(Cover picture courtesy of PREVIEWSworld.)

Book #5 in IDW’s shambling series of original Zombies vs Robots prose collections. Fully illustrated by the fantabulous Fabio Listrani, this new anthology features fresh tales of rotting flesh and rusting metal, undead unrest and mechanical mayhem. Once again IDW expands the apocalyptic hellscape of its unique signature franchise. A world where brain-eaters roam and warbots rule is truly a No Man’s Land.

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy of this book through NetGalley from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]

I normally would have never given an anthology like this a second glance.  But I was invited to by the publisher so I figured I had nothing to lose.  If I’m honest, I thought the whole thing sounded kind of stupid but I’ve always tried to keep an open mind about literature so I gave it a try anyway.

Am I glad I did?  Well I haven’t exactly found my new favourite series but at the same time I’m glad I gave this book a chance.  It wasn’t as awful as I was expecting it to be.  Instead, there were some very intelligent, believable and well-written stories about a world where zombies roam and robots meant to protect people from said zombies have gone rogue.  This isn’t a random collection of individual story threads like the disastrous V-Wars anthology was, thankfully.  No, each story picks up where the other one left off in the narrative of the zombie takeover and robot intervention.  In the beginning there are stories when zombies are just starting to become a threat and by the end we’re in a fully post-apocalyptic time.

Most of the stories were very well-written.  Others could have been better, but there were no stories that truly stood out as bad.  The pacing is very good for most of them and the overall plot arc is fast-paced.  This isn’t the sort of book you’ll race to read in one sitting, but it is good enough to keep you reading for a while to find out what’s going to happen next in this world where zombies and robots roam.

The characters were generally well fleshed-out.  There were some pretty stereotypical characters (like the ditzy girls in one story) but overall the characters were believable and changed as much as can be expected in the course of a short story.  None of the characters stood out as truly memorable for me, but that may be more of a personal thing than an issue with the writing.

If you think the idea behind this anthology sounds interesting, I’d say go for it!  It’s not the type of book I’m really into but for the right audience this could be a great thrill ride.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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