City of the Dead and Despair: A Movie Review ~ 28DLA

Friday, January 07, 2011

City of the Dead and Despair: A Movie Review

Friday, January 07, 2011

Michael Allen

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*Here be some spoilers.

Author: Brian Keene.

City of the Dead is a sequel to author Brian Keene's The Rising. This second novel in this zombie styled series was first released in 2005 and the events take place in a huge zombie apocalypse. Except this is not your familiar zombie story, as the Siqqusim, a group of ancient spirits, take over those recently dead. Their goal is world domination and the few survivors to make it out of The Rising hole up in an almost impenetrable skyscraper. Events stay forever action oriented and the frenetic pacing will not give readers a chance to breathe. Most of the characters in this novel also run out of breath.

The central characters Jim, Martin and Frankie return to a quiet suburban area to find Jim's son, Danny. Only a few pages in and the undead hordes are unleashed on this sparse group. A rescue here, a team-up there and soon all three original characters and a few more find safety in the Ramsey Towers, a satire on the Trump Towers. Security and good times quickly dissipate, as the leader of the zombie hordes, Ob, forms up an army of automatons for a final assault on this heavenly reaching structure. Tragedy is the end result.

One of the first literary genres developed was tragedy, with Aesychlus, Sophocles, and Euripides leading the way. So, feelings of pity or the arousing of fear are deeply rooted in western literature. Yet, this zombie novel reader found the ending disappointing. In fact, the conclusion almost comes across like a car or a truck having its transmission fall out. But there are clues which signal the coming tragedy and culling of characters.

The constant action written into the chapters by Keene seems geared to adolescents hyped up on ritalin, MTV music videos, and flashing video games. However, the pacing begins to drain, as the characters Jim, Frankie, and a few others find shelter in only a few dozen pages. Otherwise, they are running from zombie shooting demons, marauding carrion, or tank driving rotting flesh sacs. There is no let up, nor the possibility of deepening connections within the pages or complex characterizations. Just more pow, pow, pow (simulated gunfire).

Pluses for the novel involve an interestingly developed scenario. The Ramsey Towers offer some protection from the millions of zombies clambering for blood outside, but the characters stand-by passively waiting for their demise. If a unending swarm of filth and debris was clamoring for your blood, would you want to take a shot or two (or rollover and die)? The questions are many and so are the difficulties of surviving an apocalyptic new world.

Another positive feature within the writing is the bond between father and son. The devotion of character Jim for Danny is unending even in the final pages. Their connection continues into the afterlife. Yet, the lack of respect for characters seems to outdo some of the better, social aspects within the City of the Dead.

The characters in the book, much like low-budget filmmaking, are introduced just to be outroduced in a creative fashion. Albino alligators fillet one character, while a horde of man-eating rats envelop another. After fifty pages of this, who cares about the characters anymore? You will not care and neither did this reader.

Hopefully, Keene's follow-up to this novel titled The Rising: Selected Scenes from the End of the World wraps up some of the devastating choices in the conclusion. Otherwise, this novel seems rushed, or incomplete, on its own. Available now for your own critique, City of the Dead is interesting, but not for those looking for some type of hopeful ending.

Overall: 6.5 out of 10.

More books from Brian Keene:

Brian Keene's Bibliography at His Official Website

The Rising is a better start, rather than jumping into the sequel:

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