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I wanted to like this, I really did.

But the premise defies all belief. Of all people, the CDC cloned Georgia Mason. Even in a world where zombies walk, this makes absolutely no sense from the CDC's perspective, no matter who is leaning on them.

And given the amount of putative power that the CDC has (spies, government assassins, firebombing Berkeley), Shawn Mason should be flat out dead. Even armed with rich heiress friends, a genius computer hacker, smugglers and people to fake identities, the CDC tracks him down multiple times. At best, journalists spur those in power to do something about the system; they have no direct power themselves. Shaun Mason going up against the CDC is like an fly going up against a semi tanker.

Except oh, they're friends with the Vice President. And the Secret Service. And it makes absolutely no sense that the Vice President or anyone in the executive branch needs Georgia or Shaun's help for anything, let alone go through such ridiculous machinations.

I just... yeah. Even allowing for artistic license and protagonists smart enough to poke holes in their own plot (Georgia in particular), this just doesn't hold up. Georgia and Shawn are well rounded characters, but the antagonists are too cartoonish and short-sighted to be realistic, and the repeated trope of "meet smart people, get checked for virus, admire tight security and lots of guns, go inside and chat, come outside to chaos and zombies" gets really old.

It's a mishmash. It reminds me of The Iron Dragon's Daughter in some ways -- there's magic that keeps people alive in the service of an undying emperor who is holding down the fort until "god" returns, but society has advanced to the point where there are t-shirts and some small amount of science... oh, and the protagonist might be crazy and hallucinating some times.

And, given the presence of 50 prima donna immortals (all chosen for being the best in their fields, with immortality conditional in STAYING the best), there's no small amount of drama. In fact, immortality allows the execution of the biggest and most impressive grudge matches that I've ever seen, with moves that are impressive in their execution and patience.

That being said, I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. It's simply too scattered. There are a number of books that have the same feel to it, and this book is clearly set up for a series that makes the ending somewhat unsatisfying.

An interesting story by an interesting woman, despite the fact that so much of the story is about her reaction to her parents and her grandparents. Noelle's father is the strong silent type of man, whose only passion is acting. Noelle's mother is a no-nonsense, practical woman who doesn't think she's interesting. Noelle's father is strong and silent because his big fear is that people will know he likes dressing up in women's clothing. Then he decides to come out. You'd figure that would make enough of a story, but really the book is about people's idea of themselves, and the grandmother is a perfect example of this. Noelle, Granny and Mom end up playing roles of their own, and find out that they're just as restrictive and self-defeating as the strong man Dad tries to be. Especially interesting is how Noelle's own sexuality and personality is shaped by her father, even without him knowing it, as she reflects on her own sexual needs and beliefs while talking to some seriously disturbed pre-op transexuals just after her father's operation.

Well, I finished it. This book sat on my shelf for more than a year before I picked it up and started reading. It's a book of short stories, mostly fantasy based.

Most of the stories are sad ones. They're about men who sail in a harbor that a child drowned in. A woman who goes from being kept in a cage by a giant until she's fat enough to eat, only to escape to a marriage in the suburbs with a husband and two children that seems even more surreal than the giant did. Two men, tired of their failures, who take a drug that only shows them how clearly they have lost. The recovered diary of a small fairy that lives in a sandcastle, living so fast that it dies 80 years later over the course of a single day. These stories are poignant, never overly sentimental or precious, with language so well crafted that each sentence rings like a clear bell.

In short, this was one of the most annoying, manipulative reading experiences I've had. Not even having the good grace to be mawkish, instead it aims for your soft and exposed emotional gonads and repeatedly kicks in your sensitive areas while you're still wondering what in God's name you did to deserve this treatment. It's as if someone took The Notebook and Terms of Endearment and then wrapped it in a Saturday Morning Cartoon Show so you're still wide open to the base emotional manipulation this evil fucker is prone to.

You know Twilight Sparkle? Well, I have some bad for you. She has cancer. But she's never looked so beautiful.