When I first saw this title I presumed it was about a bunch of giant nuclear radiated creatures who occasionally attack Tokyo. Instead, it is a book about a bunch of diseased undead that attack New York. Not that I was disappointed since I am big fan of the zombie genre. David Wellington's book starts out like a lot of traditional zombie tales, with those that remain after the undead holocaust doing whatever it takes to survive. In this case, a group of Somali schoolgirls armed to the teeth head to NYC with a former UN Weapons Inspector as their tour guide with the goal of getting much needed medical supplies to their ailing Warlord. In this universe the only places safe for humans are those where everyone was already armed and ready for battle before things fell apart. Thus the U.S. is toast but a chaotic and violence plagued place like Somali is prepared for the worst and is doing fairly well. It certainly makes some sense given the circumstances. The story takes a turn with the introduction of Gary, an undead fellow who has the unique ability to talk and think. He is later joined by some ancient mummies and an undead scottsman that have some plans for this new world. It was certainly interesting to explore the idea of the ancient dead coming back to life as well as the freshly killed. Throw in some more survivors hiding out on Manhattan and you have the cast for this creative tale. Overall, the writing style was easy to digest and the story went along smoothly. I was able to get through the book fairly quickly and it certainly was entertaining. It was a fun read. The criticisms I have here are related to some of the newer concepts delved into here. Don't get me wrong, the ideas were interesting and I am always up for something different. There were just a few areas that needed some more work in my humble opinion. I would have liked more depth to the explanation for the ancient undead and the supernatural reasoning behind the undead uprising. The author casually tosses in a few undead animals which was ok on its own, but wasn't elaborated on with much detail. It felt as if they were inserted as a convenience. I would have preferred more detailed explanations (as is the case in Brian Keene's "The Rising" and "City of the Dead") or if they were left out altogether. Finally, while I did find it interesting that the undead actually processing the flesh they devour to keep the rot down instead of it just passing through their system unused, I felt the idea of some zombies growing incredibly large (not just bigger, but taller) seemed a bit much. Most of these criticisms are me being nitpicky. I just prefer more detail when certain things like the above are introduced. Afterall, anything is feasible in a universe where the dead walk...and even perhaps talk. But if a new turn is introduced, I appreciate as much detail as I can get as to why it was thrust into the plot. A fun book and a author who kept my attention from start to finish. Creative for sure even though I wasn't totally hooked on some of the ideas. Definitely worth the time and effort and I look forward to the sequels.
Dopo una spaventosa epidemia, l'intero mondo industrializzato è caduto nelle mani degli zombie. La razza umana sopravvive solo in poche roccaforti, nelle regioni più arretrate della Terra. L'americano Dekalb, ex ispettore agli armamenti per le Nazioni Unite, riesce a trovare rifugio insieme alla figlia in uno di questi baluardi: la Libera Repubblica delle Donne della Somalia, governata da un matriarcato di origine tribale. Ma ben presto è costretto a rimettersi in viaggio per fare incursione nella sede centrale delle Nazioni Unite, proprio nella zona più infestata dai morti viventi: Manhattan. Nella situazione disperata in cui versa il pianeta, ormai privo di leggi comuni e di infrastrutture, è quello infatti l'unico luogo in cui c'è la speranza di reperire i farmaci per curare Mama Halima, il capo militare della Libera Repubblica, ammalata di Aids come molti suoi connazionali. La donna gli mette a disposizione un piccolo esercito di giovanissime soldatesse, armate fino ai denti e pronte a tutto. Ma per essere sicura della sua fedeltà, tiene in ostaggio la giovane figlia dell'ex funzionario. Nell'istante in cui il gruppo mette piede sull'isola, la caccia ha inizio e Dekalb non tarderà a scoprire di essere nel mirino di migliaia di mostri assetati di sangue. Ma fra di essi, ce n'è uno che sorprendentemente ha mantenuto le facoltà mentali di un uomo vivo e, dopo la catastrofe, ha acquisito poteri psichici eccezionali: Gary. Solo in mezzo agli zombie, costui è il testimone oculare della fine del mondo ma anche una figura enigmatica che sembra nascondere un'allucinante verità. Da lui Dekalb imparerà che non deve aver paura solo dei morti viventi: qualcosa di molto piu spaventoso minaccia la sua vita e quella degli altri membri della spedizione."Zombie Island" è la rivelazione di un nuovo, originale maestro dell'horror: un romanzo apocalittico, ricco di azione e di suspense, che si snoda con il ritmo sicuro dei migliori film di George Romero e dei videogame di ultima generazione. Un libro che promette di non farvi chiudere occhio.
What do You think about Monster Island (2006)?
Dekalb was part of a UN peacekeeping mission in Africa when the zombie apocalypse broke out, he falls under control of a warlord dying of AIDs without access to medication. He is sent on a mission to find the stockpile of medication held in the UN building in New York (yes it does stretch credulity a bit), there he finds much more than merely a city abandoned to the zombie horde. I feel like I should have liked this more than I did. It has all the right elements; an interesting twist on zombies, some very interesting and non-standard characters, and an interesting and unique plotline. But we never learn more than the bare minimum about the characters. It seems like the main character has a lot of development and changes in his personality, but since I had such weak grasp on what he was like before the events which seem to have changed him it’s hard to really say. Same with the villain, we’re given the barest bones of what he apparently was like before the events in the book, but the changes in his personality happen so quickly and with so little struggle that he still comes off as being two dimensional. It’s a fun read, but a little more time spent on the characters would have made it less mindless.
—Claire
I know zombies are far fetched (which doesn't stop me loving them). But David Wellington takes it to a whole new level, bordering on being plain stupid. It's poorly written but the plot itself irked me to the point I wondered why I was still reading it. I don't like the idea of a walking/talking zombie, I never really have, but I like the idea of ancient Egyptian mummies still being able to walk around even less. Not to mention the random Scottish ghost/thing that, for some reason, could control all the zombies, communicate through telepathy and bring zombies back to (un)life. Or that really stupid scene in which a zombie rips someone intestines out by just swiping him with its nails. Or the fact that some of the zombies ended up about 10 feet tall because apparently humans can spontaneously grow 4/5 feet based on their diet. It's stupid, too stupid for me to take it seriously and read the other two books. And too stupid for me to give it anything other than one star.
—Lauren
David Wellington's "Monster Island" began as a serialized blog about zombies which has now been published in book form. I hadn't heard of the blog before I started reading the book, and really only picked up the book because my dad has a weird sort of fascination with zombies (and does a very convincing zombie walk).Monster Island starts after an epidemic has wiped out most of the human population of Earth and turned them into zombies. Mr. Dekalb is a United Nations weapons inspector who has survived the epidemic and must travel to New York from Africa to procure AIDS medicine for a Somali warlord who is keeping his daughter captive. This somewhat flimsy aspect of the plot is what gives Dekalb his motivation to travel to New York with a cadre of well armed, Somali girl soldiers and begin slaughtering the undead in his quest to obtain the drugs from UN headquarters.Dekalb's main obstacle is Gary, a former doctor who has managed to turn himself into a zombie yet maintain his intelligence. Gary is eventually able to get the millions of NYC zombies to do whatever he wants and thus the stage is set for the big climactic battle between him and Dekalb's band of survivors.The book is an amusing read that isn't bad enough to put down but isn't exactly a page turner either. If you're into zombies it's worth checking out. Everyone else should probably skip it.
—Mike Rogers
