Posts Tagged ‘Newsflesh Trilogy’

Cover Launch: FEEDBACK by Mira Grant.

Introducing a new beginning, and long-awaited, full-length novel return, to Mira Grant’s New York Times bestselling Newsflesh series: FEEDBACK.

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We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we unleashed something horrifying and unstoppable. The infection spread leaving those afflicted with a single uncontrollable impulse: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, a team of scrappy underdog reporters relentlessly pursue the facts while competing against the brother and sister blog superstars, the Masons.

Surrounded by the infected, and facing more insidious forces working in the shadows, they must hit the presidential campaign trail and uncover dangerous truths. Or die trying. 

FEEDBACK is a full-length Newsflesh novel that overlaps the events of the acclaimed first novel in the series, Feed, and offers a new entry point to this thrilling and treacherous world. 

For news and updates on FEEDBACK, sign-up for the official Mira Grant newsletter.

Praise for the Newsflesh series:

“Astonishing …a fascinating exploration of the future.” – New York Times

“Perfect summer apocalypse reading.” – io9 on Feed

“Gripping, thrilling, and brutal.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Feed

“As much brains as heart, and both are filling and delicious.”—The A. V. Club on Feed

“A wry and entertaining exploration of the way political corruption never stops – even after the zombie apocalypse.”—NPR Books on Blackout

“Zombie mayhem, political snark, and pointedly funny observations.” – Locus on Feed

“Intelligent and exciting…raises the bar for the genre.” Telegraph on Deadline

“Feed is a proper thriller with zombies.” – SFX on Feed

“Campy and yet smart, horror with heart, a summer beach read that will stay in your head.” – RT Book Reviews on Deadline

feed-cover deadline-cover US (available now) | UK | AUS Grant_Rise-HC

Design by Lauren Panepinto & Rob Sheridan

New Newsflesh Fiction: HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA

How Green This LandThe Newsflesh trilogy was, by and large, the story of a post-zombie America. The apocalypse had come, we had survived and even thrived in our own weird way, and now it was time to follow first a Presidential campaign and now the backlash from same as it unfolded. There were hints throughout the books of the way the Rising had treated and continued to treat other countries–London was still standing, large swaths of Canada had been abandoned, almost the entire Indian sub-continent was currently considered “lost”–but the nature of the story I was telling in those books meant that we were somewhat geographically constrained. Meanwhile, the entire world was dealing with the Kellis-Amberlee virus, and the resulting “whoops we accidentally raised the dead” issues that came with it.

Now, for what looks like a total subject change:

I love venomous snakes. I think they’re beautiful, fascinating, and worthy of study. Which naturally means that I love Australia, a continent which contains more venomous snakes than anybody really needs (even me). Visiting Australia in 2010 was the culmination of a life-long dream, and I immediately (as is my wont) started contemplating how Australia would deal with the Rising. Probably like everybody else, I decided: running, screaming, dying, and gunfire. Not necessarily a story that needed to be told.

Ah, but how would they deal with things after the Rising? From that question came HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA (US | UK) which I literally described as “animal husbandry in Australia, with zombies” whenever anyone asked me what it was going to be about. That was, of course, the simple answer. It’s about perception versus reality; safety versus freedom; what constitutes an acceptable risk; what lines have to be drawn between humanity and the natural world; and zombie kangaroos. The zombie kangaroos are, of course, key.

If you haven’t read the Newsflesh books, you probably shouldn’t read HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA. Unlike the previous two novellas set in this universe (COUNTDOWN [US | UK] and “SAN DIEGO 2014: THE LAST STAND OF THE CALIFORNIA BROWNCOATS [US | UK]), this isn’t about what came before the series: it’s about one of the things that came after, and while not every character who made it through the trilogy alive shows up “onscreen,” most of them are mentioned at least in passing. You most definitely can read it anyway–nobody’s going to stop you, least of all me–but I think you might be happier if you read the books first.

If you have read the Newsflesh books, this is your opportunity to follow Mahir Gowda into a part of the post-zombie world that you haven’t seen before, and watch him try to deal with it without just turning around and going back to bed.

I like it quite a lot. I hope that you will, too.

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HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA is available now in the US and on July 17th in the UK.

 

PSA: Zombie Outbreak Ravages San Diego

It’s that time of year again. Time for a horde of readers, superheroes, and Jedi to descend on the city of San Diego for Comic Con!

To kickoff the festivities, a new piece of Newsflesh short fiction is available now and set during San Diego Comic-Con…the very last San Diego Comic-Con.

It was the first days of the Rising and no one realized that most of the people who picked up their badges that fateful weekend would never make it out alive. This was the last stand of the California Browncoats.

SAN DIEGO 2014 a really fun story whether you are a regular at the convention or not. If you couldn’t make it out to California,  you can still get a taste for the experience by picking up SAN DIEGO: 2014.  For those of you who are going to Comic Con,  then definitely stop by our booth:  #1118. We will be giving away the yellow button that you see on the cover at various times throughout the weekend. Mira will also be at the show this year so check out her panels and signings.

