Guest Post from E. E. Borton Author of the Post Apocalyptic Book Series Without

This guest post is by E. E. Borton, author of the post apocalyptic book series Without. I was excited to hear from E. E. Borton since the Without Series tells the story about the devastation following an geomagnetic storm that permanently disables all of the electrical devices on Earth. This fictional scenario happens to be one of my favorites, in part because it is a fairly common on our planet, at least as far as we know. The last time a major solar flare collided with Earth’s magnetosphere was in 1857 (see Carrington Event). If we had a geomagnetic storm of similar magnitude today, we might be looking at a scenario quite similar to E.E. Borton’s Without series. Thank you to E. E. Borton for sharing some insights into his post apocalyptic book series.

The WITHOUT series is a collaboration between friends. Sean Chase and Keith Foster pitched me the idea for the first novel over a pitcher of beer. I was hooked and finished two versions of the first chapter the next day. Once I convinced them to let me create the story in first person versus third, and change the title from WITHOUT POWER, I was off to the races. Three months later, I wrote the last page.

Before I set out to write a book, I have a detailed outline to keep myself on track. There is a certain pace and cadence a writer follows, and all of them are different. There was no outline created for WITHOUT.

Sean and Keith gave me the premise for the first chapter. The characters I created gave me the rest. They told me where they wanted to go and what they were going to do when they got there. All I had to do was write down what happened along the way. It was the most challenging novel I’ve written in my career so far, but by far the most rewarding. It taught me a lot about myself as a writer.

I served twice in Naval Intelligence. Once after school and again after 9/11. The travel and experiences were phenomenal. It showed me what the rest of the world looked like. Some of it was breathtaking. Some of it was heartbreaking.

There are 7.5 billion people on the planet. 1.2 billion of them live without power. I’ve traveled to many third world countries and have witnessed their daily struggle to survive. It intrigued me to think about how the population of our country would survive if electricity was taken away…forever. Life for those who never had it wouldn’t change much at all. Ours would be turned on its head.

My novels are works of fiction, but the amount of research I had to complete WITHOUT was extreme compared to my other books. I had to answer questions about a world few of us have experienced. The most glaring was how fast would a modern society disintegrate after a large scale catastrophic event. The answer was disturbing. In an urban environment – in a city – it would start as soon as the sun went down.

My research covered a wide range of events that were either man-made, accidental, or natural disasters that caused large-scale power outages. Most only lasting a few days, but some lasting a few weeks. In every situation, the good and the bad in people hit both ends of the spectrum. In every situation when large groups of people were plunged into darkness, things went from bad to worse within 24 hours. The downward spiral didn’t change until power was restored.

Those who were prepared – even slightly – fared much better than those who were caught off guard. A portable generator, store of batteries, or even a hand-cranked radio/charger/flashlight combo became more valuable than a pot of gold. At the very least it gave them the ability to see what went bump in the night, work in the dark, and communicate with the outside world. It may not seem like much, but it made all the difference for them.

WITHOUT and WITHOUT II – The Fall, are novels about what may happen if the lights go out…and they don’t come back. I wanted to immerse my character, and myself, into that world and push the boundaries of my creative process. I walked most of the route the character took. I lived without power for days. I was alone while doing both. I didn’t want to tell you what happened to the characters in my book. I wanted to show you.

E. E. Borton

eeborton.com

@EEBorton on Twitter

E.E. Borton on Facebook

Guest Post from Evan T Pickering Author of Hood

This guest post is from Evan T. Pickering, author of the post-apocalyptic novel Hood: American Rebirth Series Book 1. Evan skillfully shares a profound personal experience with us. He shows us how this experience has influenced him and how it relates to his unique perspective and writing. Thank you Evan for describing end of the world fiction in a way that fans and newcomers alike can and will appreciate!

Our Own Destroyed World

Doesn’t it feel like the end of the world sometimes?

For us, I mean. For us as individuals in our own lives. The longer we live, the probability that we make some catastrophically bad choice for ourselves will eventually reach 100%.

It’s part of existence. We fuck it all up. Hopefully it doesn’t kill us. When I was 13 I jumped into the street on my BMX bike and got smashed by a car. Because, y’know, I was thirteen and a dumbass. I had to have my leg rebuilt but otherwise I was still alive. In some realities, maybe I or someone like me would have been brokenlegkilled. It seemed like an easy decision: there’s no one in the road, I want to bomb this gap. Oh wait, a car came while I wasn’t looking. Smash. Lying bloody in the middle of road, unsure of who I was, so deep in shock.

