An epic adventure in all things nerdy.

(Plus some zombies.)

Monday, February 8, 2010

I ♥ Zombies

So because of either the massive snowstorm or a faulty router, my internet has been rather sporadic, on the side of non-existent the past week, leaving me trapped indoors with nothing to do. Instead of painting the rest of my Necrons like I should have (like hell I was going out in 40 inches of snow with a can of spray paint to primer them) I dug out my car and meandered over to the bookstore for some reading material. Unfortunately in my local Barnes and Noble, the Science Fiction section is directly across from the beginning of the Romance isle, where, as I was perusing the shelves of Warhammer novels, something caught my eye. Against my better judgment, I bought a book entitled My Zombie Valentine thinking, "Oh, it's about zombies, and I like zombies. Maybe this will be funny."


I WAS SO WRONG.




What's a girl got to do to get some good ol' fashioned hilarious scifi fanfic? They just don't make 'em like they used to. (NSFW but possibly the most ridiculous thing I have ever read) Now that I've finished the Dragon Age novels (TOTALLY AWESOME) I'm at a lack of decent reading material. My favorite comic, Army of Darkness has lately taken a turn towards... uh... well let's just say the latest story arc involves President Obama accidentally giving his daughters a copy of the Necronomicon. Yeeah.

Is it just me or is the majority of the scifi/fantasy literary genre going downhill? Either that or I'm still coming down off the high from reading the second Dragon Age book (STILL TOTALLY AWESOME) and everything pales in comparison. I'm about to start buying 40K novels but I can't remember which ones I've read already, and for some reason I'm dying for a good comic book series to get that bad "crossover gone wrong" taste out of my mouth. What I wouldn't do for another series like Marvel Zombies...

OK I think I've totally, officially outed myself as a Zombie fetishist (not in a necrophilia kind of way, ew gross). Way cooler than sparkling vampires.

33 comments:

  1. You should really check out "Walking Dead". It's a killer comic about a zombie apocolypse that is over 100 issues now. Oh and read the Horus Heresy books, I'm not a huge fan of the Black Library..cough..Sandy Mitchell..cough..but this series is actually very well done. My 2 cents..

    J

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  2. I think I picked up a copy of a compilation of that series while I was going through comic shops in NY this summer, for some reason I got Wormword instead. It was still good, but disturbing, as usual. I'll definitely check those out, thanks for the recommendation. :)

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  3. Have you read the Nagash book from Black Library. Not really a zombie book but shows how an entire race is turned into Undead.
    Also the Horus Heresy books are epic.

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  4. Ah yes, the joyous snowstorm of doom that has buried Maryland as well in the cold. I was planning to do a bunch of painting but had the same priming issues that you did. Then the power went out for two days (sad panda).

    Still I got some modelling stuff done during the daylight hours. Now hopefully this next storm won't shut off the electricity again.

    As far as reading goes, from BL I reccomend the Grey Knights omnibus and the Eisenhorn/Ravenor works just for being cool. Not many zombies that I can remember but you never know :-)

    Pete

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  5. I have to concur with Pete W above. The Eisenhorn series is top notch. In fact anything by Dan Abnett is good. If you want something a little lighter and more fun (well as fun and light as you go in 40k)then I suggest the Ciaphus Cain novels by Sandy Mitchell.

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  6. Zombie romance is a tricky subject to pull off, to be fair.

    I could be persuaded to comp you a copy of Hungry Hearts by Gary McMahon if you promise to put a review up...?

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  7. Yes the Walking Dead is great also look into getting or making a paint booth WITH vacume. This couppled with a heater will alow you to paint and prime in your garage.

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  8. Have you checked out WWZ? I liked it, but don't pick up the audiobook as it is abridged and lacks a few of the cooler stories from the novel. I heard a studio bought the rights to it - hopefully they do a good job.

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  9. Walking Dead is the *best zombie comic* EVER. Really if you've not checked it out, hurry to do so!

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  10. Here's a link for the Walking Dead

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Walking+Dead&x=0&y=0

    It's sort of *Lost* meets Zombie Apocalypse -- so good as it deals more about the lives of the survivors and brings in the questions such as, "Where we not more Zombies doing our daily grind in modern society Vs actually having to survive in a Zomibie Apoc".

    World War Z is also a good read:

    http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=world+war+z&x=0&y=0&sprefix=world+war

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  11. Time to jump on the bandwagon and reccomend something!

    Have you read World War Z?

    Great zombeh apocalypse book, written after it happened from interviews of the survivors.Of course if you have read then it doesnt matter ;).

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  12. Ahh you want Zombies eh?!

    I'd recommend numero uno super high five "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Seth Grahame-Smith.

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  13. Seconding 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'. I believe there's a sequel out as well.

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  14. Have you tried Cadian Blood? Cadians versus Zombies. And because it's Aaron Dembski-Bowen, it's well written and fairly gruesome. And when I say "fairly gruesome," I mean really gruesome in parts.

    Also, "My Zombie Valentine" would be a great name for a My Bloody Valentine tribute band.

