Will Sargent reviewed Feed by Seanan McGuire
Review of 'Feed' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
Not nearly as dumb as the cover would imply -- the RSS icon on the front cover made me think that blogging somehow caused zombies to happen. The reality of the book is much smarter, in that it's about a world in which zombies are a chronic problem (virus based, with ANYTHING over 50 lbs that dies for any reason coming back bitey) and blogging is the primary means by which society communicates. Because everyone is damn terrified of going outside or travelling.
The main characters are Georgia (named after George Romero), Shaun, and Buffy. They're young but intelligent, and inclined to take risks that most of the populace wouldn't even think of taking. They exist in a society very different from our own, more advanced in places and with a degree of functioning paranoia from a world in which taking down zombies is taught alongside CPR and defensive driving. …
Not nearly as dumb as the cover would imply -- the RSS icon on the front cover made me think that blogging somehow caused zombies to happen. The reality of the book is much smarter, in that it's about a world in which zombies are a chronic problem (virus based, with ANYTHING over 50 lbs that dies for any reason coming back bitey) and blogging is the primary means by which society communicates. Because everyone is damn terrified of going outside or travelling.
The main characters are Georgia (named after George Romero), Shaun, and Buffy. They're young but intelligent, and inclined to take risks that most of the populace wouldn't even think of taking. They exist in a society very different from our own, more advanced in places and with a degree of functioning paranoia from a world in which taking down zombies is taught alongside CPR and defensive driving. And then they get picked to cover the next presidential campaign.
The story from there is interesting, and the characters are solid and there are ZOMBIES in abundance. The actual politics is ludicrous and the villain may as well come with a "Kiss Me, I'm Evil" apron on him, but it's very nice to read a novel that not only takes the internet into account, but is based around it as a means of communication in the same way that you see cell phones in movies. The world in Feed is the Future, and they take their technology for granted and depend on it for survival, without being impressed or flashy about it. That's an achievement in itself.