We can all look back at our lives and point to events that caused our world to fracture and collapse around us. A ruined relationship and the profound emptiness that follows. A terrible life decision that destroys a career. There’s many, many creative ways to fuck up your own life.

And from those personal tragedies comes a deep satisfaction in reading/watching apocalypse narratives–all our great mistakes and convoluted modern lives have been wiped away. We are reborn in our survival. The world has changed. In Apocalyptic scenarios, the earth is like me on the bike jumping in front of a car. It limps on, injured but coalescing, turning into something else. Reborn.

rickrebornBecause that’s what happens to us, isn’t it? Or at least, it can be. In the wake of whatever catastrophic event we have in our personal lives, there is an opportunity. A window wherein we can be reborn, change profoundly and become someone different than who we were before.

As I lay in the road with my shattered leg, I quietly observed the world around me. People came to me and asked me questions and called an ambulance, but I was not me. Deep in shock and under the influence of whatever drugs my brain had dispensed to keep me from losing my mind, I was no one. I distinctly remember thinking:

“This sucks for whoever this is happening to.”

I didn’t even realize that I was me. A feeling that lies somewhere in the realm of holy shit territory. But eventually when I attributed my consciousness to myself again, I had to deal with the implications of what had happened to me. My life was changed, forever altered, and already I started to question what I was doing, what I wanted moving forward, what my life would be like from then on out.

newlifeindeadstumpMy take on Apocalyptic fiction in general is one that is obsessed with rebirth. With the idea that apocalypse narratives are just macrocosms of our own lives. Sometimes it feels like we’ve destroyed our own world, that we feel so distant from who we used to be and what we used to believe. But where something is lost the opportunity for something new to be born arises. A new life can come from the part of us or our world that has died. That’s what I write about. That’s the story I want to tell of the apocalypse.

-Evan Pickeringhood

www.EvanPickeringAuthor.com
https://twitter.com/EvanTP87
https://www.facebook.com/EPAuthor/

Follow Evan on his social media above and check out his post-apocalyptic American Rebirth Series. Book 1 Hood is shown right and book 2 Whiskey is also available. They are both currently on Kindle Unlimited.

Guest Post from Chad A. Clark Author of Behind our Walls

This guest post is by Chad A. Clark, author of the end of the world novel Behind Our Walls. It’s fascinating and encouraging to see some of the influences that inspire people to write books. Growing up in the 80’s, I can sure relate to a lot of Chad’s inspiration! Thanks for sharing Chad! I encourage all of you other guest posters and readers to chime in and leave a comment and follow/say hi to Chad A. Clark.

behindourwallsSeveral years ago, I wrote a short story, titled Tomorrow’s Memory. It is set in an apocalyptic future following some undefined event in which the governments and societies of the world have collapsed. The main character is a man in his early twenties, traveling with a female companion. Along the way, he decides to start keeping a journal and the story consists of his entries in that journal.

I have always been fascinated with what the landscape of the end of the world might look like. And what I mean by that is, we have seen no shortage of films and books, laying out scenarios by which our society could meet its ultimate destruction. And while I have certainly enjoyed these stories, I also wanted to try going in a different direction. I was interested in the perspective of the people on the ground and how their lives are affected, where they go from here.

Just as an example, one thing that has always captivated me about the film Cloverfield is how it is essentially the telling of the Godzilla story, but from the perspective of the screaming mob trying to get away from the monster. This was the sensibility I tried to bring to this story. In an age where we depend so much on technology for our information, what happens when the world crashes down around us and the only means of learning about things is from the mouths of people you encounter on the road. People you may or may not be able to trust.

These were my favorite aspects of writing Tomorrow’s Memory and it would eventually spark my desire to write a full length novel in that same universe. It was from the seeds of that initial story that Behind Our Walls would eventually grow.

I didn’t want this to be a supernatural story. There are no zombies. I didn’t want this to be a techno-thriller. I wanted it to be a human story. I wanted to take genuine characters and see how they handled complete immersion in a hostile and violent environment. What would it look like if a group of survivors were to try and rebuild on the ashes of a society and start over?

