Thunder and Ashes (The Morningstar Strain) (Pt.2)
by Z.A. Recht
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Book Summary Information
Author: Z.A. RechtEditor: Travis Adkins
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-21
ISBN: 1934861014
Number of pages: 312
Publisher: Permuted Press
Book Reviews of Thunder and Ashes (The Morningstar Strain) (Pt.2)
Book Review: Not as good as the first in the series
Summary: 2 Stars
I read the first book, Plague of the Dead, and in general I enjoyed it. There were few real problems with it, the characters were interesting, and the action was enough to make one's heartbeat increase if read at night while all alone in an old house. Good fun, nothing absolutely revolutionary, but reasonably smart and well thought out, etc. Z. A. Recht, who recently passed away, showed definite potential as a writer, and POTD was a nice addition to the zombie apocalypse genre.
Thunder & Ashes, however, seems to read almost like a piece of zombie youth fiction. The dialogue is much more simplistic and obvious, the description of action is extremely literal and soft-hitting, the infected appear to have devolved into pansies (even the sprinters, who should continue to unsettle people like the 28 Days/Weeks Later infected they appear to be related to) that are easily dispatched by a high-fiving crew of one-dimensional characters. The last of these is very strange, because in the previous novel these characters had at least some depth, but now they are just a bunch action figures giving lines that alternate between grinning, scowling, chuckling, and swallowing. A standard exchange of the dialogue/narrative might read:
"These blood-spraying, very infectious, scary zombies are easy to kill, and fun!" Brewster grinned.
"Keep your head screwed on straight, soldier," scowled Thomas.
"Don't worry about him, Brewster. He's still upset about yesterday, when you killed more raiders and made better jokes about combat against armed and non-infected foes than he did," Krueger chuckled.
"That's right. Remember, killing people is okay and fun, if it's a post-apocalyptic world and you have a modicum of reason to kill them," Denton grinned with the thought of spilling more blood.
"I'm just worried because I'm a woman, so these zombies and the raiders still scare me. Help!" Rebecca swallowed, then grinned because women can be tough too if they try hard to put aside their womanly emotions.
Etc. Etc. At times, it's like reading the "Boxcar Children and the Mystery of the Zombie Horde."
All of this stuff I can actually deal with, because the point of reading post-apocalyptic and zombie fiction is to try to inhabit the world the author's created and see what kind of scenarios the author comes up with. All of the things that Recht writes are reasonably plausible, if poorly executed. But if one has read the first book, the major problem is that there are glaring discrepancies between it and this one:
1. It's been mentioned, but why does the Japanese character, Mitsui, seem to have lost the ability to speak English and, I might add, went from being chubby and slow to slight and light-spirited? Is it because the plot needed a mute character for comic relief? Is it because Recht thinks that the reader can only handle one competent foreigner giving input (i.e. Mbutu the Kenyan--Jack the Australian is basically an American with more jokes and grinning)? Why change gears on a character in this way? My guess is that he didn't feel like writing dialogue for the character, so he just willfully changed him into someone totally different.
2. Related to the previous one, in the first novel there were an undetermined/undisclosed number of "unarmed refugees," that the main gang were escorting and protecting. Although some of them were infected/killed along the way, as the first novel closes there still seems to be a small gaggle of these people lurking in the background of the narrative. Let's say eight of them, at most. But these eight or so individuals have disappeared when the second novel begins and their fate is never mentioned. To be sure, their presence was a sticking-point in the first novel, i.e. someone always had to stay behind and watch them, they were scared, they needed food, watering, whatever. There was also one more dude who was the last survivor of Hyattsburg, who was pulled out of a warehouse near the end of the book. He never had a name and he's disappeared too. My guess is that Recht didn't want to deal with these people, perhaps for the reason of the work of writing them into the narrative, forcing the other characters to take care of their non-"Hell Yeah! Get some!" concerns, etc. Fine, whatever. Have a tiny paragraph that says this:
"What's wrong, Rebecca?" Sherman asked, definitely not grinning.
