Siege

I’ll admit right now: I couldn’t stop myself from reading the ending. I needed reassurance that the people I’d grown to respect and care for would survive. Of course, not everyone did. In fact, my favourite character had died. I was devastated so I put the book down until recently when I gathered my courage and soldiered through. There are many deaths from differing causes: a common one was suicide (committed for varying reasons) which was sometimes preferable to the alternative.

The diverse nature of the population of survivors created much conflict. They were of differing ethnicities, religions, morals and sexuality. I loved this aspect. Intolerance and political (and social class) aspirations and the resulting manipulations were show more the source of many problems the survivors had to contend with. The thinning of the veil between the living and the dead was understandable when there were more corpses than living, breathing people.

My Favourite Bits
The discussion of whether a zombie was male or female until we see their naked groin. Ick. Ick. Ick.
The head in a flower pot.
Using toasters to decapitate the dead.

Overall
This was a brilliant trilogy showcasing the very best and worst that humanity has to offer. Every character has a unique personality. I cheered when they triumphed, grieved the losses of life and felt frustration at conflicts and failures. I was happy when new loves were found and sad when they felt guilty for surviving and living their lives when their loved ones were dead. However, survival meant that even good people did things that logically may be wrong but in the fight to live and breathe and protect those you love makes these acts were justifiable. Despite emotional breakdowns and moments of weakness I admired the strength and resourcefulness of them all, although a couple of characters had crazy on their side (like Calhoun) and we learn that they weren’t as crazy or as paranoid as we first believed. Even the loonies proved they were useful and needed.

Every aspect of society were represented: the old and the young, the disabled, politicians, the social classes, disaster relief agencies, the criminal justice system, the military as well as personal characteristics: the selfless, the honourable, the brave and the weak, and the list goes on.

All of this makes me I wonder how I would do their situation. Would I commit suicide? Would I seek safety in numbers or be a loner? How selfless would I be? Could I sacrifice myself for others? I don’t know.

I laughed and I cried throughout this trilogy. It all felt so real. I highly recommend everyone with a strong stomach to read these books so they can experience this vivid reality for themselves. show less

Read in April, 2012

Read for Fun
Overall Rating: 5+
Story Rating: 5+
Character Rating: 5+

NOTE: I feel the need to start my review with a note this time. I have read (and rated) 468 books and have only given 40--5 star ratings. Both The First Days and Siege got 5's from me. I can not stress how well written, brilliantly executed, and boldly told this series is. You must read it even if you don't like zombies. It is a story of humanity, heartbreak, and hope!

First Thought when Finished: That is a way to end a trilogy!

What I Loved: When a series comes to an end, I look for 2 things: closure and hope. As a reader, I need to feel closure for both the characters and myself. I need to know that this particular phase (emotional, physical, challenge) show more has been met and that the characters are off to face a new phase in their lives. I also need hope. I need to feel like their world goes on and that they embrace the life that they have been given. That this life (yes I realize it is fictional) they have is worth fighting for and the future (no matter how bleak) holds hope for a better tomorrow with loved ones. These key elements allow me to feel that I was lucky to have shared this part of the characters journey and for now we part ways. Rhiannon Frater managed to break my heart, sew it back together, scare me to death, and finally leave me with hope that these characters that I have come to love would move on from now and into the future! I could not ask for more from a story than what I was given in Siege. It was a very fitting end to what will be one of my favorite trilogies EVER!

What I Liked: My favorite thing about Rhiannon's writing (both series that I have read) is her ability to create complex characters in all shades of grey. However, with this series it was her ability to build a world that was compelling and believable. It is not often that you get both compelling characters and a world that almost counts as a character all its own!

Final Thought: Both The First Days and Siege received 5's from me. I stand behind those ratings 110% and recommend these books to anyone who enjoys a really good story told with a ton of courage and alright just a bit of gore (really there is gore--I have to mention it LOL)! Get thee to the bookstore! You won't be sorry!

PS: I am not leaving out Fighting to Survive--I gave it a 4.75! This is probably the highest rated series (outside Harry Potter) that I have given. Truly it was just brilliant! show less

Was the writing this awful in the first two books? Most likely it was, but there was too much happening to notice, or I was distracted by the zombies. What I notice now is that someone got out her thesaurus and did her very, very best to replace every single "said" with another verb. They confided, decided, answered, suggested and scoffed. It sounds like that point when you know your writing is lacking in skill and sophistication, and you are trying to jazz it up, but can't think of what to do. Then there's the weak attempt to add descriptors. A bit in the pine trees had me annoyed with its 'fragrant' needles and 'crackling' needles (which were they? a little herb secret: usually fragrant and dried don't go together). Even a gun-toting show more super-Loca couldn't save me when I read about the zombies' "delighted moans" as they chomped on a human feast. Oh-oh. Is someone channeling a romance novelist?

