Okay, so here's the deal. I promised to have this book read and reviewed two weeks ago. Which, if we want to get technical...I did. But being that Deadland Rising is the final chapter in Aukes Deadland Saga I absolutely had to reread it before I could give my final thoughts. Honestly, I'm still not sure how to convey how I feel about the book in mere words.
So here's the gist of it. Camp Fox is finito and the group heads for New Eden. Of course, along the way they're hit with a bunch of roadblocks--and I don't mean just traffic jams. By the time they arrived, even though it didn't take up too much time in the book, I felt as if it was a complete tale that could successfully stand alone as a novella. But Aukes trudged on; determined to get out every last drop of story to her readers. Then we're given a treat and hopes of a cure surface. Without giving away too much detail, by the time the group leaves the church I felt as if that hump of the story could have also stood alone as a successful novella...but wait, there's more! Aukes kept going, bringing us to the capitol and introducing a benevolent dictator with wildly misguided intentions. Here I found myself yelling at the characters, "don't you know never to take candy from strangers?!" Okay, so they didn't take any candy, but still, they had quite the duh moment and it bit them in the arse. That's all I'll share about the plot, even though there's much more in between and after. Some things you just have to experience for yourselves.
Before I get down to the best bits, I want to share the one niggling thing that I can't totally get on board with. The story relays that the virus is even more virulent outside the host, and infection rates increase. Now, I know that a miniscule number viruses can live outside the host on nonporous fomites for up to a week, however after twenty-four hours, it's ability to spread degrades much like a medication's half-life. So, not that I couldn't get past the scientific liberties, because--after all--this is a work of fiction. I just found it pulled me out of the story whenever it came up because my clinical brain questioned it every time. No harm, no foul, though...and it's such a minor gripe that it had no bearing on my rating of the book. I just happen to be neurotic, and let's be honest, I'm no microbiologist, so there's always the chance that I'm misinformed.
Now...on to what I really enjoyed about the book. I've been dying to see how Aukes dealt with the two creepy kids, and was elated to find not only them, but another tertiary character similarly afflicted, become their own little arc within the book. In fact I'd love to see a short story about the kids that goes further in-depth with the hows and whys, or maybe even gives a glimpse into their Z-addled brains.
I'm happy Aukes didn't go heavy on the lovey-dovey stuff with Cash and Clutch. It would have detracted from the tone set in the previous books and I think she gave readers enough of a hint without making it gag-city.
I'm totally a dog person, but let me be the first to say, I definitely do not want to hug any of the dogs in the Deadland Saga...well, maybe Diesel, but not the others (the feral, sickly strays). It stands to reason that domesticated animals would go feral if left to their own defenses, and that most of the small dogs would go the way of the dodo while large mongrels flourish. So it's believable, yet disturbing nonetheless.
All said and done, Aukes writes good fiction, no ifs ands or buts about it. A true testament to her talent is that a year can pass and I'll still remember the finer details of her stories. That, ladies and gentleman, is nothing short of spectacular. Even though I received this book in return for an honest review, I purchased a copy because it was just that good and deserved it!
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Top reviews from other countries
ROBERT RAYMOND
Above average zom slash and burn
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2023Robyn Reader
Great addition to the Zombie Genre
Reviewed in Australia on March 27, 2019