A Short Story Interlude

Z: Zombie Stories edited by J.M Lassen

When the zombie apocalypse comes, it's not just those crusty old folks who will struggle against the undead, it's young people.

What happens when you come of age during the zombie apocalypse? Z: Zombie Stories has the answer to that question.

Z: Zombie Stories gathers together some of the hottest zombie fiction of the last two decades, from authors including Kelly Link, Jonathan Maberry, and Catherynne M. Valente.

These stories focus on those who will inherit a world overrun with the living dead: a young man who takes up the family business of dealing with the undead, a girl dealing with her abusive father... who has become a zombie, a poet who digs up the wrong grave, and a Viking maiden imprisoned with the living dead...

I seem to be have technological problems. I requested this book from NetGalley, loaded it on my e-reader, and now it absolutely refuses to let me read the next story. I even tried re-dowloading it. It wouldn't go to the next page, so I tried to skip to a later page. It won't do anything. I am a bit disappointed, so I will have to get a print copy when it comes out. In the meantime, I did get to read the first story, so I figured I might as well at least talk about that.

Family Business by Jonathan Maberry

I was thinking I was getting a bit tired of short stories lately, but a collection of short stories about zombies sounded right up my alley. I was a bit disappointed it was PDF format. I hate PDF format, but I was determined to get beyond that because there are stories by Kelly Link and Catherynne Valente in the collection. Plus, some new-to-me authors, like Jonathan Maberry. I thought it would be a great read to finish October with since I have completed Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman.

The first story was really quite good. Imagine a world where there was a huge epidemic and a large part of the population became zombies. The people that were not affected had to move to smaller areas in order to stay safe. The zombies took over everything else. The story focuses on two brother. The younger one is close to the age of 15, and in that society it means he has to find a job soon. His brother is a considerable amount older and has his own business. The younger brother does not want to work with his older brother, so he decides to try anything else but. The only thing is that the jobs do not work out.

In the end, the two brothers get the chance to work together. It turns out to be a learning experience for both the readers and the younger brother. He had an idea about his brother that turned out to be entirely wrong. The story actually turns out to be rather heart-warming. If I say too much more, I will give the story away, so that's all you get. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the rest of the stories in this collection at some point.

I will be back later today with my next edition of Friday Reads.