The book I wrote was originally much longer and offered a few more backstory and clues as to what caused society’s downfall. In the end, I decided that I was being too ambitious and that it would be better to quickly immerse the reader in the world of this story. I wanted to challenge myself to bring the reader closer to the experiences of the characters.

Behind Our Walls is a dark book. It presents a bleak picture of our humanity and what people could be capable of, if left alone with each other and to their own devices. But I think there is also a hint of optimism there as well. As I wrote this, I definitely wanted to bring to bear all of the beautifully grim fiction I had read over the years but I also wanted to avoid the idea that all hope was lost. At the end of the day, I still believe in the inherent goodness of ourselves and I think that should be evident as the story draws to a close.

This book, as the rest of my writing in general, is driven by my love for dark fiction. There are any number of sources I could point to as the origins for my narrative sensibilities. As a child, I was reading at a very early age and by the time I was ten or eleven, I was given a fair amount of liberty in terms of what I was allowed to read. It wasn’t long before I found my way to the likes of Stephen King and Robert McCammon.

And of course, no discussion of the eighties can rightfully leave out the incredible horror movie franchises that came about. There was a special immediacy and dark reality of the practical special effects of the day. Watching slasher or zombie movies, you had an uncomfortable feeling that you were being made privy to something that you weren’t supposed to see.

All of this acted as a brine of sorts, in which my narrative outlook would start to develop. I love the visceral experience of the horror genre. I love the view you get of humanity in the reflection of horrific events of a story. I love reading and writing books with dark content because it forces you to be a part of the process. You have to bring your own morality to bear and evaluate the things that are happening and how they make you feel. That’s what I think all good art should do.

And if I can accomplish that at least some of the time with my own writing, I will consider myself to be a success.

 

Chad A. Clark

cclarkfiction.wixsite.com/chad-clark

Follow Chad A. Clark on Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Google+.

Guest Post from M.L. Cain Author of Dead Salvage Series

Our latest guest post is from M.L. Cain, author of the post apocalyptic book series Dead Salvage of which the first book called Mourning is now available. M.L. Cain told me that he wrote this on his phone which I must say is impressive! Thanks to M.L. Cain for sharing his very unique perspective with us below!

deadsalvageAlright, my name is ML Cain, an author within the Post apocalyptic/ Military Sci-fi genre, though I don’t like to limit myself. I typically don’t talk about myself much, so forgive me if the awkwardness bleeds through.

Oddly enough I’m not a fan of fiction books (there are a couple of exceptions, of course), when it comes to books I prefer non-fiction, usually within the realm of Military History, Ancient Greek history/mythology, and books about killers or other strange happenings and subjects based somewhat in reality.
 
So what was my motivation to create a post-apocalyptic fiction series? Simply and honestly put, I enjoy entertaining the idea of human extinction, and the path or struggle to extinction. I grew up on Horror movies, and the gory, adult themed Anime of the 70s- 90s era. I’ve always been fascinated by dark stories of gore, horror and the annihilation of the human race via movies and anime. I’m sure I can attribute some of my inspiration to these films and series which held me spellbound in my early childhood and teen years.
 
For me, personally, I look at writing as a form of art, as self expression… I don’t play an instrument, I don’t draw or paint, so I write, it is my release… more than communicating a message, I may want to communicate an emotion or ask a question, or maybe i just want to assault the reader in a non physical way. I’m someone that writes without care for social or moral norms, or rules of a genre. My works are an outlet for my thoughts, emotions and philosophies.
 
Dead Salvage is my first work of fiction, and my first series. My goal with the Dead Salvage series is to tell the story of human extinction, in a unique, meaningful and interesting way.  With this and my other up coming works I hope to define/refine myself and my style as a writer,thank you.
 
Official page: Authormlcain.com
 

Guest Post From E. Rachael Hardcastle Author of the Aeon Infinitum Series

This guest post is from E. Rachael Hardcastle, author of the post apocalyptic book series Aeon Infinitum. E. Rachael Hardcastle offers us some great insight into her motivation and inspiration for writing. It’s very encouraging to see that she shares similar motivations with our previous guest post author Michael Poeltl and considers her post apocalyptic book series somewhat of a cautionary tale. I encourage all of you, fans and other authors to follow E. Rachael Hardcastle on social media after reading her guest post below!

