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>>READ: With pop culture’s current obsession with zombies we’ve been given a little gem
called Feed.
>>LOKI: But can we really call it a zombie novel?
>>READ: Well yeah. Its got zombies in it, what else do we call it?
>>LOKI: But its got the-
>>READ: That’s true, and its got the-
>>LOKI: So is it still-?
>>READ: It’s still a zombie novel, but it’s not just a zombie novel.
[music]
>>READ: Where most zombie novels you stumble upon feature characters who spend most of
their time trying to wade through the remnants of society and retain some piece of normalcy
or safety, Feed has moved on.
>>LOKI: NA, along with the rest of the world, was hit by the zombie plague in 2014, Despite
a rocky start the US has created a new status quo in which the zombie threat is lived with
rather than fought.
>>READ: Hold on, hold on, explain how the plague started.
>>LOKI: Can I use visual aids?
>>READ: Whatever.
>>LOKI: Well over here we have this doctor who is trying to cure a little girl of cancer
with a modified and aggressive version of the ebola virus.
Hold this.
And over here we have Dr. Kellis who has created an aerosol cure for the common cold. What
could go wrong?
Oh look, the media find out about Kellis’ very expensive cure for the common cold and
throws a fit. Media pressure and human rights suits force Kellis to release the cure into
the atmosphere.
Suddenly, a funny things starts to happen. When the common cold cure hits the cancer
treatment, they combine, someone dies, and oh no!
garg. ahhh! garg. ahhh!
>>READ: Everybody is infected with this new Kellis-Amberlee virus, meaning that when you
die -whether you had zombie saliva injected into your bloodstream or you just passed away
peacefully in your bed - everyone becomes a zombie.
>>LOKI: The amount of research that the author must have done into virusology really shows,
and she even explains her science in way that is easy to follow. The result of all her hard
work drops you in a world where the zombie plague sounds probable over just possible.
>>READ: Society finds ways to cope with its new undead inheritance. People avoid each
other like the plague (which is really not an exaggeration), they stop building houses
with windows, and stick you with enough needles to make a porcupine jealous. Blood tests are
required to enter any public place, the home, the bathroom, showering in bleach to decontaminate
biohazards mandatory.
>>LOKI: Suddenly living your life like an otaku seems like a sane life choice. The author
never lets us forget about the safety precautions. We are told about every blood test and every
shower…
>>READ: and while it becomes an annoying process to have to read about…
>>LOKI: The author is making a point about methods of control that we put in place and
how they can be used against us.
>>READ: In direct foil to societal control Grant’s presents us with the one occupation
really takes off during the zombie apocalypse - the blogger. They represent the wild cards,
the ones who tell the truth when no one else will, spreading the word about the zombie
plague when the traditional media refuses to believe it, and continuing to print the
truth even after society gets back on its feet.
>>LOKI: Bringing us in some 20 years after zombies have risen, we are introduced to adopted
and non-biologically related siblings Georgia and Shaun (get it? George Romero and Shaun
of the dead?)
>>READ: Shaun and Georgia are bloggers that run their own news site called After the End
Times and a large team other bloggers that come with it.
>>LOKI: Bloggers have evolved into three classifications. Newsies who like to stay at home and give
more traditional news reports and blogs. Irwins who specialize in action stories and videos
out in the zombie strewn world. Fictionals who write stories and are possibly even more
shut-in than the Newsies.
>>READ: Lucky Shaun and George have been selected to personally follow Senator Peter Ryman’s
presidential campaign trail - a break that skyrockets their viewership, and the plot
arc that transforms this from being a mere zombie novel into a political thriller.
>>LOKI: So who are we stuck listening to for the majority of the book? Our heroine Georgia
likes to wear black, is a bit of a hard ***, has a form of zombism that makes her extremely
light sensitive, drinks coke like an addict, and is as obsessed with THE TRUTH as Ned Stark
is with HONOUR.
[music]
>>READ: Shaun on the other hand is just along for the ride. He is adventurous, ingests coffee
like its his job, and is pretty happy to do just about whatever. As an Irwin he has an
undying love of poking zombies with sticks.
>>LOKI: Shaun and Georgia share a very unique relationship, one which they have labelled
co-dependant. Which is a bit of an understatement. They’ve spent their childhood together living
in a neglectful household, and now that they’re grown up they feel no need to expand their
horizons.
>>READ: They eat together, their bedrooms are connected, they play with zombies together,
keep the same journal… All normal sibling stuff, that puts people on the borders of
labeling it ***.
>>LOKI: But they’re not technically related.
>>READ: I dunno, they were raised as brother and sister. The few people they let into their
lives are the people on their staff. Mainly, Mahir Gowda, who lives in the UK, and Georgette
“Buffy” Messonier.
>>LOKI: Buffy… she’s blonde, she’s cute, and lives in a post-apocalyptic world. (Jabs
C) Get it. Geeeeeeeeeet it?
>>READ: I’ve never watched Buffy.
>>LOKI: George, Buffy, and Shaun set off to follow the senator’s campaign. But as they
do, political conspiracies start to get in their way and it becomes clear that someone
is trying to assassinate their presidential candidate.
>>READ: And whoever it is is not afraid to throw around a few zombies. So does this book
sound interesting?
>>LOKI: By golly gee it does.
>>READ: But as we’ve seen before books that have a great premise don’t always live up
to their potential.
>>LOKI: Whew, thank God this one does.
>>READ: Grant doesn’t just write great characters, pfft so easy, she knows tools and uses them
well. Each new chapter starts with blog post from the characters, providing insight into
history, the characters’ mindsets, and foreshadowing events.
>>LOKI: This book is rife with new twists on old ideas, fast-paced action, and compelling
characters. George and Shaun brother-sister relationship is unique and fascinating. Buffy
loves her *** but also has a spiritual side.
The characters straddle the line between being stock and inverting stereotypes. It could
be seen as points the novel but in its own it way works. It doesn’t detract from the
novel, and keeps you guess about just when Grant will to subvert the norm.
>>READ: Grant knows just how to manipulate you and her characters down to the last chapters.
Sometimes when working your way through a series you hit the end of the first book and
you just need a break, but Feed isn’t one of them.
>>LOKI: Especially that one piece at the end, you know the one…
>>READ: Where you start balling like a baby and as you’re kicked in the face by the
emotional urgency of the situation?
>>LOKI: Yeah that one.
>>READ: To sum up?
>>LOKI: Grant laid the foundation, and then deliver. It’s one of the smartest zombie
political thrillers around.
>>READ: It it the only zombie political thriller around?
>>LOKI: I dunno.
>>READ: Did you ever notice that the zombie apocalypse did wonders for the internet’s
grammar and punctuation?