The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
jasonsweirdreads's review
4.0
The Vampire Apocalypse book 1, A World Torn Asunder, by Derek Gunn, is a pretty fantastic book. I don't say this often, but I think it is deserved here. The reason being is that it breaks a lot of standards in traditional publishing, but it does it in a way that tickles me.
Imagine, if you will, humanity devastated by a war with vampires. A war that humans have lost. The vampires control the world's major cities and keep the human population under control with a serum that renders them sedated and unable to fight back. Within an unnamed city (If the city was named, I missed it), there's an uprising occurring. Harris is among a group of rebels, you could call them, that have found a way to avoid the vampire's serum and are building their army to fight back and retake their home. What results is a strange mix of Saving Private Ryan and the Underworld movies. Which, for a guy like me, means a very fun and exciting read. The battle scenes are brutal and violent and, sometimes, very realistic-feeling. Other times, the battle sways into the land of fantasy. However, these battle scenes, along with the evolution of the rebel army is the novel's biggest strength, in my opinion. I don't think this novel was really meant to be a serious character study rich with plot. It's a war story. With Vampires.
Having said that, this book is not perfect. No novel is. My biggest problem came with the opening scene. It has some questionable motives in it, especially the part with the parents and their kids (I don't want to spoil it). No parent, in my mind, would do that. My second biggest problem comes with the rules of the vampires themselves. I don't like how they shape shift so much and into whatever they want. Or so it seems. If they're to be shape shifters, they should have more barriers, in my opinion. Don't let any of this spoil it for you, though. This is a fun book to read, and the best part? It's just the beginning.
There is a new feature with this opinion piece/review. It is what I like to call the CHUD-Dweller rating. If you don't know what C.H.U.D. is, then you need to educate yourself.
Imagine, if you will, humanity devastated by a war with vampires. A war that humans have lost. The vampires control the world's major cities and keep the human population under control with a serum that renders them sedated and unable to fight back. Within an unnamed city (If the city was named, I missed it), there's an uprising occurring. Harris is among a group of rebels, you could call them, that have found a way to avoid the vampire's serum and are building their army to fight back and retake their home. What results is a strange mix of Saving Private Ryan and the Underworld movies. Which, for a guy like me, means a very fun and exciting read. The battle scenes are brutal and violent and, sometimes, very realistic-feeling. Other times, the battle sways into the land of fantasy. However, these battle scenes, along with the evolution of the rebel army is the novel's biggest strength, in my opinion. I don't think this novel was really meant to be a serious character study rich with plot. It's a war story. With Vampires.
Having said that, this book is not perfect. No novel is. My biggest problem came with the opening scene. It has some questionable motives in it, especially the part with the parents and their kids (I don't want to spoil it). No parent, in my mind, would do that. My second biggest problem comes with the rules of the vampires themselves. I don't like how they shape shift so much and into whatever they want. Or so it seems. If they're to be shape shifters, they should have more barriers, in my opinion. Don't let any of this spoil it for you, though. This is a fun book to read, and the best part? It's just the beginning.
There is a new feature with this opinion piece/review. It is what I like to call the CHUD-Dweller rating. If you don't know what C.H.U.D. is, then you need to educate yourself.
earthtoashleigh's review
3.0
This has the potential to be a really great book. It has a unique plot and the actual writing is rather good however several things bothered me:
1) There are quite a few little spelling/grammatical errors. It's nothing major but could do with getting sorted.
2) The layout can sometimes make it hard to read. The author could've separated the different points of view better - I had to re-read a couple of parts before I realised it had changed to another person. Something as simple as adding an extra line break could easily solve this.
Based on the plot alone I'd give the story 4 or 5 stars, but the above point do disrupt the flow of reading which is why I've given 3 stars.
If you can put up with these issues then I'd definitely recommend reading this!
1) There are quite a few little spelling/grammatical errors. It's nothing major but could do with getting sorted.
2) The layout can sometimes make it hard to read. The author could've separated the different points of view better - I had to re-read a couple of parts before I realised it had changed to another person. Something as simple as adding an extra line break could easily solve this.
Based on the plot alone I'd give the story 4 or 5 stars, but the above point do disrupt the flow of reading which is why I've given 3 stars.
If you can put up with these issues then I'd definitely recommend reading this!
mjmoore's review
3.0
The first few chapters of this book throw you straight into this world - a war in the Middle East wipes out it’s oil supply, and events have escalated from there. Power, especially from nuclear stations, has become the most valuable thing, and cites and towns look after only themselves.