"Siege" begins with a variation on the last two books, the image of Jenni waiting for her baby to poke his fingers under her bedroom door. She's fallen asleep on a supply run, and is rudely awakened by a zombie slathering at her car door. They pick up a few more survivors on the way home, after another zombie altercation, and integrate them into fort life, with the exception of Rune, a Harley-loving medium (as in "I see dead people," not the size. Actually, he's a rather large guy). Troubles at the fort peak again, leading to one of the few incongruities I've noticed in the series--an evil character shoots someone in the chest and they stay dead. The violence results in the survivors realizing they lack medical equipment (!), and the solution is to make a run on a hospital, which have been "notorious death traps" (we know this because every character says or thinks so) due to the outbreak first being treated as an illness. The hospital scene is done in best zombie movie style, but it surprised me that we are on book three and the survivors still seem to be failing the learning curve for fighting zombies. On the way out, two of the scavengers are hijacked by a military unit contemplating action against the fort.

One thing you can say about Frater is, she knows her character tropes. There isn't much subtlety in the forces of human selfishness here, and that's a shame. Blanche, the fort "Whore of Babylon" (as labelled by Frater in the chapter heading), and her sister, the equally selfish and evil senator, are described without nuance, and run true to every rich-witch stereotype, even though they apparently grew up in the trailer park. They had multiple plastic surgeries, are racist, have affairs, are obsessed with material goods, manipulate men through sex, believe might makes right, and most importantly, they foolishly believe the normal world will return and their wealth will still have meaning. Zombies are such an obvious villain; the interesting part of apocalypse novels is what happens with the human element, and by depriving the antagonists of subtlety, Frater minimizes the drama and opportunities for deeper meaning in her book.

Speaking of tropes, when the Vigilante was revealed, I was completely unsurprised, except by the apparent effort to turn him into a schitzophrenic. What a character cop-out--she should have left the character the courage of conviction without mental illness.

Ah well, it is what it is, right? Filled with all the best zombie tropes(except for the ones where the heroes turn into zombies as well), it's about what one could expect. This book in the series was a little more self-consciously referential. A little more mystical. I believe there may have been talk of a savior that sounded suspiciously like Terminator. But it was a fast read, a pleasant break, and now the series is done. Hurray for book OCD. show less

Siege by Rhiannon Frater is the third book in her “As the World Dies” series that has the world being overrun by zombies and those remaining alive fighting for their continued survival. A group of survivors have fortified a small town in Texas and are trying to create the beginnings of a new world, one of acceptance, peace and harmony but it is difficult as people seem unwilling to shed the prejudices that they were raised with.
I particularly enjoyed the fact that the two main characters are women that have evolved into strong, independent, kick-ass females.

In this book our group first comes into contact with another community of survivors, but these people are living a life of misery under the control of a former Senator and a show more Major General. After sorting out this situation, they are faced with one that looks to be far worse. A mass of thousands of zombies are marching west and their little town is right in the middle of their path. They now must work together and come up with a plan in order to save their community.

I have enjoyed all the books of this series, but this one would be my least favorite. The author introduced a plot point that I felt was reaching too far when the ghosts of fallen friends and loved ones returned to help the living. It seems silly that I am quibbling about ghosts in a zombie book but I felt like the author used this as an easy way of getting her characters out of trouble when she had written them into a corner. show less

Read for Fun
Overall Rating: 5
Story Rating: 5
Character Rating: 5

NOTE: I feel the need to start my review with a note this time. I have read (and rated) 468 books and have only given 40--5 star ratings. Both The First Days and Siege got 5's from me. I can not stress how well written, brilliantly executed, and boldly told this series is. You must read it even if you don't like zombies. It is a story of humanity, heartbreak, and hope!

First Thought when Finished: That is a way to end a trilogy!

