Zombies vs Unicorns
Multiple authors (anthology)
Release date: September 21st, 2010
by Margaret K. McElderry
Goodreads / Purchase
It’s a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths–for good and evil–of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies. Contributors include many bestselling teen authors, including Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Maureen Johnson, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, and Margo Lanagan. This anthology will have everyone asking: Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?
Review of Inoculata by Scott Westerfeld & Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare
From Uglies and Mortal Instruments… to zombies! Seems like everyone is converting to zombies! I don’t blame them, team zombie really is where it’s at!
Scott Westerfeld and Cassandra Clare’s stories have something in common, and that something is also what was discussed in Lia Habel’s guest post last week – they both make it clear that zombies are not dumb! From George Romero’s slow, sluggish, mindless flesh-eaters, to the 28 Days Later or Zombieland zombies who are capable of intelligent thoughts, are fast and self-aware. Yep, zombies have evolved. They can even become boyfriend material – although that still raises eyebrows if you really think about it. The point is : zombies are underestimated. Scott and Cassandra have both brought up this evolution in their stories. One considers that zombies are simply bored, while the other has them living amongst humans like old friends who smell.
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| Zombie evolution |
As my first venture into this book of zombies and unicorns anthologies, I was satisfied and amused. I picked both of these first because I have a fondness of their previous work and found myself super curious how they would write zombies. I found the Scott story pretty entertaining – I even wished it was novel-length. It definitely has a really intriguing concept. As for the Cassandra story, it was passable. It felt very weak as far as the zombie “world-building”. I could think of quite a few plot holes behind the zombie existence. Regardless, it was still light and fun.
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| 4 Hot Espressos
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