The Written Vessel: Generation Dead Series eBooks

Well okay, not completely different as I've mentioned my love (read: obsession) for zombies here before.


Among my collection of zombie media I have a set of books called the Generation Dead series by Daniel Waters. Recently he posted a call on his blog for fans to help promote the release of the series in electronic editions, complete with new short stories on March 22. I thought this was a good opportunity to mention the series here, for other zombie lovers who might not have heard of it yet.

Generation dead offers a new and different view on the "zombie apocalyspe." Namely, that it's not an apocalypse at all. The story begins as teenagers in America start coming back to life. The first zombie is described through a combination of hear-say and an eerie video of his death and rebirth. Rather than focus on the morbid however, the story follows a young girl Phoebe as she interacts with the zombies at her school, the political/religious backlash, and the tumult of teenage romance. The second book is also told through Phoebe, while the third book instead focuses on one of the zombie girls, Karen.



The aspect of these books that I love the most is surprisingly not the fact that it involves zombies. Rather, it is the characters and Waters' spectacular way of writting them that captivates me. You'll often hear writting teachers or authors discuss the importance of really knowing your characters. Even if the information never comes out in the actual story, it helps you understand them and make the interactions more real (gives you a reason why). Waters does this to a degree that is truly spectacular.

Every character is a real person, with all kinds of complexities and faults. Yes, there are the good guys and the bad guys, but even the bad guy is multi dimensional. He doesn't simply tie women to train tracks and twirl his mustache, he has history and hurts, and a whole lote of psychology.

The question of the books isn't how to kill the zombies, or how to escape them, but rather how to coexist. Are zombies "people?" Should they have rights? The politics were an interesting twist here, but just add to the overall impressiveness of the book.

So if you're looking for something new to read, or are just a zombie nut like me, check out the Generation Dead series. You can find Daniel Waters' blog here, and the character blog here.