"I'm still thinking about all the others, and what happened last week in Idaho," Rebecca swallowed.
"Oh. I know, that was tough," Sherman answered.
Last week, while in Idaho, the remaining eight refugees, and the dude they had pulled out of the warehouse had become infected one night. Maybe the dude was infected before and, sleeping too close to the refugees, went crazy with infection and bit all the other refugees. They were infected and elected to shoot themselves, or we killed them, or they wandered off heroically, or some such. The point is, they're now gone.
Don't those reading the sequel deserve some explanation?
3. The virus seems to be much less virulent or infectious or scary now. Why in the Lord's name does the Sheriff of Abraham let the group into the town when he just sees that none are currently infected? What about the well-established fact that there is an incubation period that is at least a few hours, if not a week or more? In fact, the Sheriff doesn't appear to even check them out, he just says something like "Pass, friend. And sample our home-baked crusty bread and our oft mentioned, yet inexplicably bitter, brown lager." My guess is that if this town had survived, it survived by shooting every single thing that came within 100 yards of the place. In my mind, in terms of the pandemic that was described to us in the first book, Recht shouldn't have wanted to go to Abraham, Kansas, unless he wanted dead characters and the novel/series to end. And finally, apparently bleach kills the virus now? Useful info to know, I guess, but what a lame virus.
Anyway, the book has some good sections, which is why I gave it two stars. Some of the action is good, and the general scope of the storyline draws the reader along effectively. But in the final review Recht's prose seems to read way too much like a grab for a movie deal, or for a video game, or for a firm niche within the zombie fiction market. In fact, a lot of the book progresses like a video game (or a video game made into a movie, which is then made into a book based on the movie). In one prominent instance, when they get to Abraham they need a mechanic. There is a mechanic, but he requires the group to carry out a vendetta hit on the raiders who took his daughter (and/or rescue his daughter), and this is the only way that he will work on their vehicles. When they carry out the hit and rescue his daughter, he's so happy that he makes the vehicles into little tanks as a special surprise. All of us have played Monkey Island-type video games that have this same formula: we need this thing from this person-->this person will only do it if we do something dangerous for him, which may include an optional objective (for a cool extra thing)-->when we succeed, he gives us a reward. In fact, there is a mission in Fallout 3 that is eerily similar. Whatever the purpose of this aspect of Recht's story, having to read a book where the characters seem incapable of the merest level of ingenuity in figuring out problems is maddening, just like a video game where you are forced to do something even when alternatives would plausibly exist. This town had something like 900 people before, and now the population is much reduced. Perhaps they could ask or barter for another vehicle? But no, that would be absurd as it would be too realistic and leave less opportunity for bantering about how fun killing infected/bad people is.
At the same time, however, I wouldn't tell anybody not to read this book if they'd read the first one. To be sure, I had planned on reading the third book to see where everything goes, but as Z. A. Recht has passed away this may not happen. The author showed a lot of promise with his first book, and with his untimely passing it is unfortunate that there were so many problems with his second and, if the third book is not published, last book.
Summary of Thunder and Ashes (The Morningstar Strain) (Pt.2)
A lot can change in three months: wars can be decided, nations can be forged... or entire species can be brought to the brink of annihilation. The Morningstar Virus, an incredibly virulent disease, has swept the face of the planet, infecting billions. Its hosts rampage, attacking anything that remains uninfected. Even death can't stop the virus-its victims as cannibalistic shamblers. Scattered across the world, embattled groups have persevered. For some, surviving is the pinnacle of achievement. Others hoard goods and weapons. And still others leverage power over the remnants of humanity in the form of a mysterious cure for Morningstar. Francis Sherman and Anna Demilio want only a vaccine, but to find it, they must cross a countryside in ruins, dodging not only the infected, but also the lawless living. The bulk of the storm has passed over the world, leaving echoing thunder and softly drifting ashes. But for the survivors, the peril remains, and the search for a cure is just beginning...Action & Adventure Books
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