Better off Alone is definitely a horror bite, clocking in at about 40 pages. It is set in a post-zombie uprising world, where the main character, Nell, escapes her basement stronghold after an attack, and stumbles into a band of survivors with a dark secret. She wants to rescue Todd, the man who kept her hopes up over the last month through email, but first she has to survive her rescuers.
Better off Alone is ultimately incomplete. There are many potentially interesting things mentioned, but then abandoned, and even the description and storytelling itself feels unfinished. Sfetsos flirts with a good story here, but doesn’t quite deliver. As for its place in collections, those libraries with booming digital collections and lendings might find this tale popular, especially if zombie stories are in high demand, but if not, then it’s best to wait for Sfetsos’s next published work.
Contains: some gore
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Lachesis, 2009
ISBN: 9781897562369
Available: New, used & digital
Years ago, Carrie was kidnapped from her coven by a wolf cult and initiated, her body becoming the home to the Mother of the Wolves. Despite her coven’s attempts to save her, time has moved on, the spirit of the Wolf Mother has grown slowly inside her, and the people of the her coven have found other life paths. Now, as their children edge into adulthood, the remaining members of the white coven find themselves under attack by Carrie, now fully under the control of the Wolf Mother and determined to take out the coven that held her bound for so long.
The decision on including Of Wolf and Man in public collections is a split one. The first half of the book, if not more, is spent in slow set up, so much that a chunk of readers will not make it past page 100, where most of the action actually starts. Once the plot pushes forward, so does the speed of the book and the attention to detail and story, avalanching toward a dramatic end. At first, the story seems scattered and restless, nothing but detail with no action to make the handful of point of view characters and their back stories relevant. Slow to advance, the story does bloom into a more familiar traditional horror tale, complete with complex character and plot and payoff for patient (and bloodthirsty) readers. Of Wolf and Man shouldn’t be included because of its subject matter, but rather because of its style. In libraries where Stephen King and his stylistically similar peers are popular, readers will find this book to be an interesting new slant on werewolves. However, wiith so much werewolf fiction available in paranormal romance and urban fantasy these days, readers coming from that angle will find this book too slow to start and lacking the drive and focus they’re used to. With so much crossover between the two types of readers, librarians should consider their audience before adding this one to their collections.
Contains: sex, violence
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Apex Publications, 2009
ISBN: 9780982159675
Available: New
The blurb on the back of The Changed will have you believe that it’s about zombies, but not a zombie apocalypse book. Don’t be fooled- hese zombies rot, gnaw human prey and will devastate the world we know… they just might not kill us. The Changed follows a handful of characters, some alive, some dead, who have “changed” into something else. Retaining their personalities and skills (and with the help of embalmers, retaining their bits as well), the Changed quickly become the world’s largest minority, facing prejudice and oppression, plus flamethrowers. With open hunting season declared by the military (shown more as bullies than any kind of defense against the invasion) these undead can’t be sure who are their friends, and who are their foes. Then Chris changes. A middle-of-the-road, plain-looking man, he finally finds a political cause that inspires him. Chris quickly organizes a new political party, The Changed, fronted by a shock jock DJ recently fired for having the gall to die. The whole landscape of America changes as The Changed party not only grows in number and drive, but becomes the only surety the living have to look forward to- how do you fight death itself?
The Changed still manages to give zombie fans plenty of their favorite elements. There is a sort-of apocalypse, and plenty of violence and gore, and there are tongue-in-cheek asides hinting at what pop culture would be like if the undead walked. The Changed is an excellent addition to the zombie genre, something new and fun in a tiring routine. Recommended for public and private collections- it’s an excellent read through and through.
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Maria V. Snyder is an award winning author of books Poison Study, Magic Study, and Fire Study, latest release is the young adult dystopian novel Inside Out fromHarlequin Teen.
ML: Let me start by saying I absolutely loved Inside Out. You were clearly channeling the dystopian masters with this novel, and yet you managed to keep it from feeling totally oppressive while I was reading it. Not at all what I expected from a Teen Harlequin book. What made you want to write such a stand out book like this?
MS: A dream! I dreamt the whole story, the world, the characters, the Pop Cops, and even the twists! When I woke up, I wrote it all down before I could forget it. I haven’t ever done that before and haven’t since – I wish I could remember what I ate for dinner that night 😉
ML: You’re writing for a teen audience, and I’ll admit I had to wallow through several English teacher’s attempts to teach dystopian novels in high school. Do you think Inside Out and Trella can reach a teen audience better than Orwell, Bradbury and Huxley and why or why not?
MS: Wow that’s a loaded question – lol! I can’t say I can reach a teen audience better than those three famous authors, but I do think a teen audience can relate to my novel. The main protagonist is a loner who doesn’t want to hang out with her social group, and she only has one friend. She thinks her life sucks and that the upper workers have it made. Trella believes she doesn’t fit in with the other scrubs. Her views of life have been spoon fed to her from an early age. She’s supposed to think that way.
Which is similar to growing up today. Your parents tell you what’s right and wrong and how you’re supposed to act. When brought down to the basic bones of the story, it’s a classic coming-of-age. But I added in adventure, suspense and action–which I hope entertains the readers as well as shows Trella’s growth. And I think today’s teens will be able to relate to Trella verses some of those older characters who lived in an older time. Trella reflects today’s attitudes towards freedom, independence and cynicism.
ML: Inside Out is much different from your other work (to begin with it’s science fiction and your other books are fantasy). For readers and librarians who might not know, can you tell us some of the differences and more importantly, some of the similarities that could interest Inside Out and SF fans in your other titles?
MS: With Inside Out, one of the major difference was I had to keep close track of the setting details. Since the world is completely contained, I had to know where everything was and stay consistent throughout the story. I drew up maps and diagrams in the early stages of writing. And this is the main science fictional element. I do have some advanced weapons and technology, but it remains in the background. I don’t explain the scientific reasons why and how a kill-zapper works, just show one being used and the result.
As for the similarities, I wrote the books in first person point of view with a strong female protagonist, and I kept my style–action packed, complex plot, cliff-hanging chapter ends, some twists, and a little romance 🙂 I didn’t try and change my word choice because this was a young adult book and I didn’t simplify the plot either. Young adults are savvy readers and have been enthusiastic about my all my books.
ML: You’ve done a lot of interesting research for your books. Which experience was your favorite?
MS: I really enjoyed taking the glass classes. I learned how to gather and work with molten glass as well as cut glass, fuse glass, make glass beads and a stained glass mirror. Glass is a fascinating medium and you can reuse it and recycle it forever. I do have to add, learning how to ride a horse (the real Kiki) was the most challenging and educational. Kiki was the best teacher I’ve had so far 🙂
ML: If you were in a library and it was burning down (horrifying I know) which books would you save?
MS: The rare books that are irreplaceable. A decade ago this would have been a harder question as once a book is out of print, a reader was out of luck. But now, with eBooks, the Internet, and scanners etc…if you really wanted a certain book, it’s not hard to find a copy.
ML: What are some of the challenges in writing (and living it) a totally contained world like Inside?
MS: Finding a good hiding place – I had to be very creative with this one 🙂 Waste is an issue – what do you do with the trash? There isn’t much as they have to reuse, repair and recycle everything. Also there are limited resources. I tried to anticipate all the needs of the people living Inside – food, air, water, clothing. Paper was another challenge–paper uses a ton of natural resources and harsh chemicals even when it’s recycled. I didn’t have the space or the resources to have paper in Inside. Instead they use wipe boards and refillable markers. Ink can be harvested from indigo plants grown in hydroponics.
ML: Is there an unknown book you love, but no one seems to know exists?
MS: I really enjoyed Libyrinth by Pearl North – it’s a YA by a new author and I don’t think it’s well known. It has books and a library that’s a maze and good characters.
ML: Likewise, is there a book you love that everyone else seems to hate?
MS: Not that I can think of 🙂 I pick up books based on recommendations from my friends and family and from blogs so usually someone really loved it so I’ll pick it up.
ML: You said on your blog that the idea from Inside Out came from a dream. Have any of your other dreams fueled stories?
MS: No. It was the only one so far. I don’t even get help with stories I’m working on!
ML: What are you working on now?
MS: I’m working on Outside In, the next book in the Inside series. It starts about nine weeks after the end of Inside Out. I really can’t tell you too much or else it will spoil the plot of Inside Out. I’ll just say, Trella finds herself in more trouble.
In Trella’s world, things are black and white. She is Inside. Outside is a mythical place that doesn’t exist, a tool used to control her and her fellow Lowers, scrubs who are jam packed into large dorms, fed slop, and endlessly doing the most menial jobs. Above them are the Uppers, people the Lowers aren’t allowed to interact with, who live comfortable lives in families that serve as overseers of Inside. Trella is Queen of the Pipes, a pipe cleaner who finds more of a home in the maze of heating and air ducts than with her fellow scrubs. It’s this reputation that draws her into a plot by Broken Man, a paralyzed prophet from the Uppers. Trella doesn’t believe him, until she finds the discs he smuggled from the computer systems, discs that hold the location to the Gateway, the way Outside.
Inside Out is a very well-spun science fiction tale, in the spirit of Bradbury, Huxley and Orwell. Snyder creates an uncomfortable, overcrowded, paranoid and repressed society with far too many questions than answers and plenty of conspiracy. This is no ordinary YA Harlequin novel, rather, it’s a new dystopian tale for a new generation of readers. Inside Out walks a razor’s edge between stifling readers with its dystopian elements and offering hope of change, and answers to all the questions it raises. There is a love story, but it is by far not the focus of the story. The weight of Inside Out is on the people themselves, the crew of rebels and faceless scrubs, with their surprising depth and drive.
Inside Out is absolutely a must read for speculative fiction fans, a valuable addition to public and private collections and easily has wide spread appeal for capturing adult and teen audiences. Easy to digest, modern and designed to appeal to teens, Inside Out would also be an excellent tool in classrooms to teach the concepts traditionally learned through books like Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, and 1984.
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Better off Alone by Yolanda Sfetsos
