Author Interview: Jonathan Maberry

Today I am excited to be able to interview the very talented Jonathan Maberry, the author of some of my favorite young adult books (Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay).  His latest book is Dead of Night, a definitely not for kids zombie book.

Here is the synopsis of Dead of Night from Goodreads:
A prison doctor injects a condemned serial killer with a formula designed to keep his consciousness awake while his body rots in the grave.  But all drugs have unforeseen side-effects.  Before he could be buried, the killer wakes up.  Hungry.  Infected.  Contagious.  This is the way the world ends.  Not with a bang…but a bite.




Now for the interview:

Welcome to my blog today.  When my 12 year old son found out that I had the opportunity to interview you, he was as excited as I was.  He has read Rot & Ruin and Dust & Decay and they are among his favourite books ever.  He helped me to come up with the questions for you.
 
His first question is: 

QUESTION: Would you ever take on an apprentice? 

Book Review: The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Book:  The Dead Tossed Waves (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #2) by Carrie Ryan, Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2010, 407 pages, young adult zombie dystopian.

Source:  library.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

Book Review: The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry

Book:  The Dragon Factory (Joe Ledger #2) by Jonathan Maberry, St. Martin's Griffin, 2010, 486 pages.

Source:  Library.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Joe Ledger and the DMS (Department of Military Sciences) go up against two competing groups of geneticists.  One side is creating exotic transgenic monsters and genetically enhanced mercenary armies; the other is using 21st century technology to continue the Nazi Master Race program begun by Josef Mengele.  Both sides want to see the DMS destroyed, and they've drawn first blood.  Neither side is prepared for Joe Ledger as he leads Echo Team to war under a black flag.

My Thoughts:
Joe Ledger returns in this fast paced, exciting second installment in the Joe Ledger series.  Maberry is a master of timing, creating tension, and gruesome imagination.  He has a way with first sentences, and The Dragon Factory is no exception:

Otto Wirths was the second-worst mass murderer in the history of the world.  Compared to him Hitler, Stalin, Attila the Hun, and even Alexander the Great were amateurs, poseurs who could not hold a candle to Otto and his body count. (p. 1)

There are so many things to grab attention here - it is hard to imagine worse mass murderers than Hitler, and this Otto guy is only the second-worst.  Who was the worst?  This sets us up for some scary characters.

The other thing that happens in this prologue is that we learn that things don't go well, that Joe will be on his own, injured with limited weapons, the Extinction Clock is just about to run out, but that he is still ready to fight to save humanity.  The rest of the book is told with the ticking of the Extinction Clock counting down like a time bomb and we know that it will come down to the wire.  This is great writing.

Dragon Factory is written in a hard hitting, macho style of writing that is perfectly suited to Joe Ledger, a member of the secret government agency, Department of Military Sciences.  This group saves the world from the worst of the terrorist threats without the world even knowing the threat exists.

Joe is an interesting character, tougher than tough, smart, strong, and yet human at the same time.  He struggles in his own mind about the things he has to do to beat the bad guys, how he has to become a warrior, though the civilized man in him is horrified.  Several of the other characters, especially Grace and Rudy Sanchez really humanize Joe.

There are so many creepy and horrible threats in this book, from the top two mass murderers ever in the world whose plan is so awful that it is hard to wrap the mind around it, to the creepy twins, and the horrors of using science for evil ends.  This is another area where Maberry excels, it is clear that he has done a lot of research on genetics and eugenics to add a layer of possibility to the story.

Finally, there is also the very interesting explorations about good vs. evil and nature vs. nurture.  I love it when books tackle big issues like these as I think it adds another dimension to the book.

I would highly recommend this book (or series for that matter) to those who like action, adventure, horror books. Be warned, though, these books are pretty violent and graphic.

Book Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Book:  Ashes (Ashes Trilogy #1) by Ilsa J. Bick, EdgemontUSA, expected publication date Sept 6, 2011, 480 pages, young adult dystopian.

Source:  NetGalley.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
It could happen tomorrow...

A cataclysmic event. An army of "The Changed."
Can one teen really survive on her own?