The Meaning of Life and Writing

My name is E. Rachael Hardcastle. I’m a British indie author of high fantasy and post-apocalyptic novels.

aeoninfinitumI write in these creative genres because I believe the human race is capable of change. I’d like to play my part in initiating it by showing you what I predict could happen if we don’t. Through my work, my aim is to transport you through time and space to a variety of desperate futures; to show you them through my eyes.

Between the lines of my most recent release, Aeon Infinitum: Run For Your Life, I’ll introduce you to Ad Infinitum, a planet suffering six months of night and day. I’ll show you mutant creatures driven mad by unbearable temperatures, the ruins of a once flourishing society and a community forced underground, starved and overpopulated, to escape what their own ancestors created. I’ll ask if we are really the dominant species in a universe so vast and endless.

Although my novels don’t follow a religious theme, they invite readers to be open-minded and imaginative, using creation, survival and the overall meaning of our existence to guide my  characters through various life or death scenarios.

Writing is also a means for me to empty my chaotic mind and an outlet for the ideas I hoard. Authors like J. R. R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Charlaine Harris and countless others have imprinted on me just as much as their other fans – only difference is I feel it my duty to turn that positive influence into something new, exciting and memorable.

Aeon Infinitum: Run For Your Life is book one in a trilogy that’s published out of order. Book One, the story of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world, is actually the second along the time line of Earth’s fall. Aeon Infinitum: The Wanted, the explanation behind the end of the world is the prequel. Aeon Infinitum: Faded Realm is the continuing adventure of the survivors and the sequel.

Book one is now available with Amazon Kindle and in paperback (even with Prime). Visit www.erachaelhardcastle.com to read my mission statement, learn more about writing and publishing with my author interviews or check out my other published novels.

Follow E. Rachael Hardcastle on Facebook and Twitter

Guest Post from Michael Poeltl Author of An Angry Earth

This next guest post is from Michael Poeltl, author of the apocalyptic book series The Judas Syndrome Trilogy and more recently, a picture book called An Angry Earth. These guest posts are even more fascinating than I anticipated as we get to see why some writers choose to write about the end of the world and what comes after. It turns out Michael Poeltl’s motivations are essentially altruistic as he seeks to use his fiction as a learning tool for change. Read for yourself below. Enjoy!

Why a Picture Book about the Apocalypse? It all began a long time ago…

angryearthIn 1999 I had just completed my first novel. It was nowhere near polished enough to be published, but it was finished in that unedited, unformatted way that most unrepresented author’s works end up. It was a book about an Apocalyptic event which took a group of teens out of their comfortable summer vacations and into survival mode after a nuclear war erupted around them. That book was professionally edited and self published in 2009, and was well received by indie-readers, which stirred enough confidence in me that two more books in the same, evolving storyline, soon created a trilogy – The Judas Syndrome.

This was my first foyer into writing at the novel level, and as The Judas Syndrome went on to win awards and accolades, its successes prompted me to continue the writing and self publishing journey.

Apocalyptic books took a back seat to experimenting with other genres until the summer of 2016, when a story emerged during a bedtime reading to my six-year-old daughter.  Eyes too tired to read another page from her children’s books, I turned out the light and this story about environmental awareness popped into my head.  I went on about how the earth rumbled and the sky fell and the water rose and all because of the damage we were doing to the planet. I sat down and wrote what had poured out of me and thought; ‘there’s a book in there somewhere’. As it turned out, it was to be a picture book.

It’s a tell it like it is story which includes dark pen and ink illustrations to help visualize the story. I wanted to make sure people take away the vision I had for the book. Be scared. Be very scared that our world could end up like the one in the book. Do something about it. Stop the apocalypse before it becomes unstoppable.

I’m marketing An Angry Earth to adults and parents rather then to children, leaving it up to them whether they want to share the potential of a dark future with their children. I will be sharing it with my daughter. I think it’s important to teach consequence where their actions or inactions effect the health of their environment and their very lives and also teach her to live a healthy life herself and taking care of herself with the best diet and the right supplements as Kratom products.

Being a picture book, it makes sense to want it in print format, which is available and recommended, but I have also made it available as a Kindle for those who are done with printed volumes. 

Michael Poeltl

Follow Michael Poeltl on his WebsiteFacebook, Twitter, Goodreads and Amazon.