The only thing we ask is that you leave the zombie plague at home. Remember the Rising doesn’t happen until for another two years, but if you must shamble on over to San Diego, please snack responsibly and try not eat the cast of Firefly.

Details on all our Comic-Con events are  here.

What if things had ended…differently? FED by Mira Grant

BLACKOUT (US | UK | AUS) released yesterday and I’m sure by now many of have heard the news that the film rights of FEED (US | UK | AUS) have been optioned. So what else can go right for the hordes of Newsflesh fans shambling towards their local bookstores? Check out FED by Mira Grant — an alternate ending to FEED.

Be advised there are major spoilers for FEED contained therein.  If you haven’t read FEED yet, don’t go any further.  These books are fantastic as the many Newsflesh fans will tell you. You’ll want to enjoy every surprising twist and turn on what has been one wild ride for the Mason siblings.

But if the crew of After the End Times are old friends of yours, then by all means continue and read FED beneath the cut or download a pdf.

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An Interview of Mira Grant by Seanan McGuire

BLACKOUT (US | UK | AUS), the conclusion to the epic trilogy that began in the Hugo-nominated FEED and the sequel, DEADLINE, is on-sale today! As a special treat, both Seanan and Mira were able to join us on the blog today for a little chat about the final volume of the Newsflesh trilogy.

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SEANAN: As part of an effort to strain the fabric of reality even further, eventually allowing our dread lords to work their way through from the dark dimensions beyond, I have agreed to interview Mira Grant, who nominally doesn’t exist. Mira, thanks for agreeing to talk with me today.

MIRA: Like I had a choice? You’re talking to yourself. On a bench. In a public park. Honestly, I’m just hanging out to see how long it takes before someone calls security on you.

SEANAN: Aren’t you…sweet. Okay. Questions time. You wrote the Newsflesh trilogy for Orbit.

MIRA: That’s not a question.

SEANAN: I’m getting there! Newsflesh. Science makes zombies. Zombies eat people. What was the appeal of doing scientific zombies, and what made you think you had something new to say about the walking dead?

MIRA: Everyone has something new to say, about everything. No two people have the same perspective on anything; sometimes the same person won’t even have the same perspective from hour to hour. I wanted to see what would happen if I started explaining zombies. As for the science…I love me some horrifying, disgusting, man-was-not-meant-to-know science. Every meal with me is like high school biology as taught by Herbert West. If I was going to do zombies, I was going to do science zombies.

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BLACKOUT releases tomorrow

The world is preparing for Mira Grant’s BLACKOUT (US | UK | AUS), the final installment of the Newsflesh Trilogy that began with FEED (US | UK | AUS) and continues with the Hugo-shortlisted DEADLINE. (US | UK | AUS). We have seen signs and portents:

For those who can’t wait, io9.com has the first chapter.

For the adventurous reader, there’s a way to unlock chapter two.

And read an alternate ending to Feed on Facebook. Not on Facebook? Don’t worry.  Fed will be available to everyone this Wednesday.

BLACKOUT is right around the corner. This “high-energy tale of life and politics among the dead and not-so-dead” (Publishers Weekly) will be available beginning May 22, 2012.

Rise up while you can.

Cracked the BLACKOUT code?

It has been over a week since a group of intrepid bloggers hacked into the CDC’s Central Archives and found the encrypdated data which unlocked an extended excerpt from Mira Grant’s upcoming novel, BLACKOUT – the third and final volume of the Newsflesh Trilogy.

Were you able to figure out the passwords? You can still play along by going here; however, you can also just skip straight to the answers beneath the cut.

Chapter One of BLACKOUT was previously released on io9. You’re going to want to read that before continuing with our extended excerpt. If you’ve never read any of the Newsflesh books, be warned – there are jaw-dropping spoilers to be found in these excerpts.

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Orbit signs up two new novels and three novellas by Mira Grant!

Following the rampant success of Mira Grant’s zombie novels FEED (US | UK | ANZ) and DEADLINE (US | UK | ANZ), and after the forthcoming BLACKOUT (US | UK | ANZ), Orbit will publish three novellas in the Newsflesh world:  Countdown (already released in the US and soon-to-be-published in the UK), San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats, and How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea. As inventive, fast-paced, and dare-I-say charming as the novels, these shorter works provide a more global view of the Rising.

And the centerpiece of the deal is a duology of completely new novels: science fiction thrillers titled PARASITOLOGY and SYMBIOGENESIS, drawing on the author’s abiding fascination with subjects medical, biological, parasitological, and beyond. We are delighted that Mira Grant (alter-ego of bestselling author Seanan McGuire) will be launching a new series with Orbit. It promises to be cool, creepy, and incredibly fun.

Follow along on Facebook for more news about the Newsflesh Trilogy and forthcoming novellas.