Zombies and Ancient Rome - Together at Last

[tbrookside]

Since I share the four and five star reviews, I guess I should share my three star review as well.

This book was an entertaining read. The author did a good job of recreating the feel of a classical text. The premise behind the book is a faux historical account of a zombie attack during the classical Roman era. The original text has been "restored" and presented to the public in the form of a scholarly paper complete with scholarly footnotes. The presentation is what makes this story stand out from other zombie horror books. You really will get the impression you are reading a long lost piece of history. Unfortunately, the book is too short. I read this in under two hours. A lot of details were never fleshed out and at times the author forgot that the reader may not share his frame of reference in terms of the "historical" facts. So there are these wholes in the story that can be annoying.

I actually have to acknowledge that this a fair criticism. I came at this project with a desire to write "A Penguin Classics book...with zombies" and one of my "inside jokes" was a poke at the Penguin editors' notorious habit of footnoting some very basic things ("Gladius - a Roman short sword") while occasionally failing to footnote more esoteric material. That has the potential to occasionally annoy, I'm sure. But at least the reader was entertained, right?

[januaryman]

As soon as I get near enough to a wifi hookup, I'll try it. Sounds like fun. Congrats on the good reviews.

[tbrookside]

Thank you, Januaryman!

[tbrookside]

Another reviewer writes:

Brookside hits a home run with this self-published 100-page story by thoroughly commiting to presenting the story as a genuine Roman manuscript. The translator's introduction analyzes the document's discovery and provenance, even delving into the fact that if it were fiction, it would've been produced hundreds of years before the first "proto-novels" were written. Brookside includes numerous footnotes throughout the story enhancing the understanding of the Roman world through translation and cultural analysis.

Brookside's writing is smooth, and he's nailed the perfect tone that blends "ancient manuscript" with blood-and-gore zombie storytelling.

[tbrookside]

Barnes and Noble keeps randomly crediting me with additional sales of this title on dates in December that have already passed.

Whichever of you guys has built a time machine and is going back in time to buy my book on 12/19 and 12/21 - thanks!

[tbrookside]

Another review adds:

I enjoyed the last days of jericho so much I decided to try this book out as well. I loved it!!

I haven't read too many historical fictions, I don't care for them much. Now that I have read these two by this author my tastes have changed, and I have also gotten more intersted in ancient history.

This story in particular is a refreshing change from the usual zombie fiction, which I enjoy, but have read so many of them they have become cliched. Zombies seem scarier when presented in a differant context. The authors use of footnoted facts added a bit of authenticity to an age old topic.

My only complaint is that the number of footnotes seemed exessive and slightly interupted my reading. On the other hand, I found those notes to be interesting as well, so no rating points were deducted.

[tbrookside]

Those of you who have read and enjoyed De Bello Lemures might be interested in checking out some of the source material that I drew upon to write it.

For example, Moore Ainsworth O'Brien's Madness in Ancient Literature was a useful resource, both for considering how a poetry-spouting Roman might respond to a phenomenon like zombies, and how a Roman writer might have described his own battle-madness.

[tbrookside]

A great online resource for information about Lucius Artorius Castus is available here.

Linda Malcor's article both makes a very good case for Castus as Arthur, and has a lot of fun historical detail.

[caleb72]

Thomas,

Still having problems with Smashwords with this one? I only mention it because I realised I didn't buy this book in my last trip to the checkout at Smashwords and thought I must not have had it on my list for some reason. However, the was a reason - it's not at Smashwords.

Regards
Caleb

[tbrookside]

Caleb, to the best of my knowledge Smashwords still won't allow me to upload a book that includes footnotes.

I'm a little worried about the footnotes overall, because I had a report from a reader who uses the Nook Color indicating they had problems with them. They appear to work on the standard Nook, and the Kindle supports them perfectly.

[tbrookside]

Amazon is currently discounting this title to $2.51.

I imagine this is to match the Google Editions price.

[tbrookside]

Another bibliographic element:

Blair's Roman Britain and Early England: 55 B.C.-A.D. 871 was a useful resource. Armorica's Gallo-Roman culture in some ways had more in common with Roman Britain than with the highly Latinized parts of southern Gaul.

[tbrookside]

A nice examination of the differences between the ancient Greek and Roman conceptions of the supernatural can be found in Felton's Haunted Greece and Rome: Ghost Stories from Classical Antiquity.

I wish more of this bibliographic material was available in ebook format!

But I'm sure it will all be available eventually. Google will see to that, if no one else does.

[tbrookside]

The Varro work containing the references to "miasma" that Castus ruminates on can be downloaded from the Google Store.

[tbrookside]

On March 1, I will be processing a price increase for this title.

But you can still grab it at the $2.99 price today!