Guest Post C. Chase Harwood Author Of Sudden Origin

Our next guest post comes from C. Chase Harwood, author of the Of Sudden Origin Saga. In his apocalyptic book series C. Chase Harwood introduces us to his own action packed interpretation of the zombie apocalypse. Thank you C. Chase Harwood for giving us all some insight into your creation and for sharing your thoughts with us!

ofsuddenoriginI suspect that we all secretly wish for a zombie apocalypse–for a day. I also imagine we would all want the option to exit the moment we might get chomped.
It’s not as if we want our family, friends and neighbors to deal with such a horror. It’s the survival thing. We all fantasize about surviving the worst; being put into a situation of terrible odds, the thrill of facing the dead head on just around the bend. We don’t imagine that it just happens, that we’re walking down the sidewalk and a raving zombie suddenly charges us–we defenseless and without arms, no, we imagine ourselves well prepped for such an event. We’re ahead of the curve as the news of the building catastrophe grows into the day of reckoning. When it comes, we are ready to take on the end of civilization–for a day.
Zombie novels provide a window, a visit to such an event without having to actually get the hands dirty… or em… bloody or the face bitten off, guts used in a ropey tug-o-war. Zombie novels let us imagine blasting our deepest nightmares apart, fighting injustice and overcoming the worst of men. They place us in the raw undiluted space of me against the ruined world, perhaps with the help of some friends.
All of this is fine. All of this is fun. I’m as much a huge fan of The Walking Dead as the next guy or gal, but there’s one part that always leaves me frustrated: how in the hell do the dead walk–particularly the ones that are mostly skeleton? I know it’s best not to ask such things. Just go for the ride already. Don’t delve into how the cars stay on the track.
Of Sudden Origin solves this conundrum for me and I hope for others like me. It utilizes the conventions of Armageddon and zombies, but goes a bit further. The series makes an attempt at creating a scientific basis for a zombie apocalypse. The zombies aren’t dead. They can die any way that any other person can die, but they are fast, have a bit of brains left, and are just as relentless as their dead kinfolk. They also have a secret weapon: the novels explore a sudden leap in evolution, thus the title Of Sudden Origin. The offspring of the infected are the next iteration of man, and you don’t want to meet one. You’d much rather have the covers pulled up to your chest, book in hand, rather than cowering under the blanket as mad humans and their horrific offspring charge into your home.
As with most apocalypse tales, Of Sudden Origin explores our relationships and interactions with each other when faced with the very worst and asks, can the best in us survive?
C. Chase Harwood

Follow C. Chase Harwood on Facebook, Twitter and get his books Here or through the link below:

Guest Post Raymond Dean White Author of The Dying Time Impact

Our first guest post comes from Raymond Dean White, author of The Dying Time: Impact. His apocalyptic book explores one of my favorite end of the world scenarios – a large asteroid impact! He offers us a brief synopsis of his novels and gives us some insight into what pulled him to the genre. Thanks Raymond!

 

dying-time“THE DYING TIME: IMPACT” reveals my take on how to survive the worst possible disaster that could befall humanity—a mountain-sized asteroid impact.

When the Impact destroyed civilization and re-sculpted the globe the only survivors were the hastily expanded crew of the ISS, who watched the devastation below with growing horror, while wondering if they would ever get to go home, a few Preppers, whose stores of food and other commodities made them irresistible targets and the desperate hordes who would do anything–eat anyone–to live.

“THE DYING TIME: IMPACT” is a stand alone novel that is also book one of a trilogy. It has almost 300 great reviews. You can find it here on Amazon.

 

http://amzn.to/29G9jRf

 

“AFTER THE DYING TIME” is also a stand alone novel and is book two in the trilogy. It details the fight to preserve liberty against a rising feudalism.

In a post-Impact world there are Kings, subjects, slaves and those desperately fighting to remain free. Twelve years after The Dying Time Impact, Joseph Scarlatti reigns as King of California, or at least that’s what he’s called to his face. Behind his back the words tyrant, butcher, monster and cannibal are spoken softly in fear of being overheard. His spies are everywhere. His empire spans the remains of the entire West Coast. But his need for power is all consuming so he invades the Colorado Freeholds and the Nation of Deseret (formerly Utah) and he hasn’t forgotten about gaining control of the top secret weapon that can assure him of world domination.

On the moon, where the crew of the International Space Station relocated to survive, a mutiny is brewing. The population is growing, resources are getting scarce, their power supply is failing and people are getting sick of military rule.

