Review: The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m so sad. This is the last issue that I can get on Kindle Unlimited. The rest cost more than I can afford. I have put in a request at my local e-library but had to order them. If not there I’ll try another library.

Anyway, this was a good one. A lot of the story here wasn’t in the show so it was more fun than others. Sure we met Rosita, Eugene, and Abraham. And Morgan is back! I enjoyed their stories here.

I highly recommend reading the comics this way. With Kindle, you can enlarge frames and see the artwork better and read the finer fonts. Unlimited, you can read for free if you have it.

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Review: The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

And another one bites the dust!

Once again I read this issue thanks to Kindle Unlimited. I couldn’t help myself. I am addicted to watching the show (Yes, I am on my umpteenth watch of the whole series) and comparing the plot lines and characters. This issue in particular.

This is the post-prison Carl and Rick in house hopping. I like this Carl better than the one on the show. I think he is younger, more vulnerable. On the show he is adolescent. The only thing more in danger than an infant during the apocalypse is a teen.

This issue I couldn’t stop reading and had to order the next just to continue the story.

Once again I need to praise Kindle for making comics readable for those of us with older eyes that can’t read the paper version.

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Review:. The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Kindle Unlimited, I get to read this series. It is fun to see the differences between the graphic novels and the show. Mostly, I find the television series better. The comic seems far more brutal. This is so different from how it is usually. Most of the time I like novels far better than shows. Still these are worth the read. I can’t wait to read number nine.

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Review: The Walking Dead Vol. 7: The Calm Before by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead Vol. 7: The Calm Before by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, the title of this one tells it all. The Calm Before… Very little tension, often boring.

A lot happens including birth and suicide. Very different than what happened on the show. I rarely say this about books. But the show is so much better! Still, I love seeing the original and how it all happened ‘for reals’.

I’ve been reading these graphic novels through Kindle Unlimited. And I love the Kindle version better than the paper because I can double-tap the frame and enlarge it so I can see the artwork and fonts better. AND if the font still isn’t large enough I can reverse pinch it.

Can’t wait for the next one!

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Review: The Walking Dead, Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead, Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gruesome! That’s the first word that came to mind about this particular volume. Okay, sure. I know this is about the end of the world and zombies and all. But the horrid things that happen to people at the hands of other people. Ugh!

Look, I know there are bad people out there and they do awful things and if the world ends that may be one of the biggest issues we would have to worry about. Not the monsters, but who do we trust to take care of others rather than use this chaos as their own ladder. (Nod to Little Finger of Game of Thrones.)

As I usually compare the show to the book, I am shocked that once again that I appreciate how all this was depicted on the show more. The governor gets his payback good and square. Michone shows her stuff. But as the title of this particular issue states: This Sorrowful Life. Yeah. What a sad state of affairs our friends are in.

As ugly as it got, I can’t wait to read more in the series. I love reading the comic on my Fire or on my tablet as I can zoom in on pictures and tiny font. Glad I could obtain a copy through Kindle Unlimited. What a fun way to explore more books than I can possibly afford!

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Review: The Walking Dead: The Best Defense by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead: The Best Defense by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Most of the time I like a book far more than a show. But in this case… Without giving spoilers may I say this is far more gruesome and I’m not talking about the zombies. They are equally yucky.

The governor is far worse. There, I’ve said it.

And I fear the author was a young nerd at the time and not aware that women were made for more than rape and abuse. I’m glad the show writers took more time and found other things to do with this particular part of the story. Maybe the author has learned that half his audience would like him better for taking a slightly different point of view.

Another point for comics on Kindle! It is far better to be able to close in on the artwork or the fonts that I wouldn’t be able to read in the paper copy. This is how I will read the rest of the series as I can with Kindle Unlimited.

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Review: The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart’s Desire by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart’s Desire by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m a Walking Dead fan. As opposed to how I read/watch other stories and come up with the book winning over the show, this book loses. Had I read it long before the show, I think this one would have made sure I was NOT a Walking Dead fan. Nor would I have been impressed with Robert Kirkman.

This book was not about the Heart’s Desire. It was about male testosterone! The Hard’s Desire! The males fought and tried to kill each other because they were just part of the “No Girls Allowed” Spanky McFarland boys club.

Many bits of this book were used in the show but it gets confusing when so much of it isn’t a part. I can see why it was left out of the show. If you want fans you have to remember that 50% of the world’s population are women! And even when this was written the author must have been in his basement not aware the women’s movement had already happened and even in the Zombie apocalypse women needed to be talked to and included and all responsibilities shared.

I would give this book less than three stars but I love reading comics on Kindle. This was a Kindle Unlimited freebie by the way. On Kindle you can tap on the frame of the picture or talking caption you want to see better and it will enlarge it and you can take one frame at a time. You can look over the whole framed picture and see what you might miss on the paper book. Oh, and this book gives the series its name.

