I started writing my first book when I was still at school. It wasn't historical fiction, it was high fantasy, and it was the first of ten books, under the collective title The Watcher's Heir . I knew from the word go that it was going to have this number of books, although I didn't really work out exactly what would happen in each one. Twenty-five years on and the books are still not finished, although I now only have a couple more to go! Every Christmas I settle down and manage to write a chapter or two more, and every New Year it is my resolution to finish them. I suspect this will go on for a few years more. In the passage of time since then, I've written more than a dozen books. I can't quite pinpoint what it is which keeps obstructing the conclusion of these books. It could be that I am not the same person I was 25 years ago (who is?!), and so the voice which began the books is almost unrecognisable. It could be that I have now passed the age almost all of my ...
Night of the Victorian Dead by Amber Michelle Cook
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| "Night of the Victorian Dead" Book Cover |
"Inspired by beloved works of literature from Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, and in tribute to the delightful terror of first encountering classic undead creatures comes Night of the Victorian Dead, in which a rich collection of characters - with the endearing manners, gentility and sensibilities of that era - meet the unthinkable horror of an outbreak of the supernatural in the form of Re-risen Dead."
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| 3 Stars |
When I got the review request for this novel, the first thing I thought was "Oh no. I hate zombies!" It's not that I have anything against zombies (I'm sure some of them are very decent) but ever since my sister used to chase me around the room in a Hallowe'en mask pretending to be a zombie, I have been really scared of them.
I'm pleased I agreed to review this book, however. It is a really interesting mix between historical fiction and zombie novels, with some spine-chillingly yet amusing encounters with the living dead.
I didn't realise, when I started reading, there was a connection between the book's characters and those in "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte so I was slightly confused at first. After the initial confusion, however, I began to appreciate how well the parallel works. The author looks at the Jane Eyre story through the eyes of other characters, for example the ward, which is an ingenious look at the secondary characters in the classic book.
It is also greatly amusing to see how the much-loved characters deal with the unknown threat of zombies, in their perfectly English way. How they remain so prim and proper beats me, but it works!
Because there were a few different groups of characters in different spaces, the author jumped from one group to another which added to the suspense. At the start of the novel, however, this was slightly confusing as I was just getting used to the characters.
Because there were a few different groups of characters in different spaces, the author jumped from one group to another which added to the suspense. At the start of the novel, however, this was slightly confusing as I was just getting used to the characters.
The book would be a great read for someone who is looking for a humourous zombie novel with a bit of a twist.
Find the book here.
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