There’s also a growing fear that if anyone on Earth gains control of The Weapon they’ll use it against Luna City and plans are hatched to destroy the space based laser.

Meanwhile, Havoc’s twin is hurtling toward Earth and that weapon is the only thing that can prevent another Dying Time.

“AFTER THE DYING TIME” has received more than one hundred great reviews. You can find it here.

 

http://amzn.to/29ozBtb

 

As a boy of ten I stumbled upon Andre Norton’s post-apocalyptic tale titled “Star Man’s Son” and thus began a life long love affair with apocalyptic fiction. I’ve been an avid reader for more than fifty years now, but the novels that finally pushed me over the edge from reader to writer were a pair of classics. Stephen King’s “The Stand” and Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s “Lucifer’s Hammer” did the trick. They captured my imagination and inspired me to begin writing about my own apocalyptic vision.

Please visit my author website at www.RaymondDeanWhite.com and check out my other books as well as my Dying Time Newsletter. Those signing up received a free copy of my non-fiction Prepper book, “BUGGING IN: WHAT TO DO WHEN TSHTF and YOU LIVE IN SUBURBIA.”

Follow Raymond Dean White On Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest!

Voyage of the Dead

If you had unlimited money and resources to prepare for the zombie apocalypse you might be lucky enough to have a setup like the protagonist does in the apocalyptic book Voyage of the Dead, book one in the Sovereign Spirit Saga, written by David Forsyth. As fortune would have it, Scott Allen, who won hundreds of millions of dollars in a lottery, is on a worldwide cruise on his massive ship with all of his family and friends when the zombie pandemic begins. His resources are formidable: a completely modernized and retrofitted cruise ship with enough weapons and ammo for a small army, a helicopter, amphibious vehicles, a cigarette boat, a seaplane, a ships hold full of cars and trucks (and later an armored personnel carrier), months worth of food and enough fuel to travel half way around the world. On their voyage up to the California from the Mexican coast on an official government mission to rescue a CDC scientist, they encounter many obstacles and develop quite a following of other vessels that join them in their journey, the best of which is a Coast Guard cutter, complete with its own helicopters, specialized equipment and weapons.

In stark contrast to life on the Sovereign Spirit, we get a glimpse of what life is like ashore in the “Interlude in Hell” segments as we follow Carl Stiller as he struggles to survive in post zombie apocalypse Los Angeles. Carl was one of the unlucky ones as he was about to board a plane with his wife when the zombie virus strikes. He is swept up in the chaos surviving only through his own ingenuity and sheer luck.

Voyage of the Dead is a very fun book to read. It’s easy to get caught up in this apocalyptic fantasy like a kid in a candy store. If one had to experience the zombie apocalypse, surviving with the best equipment and resources on a fully contained floating city would surely be the way to do it. Oh, and this book is free on Amazon as of this writing. Check it out and leave a review so other zombie fans will know it’s a good one!

Days With the Undead

Written from a uniquely Canadian perspective, Days With the Undead, an apocalyptic book by Julianne Snow follows a crew of survivors as they travel around North America in order to escape the zombie apocalypse. The pandemic rapidly spreads from Toronto’s Saint Michael’s emergency department after Brooks VanReit, patient zero, attacks the first victim. Fortunately, a small group of survivors that had been preparing for some type of disaster event is able to mobilize just in time before the outbreak rapidly overtakes the city and begins to spread out of control. The story is presented in a journal format as the protagonist Julie, a pathologist, documents their journey. Rather than choosing a hunker down type of strategy, the crew of forlorn Canadians chooses to stay on the run, travelling full circle, down to the southern United States, then over to the west coast then back up to Canada and eventually back over to northern Ontario. Although running is an understandable strategy, given their situation, it is unclear why they choose to travel the way that they do. Regardless, the zombie pandemic is spreading fast and they can’t seem to outrun the undead in their travels. Days With the Undead has a few surprises in store and strays slightly from the traditional zombie apocalypse scenario to include some unique zombie incarnations. Overall, this is a fun apocalyptic book and unique journey through the zombie apocalypse.

