|
One of the big books of the season, THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin, is a very good EOW book where government-created vampires have destroyed most of humanity. Cronin started out in literary fiction and it shows, with lengthy but very well-written digressions and character building to go with the post-apocalyptic vamp-fighting action. Cronin got an enormous sum for both movie rights and two more books in the series before the first was even finished, so be aware that it is definitely the start of a series rather than a self-contained work. One of my favorite books I read this year.
Another well done EOW written by Steven King is his more recent Under the Dome, where a small Maine town is cut off from the rest of the world by a dome (methinks King must have seen The Simpsons Movie and thought - Great idea!). The more I get away from this story, the weaker it became for me - one-dimensional characters (including one transparent Dick Cheney clone, so those with political sensitivities might want to stay away), absurd length, and a somewhat compressed timeline - but I couldn't put it down while I was reading.
|