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  15. Best part of Zombie movies is when idiots get ripped apart. Killed by little girl zombies or sick wife turned brain eater makes my day.I cant help but laugh. Double tap!

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  16. I second the Jim Butcher Dresden Files (and for fantasy--the Codex Alera).

    However, if you *really* want something good and different in the sci-fi/fantasy markets:

    Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself (and the sequels) for ridiculously good gritty fantasy.

    For beyond-good noir Sci Fi--Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon. (Or, really, anything Richard Morgan--it's all good!)

    And definitely World War Z. I took that with me to read while I was in Houston for Hurricane Ike (part of a Cat team). Made the whole book that much more eerie.

    Cheers,

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  17. I love World War Z, it was amazing. I picked it up after the Zombie Survival Guide, also amazing. I'm looking at the graphic novel that just came out in the "series" but I'm a little iffy on it. No if's about the Walking Dead now, though, I'm gonna go and start back-ordering asap!

    @David Moore: I would love to read some REAL zombie romance, and you'd have my word on a review. :)

    @Menos: I saw "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" in passing a few months ago, I am ashamed to admit I thought it was a joke. I will pick it up for sure.

    @Xaeromancer: You had me at Cadians and zombies!

    @scadugenga: I actually have The Blade Itself right here in my reading pile, it's next on my list. The mention of noir and Sci Fi in the same sentence is very tempting though...

    Thanks for all your recommendations, won't be so bad being snowed in now with all this to read.

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  18. Hey Zephri,

    I don't know if you like boardgames but if you like the Zombie schtick? you should try Last Night on Earth! Its real fun and quick to play! But great for those 40" snowstorm days!

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  19. Shawn of the Dead. It's a movie rather than a comic or a book, but my Zombie-loving wife loves it and so do I. Best lighthearted Zombie movie I have seen.

    (I personally love the Space Wolf books, as they are close to my heart. I like.)

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  20. You know my Horus rising and Ultra marines Omnibus are at your house somewhere if you are looking for 40k books. You could also raid my book shelf of doom that Titus knocks over every day and stacks in a pile.

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  21. Since zombies are apparently the thing for you, you could do worse than check out http://dawnofthelead.com for zombie and minis stuff.

    And I'll be the first to admit, that this is rather shameless self-pimpage right here.

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  22. Zephri-

    You need to jump Richard Morgan to, well, if not next on your list (as The Blade Itself defies all convention) then close to it. Altered Carbon corners the noir market and makes William Gibson's fiction look sanitized-for-mass-3rd-grade-consumption by comparison.

    Let me know what you think of either.

    -Cheers

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  23. I'll have a word with the pub guys and get a comp to you, then. I'll email you for a postal address.

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  24. @Deano: I love board games, although I admit to being rather short tempered and easily frustrated when it comes to things like Monopoly. I'm looking to buy a copy of the Space Hulk board game as well, but Last Night on Earth sounds like a lot of fun. I can't help but feel I've heard about it before though...

    @Flekkzo: What self respecting nerd hasn't seen Shaun of the Dead? Simon Pegg is amazing, I love Hot Fuzz. :)

    @PalinMoonstride: Yeah those books are actually in my car right now, I feel guilty at having them, since they were meant for Alex.

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  25. Arkham Horror is one of the best board games I've played, hands-down, and a great way to pass an evening with a group of people. See the listing here:

    http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=6&enmi=Arkham%20Horror

    They also put out half a dozen expansions for it, drawing from the other H.P. Lovecraft stories (as well as those affiliated authors).

    Space Hulk might be tough to find, unless they reprint it, but if you locate a copy, snap it up. Given how fast it sold out, they'll probably reprint it some time. Of course, the rules are out there in PDF form, and there's no shortage of models. All you'd need to play, really, would be some kind of game board.

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  26. They probably won't reprint Space Hulk; they made a big deal about not doing so.

    Doom: The Board Game is a good equivalent.

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  27. @#2501: Gotta love that Lovecraft, if it's anything like the pen & paper Call of Cthulhu, I'm sold.

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  28. A) If you managed to read all that link i'm impressed, I had to stop after laughing too hard, really a servant of the God-Emperor of man frolicking with a foul xenos creature?

    B) My suggestions, "The Electric Church" by Jeff Somers (9781841496160) Not zombie, but dystopian future sci-fi worth reading. Or "Halting state" by Charles Stross (9781841496658)

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  29. @PsychoSplodge: I read it all start to finish in one sitting, of course I looked like an idiot laughing my head off reading porn for an hour. I'll check out those books, I love some good sci-fi.

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  30. Doesn't everybody with taste? Hope you like 'em.

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  31. I've been meaning to leave a comment to compliment you on your blog and spiffy looking necrons, but lacking actual content beyond that I've not had the chance.

    Then I saw this and though you might find it amusing:
    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=53771884593&ref=nf

    (Also, World War Z rocks, though I had a unsettling moment where I stopped reading it to get back to work, turned on the radio which was right in the middle of talking about the (swine flu) epidemic and got a bit worried for a second.

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