I hope the books get better. Michone needs to show grrls are tough!

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Review: Against the Current by R.S. Merritt

Against the Current by R.S. Merritt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was the second book that was also on Kindle Unlimited. I enjoyed it as much as the first, maybe more as there were fewer mistakes. Starting a sentence with Him is never a good idea unless you’re baby-talking with an infant. And only if you don’t care how that child learns to talk. Luckily that only happened at the end of the book so I managed to actually enjoy the story more.

As one can’t really predict who might die or live in the Zombie Apocalypse, I will try not to take offense at who died and who didn’t. I certainly won’t give spoilers, as much as I wish I could.

My biggest problem is the cliffhanger. Truly I think this would be a better book if sold all as one. I’m not at all thrilled to wait until the next is written. Even if it is free I don’t want to read it. I will assume the right people survive and all becomes good in the world after.

This is not to say that others wouldn’t love these two books. There is enough to make the reader engage and hope for the best. The characters are nicely developed and one wishes them all a good life!

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Review: A Small World by R.S. Merritt

A Small World by R.S. Merritt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Shreaking, fast running zombie. Yikes! At least they aren’t all skinny and slow. They have differences like the people they were before the virus. That’s my biggest complaint of The Walking Dead. If 70% of Americans are overweight, how would all the zombies become skinny? I’ll take that diet! LOL!

It isn’t the zombies that pull me into books about zombies. It is the survivors. You probably don’t get a choice who you spend the apocalypse with. Our ways of defining each other, style, size, shape, gender, age, etc., are wiped away. Good and bad show up. The good guy isn’t really when you put him against the zombies, the bad guy comes up with ways to save everyone. Moment by moment the apocalypse tests people. As I read/watch these kinds of stories I jump in and wonder how would I react, how would other people handle it all? Since the author gave us characters and their traits we are surprised and yet not at the reactions of trying to survive. I think there is a wisdom to how people can’t be enclosed in a box of what you think might happen. It is often the people that are scary, maybe more than the monsters.

In the above character arch, I find this book interesting. Mr. Merritt seemed to try and change things up to what you might expect in these kinds of situations. And he wrote the story in such a way that the reader doesn’t want to put the book away for the night.

BUT narratives that say Him and take me right out of the story. There were a few places an editor needed to be stronger. AND I’m not an editor! I usually don’t see oopsies. I get caught up in the story and rarely notice the problems. So if I see it, I am hesitant to recommend the book to my more astute friends.

My biggest problem is not finishing the book. Yep! Cliffhangers! HATE THEM!!! If I didn’t already have the next book from Kindle Unlimited (how I got this one) so I could move on I wouldn’t have moved on. If I had bought this, I would not buy the next!

By the way, are you being paid by Disney? It seems there are a lot of references along the way. I felt those rather out of the blue and weird. I suppose if the person is from Orlando, FL or Anaheim, CA, that would be a big part of your life, but most aren’t lucky enough to be near those, even in the apocalypse!

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Review: The Walking Dead Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars by Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Younger me would have been appalled at the me that LOVES The Walking Dead. Do I love zombies? Heck no. But like birds and coyotes, they exist in Robert Kirkman’s TWD. Some would understand if I use the words, “puppies and kittens”. Just not so cute. What else exists? As much inclusion as it possible without it being awkward.

Where would you prefer to spend the apocalypse a farm or a prison? A farm would have a good amount of food if you can keep it fresh and healthy. When the zombies stroll all over it and threaten to kill you, then that is not so feasible. No electric fences can keep them out. They only want to eat you. Innocent from their point of view. Hard enough to keep the farm free of pests like mice and coyotes or other predators. Shooting at them will bring more, in hoards!

Seemingly a strange choice is a prison. But with bars and double sets of high fences that normally keep the bad folks in, now becomes the best place of safety. Plus all the food that is still there. Clear away the walking dead and you have a safe place to raise a family. And set up the farm!

And so it is that Rick Grimes and crew end up in the prison. If you watch the show this kind of order happened to our fearless group. They tried camping in volume 1, the farm in volume 2, and finally, in volume 3, they move into the prison. But some people are still with us, others don’t exist. It is fun to compare the writing of both comic and television show. The story remains, for the most part, in spite of the changes needed often for the length of time a show can run, whereas the written one can go on forever if we all want it. (Yes!)

Once, again, I need to say, I prefer the Kindle version to the paperback. Though I would like to collect the comics, I can’t read them without a magnifying glass. The Kindle version allows me to click on the picture and take it frame by frame. Then if a certain frame has a font that is too small I can pinch it bigger. Bravo, technology! I miss the smell and tactile enjoyment of real books, but at my age with my eyes, I’m happy I can still enjoy books and comic books! By the way, the Kindle version is cheaper and it is free with Kindle Unlimited! YAY!

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