Posts Tagged ‘Zombies’

Summer School, Newsflesh Style!

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Dust off your lunch box, pencil case, three-ring binder, and zombie survival skills.

THE DAY THE DEAD CAME TO SHOW AND TELL is an all new digital Newsflesh novella by Mira Grant, but this time we’re experiencing the early days of the Rising from a place that is supposed to be safe: elementary school.

Outside the classroom walls the Rising was spreading, but inside was a carefully protected sanctuary against the growing threat.

Or so the teachers and students thought.

THE DAY THE DEAD CAME TO SHOW AND TELL is available now in the US and UK.

Survive. Rescue. Rebuild – THE REMAINING is available now!

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Today marks the first print publication of the opening book in D.J. Molles’s beloved Remaining series, a story of one soldier’s mission in a ravaged world: SURVIVE, RESCUE, REBUILD. This paperback is a special edition, with an introductory price, featuring the bonus novella THE REMAINING: FAITH.

This series is a must-read for fans of The Walking Dead and World War Z:

In a steel-and-lead encased bunker a Special Forces soldier wait on his final orders.

On the surface a bacterium has turned 90% of the population into hyper-aggressive predators.

Now Captain Lee Harden must leave the bunker and venture into the wasteland to rekindle a shattered America.

Paperbacks of the the next books in the series will follow each of the next three months, here is the full release schedule:

Book 1: THE REMAINING, including The Remaining: Faith novella (May 27, 2014)
Book 2: THE REMAINING: AFTERMATH (June 24, 2014)
Book 3: THE REMAINING: REFUGEES (July 29, 2014)
Book 4: THE REMAINING: FRACTURED (August 25, 2014)

These two novellas, as well as the ebooks of the first four books in the series, are also on sale now in ebook editions:

Novella 1: THE REMAINING: TRUST
Novella 2: THE REMAINING: FAITH*

*Starting today the ebook edition of book 1, The Remaining, will also include the novella, The Remaining: Faith. If you’ve previously purchased the Orbit ebook edition of the first novel you can request an updated file of that book, which will include the Remaining: Faith novella, from most retailers.

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.

…

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

 

Curiosity: The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sherriff

My anthology, WASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE, contains most of my favorite examples of short-form post-apocalyptic fiction. And on the occasion of the UK release of WASTELANDS  (and my zombie anthology, THE LIVING DEAD), Orbit asked me to provide a guest post, so I thought I’d tell you about a curiosity of long-form post-apocalyptic fiction that I discovered during the course of my research into the genre.

Discovered in the ruins of Notting Hill at some unspecified future date, The Hopkins Manuscript is ostensibly a “day-to-day record,” written by retired school teacher/chicken breeder/amateur astronomer Edgar Hopkins, which chronicles the days immediately before and after the shocking discovery that the Moon’s decaying orbit will bring it crashing down into the Earth.

Doom is prophesized, but the world is not destroyed as expected.  Instead, the Moon strikes the Earth a glancing blow to the western coast of Europe .  Being nothing more than a “hollow body with a thick crust,” it collapses and forms a new landmass that bridges Europe and the Americas, like a cosmic puzzle piece settling into place.   Amicable plans are made by an international council to divide up ownership of this new land, but upon discovering that the Moon is not a lifeless rock—that instead it is rich in natural resources and possesses enough minerals “to give wealth to this world undreamed of”—the specter of war raises its ugly head in the immediate aftermath of the greatest cataclysm humanity has ever seen.

R.C. Sherriff (1896-1975)—a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist—is perhaps most remembered for his filmic collaborations with legendary Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale (1889-1957); the two worked together on several films, including an adaptation of Sherriff’s best-known play, Journey’s End (1930), The Invisible Man (1933), One More River (1934), and The Road Back (1937).  In The Hopkins Manuscript, Sherriff presents a dark vision that is both a reflection on humanity’s attitudes in the aftermath of The Great War and a portent of things to come when one considers its publication date of 1939—the year World War II began.  Though its science is obviously laughable, the novel remains thematically relevant and is an engaging read that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in seeing an historical view of the apocalypse through the literature of its time.

 

THE LIVING DEAD and WASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE are both now available as to buy digital-only editions in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

The Living Dead, an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams, featuring short stories abotu zombies from Stephen Kind, George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Laurell K Hamilton, Clive Barker, Nancy Holder, Joe R Landsdale, Joe Hill and many othersWastelands - an anthology of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic short stories deaturing Stephen King, George R R Martin, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, Jonathan Lethem and many others

THE LIVING DEAD – a zombie anthology featuring Stephen King, George R. R. Martin and Neil Gaiman

We’ve recently released a digital anthology of zombie stories from some of the biggest names in science fiction, fantasy and horror. Clawing their way to a device near you, get ready for . . .

***dramatic drum roll and lightning flash***

The Living Dead, an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams, featuring short stories abotu zombies from Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Laurell K Hamilton, Clive Barker, Nancy Holder, Joe R. Landsdale, Joe Hill and many othersTHE LIVING DEAD!

