A review by colossal
Rising Tide by Rajan Khanna
4.0
A strong action-packed second entry to this post-apocalyptic virus zombie series.
The book picks up directly where the first book leaves off with Ben Gold and Miranda Mehra floating in the sea in the wreckage of the attack Ben foiled by sacrificing his precious airship. They're soon rescued, but by a former acquaintance of Ben's, now a bitter enemy. There's flashbacks to how the forager life worked and more insight to the various interesting settlement types that this world has produced. There's warships, insane military commanders, more exposure to the secretive scientific bad guys from the first book and lots of action.
This book ditches exactly the stuff that I didn't feel worked well in the first book: the traditional zombie horror. Instead it focuses heavily on the stuff that did work really well which was the excellent and diverse world-building. There's still minor nit-picks to be had; I still don't know where they're getting fuel (particularly for a Navy warship!!) and while they often comment on how rare and valuable ammunition is, they certainly go through lots of it. It's also satisfying to see Ben's self-awareness catch up to all the growth he's been doing. When he's pleading with Malik that he's changed, it's interesting because he actually has.
Very much looking forward to the next in the series and I'm glad I stuck with it.
The book picks up directly where the first book leaves off with Ben Gold and Miranda Mehra floating in the sea in the wreckage of the attack Ben foiled by sacrificing his precious airship. They're soon rescued, but by a former acquaintance of Ben's, now a bitter enemy. There's flashbacks to how the forager life worked and more insight to the various interesting settlement types that this world has produced. There's warships, insane military commanders, more exposure to the secretive scientific bad guys from the first book and lots of action.
This book ditches exactly the stuff that I didn't feel worked well in the first book: the traditional zombie horror. Instead it focuses heavily on the stuff that did work really well which was the excellent and diverse world-building. There's still minor nit-picks to be had; I still don't know where they're getting fuel (particularly for a Navy warship!!) and while they often comment on how rare and valuable ammunition is, they certainly go through lots of it. It's also satisfying to see Ben's self-awareness catch up to all the growth he's been doing. When he's pleading with Malik that he's changed, it's interesting because he actually has.
Very much looking forward to the next in the series and I'm glad I stuck with it.