zombies in the first place. An interview with Grant (at the end of the book) reveals that she was always frustrated by films and other books that took zombies for granted, that is, the writer/s never explained how they became that way, except to point to biting and contagion through other means as the answer. The origins of the infection and what happens in the body of a human who becomes a zombie is rarely if ever dealt with. Feed addresses this in a scientific and acceptable but never dull way. The explanation simply feeds (excuse the pun) into the logic of the setting and time the author has created. I thoroughly enjoyed this aspect as well.Whether or not you like “zombies” (what’s NOT to like ☺), whether or not you enjoy dystopian narratives, this is a great book. But, if you’re looking for well-crafted, tightly written, imaginatively conceived stories that take you on an incredible, high-octane adventure while simultaneously exploring some serious ethical and philosophical issues and offering a critique of modern media with kick-arse, wonderful rich and complex characters and a plot dripping with intrigue, this is the book for you.Touted as young adult, it’s not. It’s for anyone who loves astonishing novels.I have bought the second and (er um) can’t wait to sink my teeth into it.

I find myself unable to pass up a good zombie novel. This turned out to be one of the best I've read, though it's not really about zombies.Feed tells the story of Georgia "George" Mason and her adopted brother Shaun, a pair of news bloggers who join a presidential candidate on the campaign trail and uncover a vast conspiracy. Unlike most zombie books, the story does not take place at the beginning of the outbreak but rather 20 years later. This puts a unique spin on things. Zombies are something people have more or less learned to live with. They are not the antagonists of the story, people are. Rather than a collection of chase scenes, disembowelments and zombie head shots, the book focuses on the characters' pursuit of truth and how that truth is spread in the post-apocalyptic world: blogs.When I picked up this book I was concerned about the blogging angle. I'm a bit old-fashioned and I don't appreciate having social media shoved down my throat. However, I found the use of blogging as large element of the story quite palatable because there was a good reason for it. Knowledge represents both power and survival. The mainstream media failed when the zombie outbreak happened; they were too slow to believe rumours about the walking dead and give people the information they needed to survive. Since then, people have turned to instant, uncensored blogs to get the news. It makes sense. Each chapter was punctuated with a blog post by one of the main characters which was a nice touch.One of the real stand-outs in this book was the explanation of how the zombie outbreak occurred. Most books and movies gloss over the subject or attribute it to something completely outlandish. In Feed it is a virus that turns people into zombies, this isn't a new idea but the detail given about how the virus came about and how it replicates was quite extensive and almost believable.The post-apocalyptic world the book takes place in was very well-drawn. The influence of the zombie infection is seen throughout the book: fences and security checkpoints are everywhere, vehicles are armoured, people are subject to constant blood tests to prove they aren't infected, everyone and their little sister carries a gun. More interesting than the environment is the way the people are portrayed. Even the strongest of the characters has an innate sense of sadness and fear about them. The narrative really drove home the fact that everyone would become a zombie one day. You could go your whole life never coming into contact with a zombie, but one day you would die and immediately wake up with a hunger for flesh. It's a rather frightening thought that each character must live with everyday, and it's obvious how it affects them.I found the book quite captivating; it seemed much shorter than its 600+ pages. It moved swiftly from introducing the characters and the world to uncovering the conspiracy that would become the focus of the story. I enjoyed all the characters. What I particularly liked was how they reacted to all the terrible events happening around them (and to them). It was realistic and that elicited a deeper reaction from me.The book did have a few negative points. The plot fell apart a little when I found out who the "bad guys" were. There seemed to be a disconnect between their motives and their actions. There was also an event near the end of the book I found rather unnecessary and cheap, but I won't go into specifics for fear of spoilers.Overall, I really enjoyed Feed. It was a fresh take on the genre with compelling main characters and a terrific setting.

Divertido pero no hay hordas ni post apocalipsis

Au confluent de Walking Dead (pour les cadavres ambulants) et Scandal (pour tout le côté campagne électorale), c’est un bien joli ovni. Un thriller politico-journalistique épicé de juste ce qu’il faut d’horreur, servi par des personnages hyper attachants et une intrigue pour le moins entraînante. Loin des poncifs du genre, l’autrice a choisi ici un angle d’attaque bien originale, mélangeant avec brio enquête et survival. Complot et manipulations règnent, sur fond de course médiatique post-apocalyptique. Et bon sang que c’est efficace ! Le rythme de l’histoire est particulièrement haletant, offrant d’ailleurs des scènes très visuelles. Action et phases d’investigation se succèdent, parsemées çà et là de révélations qui ne donnent qu’une envie : enchaîner les pages. C’est de plus le genre de récit qui fait passer par tout un tas d’émotions. Excitation, angoisse, soulagement, colère, peine également... rien n’est ici épargné au lecteur.

