Emergence by David R. Palmer

I love that a book published when I was one year old is both still available at the library and is also still awesome. It’s written almost entirely in shorthand (not the squiggles-and-dots kind, just the culling-of-extraneous-words kind) which I admit, would have put me off if I had know about it prior to borrowing, but it was surprisingly easy to adjust to.

Encapsulate This

Unspecified future date, USA, blah blah blah. Candidia Smith-Foster (otherwise known as Candy, I seriously had to look up candida because, gross, who would name their kid that? I was relieved to discover I had the word wrong) is a survivor of a bio-nuclear war. She’s mentally and physically precocious (certifiable genius and at least 5^th degree black belt in karate), supremely motivated and focused and is also only eleven years old. She sets off across the country to find other survivors and discovers more than just people.

Ruminate on That

I said that this is written is shorthand (also in first person) and that was weird for like 6 minutes. Then I got over it. Sometimes Candy comes off just a little too precious, but she is an occasionally funny, mightily observant, pragmatic, and over-all sympathetic narrator.  She definitely makes a few mistakes, but she’s only eleven, and is still figuring out who she is on top of trying to cope with the world ending. What I like best about her is her incredibly progressive approach to life especially regarding sex and non-standard personal relationships (In a polyamorous marriage? Candy’s got no problem with you). It is a little uncomfortable to read about an eleven year old making these particular sexual decisions, but it is better that she consider them and come to her own rational conclusion than to put it off and be stuck in a bad situation.

Emergence was originally published as a serial in a Sci-fi magazine and was collected for publication in 1984. Despite its age, it doesn’t really feel dated, with cassette tapes and NASA being a couple of glaring exceptions (it is SO SAD that NASA is dated, seriously, it makes me a little teary). However, I’m in no way a technical person and a lot of the jargon flew right over my head so maybe it just doesn’t feel dated to a layman. You STEM types are probably SOL.

Final Reckoning

Should you read this? Yes, do. Yeah yeah, post-apocalyptic, been done, blah blah. But it’s good and interesting and fun and goes to some unexpected places. There were at least 2 times I was all like “WHA? What just happened?” but in a good way. The end was just a little orly? but still, lots of fun.

Emergence by David R. Palmer

Yes, more zombies [Boneshaker]

Yes, two steampunk/zombie mash-ups in a single week. If I believed in karma, I would say that this is my reward for being generally awesome (I'm specifically awesome too, but no one likes a braggart). More zombies, more pirates, more airships, zero love story.

Set during the early Civil War, Leviticus Blue is commissioned by Russian gold prospectors to build a drill that can punch through the layers of ice in the Klondike. On its test run, the machine called Dr. Blue's Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine, destroys part of downtown Seattle and hits a vein of poisonous gas that turns the people exposed to it into zombies. The people of Seattle escape and eventually wall off the poisoned city, leaving the zombies trapped inside.

Sixteen years later, Briar Wilkes, Leviticus' widow, is living in the Outskirts as a pariah. Her son Ezekiel desperately wants to prove his father innocent of malicious wrong-doing. He sneaks into the walled city to search for proof. When Briar finds out what's he's done, she follows him in. Essentially, that is the whole story. And it's all right there on the back cover.

The world the story is set in sounds like a good time. I wouldn't want to live there, but I wouldn't mind visiting. Cherie Priest is a talented writer but the story needed some development. The pacing was well-set for the most part but sometimes the contrast between RUNNING FROM ZOMBIES and HIDING FROM ZOMBIES made it stutter a bit. Also, the bits from Zeke's POV made me feel a little stabby. Briar was a way more sympathetic character. And even though the story felt steampunk, a lot of the extras that would make it more authentic were relegated to window dressing. Yeah, we have some funny weapons, and the Boneshaker certainly counts, but it was more like eating a steampunk cookie when I wanted a meal. But I sure do the love shambling dead.

It sounds like I hate this book. I don't. I like it a lot, but if it didn't take itself so seriously, I would probably like it more. But I may be giving it more points than it deserves because, really it sounds like it should BE SO AWESOME. This may also be why I can't snark on it. Read it, but don't read it excitedly.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest, The Clockwork Century, Book 1