An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, destroying every electronic device and killing billions. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human...

Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the Changed, Alex meets up with Tom---a young army veteran---and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse.

This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive.

My Thoughts: 
For some reason, this book has taken me some time to wrap my head around and review, maybe it is because if I had to describe it in one word it would be "epic".  I read it, or shall I say, tore right through it, but then had to think about it for a bit.  I loved the book, even if it was very different from what I expected -  it is definitely a story of survival and horror.  Even with its love triangle, Ashes is definitly different from the other YA romance dystopian books out there. 

The beginning is really good and fast paced - we learn about Alex and her condition in a concise and intriguing way.  Bick has me turning the pages to see what will happen next and how the scenario plays out.  It is a book where everything goes from bad to worse, then worse again, then even worse again. 

The writing is vivid and imaginataive with some interesting phrasing (though there is the odd bit of distracting grammar), and this definitely applies to the gory bits - this book is quite brutal and has a great deal of graphic violence.  However, Bick's writing really drew me in and I loved how she was able to create tension, even when there wasn't much action.  She also used omnicient narrator quips that set reader up for tension, because we then know things that the characters don't.

The story is told from Alex's point of view (but not first person present as so many books are right now),  and I really felt for her.  Alex is a strong heroine, capable, intelligent and likable, but in a horrible situation.  I absolutely loved Ellie, the young girl that Alex finds herself looking after.  She has some great, honest reactions that feel authentic to her age.  I liked Tom as well, the army veteran and love interest for Alex, but I also felt a bit reserved about him, though I am not positive why.  Maybe he just felt a little more stereotypical.  Then there are the dogs, I love the addition of all of the dogs and how they add to the book.

Probably my favorite part of this book, and something I have found with other zombie type books lately, is the exploration of human nature and how people act in stressful or lawless situations.  I love how Bick delves into what is a monster - is it cancer?  is it zombies?  is it people who have free will and act in ways they never would under normal circumstances?  She also gets into the roles of hope and fate and freedom.

Ashes ends with a great cliffanger and I can hardly wait to read the next book in this series.  I would highly recommend this book to those who like zombie books or who don't mind graphically brutal scenes, but who like a good post-apocolyptic story.

Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Book:  The Forest of Hands and Teeth (#1) by Carrie Ryan, Delecorte Books for Young Readers, 2009, 308 pages, young adult dystopian.

Source:  Library.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
In Mary's world there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future-between the one she loves and the one who loves her.

And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

My Thoughts:
This book was not quite what I had expected, yet it was great and I really enjoyed it. For a zombie book, the psychological element was way more prominent than the physical element - the threat and moaning of the Unconsecrated are constant and surrounded the story though there were very few actual encounters. 

The book takes place in a dystopian future where the Unconsecrated, or zombies, have taken over the world and life has become about basic survival.  The story is told from Mary's point of view in a first person present narrative, which is ideal for the introspective nature of the book.  Sometimes I found this a bit off putting, with Mary's thoughts absolutely dominating the book.

Mary is an interesting character - she is a young woman who questions things and is strong, strong willed and physically able to take care of herself (I love books with strong heroines).  She grew up on the stories of the world before the Return and dreams of a life beyond simply existing and being hemmed in by the fences that keep the Unconsecrated out. She is determined to find a life beyond the fences and dreams of the ocean that her mother has told her about - something so foreign no one even believes it exists.  As much as I like Mary, she does come off as selfish at times, as the strength of her dreams overwhelms everything and everyone else, but then again, maybe this makes her a visionary?


I also enjoyed the other characters in the book, Mary's brother Jeb, her best friend Cass, Harry and Travis are all interesting and show growth in the book.  I didn't always actually like the characters, but I could understand and appreciate their reactions.  They each found their own strengths, though, as well as their own reasons to survive.  One of the best additions is Argos, the little zombie fighting dog - he is fun and helps to lighten things up.


The relationship between Mary and Travis was only OK for me.  I didn't really understand it at the beginning and found myself a bit frustrated with the pair of them.