Good Sci-Fi, it has been said, takes likeable characters and has them developing a compelling plot in a believable fashion regardless of the space or time involved. Similarly, good zombie fiction should get quickly past the "OMG The Dead Are Eating Us" stage and should grip the reader with value-adds. This book is among the best of its class in that regard. The tech, the concept of the revolution in news reporting, and the logical societal evolution which occurs in the post-viral world are so well thought out that the zombies are almost a distraction. Almost. Actually, the 'science' of the Zombie Apocalypse is better thought out here than in almost any recent tale. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I like zombie stories, whether they be books or movies, and if done well there is nothing better. I've watched my fair share of films over the years using this subject - some spectacular, some stinkers - but I've read very few novels about them. When I heard about Feed I knew it was a novel I had to read - a near future tale set 20+ years after the zombie outbreak in a world where bloggers delivered the news. Feed is not only a zombie novel, it uses blogging as a main part of the narrative and manages to extrapolate technology from today to fit its world. I jumped in feet first and was taken on a ride that completely and utterly blew me away.Feed is the story of George and Shaun Mason who, along with their techie Buffy, are bloggers in a world where zombies are a common threat. They go into the danger zones, poke zombies and blog it to the world, but they also deliver the news on what's going on, how bad things are in certain areas and just what to watch out for. Set in 2039/2040, over 20 years after the rising of the zombies, this is a world where everyone has to deal with the constant problem of zombies. With the US Presidential elections coming up George, Shaun and Buffy put their names forward to be the official news crew of one of the Republican candidates - Senator Peter Ryman - a man who many believe to be the next President. After being selected they join Senator Ryman and his staff on his tour of the US to drum up support and get voters to their cause, reporting the facts without bias. But not everything goes as smoothly as they were expecting...Okay, first things first. This is a zombie novel, albeit a near future post-infection one. The most important thing to me is how the zombies are portrayed: Is the infection believably? Are the zombies believable in the way they act? Is the world behind the story believably? Yes, believability is one of the key points and Feed scores top marks in all those points, and then some.The infection is essentially a virus that is a combination of two 'cures' that were released to the world in the early 21st century. Acting together it is in every human, but it lies dormant until death when it becomes live and turns the person into a zombie, but it can also be activated when the the person comes into contact with the live strain - i.e. through being bitten. All in all, very suitable to the story and completely believable. When the person becomes a zombie they are quick and deadly, but the longer they are a zombie, and the longer they go without feeding the slower and more decrepit they become. The explanations given throughout the story makes it chilling and very real. The world is built around the threat that it is faced with every day, with many security zones and a policy that means you could be shot dead if you can't provide clean test results, and clean test results are everything in this world.Suffice to say that Grant has managed to create a completely and utterly real world here. Everything about it is logical and believable and makes you wonder just how far from the truth it could be. The world building because of the infection is also a great aspect here with so many little details covered that add to the depth of the setting. The technology has grown in relation to the threat, but it isn't that far off what we have today, and in a world where you could meet a zombie around any corner all the bases are covered. Feed really does make for some terrific reading and a master class on how to construct a world for a story to take place in.But while all of this adds to the novel, it isn't the be-all-and-end-all - you've got to have good characters and the story has to deliver the goods. George, Shaun and Buffy tick the first box, each of them having a unique personality and being able to carry the story through their actions. They can be serious, funny and annoying, but ultimately they are the right people for the job, crafted well and with a page presence that you can't help but like. While the story is told in the first person through George's eyes, and she is the main character here, I never once felt overwhelmed by her views or annoyed that it was yet another chapter told by her. Quite the opposite in fact - I loved it. The relationships that are present feel very real, are not forced during the story at all and manage to capture that special something that makes you care for them all.As for the story, well, going into too much detail will ruin all the twists and turns. It is a story about a news crew following the senator's leadership campaign and has many twists and turns with something clearly bubbling under the surface. We get to find out these things as the story progresses and Grant doesn't pull any punches - she's able to shock and surprise in equal measures.I was taken in to Feed completely and read as much as I could whenever the opportunity arose. Even when I wasn't reading it I was thinking about the story and the world - a sure sign that I'm reading a book that I'm coming to love. While this is the first part in a trilogy it still delivers a solid story and concludes fittingly, but I just can't wait to get to the sequel when it's released. Awarding a perfect score is no more fitting than with Feed.

I was originally introduced to this series as 'zombie novels'. This did excite me in itself, but what i got was much much more. The attention to detail around technology and medicine was was amazing. It provided a deep feeling of reality with the possibility that we could see this within our time. This really draws you into the story and provides an intensity that would otherwise be lacking.I became to realise that this wasn't really about the zombies at all but moreso about human nature and the cultural reactions to such a change. This story was fueled by the depth of characters who were not your every day person your street ... or maybe they were but you never got to know them well enough to see this kind of depth.All in all a brilliant book and I'm already halfway through the next one!