Rot & Ruin (edition 2010)

2.5 stars

Interested in more of my reviews? Visit my blog!

I’ve read several zombie books in the recent months. Because of this I know that it’s important for the author to come up with some original aspect to centralize their story around. I don’t feel that this book did it… what this book felt like to me was a typical YA story with zombies thrown in as an after-thought.

Rot & Ruin’s ‘original aspect’ focused on a group of people trying to change the world to make people see and understand that zombies don’t have any control over their actions and that they were once people and should be treated as such.

The society 14 years after ‘First Night’ is a far cry from the world today. People have developed a rut to the point where they have no desire to attempt taking back their world so they survive by living locked inside a chain link fence living in cabins and surviving without electricity. How zombies came to be is never explained either, which, I missed because I always love a good explanation for their existence. Even people who die of natural causes come back as zombies. But even after all this time, these people have chosen to live a stagnant life of monotony rather than attempt to grow and develop as a people and overcome the zombies. This line pretty much sums it up:

”Electronics and complex machines were no longer allowed in town, because of a strong religious movement that associated that kind of power with the “Godless behavior” that had brought about “the end.””

The Imura brothers, Tom and Benny, are in the zombie killing business… or more appropriately, they are in business to bring families peace of mind. Rather than just going out and mindlessly slaying zombies to be rid of them, they are hired by families to locate their zombiefied family members and kill them so that they can rest assured that they are no longer the walking dead going around munching on people. Num num.

No, there weren’t kitten zombies in this book (I’m just a sucker for cute cat pictures) but in my zombie world there totally would be.

There were a few other interesting tidbits to this story, like, “Gameland”. So apparently some really sick and twisted humans that were often described as being worse than the zombies (because the zombies of course don’t know what they’re doing and should be excused because they’ve got a bad case of the munchies) like to capture up small children and force them to fight against zombies. We never see Gameland, we just hear about it…. So that storyline kinda fell flat.

There was also the story about the “Lost Girl”. The girl who’s survived on her own for years. Benny first learns about her when he gets her ‘card’ in the latest batch of zombie cards. Yes, zombie cards. Much like your normal baseball cards, but with celebrity zombies, bounty hunters, etc. So yes, Benny gets the “Lost Girl” card and is immediately infatuated with her. It suddenly becomes his desire to find her, save her, and keep her from danger. Aw, here comes her knight in shining armor.



But the only thing I can think of is, here’s this 15 year old kid who just started training to be a zombie hunter less than week ago and he feels it’s his mission in life to now save this total bad ass Xena type zombie killing machine who’s been surviving on her own in the Rot & Ruin for YEARS… and Benny plans on saving her. With his wooden sword. Right.

By the time the ending came around I was truly bored. I think the complete predictability of the book had something to do with it but this story just lacked in overall excitement for me. ( )

Rating: 3 of 5

I read Rot and Ruin in one sitting. So obviously the story held my attention - mainly because Maberry kept hinting at deeper meanings and then I wanted the full story - but overall it didn't blow my mind or get me super excited to read the sequels.

Thankfully, the aforementioned hinting did lead to full explanations. That meant there were several scenes of Tom explaining something to Benny or telling him about past events. All the telling usually happened in the middle of action or potential action, so it did not feel like info dump.

Benny, the main character, wasn't all that likable and he often vacillated between morose/irrational and friendly/sensible. (Was that intentional? Because teenagers act that sometimes?) There were inconsistencies in worldbuilding and plot, but nothing that couldn't be overlooked by the casual reader. I dunno; I just never fully lost myself in the world or characters, which is why I won't move on to the sequel.

This one's probably a good fit for readers who enjoy zombie stories with adequate characterization, moderate action, and high sentimentality.

Note to self: Am I in a reading funk (October 2012)? Or am I picking the "wrong" books for me? The last few books I've read have been well-written but just okay. Hopefully I'll read one soon that'll knock my socks off. ( )

Fifteen-year-old Benny Imura comes to grips with the zombie apocalypse that happened when he was a baby -- and with the Rot and Ruin that exists outside the Californian enclave where he grew up in relative safety. Action/adventure and the battle between good and evil.... and a budding romance. Quite gruesome (as you would expect with zombies involved). Age range? Grade 5 and above.

Benny's "family business" -- as run by his older brother Tom -- is to go out and "quiet" zombies (by shoving a silver spike into the base of their brain stem) - and the book ends with Benny accepting the humanity of his brother's work, as the two of them "quiet" their parents.

First of a series... ( )

OK, first let me state that the three stars are not a reflection on Mr. Maberry's writing. On the contrary -- if you read this book, you will find excellent writing, wonderful plotting, interesting world building and great characters. But you will also find zombies. In fact, you will be reading about life after the zombie apocalypse. And I just don't buy zombies ( I think they're silly). Many otherwise wonderful books have been ruined for me because they have zombies in them. And to me, zombies are gross and horrible, but also completely ridiculous and not at all convincing. Whereas I am OK with ring wraiths, as in Tolkien, gods, as in Megan Whalen Turner, and nature magic, as in Hilari Bell. But dead people who rise from the grave and try and eat your brains? Nope! That's just too silly.

But I digress. What I'm trying to say is, don't pay any attention to my three stars, if you like zombies. For you, this book may well be a 5 star read! Because there are many wonderful things in it, plus zombies. The characters and their interactions are really vivid and engaging, and the plot is compelling and in places really moving, as well.

In sum -- I think this is a really good book. Well worth reading, despite the zombies -- just not my favorite, because of the zombies.
( )

As much as I love zombie movies, I cant seem to ever get into zombie novels. ( )