Adam Gallardo

I'm not usually one for zombies (translation: I hate them), but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I appreciated that the zombies weren't really the focus of the story, but almost the landscape. This novel follows a smart, melodramatic teenage girl as she grapples with all the usual, relatable teenage woes, but the zombie-riddled world she lives in kicks it up a gear or three. I was super impressed to discover that the author -- who writes a very convincing, multi-dimensional, angsty, bratty show more 16-year-old girl -- is, in fact, a 30-something married man with children. Bravo. I haven't decided if I'll read the sequel or not yet (purely out of a desire to avoid zombie nightmares), but I will certainly be looking for more of this writer's work. show less

Star Wars takes its turn to do the whole "what if?" conceit. If you've read a DC Elseworlds comic or Kim Newman's Anno Dracula books, you'll know the idea. Each of the three stories collected here takes a different one of the films from the original Star Wars trilogy, changes a single event and shows how the story unfolds from there. Usually while exercising the prerogative to have everything go to pot in the most spectacular way possible. What if the Rebels had failed to destroy the Death show more Star? What if Luke had died on Hoth? What if Leia's attempt to rescue Han from Jabba got screwed up?

The three series were originally published separately and I'm not sure reading them together does them any favours. Some of the ideas turn up two or three times: the trip to Dagobah, Leia becoming a Jedi, the Skywalker family revelations.

But you also realise the quality of each story isn't necessarily dependant on to what degree it deviates from the one we know: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back are easily the two stronger contributions, but while the former delivers epic spectacle by deviating immensely from the original story, the latter has a lot of fun rewriting Empire as a runabout, with characters turning up at the wrong moments for their bits of the plot. Return of the Jedi never manages spectacle or fun, mirroring the plot of the film while making minor tweaks that ultimately don't feel important.

Writing a what-if story places an onus on the author to not only come up with an alternative series of events, but one that still feels true to the characters and has some tragicomic resonance as a result. Star Wars Omnibus: Infinities probably holds as much interest as a case study in storytelling as it does an exercise in tickling the belly of the fans. show less

Alternate history ranks among the more robust genres in science fiction, as authors frequently explore the consequences of what might have happened had historical events taken a different turn. Far less common, however, are what might be termed alternate stories: other takes on notable fictional works. While both Marvel and DC have explored the possibilities in such storytelling (in their "What If" and "Elseworlds" titles respectively), for the most part it's a form little seen outside of show more comic books. Thus, for Dark Horse Publishing to undertake alternate storytelling of the famous "Original Trilogy" of Star Wars movies marks something of a novelty. In three separate limited-series comics (brought together here in a single omnibus volume) their writers and artists envision what might have happened had events in some of the most famous movies in history had taken a slightly different turn.

The first of these comics builds upon the events of the fourth film, A New Hope. In it, the proton torpedoes Luke Skywalker fires into the exhaust vent only damage rather than destroy the Death Star. With the Rebel base on Yavin-4 destroyed and Princess Leia recaptured by Darth Vader, Luke travels to Dagobah to begin his training with Yoda. This sets up an interesting dynamic, with Vader attempting to turn Leia to the Dark Side while Luke more readily embraces his training to become a Jedi. Yet the ending leaves something to be desired, with the resolution just a little too pat for my tastes.

In the second of these tales, the focus is on the events and the characters featured in The Empire Strikes Back. Here the divergence is a small event with enormous consequences, with Han Solo's tauntaun dying before he can locate Luke in Hoth's frigid wastes. Luke's own subsequent death from exposure because of this sets of a new chain of events, with Han, Leia, and Chewbacca fleeing directly to Bespin before going to Dagobah themselves. This was by far my favorite of the three, both for Dave Land's story (which is inventive while remaining true to the elements of the movie) and for how he develops Leia as a Jedi, which allows him to explore the possibilities of what is by far the most disappointingly unexplored aspect of the entire Star Wars franchise.

It would be hard to top Land's story, and the final comic, which is based on Return of the Jedi, emulates the film in the franchise by falling short of its predecessor's high standard. In this story, the team's failure to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt's fortress forces Luke and Leia to continue their search for his carbonized body. While this alters events somewhat, the story's divergence is considerably less than that of the two previous ones, with the final events for the most part playing out as they did in the movie. Though the ending is interesting, it's something of a letdown after the more creative explorations in the first two series, even if it does end up fitting in with the pattern of the original trilogy of films. show less

If you know me at all you know that I am a big fan of anything having to do with Zombies. I still remember watching Dawn Of The Dead for the first time (the original, not the crappy remake) and loving every second of it. I'm addicted to The Walking Dead and I always have an escape route planned out in my head wherever I go in case the Zombie Apocalypse starts.

Now with that being said Zombie stories are very popular right now, just like when Twilight came out and everywhere you turned you show more saw vampires. Which is why in my opinion it is extremely difficult to have an original story, original characters, original plot lines and flesh eating monsters.

However Adam J. Gallardo's story grabbed my attention immediately and held on throughout the entire book.

Courtney Hart grew up in a world infested with zombies, she knows no other life. Her goal is to one day leave her small town behind her and travel to New York to find a cure for the shufflers that plague her and those closest to her.

In order to do that Courtney sells drugs, well a drug. Vitamin Z. Made from, you guessed it: zombie brains. All she has to do is survive the zombies, her shifts at the local burger joint and her brain dead classmates. After that she's home free, New York her shes comes.

What instantly caught my attention was when a couple chapters into the book Courtney uttered the words "Call 911". Not only does the world still have 911 they also have electricity, super markets, libraries, police, cars and cell phones.

I love the new take on the widely popular genre of zombies. In Courtney's story the world did not end when the dead rose from their graves. It drastically changed, yes, but it didn't end.

I highly recommend this book, its a refreshing, original story that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Until next time,
Ginger

In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review.
My review is my honest opinion. show less