Into this confused world steps the vampires. These are not the sexy, mysterious vampires that have been appearing in recent books, but rather vicious killers, who have waiting for a chance to attack.. which they now have.
Jumping forward approximately two years, the vampires are very much in charge.. and the remaining humans are kept in walled cities, ready to be food when needed. Due to their problems with sunlight, the vampires have a selection of ‘thralls’.. not quite vampires, but under their control.
A small group have avoided capture, and this group of rebels lead a fight to defeat the vampires, and free the humans.
This is very much a book about war, with lots of battle scenes, and violence.. and yet it never lets go of the humans involved in the middle. The characters are not deeply explored, but certainly enough to progress the story.
The strength of this book is it’s non-stop action. The story never lets up, and it’s very hard to put down. I often sat in bed thinking the usual ‘one more page’! I would have liked to learn a little more about the characters, especially the vampires, but with book two being released later this year, hopefully I will.
Into this confused world steps the vampires. These are not the sexy, mysterious vampires that have been appearing in recent books, but rather vicious killers, who have waiting for a chance to attack.. which they now have.
Jumping forward approximately two years, the vampires are very much in charge.. and the remaining humans are kept in walled cities, ready to be food when needed. Due to their problems with sunlight, the vampires have a selection of ‘thralls’.. not quite vampires, but under their control.
A small group have avoided capture, and this group of rebels lead a fight to defeat the vampires, and free the humans.
This is very much a book about war, with lots of battle scenes, and violence.. and yet it never lets go of the humans involved in the middle. The characters are not deeply explored, but certainly enough to progress the story.
The strength of this book is it’s non-stop action. The story never lets up, and it’s very hard to put down. I often sat in bed thinking the usual ‘one more page’! I would have liked to learn a little more about the characters, especially the vampires, but with book two being released later this year, hopefully I will.
gypjet's review
3.0
The story was good and original. I'm a reader who likes characters and gets involved in them. This book was a plot driven book rather than character driven so it wasn't really my thing.
jimig83's review
5.0
Although this book starts a little slow, stick with it as it turns out to be 1 of the best reads I've read this year!!
I admit that when I first started, some months ago, I only got a few pages in to it and gave up. This time around though, having started from the beginning again, I stayed focused on it and I was really surprised!
The outline to the overall plot is a great concept and you get sucked straight in to the thick of it!!
The book is broken down in to several story lines that all end up in the same place. As I mentioned earlier, the first part is a bit slow in getting to the main parts, but is essential to set the scene.
There is 1 main character throughout, a guy called Peter Harris. There are several secondary characters make up the other story plots also and these are very crucial to the overall story.
I have 1 other criticism about this book, in that there are parts of it that jump from story to story without it actually making sense, BUT, if you re-read them you actually can see it in movie form in your mind so in essence it does make sense.
Overall a brilliant read with great characters and settings; I shall definitely be getting the other books in the series.
I admit that when I first started, some months ago, I only got a few pages in to it and gave up. This time around though, having started from the beginning again, I stayed focused on it and I was really surprised!
The outline to the overall plot is a great concept and you get sucked straight in to the thick of it!!
The book is broken down in to several story lines that all end up in the same place. As I mentioned earlier, the first part is a bit slow in getting to the main parts, but is essential to set the scene.
There is 1 main character throughout, a guy called Peter Harris. There are several secondary characters make up the other story plots also and these are very crucial to the overall story.
I have 1 other criticism about this book, in that there are parts of it that jump from story to story without it actually making sense, BUT, if you re-read them you actually can see it in movie form in your mind so in essence it does make sense.
Overall a brilliant read with great characters and settings; I shall definitely be getting the other books in the series.
macindog's review
4.0
My first impression of the book was that it reminded me of The Vampire Earth series by E. E. Knight and I was worried that it'd be too much the same. However, it holds it own pretty well with a completely different storyline and a decent set of characters.
The vampires here are of the old familiar kind but, with the fall of technology they seize their chance to dominate the now-disorganized mankind using our ample supply of low-lives and scum as thralls.
It's nothing astoundingly novel but it all hangs together well and I enjoyed reading it.
The vampires here are of the old familiar kind but, with the fall of technology they seize their chance to dominate the now-disorganized mankind using our ample supply of low-lives and scum as thralls.
It's nothing astoundingly novel but it all hangs together well and I enjoyed reading it.
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