Aeterna by Kim Bannerman

I've become incredibly picky about which vampire novels I'll read these days, but staying with my current jam of post-apocalyptic treats, Aeterna by Kim Bannerman ticked all the boxes for me. The premise is simple: the vampire bloodlines have finally banded together to overthrow the human race. Their underground city of Aeterna has everything the vampires need, and humans are reduced to mindless blood-factors in the – ahem – same way the Machines treat humans in The Matrix. So I'm drawing that parallel, and I'll leave it there.

We follow the doings of Marcus, the scion of the ruling family, and the last vampire to be made before humanity's downfall, and then Bo, a human who has been genetically engineered for a special hunt event that will determine which vampire bloodline will rule the city for the next hundred years.

But both Marcus and Bo are special: Marcus cannot remember his mortal life at all, and his boundless curiosity sees him breaking the rigid protocols that bind vampiric society, while Bo is aware and is not some mindless, jelly-brained clone. She remembers what she shouldn't – how to string together words, how to think. 

Aeterna has been built to last for ever, but in doing so, it has become trapped in stasis – a natural state for vampires that Marcus kicks against. I won't spoil to say how the hunt goes, but Marcus and Bo are thrown together by a twist of fate that sees the very foundations of this eternal tremble. 

Overall, Bannerman's writing is solid, fast-paced and engaging, and I found myself immersed in the setting and more than happy to ride this one through to its cataclysmic end. My inner editor had a few nits to pick, but nothing to make me too twitchy. If you, like me, were ever a fan of the White Wolf Vampire: The Masquerade RPGs back in the late 1990s, then this one will more than likely push all the right buttons. 

The Meek (Unbound Trilogy #1) by JD Palmer

I've been quite a long-time fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, and whether the human race goes bye-bye courtesy of aliens, zombies, nuclear war or rapture, the results are almost always the same for the survivors who desperately try to rebuild or cling to the vestiges of the world they once knew. In JD Palmer's The Meek, we meet Harlan, who's your average, garden-variety nice guy who somehow doesn't pop his clogs when a virulent virus wipes out 99 percent of the human race.

I've had this one in my TBR pile awhile now, and I had to go check the release date just to be sure, but book one did come out in 2017, so it was, ahem, almost oddly prescient about things to come. Granted, The Thing I Won't Mention By Name didn't quite go as far as the disease in Palmer's novel.

I'll start by saying that if exploring the darker side of human nature, and all that entails, isn't quite your jam, then this is possibly not *quite* the novel you're looking for – the start of the novel is quite triggering for those struggle to read stories where women are abused. So, insert trigger warning here – maybe step away if this freaks you out. I found Harlan quite a sympathetic character, even if he starts out quite passive. He goes through an almost literal hell, and watching him grow in himself to stand up against every obstacle that this new world of horrors can throw at him is rather satisfying. 

Kudos also to the support cast. I really love the friendships that develop slowly as the pages turn. I'm not going to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil. I'm also going to do the awful thing by drawing parallels between The Meek and the kind of social dynamics we encounter in series such as The Walking Dead, merely because it's going to be easier to paint the correspondence with broad brush strokes. Of course there are no zombies here, and the true monsters walk on two legs and look just like you and me.

While on the outside, this is a pure survivalist fantasy, set in a post-pandemic wasteland, I feel that Palmer does dig into the essential humanness of his characters, which is why I kept reading and why I'll eventually go onto book two once I have the opportunity. This is a story about the connections forged within states of great adversity, to move beyond the savagery that lies just beneath the skin, that often needs very little excuse to come out. What would you do if you had a chance to rebuild human society? How do you overcome the power play of those who do not suffer pangs of conscience? 

I'll admit freely that I'm a huge sucker for stories that are based on a 'hard reboot' of civilisation, and Palmer delivers this sort of setting in spadefuls, and then some.

Runebinder (The Runebinder Chronicles #1) by Alex R Kahler

I picked up a copy of Runebinder by Alex R Kahler on the say-so of a friend, and I will happily agree with him that the book packs a lot of punch. Not once did Alex allow me to get too comfortable – so there was always that tension of 'oh goodness, it can't get worse, can it?'

In Tenn's world, the magic came back, and there are those who are gifted with control of the different spheres of earth, air, fire and water, and there are those who're normal. And everything would have been fine in the world (or relatively so) if the ominously entitled Dark Lady hadn't risen with her minions, to destroy everything and reshape it to suit their needs, warping humans into howls, bloodlings and Kin. (So, think, basically if you're unlucky to run across Kin, you'll be turned into a mindless zombie or vampire.)

