adamdavidcollings's review
5.0
The brother’s creed series tells the story of the early days of a zombie apocalypse. It follows two brothers, James and Connor, on a quest to reach their family’s hunting lodge deep in the Alaskan Wilderness. Sounds like a good place to ride out the apocalypse. Not many people, plenty of animals and fish for food.
Along the way, they connect with various other characters, including their best friend Tank. As their travelling family grows, James and Connor feel an increasing responsibility for those in their care, but in the apocalypse, nobody is safe.
This series is made up of 5 short books, plus a prequel novella and an epilogue short story. They very much belong together, telling one continuous story. Think of them like a limited series on Netflix. It’s a story broken into little manageable chunks, but it’s designed for binging.
The stories are fast paced and the author is not shy about showing the tragedy that would occur during a zombie outbreak. But end of the world stories like this are frequently used to examine the deeper issues of idealism and morality. What do you do with your values when survival is at stake? What actions are justifiable. Like the TV show, Walking Dead, this story depicts characters who are regularly struggling with what they must do to survive, while desperately trying to cling to their idealism and humanity. In the Brother’s Creed, JAmes and Connor are also wrestling with their faith. How do they reconcile the zombie apocalypse with the beliefs they’ve always held? Can you still be a Christian in this world? The faith element is well integrated into the characters and never feels like an intrusion. And while the way it is expressed on book 1 occasionally comes across as a little cheesy, this quickly improves in subsequent books.
James and Connor the story as gun-toting hunters. The author’s knowledge of, and affection for guns adds a lot of realism to the setting. And his love of hard rock music adds a little spice. Tank is a geek who peppers his scenes with some nice pop-culture references.
But it’s not just the blokes who get to kick zombie butt. There are some great female characters in the story as well, including a woman who is trying to escape her past in a Russian mafia family, and one of the nastiest villains I’ve encountered in some time.
Ultimately, as the story examines the darker side of human nature, we see the worst brutality comes not from the zombies, but from the humans, who no longer have a reason to reign in their darker impulses.
There will be tragedy and loss along the way, you expect that from the genre, but the book closed with a very satisfying ending. As they say, the light shines brightest after the darkness. At least, I think somebody has said that. If not, well, I just did.
If you like action packed thrillers that slow down once in a while to examine the deeper issues of life, then you should check out The Brother’s Creed series by Joshua C Chadd.
Along the way, they connect with various other characters, including their best friend Tank. As their travelling family grows, James and Connor feel an increasing responsibility for those in their care, but in the apocalypse, nobody is safe.
This series is made up of 5 short books, plus a prequel novella and an epilogue short story. They very much belong together, telling one continuous story. Think of them like a limited series on Netflix. It’s a story broken into little manageable chunks, but it’s designed for binging.
The stories are fast paced and the author is not shy about showing the tragedy that would occur during a zombie outbreak. But end of the world stories like this are frequently used to examine the deeper issues of idealism and morality. What do you do with your values when survival is at stake? What actions are justifiable. Like the TV show, Walking Dead, this story depicts characters who are regularly struggling with what they must do to survive, while desperately trying to cling to their idealism and humanity. In the Brother’s Creed, JAmes and Connor are also wrestling with their faith. How do they reconcile the zombie apocalypse with the beliefs they’ve always held? Can you still be a Christian in this world? The faith element is well integrated into the characters and never feels like an intrusion. And while the way it is expressed on book 1 occasionally comes across as a little cheesy, this quickly improves in subsequent books.
James and Connor the story as gun-toting hunters. The author’s knowledge of, and affection for guns adds a lot of realism to the setting. And his love of hard rock music adds a little spice. Tank is a geek who peppers his scenes with some nice pop-culture references.
But it’s not just the blokes who get to kick zombie butt. There are some great female characters in the story as well, including a woman who is trying to escape her past in a Russian mafia family, and one of the nastiest villains I’ve encountered in some time.
Ultimately, as the story examines the darker side of human nature, we see the worst brutality comes not from the zombies, but from the humans, who no longer have a reason to reign in their darker impulses.
There will be tragedy and loss along the way, you expect that from the genre, but the book closed with a very satisfying ending. As they say, the light shines brightest after the darkness. At least, I think somebody has said that. If not, well, I just did.
If you like action packed thrillers that slow down once in a while to examine the deeper issues of life, then you should check out The Brother’s Creed series by Joshua C Chadd.
More...