I would like to say the zombies are what makes this book fantastic- after all, it does start with a guy poking a zombie with a stick- but what makes Feedso bloody amazing is the sheer scope of its humanity. The book takes human nature and tears it apart and shows you all the hidden bits you never wanted to know about. It will give you goosebumps. It will make you laugh. It will make you angry. It will make you cry. It is that well done.
It starts with an amazing world build. Humans cured cancer, they cured the common cold, and those two cures blended in just the wrong way and unleashed one nasty virus upon the world. The good news, humans survived the initial zombie event. The bad news? Humans all carry the zombie virus, in its dormant state, and it can be triggered. Add in the fact all mammals over 40 pounds can also ‘go zombie’ and trigger the virus out of dormancy in a human, and lets just say animal husbandry and pet ownership is not as common as it once was.
Now, lets move to the social aspect. Bloggers are the news now, and engage in bids for ratings that are fascinating to read about. The whole blogger/news infrastructure is beautifully done, and for someone who spends as much time communicating online as I do, it rang with enough possible truth that I found it enthralling.
The book revolves around a bloggers covering the presidential campaign in this environment, with enough plots and conspiracies and real nasty political maneuvering to keep the pages turning at a frantic speed. The usual novel format is broken in places by ‘posts’ from the main characters, adding to the urgency and strain of building events, and making the characters almost painfully real.
No punches are pulled in this one, and it is an absolutely amazing book as a result.
So Many Books, So Little Time 