It’s somewhat appropriate to write a blog post about Mira Grant’s Feed, seeing as its concerned not only with zombies, but blogging too. Here one comes and all – an attempt to review a truly wonderful book.
Feed concerns the journeys of a group of professional bloggers who join the news team of a Republican Presidential Candidate through the run up to the election. Oh, and there are zombies. Lots of zombies. But, before we turn off, instantly appalled by George Romero and B-Movie Horror flicks that the word ‘zombie’ brings to mind, consider this: this book is damn good.
The year is 2040. It is 26 years since the Kellis-Amberlee virus, a deadly mix of the cures for cancer and the common cold (a bit far-fetched, yes, but it provides a nice scientific rationale to the whole book), created the Rising – an event whereupon then dead became living again, became, for want of a better term, zombies. The exposition of this world is thrown nicely in throughout the long chapters, and we learn more about our viewpoint character, Georgia ‘George’ Mason, than about the rising at first.
She, alongside her brother Shaun and colleague Buffy form a blogging triumvirate that encompass all elements of mid-Twenty-First Century blogging: ‘Newsies’ (those who report straight laced facts), ‘Irwins’ (those who court danger) and ‘Fictionals’ (Those who fictionalise events). All three of these characters are beautifully developed, as is the fourth character of the group, Rick. We care about them. We care about them because Georgia cares about them, and Ms. Grant has made damn well sure we care about Georgia. Some of the secondary characters are less well developed, and, by virtue of the mystery nature of the plot, the main set-piece villain isn’t as well developed as I’d have liked. However, broad brushstrokes in the hands of an artist can convey a wonderful image nonetheless, and that’s what happens here.
In fact, it is the world itself that is the main villain. Any live-state virus that comes into contact with the body sets off the non-live virus that resides in all people, making getting around the world difficult at times. Add in a news site, Presidential elections and terrorism and you have a gripping plot. The pace is fast, the techno babble is understandable, the action well done. The chapter structure made me feel a connection with the characters, with their ‘blogs’ being posted at the end of each long section. There were some convenient plot devices, but when aren’t there? They weren’t overused, and they were necessary. They compliment the action well.
If anything, my main criticism is of place. I don’t know my American geography. I’m a Brit, somewhat ignorant of where Memphis is compared to Oklahoma. I also didn’t get much of a sense of live internal environment at times. Instead, I found myself filling in gaps that perhaps shouldn’t have been there – not all of us know the insides of a technically filled van. External description is much better – a particularly memorable scene at a ranch and a stopped convoy come to mind – but overall, this could have been improved.
However, let that not detract from the novel itself. It’s gripping. It’s emotional. It made me cry my eyes out a grand total of four times in the last 70 pages. It made me keep reading until 2:00am and immediately blog about it when I finished it. It has some major plot twists that hit far below the belt. We take it for granted that the heroes are ace, that the zombie apocalypse is just another trope. It’s a trope with punch, a trope that forces us to kill off that which we love the most, a reason a colleague of mine hates the genre so much – it upsets her for Shaun (of the Dead) to kill his mother in a pub and keep his best friend as a pet. Damn right, it should to, and Mira Grant makes sure we know the emotional impact of losing everything you love, or having the potential to have that occur at the slightest provocation. And it damn well hurts.
It would be tempting to end with a quote from the end of the book:
“Was it worth it?”
“No. But then again, when you reach the end, what really is?”
But that would be a lie – it really is worth it. Worth a hell of a lot of your time and effort. It’s bloody brilliant. Go. Read it. Now.
Jennie Ivins
JC Kang
My name is NatalieF and I am a Mira Grant -aholic after only one reading of Feed. I cannot wait for the next Newsfeed book to be available as an eBook in the UK. It grabbed me, chewed me up, broke my hear before the end and made me sob and sob before it spat me out, totally numb but in a good way. Feed is by far one of the best books I have ever read.
It’s been nominated for this year’s ‘best book’ Hugo too, so definitely sounds worth a look! Thanks for the great review.
Enjoyed reading your review. At this point, I’ve already read both books and am awaiting the third. I saw that there’s mention of a movie. Not to brag, but I definitely would jump at the chance to be screened as George. So would you classify yourself more of a Newsie, then?