Deadline by Mira GrantMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Deadline follows 2010’s book Feed, which was also nominated for a Hugo Award. I can assuredly say Deadline is my second ‘zombie’ book, but I must also strongly stress that these books are NOT about the zombies. They just provide the world setting. Feed and Deadline seem to illicit a ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ response and I find myself straddling the line with ‘enjoyed it’, I can't gush about the book, nor did I absolutely hate it.
Is it Hugo worthy? Good question, as that would entail defining what a “Hugo” worthy book is at any given point in time. Which I’m not going to get into here.
Deadline picks up about a year after Feed. The world hasn’t changed. The virus is still running rampant. Outbreaks continue to happen. Blood tests remain the norm. And with it all, the newsfeeds are still going strong.
Our cast of characters finds themselves investigating the Center for Disease Control after one of their Doctors shows up on the groups Oakland, California, doorstep and then they are off and running for their lives. Each step along the way brings them one step closer to the truth, and one step closer to imminent death from something other than a zombie virus.
As I said above, while I enjoyed it, I did grow a bit weary at the continual “Run for your lives!”. Perhaps it is because I read police procedurals where so much is reasoned out rather than blundered upon and running happens at the Big Conclusion. In Deadline, our Group travels to point A. Whoops! Gotta run. Retreat. Group travels to point B. Whoops! Gotta run! Retreat. Well, let’s watch our group travel to point C. Whoops! Gotta run.! Now drive really fast while you retreat! Repeat a few more times.
I did like the character development in this one - our lovely Becks (Rebecca) has to throw herself at Shaun to get him to see that desires him, and then it blows up in both their faces. Nice touch that. Shaun is not coping well with the loss of his sister, and he talks to her - and she talks back. The gang is learning their strong points and the weak ones, that loss happens and meanwhile, trust nothing.
So ultimately, yes, I had fun reading Deadline, but I just don’t consider this to be strong Hugo material.
My initial Hugo Novel Nominiee ranking:
Embassytown
Leviathan Wakes
Among Others
Deadline
Dance with Dragons
View all my reviews
2 comments:
I felt like Deadline was a horror story rather than a science fiction story. Feed struck me as being a political thriller with science fiction overtone instead of a primarily science fiction novel. I've just finished the last of the trilogy, Blackout, and am satisfied that it is the first real science fiction part of the trilogy.
I can see how the book could give the impression of reading like a horror story. I don't read or watch horror so that impression wasn't as strong for me.
Glad to hear you felt there was a stronger scifi element to the third book. I'm looking forward to reading it myself.
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