World War Z, by Max Brooks, was a solid take on the zombie uprising. Creative and sweeping, he does a good job of looking around the world for his stories. It’s a little USA-centric, but I certainly forgive him that. While there are extra movers and shakers, he does a good job of looking for a wide variety of viewpoints, which really helps it feel like a world wide epidemic.
He does a good job of pointing out flaws in modern society, especially our desire to be seen “doing something” instead of accurately forecasting threats and responding appropriately. It’s a good read, and he wanders down all kinds of interesting side roads. The societies that emerge from the Zombie War feel real, and he never looses track of the horrors of war… not of the changes those who survived have undergone.
Radio Freefall by Matthew Jarpe, is a cool future society. There’s a lot of apathy and a sense that the world doesn’t allow space for the next generation, but the music scene is still plugging away. The world he builds, with nationalist parties and the unification, and technology that feels authentic– a few things that are surprising, like a dedicated space presence, and a lot of things that feel like logical extrapolations of today.
I’m surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did; I’m not normally a fan of celebrity or rockstardom, but Riff is a cool guy who gets into interesting trouble. Things occasionally come together a little too exactly, but it all works in the moment.