Fandom is DOOOOOOOOOOMED!!!
So if Blackout reads like Buffy/Firefly fanfic, San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant reads like fandom fanfic. If fandom were filled with really boring, characterless people. Also, none of these people have made their Zombie Contingency Plan which makes me suspect these are just fake geek girls poseur fans.[1]
This novella has a similar problem to what Blackout had - it feels like it was written as fan fiction about characters I have no reason to care about because I have never seen the show. Actual characterization exists some place not found in this story - all Grant gave us was hooks.
Anyway, time to meet our cast of characters (or as Grant would have us believe "heroes"):
Lorelei, a bratty teen who you would guess was thirteen based on her actions but is actually eighteen.
Her parents.
Elle is the star of some science fiction show and is an in the closet lesbian. (In the closet so she can promise her lover that she will never hide her again if she lives. Then she dies.)
The newlyweds - she's a Comicon virgin and he's British.
A blind lady who is blind so there can be a blind joke, and her dog. Oh yeah the dog is a POV character.[2]
Some people in brown coats. I guess. It would be false advertising if they weren't.
Cutting to the chase:
Everyone dies (except Lorelei) because the government bombs the convention center.
This, in some way, confers upon them the status of "heroes."
There is a real dearth of emergency exits at Comicon and the ones that do exist are shockingly easy to lock and/or barricade. No one should ever go there if there are as few exits as implied in Grant's story. [3]
What I can say is that this novella was far funnier, albeit unintentionally, than the pile of dreck that is Redshirts. If it were a movie I expect it might have crossed over from "awkwardly and unintentionally humorous because bad" to hilarious.
I will now leave you with some of the story from the dog's point of view:
On the floor, Unis lifted her head off her paws before climbing to her feet, tail wagging cautiously. Sometimes the phone meant it was time to go Out. Unis thought that Out would be a lovely idea. The Woman had been still for too long and the smells from outside were not the comforting kind, not grass or food or home. Outside the door smelled like blood and fear and peeing and Unis wanted to get the Woman away from here if she could.
[1]Ok, really I just linked to the Wonderella comic because of the line "None of us are even wearing pants for God's sake." which I can't even type without giggling. I swear I am going to use that as the rejoinder to the next person who annoys me.
But really Zombie Contingency Plan or prepare to be zombie chowder.
[2] Yes, the dog dies. Reason enough to No Award above this rubbish.
[3] Always check your emergency exits when you go someplace new.
This novella has a similar problem to what Blackout had - it feels like it was written as fan fiction about characters I have no reason to care about because I have never seen the show. Actual characterization exists some place not found in this story - all Grant gave us was hooks.
Anyway, time to meet our cast of characters (or as Grant would have us believe "heroes"):
Lorelei, a bratty teen who you would guess was thirteen based on her actions but is actually eighteen.
Her parents.
Elle is the star of some science fiction show and is an in the closet lesbian. (In the closet so she can promise her lover that she will never hide her again if she lives. Then she dies.)
The newlyweds - she's a Comicon virgin and he's British.
A blind lady who is blind so there can be a blind joke, and her dog. Oh yeah the dog is a POV character.[2]
Some people in brown coats. I guess. It would be false advertising if they weren't.
Cutting to the chase:
Everyone dies (except Lorelei) because the government bombs the convention center.
This, in some way, confers upon them the status of "heroes."
There is a real dearth of emergency exits at Comicon and the ones that do exist are shockingly easy to lock and/or barricade. No one should ever go there if there are as few exits as implied in Grant's story. [3]
What I can say is that this novella was far funnier, albeit unintentionally, than the pile of dreck that is Redshirts. If it were a movie I expect it might have crossed over from "awkwardly and unintentionally humorous because bad" to hilarious.
I will now leave you with some of the story from the dog's point of view:
On the floor, Unis lifted her head off her paws before climbing to her feet, tail wagging cautiously. Sometimes the phone meant it was time to go Out. Unis thought that Out would be a lovely idea. The Woman had been still for too long and the smells from outside were not the comforting kind, not grass or food or home. Outside the door smelled like blood and fear and peeing and Unis wanted to get the Woman away from here if she could.
[1]Ok, really I just linked to the Wonderella comic because of the line "None of us are even wearing pants for God's sake." which I can't even type without giggling. I swear I am going to use that as the rejoinder to the next person who annoys me.
But really Zombie Contingency Plan or prepare to be zombie chowder.
[2] Yes, the dog dies. Reason enough to No Award above this rubbish.
[3] Always check your emergency exits when you go someplace new.