Aristo! Aristo! A la lanterne!: Hugo stuff: 'Feed' by Mira Grant

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Hugo stuff: 'Feed' by Mira Grant

This morning I finished reading 'Feed' by Mira Grant.

It's an enticing zombie tale. Gritty here and there, with decent character development. Decent enough that I enjoyed reading it, and even looked forward to picking it up. There were only a few surprises and plot twists; The bad guy turned out to be exactly who you thought he was all along. The primary good girl turned out to..... well.... I won't spoil it for anyone.

One thing that nags me though: As the good guys trace the bad guy's money, they offhandedly mention it came from 'Big Tobacco'. No development of that idea happens at all. It's as if the author needed some background boogiespook, and felt comfortable tossing that one in... because... um... like... everyone knows they is bad, ya know? That throwaway felt cheap to me. Not thought out... just tossed in like it was part of a pre-teen gigglefest at the arcade.

I give it an 8 for ability to hold the readers interest, a 6 for character development, and a 5 for plot predictability.

The book is the first in a series (Newsflesh, Book 1). As such, and since it's a fairly fast romp that holds the readers attention well (at least mine), I'm willing to let some foibles pass.

Now, I shall be reading the Hugo nominee competition for 'Feed' . Let us see how it fares.

1 comment:

Kris said...: Agreed. But I even found myself looking up the sequel. Overall, enjoyed it.; July 1, 2011 at 12:23 PM

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Robert Heinlein

"Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.

But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please — this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time — and squawk for more!
So learn to say No — and to be rude about it when necessary.
Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.

(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)"