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!

I'm a Sucker

     After much consideration and initial comments about the playtest version of All Things Zombie: Final Fade Out, I've decided I will take the plunge and buy it when its available in the next month or so. What sold me finally on it was the repeated comments about streamlining and fewer reaction tests. I don't mind the RTs so much, except that they are chart-heavy and have no consistent formula. Hopefully FFO will fix this. Not to mention I'm a sucker for lighter rules in most games. ;)
     I will post Game 5 (Searching for more resources) when I finish it, but after its done I will hold off until FFO comes out and continue from there. Unlike many of my fellow bloggers, I'm going to pick up the campaign where I left off from BDTZ instead of starting afresh. That's mostly because I write concurrent fiction after each event and I don't want all that writing to go to waste. ;)
     Until then, I'm going to try posting more often. I've recently gotten a huge pile of zombie novels and will start posting about them. Not a full review, but a general synopsis, what kind of zombies are in it, and my general feelings about the novel. I do this because it seems that there are tons of books out there that I can't find any synopses for and I have to start reading them to find out if they are any good or not. So, to save others from this fate I will start posting. ;) I haven't decided yet, but I think I will title such posts "Gravel & Gems" for labeling purposes.

Zombie Chow

The 20 Questions

Being the sucker I am, I’ve decided to pitch into the current concept going around the Zombie Blogs and give my answers to the 20 q’s below. My thanks to Vampifan and the Angry Lurker for putting me onto these.

1.       Favorite Wargaming period and why?

I’d normally put All Things Zombie here, but part of why I like it is for the RPG Light focus so I’m not sure it applies. Barring that, I’d say World War I and late Colonials are my preferred time periods. 1/72 scale of course!

2.       Next period, money no object?

Probably a tie between American Civil War and Napoleonics, with the latter having a slight edge. Problem is you need hundreds of figs to do it “right” and if I didn’t have the suitable number of painted figs (and a large enough table) I just couldn’t do such justice.

3.       Favorite 5 films?

Listed in no particular order…

1. Avengers
2. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
3. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
4. D. Galaxy Quest
5. Final Countdown

4.       Favorite 5 TV series?

 

Again, in no particular order

1. The Walking Dead
2. Big Bang Theory
3. Doctor Who
4. Community
5. Thundarr the Barbarian <G>

5.       Favorite book and author?

Ack, just one? I’ll have to say Rise Again by Ben Tripp. Easily the best zombie novel I’ve read. Also kind of hate it because BT is taking too damn long for the sequel!

6.       Greatest General? Can’t count you!!

Robert E. Lee. Regardless of how you feel about the “country” he fought for, few generals in history were able to do as much as he did with so little to work with.

7.      Favorite Wargames rules?

I repeat what Vampifan said: “All Things Zombie by Two Hour Wargames. Their decision to cater for the solo gamer has been a life saver for me.”

8.      Favorite sport and team?

 

Anyone who’s playing the Dallas Cowboys at any given time. I hate the massive fanboy base of that team!

 

9.      If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?

Despite the temptation, I wouldn’t go and kill Hitler. Despite its horror w, WWII did actually bring some good with it, notably in race relations and the invalidation of the idea of Eugenics. Hmmm. Probably go back to 1880 or so and get filthy rich on patents. <G>

10.   Last meal on Death Row?

Scottish Eggs, prepared by my wife. Sure it’s a coronary waiting to happen, but I’m on Death Row so who cares?

11.   Fantasy relationship and why?

I’d like to have known Kaiser Wilhelm II (as a friend) and get directly from him the answers to several historical questions that bug me. If we’re talking women, I’m fortunate to have married the first woman I ever truly fell in love with so that’s covered. And I’m NOT just saying that because she reads my blog!

12.   If your life were a movie, who would play you?

Nathan Fillion

13.   Favorite Comic Superhero?

Nightcrawler, from the X-Men. At least the Chris Claremont version.

14.   Favorite Military quote?

“I’ve been accused of not respecting the time-honored traditions of the Royal Navy. What are these? Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash?”-Winston Churchill

15.   Historical destination to visit?

Potsdam in Germany

16.   Biggest Wargaming regret?

Not having kept my collection of Wargamers Digest from my earlier years.

17.   Favorite Fantasy job?

Benevolent Overlord LOL!

18.   Favorite Song Top 5?

1. Killing the Dragon by Dio
2. Behold the Machine by Vernian Process
3. Last Man Standing by Hammerfall
4. Don’t Tread on Me by Metallica
5. Empire by Queensryche

19.   Favorite Wargaming Moment?

Winning the 1989 Battletech Tournament with my pal and getting those trophies; one o which is on my wall right now.

20.   The miserable Git question, what upsets you?

OMG….this could take a while.

A. Academic dishonesty, especially by my students.

B. Cell phones; hate ‘em all. If I want to talk to someone I’ll be near a phone. If I don’t I don’t want the phone to “follow” me.

C. Spam; especially Hot Teen Sluts who want to give me Free Long Distance while helping me Improve my Golf Score at my Free Bermuda Vacation provided with the money that a Nigerian Prince gave me because I’m reportedly trustworthy.

D. People who think the physically disabled must by definition be mentally disabled as well. I’m blind, not an idiot.

E. Windows Vista. Need I say more?

F. Getting stuck on a book with a cliffhanger ending that the author takes his sweet time about writing the sequel. See #5 above.

G. 24-hour News Channels that give you 30 second sound bites even though they have 24 hours to fill!

 

Ok, I’ll stop now. Honest!

 

Zombie Chow

More about Final Fade-Out

Ed over at Two Hour Wargames has revealed more about the new All Things Zombie book at:
http://2hourblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/panama-all-things-zombie-final-fade-out.html

Its sounding a bit better as I hear more about it. From the details, it appears that its going to move ATZ more toward a RPG system and away from a strictly (or mostly) miniature wargame. I'll keep people posted, though most of you probably knew about this before I did. ;)

Zombie Chow

Relaunch of All Things Zombie?

Ed over at Two Hour Wargames has announced that the All Things Zombie line will be getting a new book; ATZ:Final Fade-out.

http://2hourblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/this-not-test-zombies.html

This apparently will replace All Things Zombie: Better Dead Than Zed, which is the core rulebook of the system.
I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, something a bit easier to understand would be great. Some of the layout of ATZ:BDTZ could stand reorganization! But there have been comments about increased complexity....which I don't like. I'm a simple rules sort of guy, which is why I'm a host on the Classic D&D podcast "Save or Die!" (http://saveordie.info). I like basic rules and options, like in the third book of the trilogy I, Zombie. But new rules? More complex rules? I dunno...
Vampifan (see my blog list for his blog) is one of the playtesters and I've got a lot of respect for him so I'll give it a chance when the book comes out. Still, I just got my 3 books (BDTZ, Haven, IZ) combined into one big book! <grump>

Zombie Chow

Wrecked Cars!

As promised, here are the photos of the wrecked cars sent by Dexter of the UK a few weeks ago. Pretty neat IMO, especially the ambulance and the zombie in the car window.

Enjoy!  And thanks to my lovely wife Lisa for taking the pictures...

At last...pictures!

Ok, despite broken promises we finally got the camera tripod so my wife at last agreed to take the pictures of the figs Dexter (from Board of the Living Lead; a forum that if you aren't on you should be!) painted for me... Next will be some wrecked cars he was nice enough to send along as a birthday gift. Which BTW the zombie pile below was part of as well.