Apocalypse Z

Originally written in Spanish by Manel Loureiro, Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End vastly exceeds all expectations that one may have for a zombie apocalypse novel. Apocalypse Z is a harrowing story about a man and his cat Lucullus as they struggle to survive the first months of the zombie apocalypse. This apocalyptic book is flat-out awesome! Apocalypse Z is literally jammed packed with the most terrifying, vividly horrific scenes straight from the end of the world, zombie apocalypse hell. From the larger cities to the Spanish countryside, Spain has become a massive graveyard haunted by the most vicious zombies ever imagined, existing only to tear the living to shreds. The protagonist is a mild-mannered man who lives with his most faithful, loyal companion, Lucullus, the neighborhood tomcat, after he recently lost his wife to a horrible car accident. He is no hero. In fact, he’s a paper pushing lawyer and he’s absolutely scared out of his mind. He might have followed the herd to the slaughter in the so-called “safe zones” if it weren’t for the fact that they didn’t allow pets. Facing incredible odds from the start, he is pushed way beyond his limits. “…a def ear to fear.” Love and loyalty overcome paralyzing fear of hell on Earth. He doesn’t get many breaks and he makes plenty of mistakes. Indeed, he is an unlikely survivor. He is not an ex-special forces commando. He has limited experience with weapons and killing, or re-killing the undead, which is certainly not something that comes easily for him. (***NOTE: if you are a “mall ninja” who thinks you are going to shoot your way through the end of the world this book might not be for you…and by the way you’re an IDIOT…yes you…)

Apocalypse Z is a uniquely human story. In a world overrun by the living dead, humanity is rediscovered. A rarity for the genre, Apocalypse Z evokes real emotional response. It made me so angry that I wanted to grab that Ukrainian ship captain and hang him up from a crane by his balls (don’t worry, he gets what he deserves in the end). It has moments of despair as well as some great laugh out loud moments. A book that creates a visceral response is rare. Perhaps that is what separates a good book from a great book. Even if zombies aren’t your thing, Apocalypse Z is an excellent story and in my opinion is an absolute must read.

Torn

The world is on the verge of a new ice age in Jacqueline Druga’s blockbuster apocalyptic thriller Torn. Torn is entertaining apocalyptic novel with a great sense of humor, however some of the events and the fact that these events coincide, lead to the creation of a mostly improbable, unlikely scenario. Reading it is a lot like watching Hollywood blockbuster movie. It is as if the author sat down and came up with a number of different apocalyptic scenarios and worked diligently to cram all of it in to one book. An apocalyptic recipe, if you will: First add in some solar flares, pandemics, a little radiation, pole reversal and a new ice age. Mix thoroughly. Next, randomly garnish with hordes of snakes, swarms of bugs and bird attacks which really adds to the shock value. The story revolves around a small group of friends and acquaintances, among them scientists and reporters, as they begin to understand the gravity of the apocalyptic events that are about to unfold. What begins as a series of unrelated, bizarre phenomena turns out to be the initial events leading to a magnetic pole reversal that will lead to a new ice age brought on by cyclical solar events. Torn actually resembles the movie Armageddon in terms of its structure (discovery, preparation, solution), however, in Torn, there is no happy ending, at least for humankind in general. Scientists exchange ideas on how to prevent and/or alter apocalyptic solar and geological events but to no avail. One cannot fault writers for constantly recycling stories and ideas (mostly everything has been done before hasn’t it?) but fiction is more easily digested when this process is a little less obvious. On the bright side, this apocalyptic novel certainly has a great sense of humor, mostly through character interaction, which is thoroughly enjoyable. Torn is worth reading but might be best suited for those readers that have only a passing interest in apocalyptic fiction and are looking mostly for a little action, adventure and quirky romance.

After the Storm

after the storm

An asteroid collision has destroyed civilization as we know it, killing 95% of the world’s population in Don Chase’s post apocalyptic novel After the Storm Book One: Menotomy. A group of survivors, at its core lifelong friends, have built an organized cooperative of sorts in the rubble of the Boston suburb, Arlington, Massachusetts (Menotomy). While the Boston area has escaped complete physical destruction due to the location of the asteroid strikes, it has been decimated by the complete collapse of economic, social and civil structure. Additionally, the world has gone into a nuclear winter caused by the massive amount of debris that was released into the atmosphere after the meteor collision. The group of survivors or “clan” as they are referred to in this post apocalyptic novel, has built their headquarters out of an abandoned strip mall. Duncan Mackenzie or “Mack” as he is most often referred, has been reluctantly cast as the leader of this small suburban Boston clan. Mack has more than his fair share of problems in this new world. Of course, food, water, fuel and medical supplies are always in very short supply but a new complication arises as the remnants of the US Army, ruled by a non-elected, ethically challenged government, comes up from their bunkers and tries to reestablish control over the population.