Carrie Ryan's writing is beautiful and often even poetic.  She even had descriptions that made me stop and reread them because I enjoyed them so much.  I also liked how she explored various themes, such as the nature of choices and how that makes us human, safety and survival versus freedom and pursuing dreams, and God versus organized religion.


This is defiantly at different kind of young adult dystopian than many of the others out there that I have read.  The horror is real and I could feel the tension as I read the book.  This is a maudlin, dark book, with a strong heroine who has her own flaws.  I can really see those who like dark young adult novels with romance, or are looking for an alternative to vampire books, liking this.

Here is the book trailer from YouTube:

Book Review: Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberrry

Book: Dust & Decay (Benny Imura #2) by Jonathan Maberry, Simon & Schuster, Aug. 30, 2011.

Source:  Egalley from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab.

Synopsis (from Goodreads): 
Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It's also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny's zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny's best friend Lou Chong are going with them.

Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland –where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all…could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything…and not everyone in Benny's small band of travelers will make it out alive.

My Thoughts:
Wow, what a book!  I could barely put this down, it is so intense and action packed.  This is the second installment of the Benny Imura series, the first being Rot & Ruin.  These are young adult thriller zombie books with a decidedly human twist. 

Dust & Decay sees Benny Imura, his brother Tom, and their friends Nix, Chong and Lilah sevens month after destroying Gameland.  They have trained and are leaving the safety of town to go after the airplane they saw fly past, and to go after a different life.

This book really drew me in, right from the first lines, and each chapter had me wanting to read the next one.  Maberry's writing is often fast and abrupt, which adds to the pace of the book.  I loved how the humour, tension, action and horror mixed with the human story and how invested we become in the characters. There were also some great twists and turns.  I don't want to give anything away, but I even shed a few tears at the end, I was so wrapped up in the story.  The addition of a page from Nix's journal here and there was a good one as it answered a lot of the questions about the back story and asked a lot of the same questions I had about the zombies and the Rot & Ruin.

I enjoyed how the characters developed in this story, particularly Benny and Chong.   Benny has really matured.  I loved his ambivalence about going out into the Rot & Ruin as this seemed authentic and human.  It would be difficult for most people to leave the world they know and its safety for the danger and uncertainty of a new life, especially a dangerous one.  However, he has made his decision, and once he is out in the Rot & Ruin, his training and level headedness shows.

Chong was also great and showed real growth.  He seems authentic in his desire to go out into the Rot & Ruin, to have the adventure, but only for one day.  He doesn't take the situation completely seriously, just a I could see many teens doing.  The consequences of his actions put him in a position to show what he is really made of and examine himself, which he does.  It is sad to see him lose his last shred of innocence, especially because I felt for him.

There are also great female characters in this book in Nix and Lilah.  They are strong and can fend for themselves, something missing in many books where the girls have to be saved all of the time or are only accidentally strong.  Nix is smart and hurting from the events of the first book, but she can certainly hold her own.  Lilah is all brawn and "street smart" but learns more about her human side as the book goes on.

What I especially love about this series is how Maberry explores what it means to be human.  Dust & Decay explores various themes along these lines:  what it is to really live - is it OK to bury your head in the sand and exist and be safe, or is it better to take risks and be free and live?; the nature of evil - how intention and free will is needed to be evil; and how people act without laws - will evil and fear dominate with lawlessness, do we need a moral compass to tell us how to behave?

Something I haven't mentioned yet are the zombies.  Yes, this is definitely a zombie book and there are lots of zombies and graphically violent scenes.  There is also an underlying level of violence to the whole book, between the zombies and the bounty hunters.  I am not normally one for violent books, but the scenes do fit the story and do not seem out of place or gratuitous.

I loved this book and would easily recommend it to those who like zombie or action and adventure books or are OK with violent scenes.  There are great male and female characters in this book, which should appeal to both boys and girls.  I can see the length being initially off putting for some kids, but if they can get into it, the fast pace should carry them along.  My own son who is 12 loved Rot & Ruin and  has made me promise to buy him a print copy of Dust & Decay when it comes out at the end of August.  Personally, I can't wait to see what is next for Benny and his friends in the next book.

