The Living Dead edited by John Joseph Adams

I know I said I was done with the review blog, and I am done with any sort of regular updates, but I've posting occasional reviews on my LiveJournal, so I figure I might as well cross-post them here.

I love zombies. They are, without a doubt, my favorite horror monster. I love zombie movies, unless they really suck. I love zombie songs. I even have a cool zombie t-shirt. So, I just had to get The Living Dead, an anthology of zombie short stories, when I heard about it. It's mostly worth it.

The anthology isn't perfect. There are a few stories whose inclusion I question (I'll get to them later). There are a few people who's absence I wonder about (why no Brian Keene?). Also, almost all of the stories are reprints, which doesn't matter so much to me, because the only one I'd previously read was the King one. If you're like me, this is a good anthology to buy.

Now, let's briefly look at the individual stories that I didn't like:

"Some Zombie Contingency Plans" by Kelly Link: WTF? There are no zombies in this one at all. It has nothing to do with zombies except that the main character is obsessed with zombie contingency plans. He's also obsessed with icebergs, so I can't help but wonder if Adams would have included it an an Iceberg anthology.

"Those Who Seek Forgiveness" by Laurell K. Hamilton: OK, this sin't actually a bad story, but it isn't all that hot either. It's part of Hamilton's Anita Blake series, which while popular, isn't one of the best series in the genre. This story doesn't really heart the collection, but it doesn't really add to it either.

"Less Than Zombie" by Douglas E. Winter: This is a parody of Less Than Zero, which I hanen't read. Also, I didn't actuall see any zombies in this one either, except maybe, in the snuff film they watch.

All of the other stories ranged from good to excellent. So there a re three stories that I at least would consider clunkers in an anthology of 34. And really, even those three aren't bad stories; I just think that two are a bit out of place in this anthology and the other is just in it to cash in one one more big name--which in unneccisary when you have Stephen King,Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, and several other writers who are well known in the genre. It is really still a pretty good book.

The Blood books: Volume Three, by Tanya Huff

If you've read my reviews of Volumes 1 & 2, you can probably guess that I liked The Blood Books, Volume III. The characters are interesting, and the stories are original. This volume contains a novel and a short story collection.

I thought the novel wasn't quite as good as the previous ones. The other ones featured supernatural enemies and mad scientists. This one featured an evil doctor who killed street people for their organs. That might have been fairly original in 1997 when the story was written, but in 2006 it's been done to death. Adding in the ghosts were a nice touch. The story was still pretty goo, though I thought it dragged in places.

I liked the short stories better. I had actually read "This Town Ain't Big Enough," though I have no idea where, since it was first published in Vampire Detectives, and I'm pretty sure I haven't read that. I liked all the stories, but I guess I'd pick "So This Is Christmas" as my favorite.

Anyway, buy these books. I give The Blood Books: Volume III four and a half yo-yos.




Edit: While cataloging my books, I discovered that "This Town Ain't Big Enough" is also in the book Virtuous Vampires, which I do have a copy of.

The Blood Books: Volume Two, by Tanya Huff

I was at Borders the other day, and I picked up The Blood Books: Volume II & Volume three. Sadly, I couldn't continue with Repairman jack or The Runelords series, because my Borders didn't have Gateways or Wizardborn. Sigh, it's there own damn fault Amazon gets so much of my business.

Once again the stories feature Vicki (the half-blind detective), her ex-partner Mike Celluci, and Henry Fitzroy (the vampire). This book introduces new enemies who are truly terrifying. And creepy too.

Anyway, The Blood Books: Volume Two is great. I actually liked it better than volume one. The first novel in this one, Blood Lines, is about a resurrected mummy. I know it sounds clichéd, but it's done very well. The mummy in this book is one of the best villain I've read in a long time. Blood Pact, the second novel in the omnibus, completes the Abbot and Costello Meet... theme in the other books (Dracula, the wolfman, the mummy, and now Frankenstein). It's not at all silly, though. It's a very touching and tragic story. I think I actually cried at one point. I mean Vicki's mother dies and is brought back by a mad scientist. That is sad enough, but the ending is tragic.

I liked this one a lot. I give The Blood Books: Volume Two five yo-yos.

The Blood books volume One, by Tanya Huff

As you might recall, I wasn't to impressed with Huff's Wizard of the Grove. I thought her The Blood Books, Volume I was a much better book. First off it doesn't have six chapters of back story shoved in the beginning like Wizard of the Grove did. Also, it's one of those fantasy/mystery type things that I like. Oh yeah, it's an omnibus edition too, and I always like those when they're good.

There's this ex-cop named Vicki who had to leave the force when she got a rare disease that makes her night blind and is destroying her peripheral vision too. She becomes a PI and is hired to find the killer in a series of "vampire" attacks. She gets some help from a real vampire. In the second novel in the book, she and her vampire buddy team up again to investigate the murder of some werewolves.

These books have a very exciting plot, and the characters are (mostly) very believable and generally interesting. The only real exception was the villain in the first novel, who was so unbelievably geeky that he seemed more like a stereotype than a real person. The villain in the second novel was much more believable.

I really liked this, and I'm definitely going to pick up Volumes 2 & 3 next chance I get. I give this one four and a half yo-yos.