RaveTor.comIt is the ultimate expression of George Romero’s vision, carefully curated, expanded andultimately—fulfilled by Daniel Kraus. One of the most fascinating parts of the novel is Kraus’ afterword, explaining how The Living Dead came together and the decisions he made in writing it; it is an ode to collaboration that will be of interest to more than just publishing geeks. If anything, Kraus undersells his own contributions: Romero’s work, although visionary, is often self-contradictory and incomplete. Kraus pulls together fragments across media formats—and time—unites them, and extends them into a single, holistic narrative. Ultimately—to skip to the end—The Living Dead will someday rest comfortably alongside other shelf-breaking epics. It deserves mention alongside The Passage, Swan Song and—dare I say it—The Stand, as examples of the sweeping, apocalyptic saga ... The Living Dead, in many ways, the perfect first zombie book: the zombie thesis. It presents the notion of the living dead like it is a new idea, explores the fundamentals from a variety of (immensely entertaining) perspectives, and lays the groundwork for future, more incisive, uses of the trope. It so happens that many of those future uses have already occurred over the past fifty years, but that doesn’t mean The Living Dead can’t—or won’t—still serve as the formative text for future zombie readers. It is, as it is intended to be, the perfect encapsulation of, and companion to, Romero’s classic films, and will ultimately be, just as they are, timeless.
Joe Abercrombie
PositiveTor.comIt is, accordingly, a rambunctious teenager of a book: violent and hormonal, argumentative and gratuitous. It is rapid-fire; short chapters, cliff-hangers, constant action and quip-laden dialogue. Characters are established, tested, undermined and judged at pace. The sex is explicit, the violence more so ... a book that could not exist without its antecedents, but spends every page trying to undermine them. It rebels against rebellion, without becoming conventional; it is a coming-of-age tale that deliberately eschews maturity and wisdom. It owes as much to the storytelling styles of gaming, film and television as literature. It is, perhaps even more than its predecessors, a book that could only exist at this point in time: a truly contemporary fantasy, even its core theme is the struggle to escape from the past ... Those using A Little Hatred as an ‘entry point’ to Joe Abercrombie, will, I suspect, enjoy it for sheer entertainment value, but miss the vast and tragic thematic underpinnings. Whereas those hungry to return to the world of the The First Law after a seven-year wait will be upset and rewarded in equal measure.
Victor Lavalle
RaveTor.comBreaking an anthology like A People’s Future down into its component parts not only diminishes it, but misses out on the very purpose of its existence. This is not twenty-five individual and discrete voices; this is a holistic shout. And, let’s be clear, A People’s Future is undeniably a shout. It is not a debate or a discussion: it is a full-throated, blood-curdling scream ... the beautiful tragedy of em>A People’s Future is that it is entirely plausible… and fundamentally terrifying ... the stories are united by their outrage ... powerful anthology. This is not a book that will unify the country, nor bridge any of its many divides. In some stories, it is undeniably preachy; in others, it indulges the insular superiority of science fiction readers. But in others there are soaring heights of imagination, spirit and humanity ... As a vision—as a scream—em>A People’s Future is potent and resonant, with the potential to echo for years to come. For those it is speaking to, em>A People’s Future offers not hope, but belonging. A shared sense of outrage. A unifying call to arms. And, above all, the reassurance that now, then, and forever, you are not alone
Adam Nemett
RaveTorAdam Nemett’s debut novel features a group of disillusioned and dissolute Princeton students, groping around for their place in the universe ... We Can Save Us All—true to the others in the PrivilegePunk, TrustFundDark genre—is a hard read, using America’s \'best and brightest\' to describe some of society’s darkest and most self-indulgent impulses. It is a timely and horrifying look into youth radicalisation; the power of the narratives that we assign ourselves. Nemett’s clever use of the third person allows a sense of remove and of feigned objectivity. This adds to the overall sense of the reader as the ultimate judge of the characters and their actions. We Can Save Us All takes us under the skin of \'heroes\'—to ask questions about intent, purpose, and salvation as a whole. It is a deeply uncomfortable read, but all the more powerful for it.