If anyone has any suggestions of other books along these lines, or are just great books, I would love to hear your suggestions.  I am always on the lookout for new books to read.  Thanks!

Book Review: Draugr by Arthur G. Slade

Book:  Draugr (Northern Frights #1) by Arthur G. Slade, Orca Book Publishers, 1997.  Middle school, young adult  horror.  171 pages.
Source:  Library.

Arthur G. Slade will present at the Shushwap Writers' Festival this May.

Fourteen year old Sarah, her twin brother Micheal and their cousin Angie go to visit their grandfather in Gimli, Manitoba for the summer.  They come prepared for a quiet vacation in the rural community and their grandfather's scary stories based on Icelandic mythology; however all of this changes when the stories start to come true and a draugr, a man who comes back from the dead, comes after them and their grandfather.

I found Draugr to be a quick read that will probably appeal to young readers (I would think middle school and the young side of young adult or those who like shorter books) who like a plot driven story with lots of excitement and supernatural elements.  The story was fast paced and interesting and I especially liked the Icelandic mythology element.  Each chapter ends on a tense note or a cliff hanger, which kept me reading "just one more chapter" in order to see what happens next.

One of my favorite things about the book is the character Sarah and how she has to learn to trust herself and the fact that she is strong in order to save her grandfather.  She initially sees herself as scared and on the weak side, but when push comes to shove, she learns about herself and what she is capable of.

Slade consistently uses slang such as "shoulda" and "wanna" in his dialogue.  I know this is dialogue and he is trying to be realistic, but it is one of those things that jump out at me, stop the flow of the book, and take away from my reading.  There are also quite a few sentence fragments, which are probably meant to increase the tension and pace of the book.

Overall, this is an interesting, faced paced book that I am sure children will enjoy, especially if they like to be a bit scared and enjoy supernatural book.

Also in the Northern Frights series:
The Haunting of Drang Island
The Loki Wolf

Book Review: Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Our local librarian recommended Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry for my son; she said she likes to read a couple of chapters of all the new books that come in, but that she could not put this one down. When my son got to borrow the book, he was reading something else and it was sitting around, so I picked it up and was hooked almost immediately. Now, I like to read YA novels already, especially fantasy, but I had never read any of the zombie books. Still, this one immediately caught my attention.

Benny lives in a post apocalyptic world. Fourteen years ago, the dead woke up and became zombies. They bite the living and turn them into zombies, it is almost like a virus. No one knows why this happened, but the result is that the zombies have taken over the earth, except for a few areas where humans are fenced in. Other than killing people, zombies are actually quite passive.

Benny lives with his older brother, Tom, as their parents were turned into zombies on the First Night. Tom is a well respected bounty hunter, someone who goes out into the Rot and Ruin to track down zombies for people and quiet them, or kill them. Benny has just turned fifteen, the age at which he must get a job or have his rations cut in half. After much resistance, Benny decides to join his brother in the family business of quieting zombies. 

Tom, however, is not like some of the other bounty hunters in town, he is not full of bravado and exciting stories of killing zombies. In Benny's eyes, Tom is a coward.

Out in the Rot and Ruin, Benny watches Tom and the zombies and even some of the other bounty hunters. He sees for himself what is really going on and is faced with serious questions, not the least of which is who are the real monsters, the zombies or the humans.

I really enjoyed how this book examined some serious questions and explored what it means to be human, the nature of fear, how societies develop, and how people can close their eyes to what they know is wrong. The writing was good and moved easily and kept me interested. I also liked how the author played with the zombie story line, making it much more than a gruesome suspense or horror book. In a way, the zombies were not a big part of the book, but the set up to explore human behaviour. Rot & Ruin was left open for a sequel, and I have recently found out that it is called Dust & Decay and will come out August 2011. In fact, a four part series is planned.  I am looking forward to reading how the series progresses.

Here is a YouTube video interviewing Jonathan Maberry about Rot & Ruin: