Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Mary Sue Zombie Novels

As noted in my prior post, I'm reading a lot of zombie novels right now. Partly as escapism from my "mandatory" (ie research) reading and partly to keep my interest in playing ATZ. Final Fade-Out should be coming out in a couple of weeks, and I'm looking forward to trying some of the new rules out.

However....

There is a recurring type of Zombie novel that tasks me. A lot. Its what I'll call the "Mary Sue" Zombie novel. For those of you who don't know, "Mary Sue" is a fan-fiction term that refers to a story where the author has introduced a character that is obviously meant to be the alter ego of the author. Now, this in itself isn't a bad thing....and certain people can point with justification that my "Those Who Remain Journal" fictions fall under this category. Quite true.

The type of MS story I hate though is when the character in question is an ex-SEAL who always KNEW this would happen and so just happens to have access to 3 M16A3s, 2 SIG-SAURs and a SAW in his closet. Oh, Night-Vision equipment too. The moment the dead hit the wall, they're out blowing away legions of the undead with glee and generally having a great time. If they have a wife or girlfriend, they are quickly killed by the dead and though the hero (always a "he") feels bad for a bit, this naturally leaves them single for the occasional hottie he manages to save during the course of the novel(s).

Bleh.

The above might make for good video games, and even a fun one-shot scenario for All Things Zombie....but pretty dull in a novel. I just wish these books had a warning label or something so I could avoid them. If others like such, that's cool....but I hate 'em!

Zombie Chow...and not a Superr-hero!

5 comments:

Simon Quinton said...

LOL Mary Sue Novels. I know what you mean if done well though they can be great. Day by Day Armageddon for me falls into that category as a classic. Wish they would get a move on with the third book!

Zombie Chow said...

Good point, and DBDA is done well. Mostly because the author, while a military guy, (IMO) isn't portrayed as a super-hero. He's competent but not standing out in the street gunning down hordes of zombies. He's running most of the time! Not to mention bad luck hits him a lot too, and his neighbor discovers things he misses. All in all a good novel and I've read both of them. Yes the sequel would be nice....along with Ben Tripp's !@#$ Rise Again sequel! ;)

ZC

lrqan said...

I'm with you on that matey boy. I often try and convert my batreps to prose. But time is an effort. It's a great past time. Keep up the good work.

Zombie Chow said...

Thanks lrqan! You're spot-on about the time it requires...I'm currently 2 "games" behind on my fiction and that takes more time than the games themselves. ;) Still, its a good exercise in writing...or so my wife tells me. LOL

ZC

Zabadak said...

"Mary Sue" eh ? I for one have never heard the term before, but I know the style of novel all too well.
Thanks for educating