Tenn and his friends are tasked with protecting the remaining human communities from the unrelenting onslaught, and it's clear their side is losing ground rapidly. To add to Tenn's woes, his chosen sphere of water has a mind of its own, to devastating effect, which has drawn interest from exactly the kind of people he's fighting.

First off, kudos to Alex for realising a compelling setting. The divisions were a little too clear-cut light/dark for my tastes, but hey, that's me. I have a thing for morally ambiguous characters. His post-apocalyptic USA makes you realise exactly how dismal things can become should society's wheels come off. (Think The Walking Dead, but with necromancers and more.) He sets a pace that keeps characters on their feet, and lends a sense of urgency as Tenn and his companions forge ahead.

That being said, I did feel that the characters could have been been a little more fleshed out, and Tenn's head-over-heels falling for Jarrett came across incredibly fast and intense. However, with such an uncertain world in which Tenn lives, I can't blame him for giving into the attraction as rapidly as he did. Occasionally some of the transitions in sequences were jarring—the writing too fast—but this wasn't a dealbreaker. What Alex does do well is his action sequences, which kept me pretty much on the edge of my seat. Tenn spends much of his time at the start of the book crippled by self-doubt, which at times was laid on a bit thickly, but it's good to see Tenn come into his own once he realises that the only option he has is to push forward and master his powers before others master him.

The Twelve by Justin Cronin #review

Title: The Twelve
Author: Justin Cronin
Publisher: Orion Books, 2012

Sequel to the post-apocalyptic, vampire-outbreak novel The Passage, The Twelve picks up the story again as humanity’s hardy survivors battle to hold onto what vestiges of civilisation remain. Though I had not read book one, this was no obstacle to my enjoyment of The Passage, as Justin Cronin weaves in enough back story to fill readers in.

We are introduced to a large cast of characters on both side of the human and viral line. The latter are all in some way related to strains descended from the menacing and enigmatic Zero, who appears to have complete world domination at the top of his list of priorities.

Yet not all the infected are of the same mind. The mysterious girl Amy has her own agenda as she marshals her meagre forces against great odds. We get to know Peter, a soldier; Sara, a survivor in concentration camp conditions; and Alicia, who battles daily with viral infection that threatens to overwhelm her human side, who are but a few of the fascinating characters readers encounter, many of whom are prepared to die for their cause.

Cronin blends the horrors of Nazi-style death camps with present-day terrorist tactics, to create a dystopia that is drenched in blood and fuelled by incredible cruelty – so if graphic scenes of violence upset you, then this is probably not the book for you.

It’s clear that Cronin has put a great deal of thought into his world building, and it shows, because his writing is vivid and tactile. That being said, to his detriment, his having to divide his attention between so many characters often makes it a little tricky to keep track of everything and everyone, and some of the outcomes felt a bit by the by once I reached the conclusion.

The pacing, however, is relentless, and Cronin never lets his readers get too comfortable; there certainly are more than enough explosions to shake things up.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey #review

Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2013

Having read a fair amount of YA post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels, I can say with authority that The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey comes out on top of the pile. This post-apocalyptic thriller is tight, and I’m seriously hoping the upcoming movie adaption will do it justice.

Cassie was the girl no one really noticed, and if the alien invaders never made their attempt to knock out the human race, she’d most likely have gone on to lead a very ordinary life. And then there wouldn’t have been much of a story. This is not that book.

When the first wave hit, all the lights went out, but humanity was not to concerned because the powers that be would look out for them. Yet the alien mothership continued to loom ominously. Subsequent waves of attack saw the destruction of coastal cities and the release of a virulent disease that came close to wiping out nearly all the survivors.

Yet humanity endured. Those who survived were the strongest, the most wily.

Now Cassie is alone, and she has no idea who she can trust, because humanity has been infiltrated – and it’s almost impossible to tell friend from foe. All she has left to live for is her little brother Sam – but he’s been taken to a secure military base.

During the course of the story, we also encounter Ben’s ordeal, as he and a whole bunch of youngsters are put through basic military training with the aim of eradicating the alien threat.
Author Rick Yancey paints a frightening world that hints at the horrors of the World Wars and the complexities of warcraft. Throughout everything, he asks the age-old question: “What makes us human?”

If there is one YA post-apocalyptic read that you want to give a shot, make it this one. Everything is spot on, from the pacing through to the world building. Though there is a hint of the almost-ubiquitous love triangle experienced YA readers expect from the genre, Yancey handles this in a way that doesn’t result in too much eye-rolling. And another thing, Yancey spins out this epic with an authentic voice. Not once did I feel the adult author’s perspective creeping through.

Though Cassie begins as your average, slightly boy-obsessed teen, her heroic qualities, as she struggles against unbelievable odds, quickly shine through as she and her companions face challenge after challenge.