It's easy to tell when a writer of zombie fiction truly loves zombies. Ren Thompson is such a writer. Dead Heat has all the essential zombie tropes buIt's easy to tell when a writer of zombie fiction truly loves zombies. Ren Thompson is such a writer. Dead Heat has all the essential zombie tropes but it also strikes out to new territory, satisfying the urge to read about zombies without ever becoming cliche or predictable.
The story focuses on Dana, a rough cage-fighter and member of a zombie-killing military unit. Dana has been hardened by her years with team, and come to live a very narrow life focused on her work - until she finds herself intensely attracted to Kelly. Kelly is a former nurse training to rehabilitate zombies - trying to save them, when Dana is trained only to kill. She is hopeful to Dana's cynicism, and prim and feminine to Dana's sharp edges. But the two find themselves both single on the same evening, and both undeniably attracted to each other. They are opposites, but both trying to find a way to fit - and to fit together - in a flawed world.
This isn't the common snapshot of a zombie outbreak, or a view of a bleak post-apocalyptic wasteland. Instead, it's a fully thought-out near-future science fiction world. Near-future science fiction builds worlds much like today but with small changes which, in some ways, is more difficult to pull off than setting a story on an alien world or a far-distant space ship. It's not enough to just drop new technology into a modern setting; writers need to consider social implications.
Dead Heat is mostly set in the year 2033, roughly 20 years after a zombie outbreak affects some of the population. There are rapid advances in weapons and medical technology - including augmentations to night vision - but other advances have been slower. It feels like a very accurate representation of society after a long war, with military advances as the priority before attention is given to government and plans for the future. Most people can have normal lives - they can still go to university, concerts, bars - just with curfews and rationing, but a seedy underbelly has developed and people are used to seeing guns and the military around.
It feels like Dead Heat is a glimpse into a wider world, which is how sci-fi should be but which is hard to pull off when the main focus is on telling a romantic story. To write near-future sci-fi this well is difficult, let alone to write it with zombies. There are lots of subtle details dropped into the story, and only a few passages of awkward exposition.
Dead Heat has frightening subject matter and some vividly-gross descriptions to go with it, but the romance plot is more thriller than horror or 'dark' romance, without the dwelling on trauma and angst that can be expected from the latter. It's up to personal taste, and if you seek out post-apocalyptic romance for darkness and pain you might be dissatisfied with the core romance.
I thoroughly enjoyed the sweetness of Kelly's character, and the way the near-future setting let zombies sit beside modern things like roommates and bars and browsing the internet when you're bored, the disparate elements meshing into a cohesive whole. An element that made me particularly happy was Dana's love of metal music and how that was more confusing and frightening to Kelly than zombies. It's details like that which reinforce the central conflict and make the story focused on characters and daily life, rather than the frantic focus on zombies that we're used to from most movies.
Dead Heat isn't what I expected, but I'm glad I read it....more
The key to multiple-partner romance is the balance of the protagonists. As with any romance, the characters need to suit each other to make a convinciThe key to multiple-partner romance is the balance of the protagonists. As with any romance, the characters need to suit each other to make a convincing relationship while being different enough that they're interesting to read. It's a delicate balance with any story, but adding another partner to the mix makes it an even more complex equation.
'The Starving Years' by Jordan Castillo Price balances the equation perfectly. Arrogant and socially forward food genius Nelson, shy computer whizz Tim, aloof and self-sufficient Javier. The three compliment and contrast each other, while also complimenting and contrasting themselves.
The story begins focused on Nelson, the smartest man in the room who is defined by his impatience and self-confidence, but later we meet a staggeringly human and caring side of him to round out his character. Tim is incredibly shy, but also a radical investigative journalist. Javier is quiet but authoritative, and his sexually dominant side is balanced by his self-consciousness over his damaged eye.
It's a perfect balance of three very different and complimentary characters. It takes a while—nearly half the book—for the relationship to solidify, but when it does it comes on strong and naturally.
'The Starving Years' is set in a future in which food scarcity has been eliminated, so Big Business has to find new ways to market food—at any cost. The plot is slow to develop but once it starts there are plenty of risks and dramas and explosions to keep things moving.
The only point where the book disappointed me was when the one woman with more than a few lines of dialogue literally burst into tears and locked herself away over being asked if she'd gained any weight recently.
“What about you?” Tim asked Marianne. “Did you gain any weight lately?” She looked as if she’d just been slapped. Nelson rolled his eyes. “You don’t just ask a woman—” Marianne lurched through the group of men, limping, shoving Nelson aside, then ducked into the bathroom and slammed the door. Tim stared at the closed door, mouth working. “But I…I meant either her or Javier. I was looking at both of them.” Randy said, “Smooth move, Ex-Lax.” Tim was genuinely distressed. “Why would she…? I wasn’t implying that I thought she was fat. It was a plural ‘you.’ Plural!” “Here’s a tip,” Randy said. “Ask her how old she is, next. She’ll really like that.”
The idea of women as over-sensitive flowers who need to be carefully protected by men is a cheap and tired joke and it breaks my heart to see it repeated in a science fiction future, especially because the whole premise of the story is a post-scarcity world where every person eats almost the exact same food which is calculated to meet human needs. The entire plot of the book depends on that premise. It makes no sense that such a society would still foster a deeply ingrained culture of fat shaming.
But there are plenty of non-misogynistic jokes speckled throughout the story, and several times I laughed out loud. The dialogue is often witty and clever and there are cute little asides, like the idea that there should be an app to prepare political speeches from a stock list of phrases. I get the feeling that the author is a naturally hilarious person and it shows through in the text.
Overall, 'The Starving Years' is a well-written romance which balances the three partners as well as it balances the science fiction and romantic elements. But by far my favorite aspect is when the character Nelson gets into bedroom and reveals himself as a lusty and sexually-forward babe with arty molecular-structure tattoos. ...more
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