An anthology featuring highly original zombie stories from the likes of Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Clive Barker, Laurell K. Hamilton, Will McIntosh, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Poppy Z. Brite, Joe R. Lansdale and many, many more (see a full list here)

From Dawn of the Dead to White Zombie, from Resident Evil to World War Z (the movie is released today in the UK!), zombies have invaded popular culture, becoming the monsters best expressing the Western world’s fears and anxieties. So it’s time to face your fears and get up close and personal . . .

Wastelands - an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams featuring apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic short stories from Stephen King, George R R Martin, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, Jonathan Lethem and many othersThis anthology is edited by the illustrious John Joseph Adams, a bestselling editor of multiple anthologies and a four-time finalist for the World Fantasy and Hugo Awards. We’ve also released his WASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE, an anthology of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic from some equally impressive names. Last week we heard from several of the authors involved in WASTELANDS about what inspired their stories (read the post here).

Today we focus on THE LIVING DEAD, and just what was going through the heads of some of the contributing authors when they came to pen their tale . . .

Will McIntosh on “Followed”

“Followed” is probably the most controversial story I’ve written, a zombie tale where the zombies are the victims, the living the predators.  Evidently the story resonated with others.  It was adapted as a short film, and the film inspired a sermon at a Baptist church.

Susan Palwick on “Beautiful Stuff”

Humans often use the dead as fuel for our vengeance, as an excuse to kill the living.  I wrote ‘Beautiful Stuff’ because I wondered what the dead might say about that if they had the chance. (more…)

WASTELANDS – featuring Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, Cory Doctorow and many others

Today we digitally release a ground-breaking and definitive anthology of short stories from some of the very biggest names in science fiction and fantasy . . . Presenting:

Wastelands - an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams featuring apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic short stories from Stephen King, George R R Martin, Orson Scott Card, Paolo Bacigalupi, Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Bear, Nancy Kress, Jonathan Lethem and many othersWASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE

An anthology of post-apocalyptic short fiction from genre heavyweights such as Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, Cory Doctorow, Gene Wolfe, Jonathan Lethem, Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell, Jack McDevitt, Neal Barrett Jr., Richard Kadrey and many many others….

(see a full list here)

 

The Living Dead, an anthology edited by John Joseph Adams, featuring short stories abotu zombies from Stephen Kind, George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Laurell K Hamilton, Clive Barker, Nancy Holder, Joe R Landsdale, Joe Hill and many othersAt the same time, we’re also releasing THE LIVING DEAD – an anthology of zombie stories from even more superstars of the SFF genre . . . More on that next week, but for now it’s fair to say that if you’re into zombies and apocalypses, both these anthologies are perfect reading whilst waiting to see the WORLD WAR Z movie! They’re both edited by John Joseph Adams, the bestselling editor of many anthologies and a four-time finalist for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

Today we’re focusing on WASTELANDS: STORIES OF THE APOCALYPSE. We asked the authors involved to give us a few comments about what inspired them to write the stories included . . .

Cory Doctorow on his story “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth”from WASTELANDS

The most important thing about a system is how it fails, though mostly we pay attention to how it works. Who cares how many houses you could buy on cheap credit if they all end up as subprime roadkill when the whole crooked business unravels?

We tell ourselves that civilisation fails badly. Stories I love, from Day of the Triffids to 1984, paint a picture of a world where disaster is attended by riots, rape and cruelty. The reality – shown time and again – is that disaster is attended by kindness, care, and compassion. When the lights go out, we don’t eat each other, we help each other.

‘Elite panic’ is the sociological phenomenon that causes the masters of the universe to send guns into Haiti after the quake – ahead of the humanitarian aid. It’s why the City of London is blanketed in CCTVs. It’s why police all over the world are so pants-wettingly terrified of public protest and treat every march like a riot in potentia.

We need to tell ourselves stories about the goodness of our neighbours as remedy for the vile slander that our stories have told us about the human race. It is the only way to counter elite panic. (more…)

Cover Reveal: HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA

Get ready to put those survival skills to the test and return to the world of the bestselling Newsflesh Trilogy. HOW GREEN THIS LAND, HOW BLUE THIS SEA is an all new digital novella by Mira Grant, but this time we’re headed to the outback. And yes, yes that is a zombie kangaroo (thus setting a new definition for the word awesome). Check out the cover and synopsis below, and pre-order your copy today from your preferred retailer.

howgreen-highrez

Synopsis: Post-Rising Australia can be a dangerous place, especially if you’re a member of the government-sponsored Australia Conservation Corps, a group of people dedicated to preserving their continent’s natural wealth until a cure can be found. Between the zombie kangaroos at the fences and the zombie elephant seals turning the penguin rookery at Prince Phillip Island into a slaughterhouse, the work of an animal conservationist is truly never done–and is often done at the end of a sniper rifle.

 

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.

(more…)

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.

***

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.

(more…)