What I Loved: When a series comes to an end, I look for 2 things: closure and hope. As a reader, I need to feel closure for both the characters and myself. I need to know that this particular phase (emotional, physical, challenge) has been met and show more that the characters are off to face a new phase in their lives. I also need hope. I need to feel like their world goes on and that they embrace the life that they have been given. That this life (yes I realize it is fictional) they have is worth fighting for and the future (no matter how bleak) holds hope for a better tomorrow with loved ones. These key elements allow me to feel that I was lucky to have shared this part of the characters journey and for now we part ways. Rhiannon Frater managed to break my heart, sew it back together, scare me to death, and finally leave me with hope that these characters that I have come to love would move on from now and into the future! I could not ask for more from a story than what I was given in Siege. It was a very fitting end to what will be one of my favorite trilogies EVER!

What I Liked: My favorite thing about Rhiannon's writing (both series that I have read) is her ability to create complex characters in all shades of grey. However, with this series it was her ability to build a world that was compelling and believable. It is not often that you get both compelling characters and a world that almost counts as a character all its own!

Final Thought: Both The First Days and Siege received 5's from me. I stand behind those ratings 110% and recommend these books to anyone who enjoys a really good story told with a ton of courage and alright just a bit of gore (really there is gore--I have to mention it LOL)! Get thee to the bookstore! You won't be sorry!

PS: I am not leaving out Fighting to Survive--I gave it a 4.75! This is probably the highest rated series (outside Harry Potter) that I have given. Truly it was just brilliant! show less

Life at the fort is never easy. There are lot of very different people forced together for survival plus the masses of undead outside. Each and every decision they make could lead to their survival or their certain death. These decisions usually fall on Travis' shoulders as he was voted in as mayor. Beyond his responsibilities, Travis is starting a new family with Jenni and hope is going strong for the survivors. Many find new love, create new families, and begin to flourish despite all the carnage and zombies in the outside world. They discover another survivor haven run by the remains of the government who want to take over their fort. They also find out about a huge horde of thousands and thousands of zombies heading toward their show more fort. Who will live and die? Will their society survive these obstacles?

Siege is the third and final installment of Rhiannon Frater's As the World Dies series. These characters are so amazing and vibrant and memorable. There are a lot of named characters and I would have thought it be hard to remember them all, but they all have defining characteristics and their own outlook on life. Some of them are horrible human beings in my book, condemning other people because of lifestyle choices and infractions against their religion or simply putting their own needs above the needs and lives of others. In the face of the complete and utter breakdown of society, I would think people would put aside such petty differences. Others are people I wish I knew like loca Jenni, fiery Juan, tough Nerit, Crazy Calhoun, brilliant Jason, and so many others. The character development is phenomenal with this series and I'm sad the series is over.

This book is amazing and a crazy emotional rollercoaster. I laughed and celebrated with the characters and I literally sobbed when some of them died (which was kind of embarrassing when I read the book in public). The deaths are numerous and I felt them more intensely than most novels. Despite all the death and undeath surrounding our survivors, they still manage to feel happiness and hope. They actually live instead of simply surviving. They build new families and have a warm sense of camaraderie for the most part. The true family in the fort never wavers and never abandons their loved ones.

The action in Siege is amazing and I was on the edge of my seat for most of the novel, waiting to see what happened to my favorite characters. Zombies are not the only things that threaten our intrepid heroes. Humans do a lot of damage and sometimes use zombies to do their dirty work. The only part I didn't like about the book was how involved ghosts became in the action and came to be a kind of deus ex machina. Their existence is fine because it's a supernatural universe, but when they influence things to much it bothers me a little. Other than this one tiny thing, this book is wonderful and this series deserves a place on every zombies fans shelf. show less

What an awesome conclusion to a thrilling series! The ride wasn’t exactly easy, but it was a fun one. There were bumps along the way and plenty of “That did NOT just happen” moments, but in the end I felt this was a perfect ending to one of the most exciting zombie series I’ve read in a very long time. Each book just got better and better.

I won’t give anything about the plot away other than to say the residents of the fort are about to have their boundaries tested by both the living and the dead. Lines are crossed, lives are lost and I held my breath the entire way through.

While the books are all fast-paced, I felt the author perfectly balanced the zombie-fight action with the “human” moments to give us a real sense of who show more these people are. She does this effortlessly without ruining the pace of the books. What Ms. Frater excels in is creating real characters that you sincerely care about. You live with these characters, you don’t just read about them, and that is what I loved so much about the books. Many times when I read a book I get close to a character and I care about them, but I don’t feel as deeply invested in them as I did here.

I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, this series is awesome and I think you should give it a shot. If you are a fan of “The Walking Dead” then you definitely MUST check it out. My only problem with the book is that it marks the end of the series. I guess I’ll just have to read them all again. show less