Same Old Song
Good news Hugo voters, Parasite by Mira Grant is pretty much the same as her NewsFlesh books.[1] No, the plot isn't exactly the same, but the zombie apocalypse is nigh. It's got the same structure where narrative sections are broken up with interviews and writings "by" the characters. And a lot of the characters feel very similar - like the mad scientist doctor lady who's amoral and has built a state-of-the-art lab in some abandoned part of a city. Or the crazy woman-child with a violence fetish.
Alas, Sal, the protagonist doesn't have the snarky voice of Georgia. (On the other hand, there is no annoying mainpain asshole like Shaun, so maybe an even swap.)
The most unfortunate thing is this isn't a novel. It's about a third of a novel and as you might expect that this much plot stretched out over 512 pages makes for some pretty tedious reading. Your obligatory plot summary:
Sally Mitchell was in a car accident and was declared brain dead. Her family was about to pull the plug when she woke up. Sal was a completely different person from the one she was before (especially since she can't remember anything from before waking up.)
How did this miracle of survival happen? An evil company called Symbogen convinced most people (including Sal) to get a special tapeworm installed in their gut. Great news for Sal, but bad news for everyone else as the tapeworms want to be in charge of their host. Cue the zombies ...
It is an extremely long slog before the big "reveal" where Sal learns that her miracle survival didn't mean that Sally Mitchell lived, it meant that her tapeworm took over. It's a slog because most readers will figure this out about 500 pages before the reveal happens as the climax of the book.
And I don't mind so much that Sal is painfully unaware (hey, she's only been alive for six years!), but really storywise this is your first reversal, not an entire novel's worth of plot.
Grant has already reached the stage of her career where she feels derivative of herself. That's a shame. Worse, this is a book that belongs nowhere near an award ballot.
[1] Why is this good news? Because it tells you pretty much everything you need to know about where you would likely place it on your ballot so no need to read unless you are really inclined.
Alas, Sal, the protagonist doesn't have the snarky voice of Georgia. (On the other hand, there is no annoying mainpain asshole like Shaun, so maybe an even swap.)
The most unfortunate thing is this isn't a novel. It's about a third of a novel and as you might expect that this much plot stretched out over 512 pages makes for some pretty tedious reading. Your obligatory plot summary:
Sally Mitchell was in a car accident and was declared brain dead. Her family was about to pull the plug when she woke up. Sal was a completely different person from the one she was before (especially since she can't remember anything from before waking up.)
How did this miracle of survival happen? An evil company called Symbogen convinced most people (including Sal) to get a special tapeworm installed in their gut. Great news for Sal, but bad news for everyone else as the tapeworms want to be in charge of their host. Cue the zombies ...
It is an extremely long slog before the big "reveal" where Sal learns that her miracle survival didn't mean that Sally Mitchell lived, it meant that her tapeworm took over. It's a slog because most readers will figure this out about 500 pages before the reveal happens as the climax of the book.
And I don't mind so much that Sal is painfully unaware (hey, she's only been alive for six years!), but really storywise this is your first reversal, not an entire novel's worth of plot.
Grant has already reached the stage of her career where she feels derivative of herself. That's a shame. Worse, this is a book that belongs nowhere near an award ballot.
[1] Why is this good news? Because it tells you pretty much everything you need to know about where you would likely place it on your ballot so no need to read unless you are really inclined.