Reviews
The Newsflesh Trilogy remain some of my favourite SF ever, and I have always been delighted by the existence of novellas and short stories that push the world even farther. So imagine my joy when I found out everything was finally getting collected in a print copy with two new novellas! SHEER BLISS! Mira Grant really shines when she takes on the novella. She delivers a concentrated punch of emotions that wouldn't have fit in the books, but is absolutely enriching to read. Countdown offers readers a glimpse at the lead-up to the Rising, and unsurprisingly, you fall in love with characters who then die. It's a fast paced tale of science that took a wrong turn and people who didn't understand and everything is chaos. In other words, Countdown is a perfect introduction to the series! Everglades is the shortest work in the book, and deals with, as Grant comments, what happens to people who decide it's not worth living through the zombie apocalypse. Beautiful imagery, but the real star of her Rising based stories comes next... San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats. I will never not cry when reading this story. I cry just trying to talk about this story. I have always adored that Grant focuses on what happened AFTER the zombie apocalypse, but this story takes us into the first days of the Rising, and she writes a brilliant traditional zombie tale. If you are a Firefly fan, or just a geek in general, this story is constructed to punch you in the feels over and over again. "There's no place I can be Since I found Serenity..." *Sobs bitterly* How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea - The Newsflesh trilogy is quite American-centric because of the whole presidential plot thing, so Grant takes us all the way to Australia to show us how a different part of the world adapted. It's a great exploration of another approach to zombies, and a hopeful one at that. Treasure this moment of hope. You won't get much of it in the rest of the book. The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell - Grant spends a lot of time thinking about how an incredibly blood born infectious disease would affect society. Then she spends a lot of time thinking of how all the rules we implement to protect ourselves would go horribly wrong. She's a bit like Asimov in that sense (except he dealt with robots), except her stories usually make you want to rock back and forth for a bit while you weep. Schools, Grant shows us, are difficult in the post-Rising world, and a cascade of failures helps readers understand a character from the main trilogy. Please Don't Taunt the Octopus - Now that the CDC imploded, our favourite Canadian Dr Abbey Shannon is feeling a little less pressure. Well, that is until a strange, malnourished and dangerous woman lands on her doorstep. The CDC isn't her only enemy, but Shannon isn't going to give up her lab... All the Pretty Little Horses - It's easy to hate Stacey and Michael Mason. Until you read this story. They really were only trying their best... Coming to You Live - (view spoiler)[So this is the story EVERYONE asked for. However, I actually think it was a story that could have remained untold. Shaun and George ran off to Canada, but something is wrong with George. Very wrong. If you want the rest, go read the book! However, I will give you this. It's a happy ending. Perhaps the only real happy ending in this book (except the Australia piece). Maybe that's why it felt less impactful than the others - no one was trying to scope out my emotions through my skin with a spoon. However, given the hell that George and Shaun have gone through, it is nice to know that they come out this crisis all right. That they are healing. Because that's really what this story is about - moving on from the horrific events of the trilogy. (hide spoiler)] So is Rise a good purchase? YES. Now you don't have to track down the individual stories, or you can have them in print. The new stories are an absolute must read for funs, and Grant's work truly shines in her novellas. GO BUY THE BOOK! FEED HER CATS!
I really enjoyed reading more in the newsflash universe. All the short stories of what happened before we met Georgia and Shaun were really entertaining. My favorite story was the very last one where we get to get back to Georgia and Shaun and see how they were doing after the escaped to the Canadian wilderness..
