G.O.R.E. Score: Rise Again
- Rise Again (2010)
Release Date: October 26, 2010
Publisher: Gallery Books
Ben Tripp is not a novelist by nature. According to the various bios of him found on “official” websites like Amazon, Simon & Schuster, and his own personal site, along with being a writer he is also an artist, designer, and “one of the world’s leading conceptualists of public experiences.” Even if I’m not exactly sure what that last part means, I do know that his debut novel, “Rise Again,” is an above-average piece of zombie fiction, even if it does have its faults here and there.
I was fortunate enough to receive an advance review copy of this book a few months back from the good folks at Gallery/Simon & Schuster, and even though I had finished the book about a month ago, I had to wait to post this review until after “Zombies from Beyond!” Month had concluded, since this story doesn’t exactly fit the theme we had going. “Rise Again” is set smack in the current day, with references abound to the recent Middle East conflicts and the nation’s economic troubles, among others. This can be both a blessing and a curse, as the novel feels very “fresh” and reads quite well today, but who’s to say what the read will feel like in 20 or 30 years – would I feel as connected to a story written in the 1970s that relied heavily on incorporating “current events” like the Vietnam War, Watergate, etc.?
Thanks Tony
Sounds like another zombie book I need to check out…add it to to a long list
@Peligrie: Always my pleasure!
@Patrick: I feel your pain, my friend. I have a bookshelf full of books just waiting to be read…makes me wish I had taken a speed-reading course back in the day!
Nice review Tony, but when are we going to get a review for AMC’s Walking Dead pilot? I saved up two episodes just for tonight! So excited.
Hey Tom,
I definitely won’t review “The Walking Dead” until at least the end of the first season. I feel that reviewing an individual episode of a TV series is similar to reviewing one chapter of a book, or one issue of a comic book mini-series: I don’t have enough information on the whole piece to provide an accurate review. As soon as that final episode of the season hits, though…I’m all over it!
Ok ok, I guess that makes sense, but did you watch? I only watched the first episode and thought it was great. Hopefully it continues that way.
Oh, I watched it, all right. I thought it was great – a very cinematic style for a television show, which was extra-sweet. Some of the actors have yet to totally “sell” me on their characters, but that could be simply because I know the characters so well from having read over 75 issues of the comic book.