Given such a dire post apocalyptic setting, the characters in After the Storm relate in a refreshingly jovial manner, “busting balls”, as longtime friends are prone to doing. Under extraordinary amounts of stress, we see how close friendships, community support and comradely are essential in the survival and well-being of everyone in this tight-knit group. The development and continuation of meaningful, substantial relationships becomes the source of strength for the entire community. As long as one doesn’t get hung up on some of the minor technical details that could upset some hard-core prepper types, such as the reliance on gasoline without mention of its limited life span, After the Storm is a very enjoyable book. The story is continuously refreshed through the often times hilarious dialogue between regular folks. After the Storm is different from many apocalyptic novels. Instead of focusing on endless scientific and technical details, it primarily focuses on the relationships that would sustain survival. After all, meaningful relationships are what would make survival worthwhile in the first place. It is a point well taken by this reader.

Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse

go go girls of the apocalypse A chaotic romp through the post apocalypse, Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse straddles a line of laugh out loud funny and brutally-dead serious. Written as a comedy/parody, Victor Gischler really goes over the top at times. From the steroid/amphetamine infused human train engine to the outlandish operations of Joey Armageddon’s Sassy A-Go-Go, this is a crazy, frenzied and fantastic tale. 

Mortimer Tate is swept up in the new post apocalypse when he ventures down from his fully outfitted mountain retreat where he has lived for the last ten years in relative comfort, sheltered from the worst of the destruction and downfall of modern civilization. In this version of the post apocalypse, Joey Armageddon’s, a saloon/strip club ,has become a hub for economic activity, along with its own currency, elite memberships cards and even a franchise policy to facilitate its expansion to a number of different cities. The idea that a Go-Go franchise could be the foundation for commerce and a new civilization is both disturbing and intriguing. On the one hand, it is logical that such a venture would be profitable and would bring people together, especially in a decimated world, without entertainment. On the other hand, it is rather depressing that booze and naked ladies would be civilization building motivators. Regardless, the post apocalypse Go-Go franchise is certainly one of the most unusual and original ideas that this apocalypse fanatic has stumbled upon.

As long as you aren’t easily offended or especially bothered by the occasional lack of realism, Go Go Girls of the Apocalypse is a funny and enjoyable post apocalyptic novel that you should add to your reading list.

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The Last Stonestepper

The Last Stonestepper

Matthew Hayes is on a flight to Hollywood to meet with studio executives that are interested in buying his recently completed, highly regarded screenplay when all hell breaks loose. Suddenly, many of the passengers behave as though they are stoned, fascinated by the appearance of their own hands, while others are overcome with a sinister urge to kill. Humans are divided into two categories in Elliot Logan’s apocalyptic horror novel The Last Stonestepper. The first category, the “stonestepper”, as described by the protagonist, Matthew, is one that takes a very cautious approach, searching for rocks to step on to cross a creek. The second category is made up of less cautious people of action, that will run straight through a creek to get to the other side with no concern for getting wet. This is how people are divided in The Last Stonestepper when some type of event alters the consciousness of a significant portion of the population. The speculation is that the event is caused by some type of cutting edge military technology gone awry. Those that are unaffected possess some type of mental resiliency that is lacking in the majority of the population. Those affected by the event are transformed into either cold-blooded killers or drooling, vacant imbeciles that seem lost in some type of pleasant dream world. But this story certainly isn’t advocating for the destruction of the world’s quitters and slackers. In fact, the protagonist happens to be one of these “stonesteppers” that is undergoing a slow transformation, unlike the rest. As he fights for his life, he is slowly drawn into a vivid and pleasant memory of a day at the beach with his girlfriend.

The Last Stonestepper is a very enjoyable book. The frequent appearance of the ominous “man in the pinstriped suit”, that is visible only to the protagonist, is an element reminiscent of characters we’ve seen in Stephen King novels. Many of us writers, readers, dreamers and other “stonesteppers” will likely relate to Matthew’s temptation to retreat from misery and suffering into some fictional realm. Suspenseful and downright scary at times, The Last Stonestepper gives you that heightened awareness of your peripheral vision like great horror should. Elliot Logan has also captured some very human, emotional elements in this apocalyptic horror novel that make it unique in the genre and well worth reading.