Wattpad is an free app that provides readers with access to free books and reading material. Many of these books are written by amateurs, rife with fan fiction and the like, but some of the material shared is of high quality. Corey Doctorow has released his recent book on Wattpad, and Margaret Atwood has jumped on board--first with some poetry and now with this novella, co-written with Alderman in alternating chapters.
While one might expect an author best known for her dystopic novels about our future to have a negative view of technology, Atwood is quite the opposite. She was among the first adopters of Twitter and tweets out regularly--her own tweets, versus those created and posted by a publicist or staffer. So, her support of the Wattpad platform is not surprising in this regard. And, the change of platform has allowed for a bit more frivolity and fun. The piece, as described in the title, it about zombies. And, as much as I like zombies, how could I not like zombies as seen by my favorite author?
(For those interested in more of Atwood's digital productions, two recent short stories are available in eBook format only: "I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth" (a follow-up to Cat's Eye) and I'm Starved for You" (the first in a post-apocalyptic serial now titled Positron--and in its fourth installment). Both are available via Amazon/Kindle.
I picked this up in SFO during a layover/delay, and it was the perfect travel companion: short chapters, lots of action, and good storytelling. And, of course, zombies.
Many folks are familiar with The Walking Dead television show that debuted on AMC in the fall of 2010 with a
short 6-episode season that has been renewed for two longer seasons
since then. A portion of those viewers may know that the show is
actually based on this graphic novel series, but I'm guessing that even fewer of those people have actually read the comics. I'm on the other end of the spectrum: a long-time reader of the comics that has not yet watched the TV show. It's in my sights, and I've recently set our DVR to record episodes that play, but I am still resistant of watching the TV show. Like most book-to-movie leaps, it has the danger of being disappointing: characters who aren't the way I imagined, changed plot lines, and too much focus on different elements.
And, quite frankly, I'm pretty happy with the way The Walking Dead comic series has developed. Sure, a lot of folks may dismiss it as just another of many things written about zombies, but it might be worth pointing out that the book really isn't about zombies: it's about humans managing to live in a world where zombies exist, and that's not a very easy thing to do. As a result, the characters developed in this series are interesting, resourceful, violent, and loving. Sure, I can get all metaphorical about the idea that all of us face zombies of some sort at some point of our life--and many are unfortunate enough to face off against monstrous things for long periods of time. But, you, my readers, are intelligent humans and know this already.
By this point in time, the series is well underway, and volume 17 passes the magical 100-issue mark. I have reviews of a couple earlier trades posted here and here, but I was already on to volume 13 by the time I started this blog. You're simply going to have to trust me on the fact that this series is worth the time and effort involved. Plus, you won't have to wait between issues and trades if you do start now: you have an entire 102 issues to enjoy. Unless you're afraid, of course.
