Tagged: mira grant
Symbiont by Mira Grant
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
THE ENEMY IS INSIDE US.
The SymboGen designed tapeworms were created to relieve humanity of disease and sickness. But the implants in the majority of the world’s population began attacking their hosts turning them into a ravenous horde.
Now those who do not appear to be afflicted are being gathered for quarantine as panic spreads, but Sal and her companions must discover how the tapeworms are taking over their hosts, what their eventual goal is, and how they can be stopped.
Parasitology was originally meant to be a duology, not a trilogy but in the end I don’t think Mira Grant could have fit all of this into two books. Yes, some people will probably complain this is just a bridge to the last exciting installment but there is a lot of important stuff going on here. And despite all of the information that is thrown at us (perhaps because of it), Symbiont is a thrilling page-turner.
At the end of the last book, we found out a very interesting fact about Sal: she’s a parasite, just like Adam and Tansy. Sally Mitchell died the moment her brain was damaged in the crash; Sal the parasite took over her brain and gained control of her body. This revelation has some fascinating implications, some of which I can’t go into because of spoilers but the most interesting one had to do with her relationships. How does Nathan feel now that he knows he’s dating a parasite? He takes things surprisingly well because the parasites who have managed to integrate properly with the human brain are surprisingly human. They have social issues like Tansy’s propensity for death threats and Sal’s use of slang but they’re self-aware, they have emotions and they have a very similar survivor instinct. The really troubling thing rising from this revelation is what about the sleepwalkers, the zombie-like creatures who are just humans whose parasites took over the brain? I don’t want to spoil too much but let’s just say there’s a key thing that separates parasites like Sal from those in the sleepwalkers.
Sal is really growing as a character. Of course she’s not a kick-butt badass like you would expect the main character in a virtual zombie apocalypse to be, but she’s not a wimp. Sal goes through a lot in this book and she comes out the other end stronger. She’s far from perfect but she does learn to be more self-reliant and self-sufficient. For the first time since we’ve met her, she ends up being alone for an extended stretch of time and it’s very interesting to see what she does when faced with a horrible situation. At the same time, we learn a lot more about the secondary characters like Dr. Cale and Dr. Steven Banks, the head of SymboGen and the man who has essentially caused this entire sleepwalker mess. None of the secondary characters are what they pretend to be, especially one character I won’t name who was one of Sal’s friends.
With the global situation spiralling out of control as more and more SymboGen parasites become self-aware, you’d think that Symbiont would be a never-ending series of depressing events, each worse than the last. While that’s certainly true at first, you at least get hints that there might be hope out there despite the different factions competing over the fate of the human race. There’s SymboGen, who wants to make a profit out of this by modifying the sleepwalker parasites. Then there’s Dr. Cale, whose motivations remain unclear. And finally there’s that unnamed secondary character who wants the total destruction of the human race as we know it. Sal and Nathan are stuck between a rock and a hard place and sometimes it seems like there’s no real ‘right’ or ‘good’ side. But they’re not going to let the human race go down without a fight. It will be interesting to see how Mira Grant decides to resolve the situation in the third book, Chimera. Although we have a lot of our questions about parasites answered here in Symbiont, there are some very critical questions left open by the end of the book.
So here we have a second book that’s not only exciting, but satisfying in terms of answering questions readers have while posing new questions for the third book. Sal has grown immensely as a character and Mira Grant’s end of the world scenario is terrifyingly plausible and realistic. With great characters, plenty of excitement and some amazing world-building, you can’t go wrong with a Mira Grant novel. I can’t wait to read Chimera.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Discussion: Your Favourite Zombie Version
This one is a little bit of an unusually specific discussion for me, but I think we’ve pretty much all been exposed to zombies in popular culture, including through fiction. I was personally terrified of zombies until I actually began reading zombie fiction and while they still have that ‘uck’ factor I don’t have nightmares any longer. There is no standard type of zombie, though. The portrayals vary from author to author and when you read a lot of zombie fiction it’s interesting to see the sheer variety.
Mira Grant’s zombies, for example, are similar to the slow-moving ones of popular culture. They have one important aspect, though: they have a hive mind. One or two zombies aren’t a danger to any physically fit human, but as Shaun and Georgia find out a pack of zombies can display hunting tactics from ambushes to cutting off all available routes of escape. This is in contrast to humans, who seem to utterly lose all common sense when in large crowds. (Yes, I know, I’ve studied way too much psychology.)
Another fascinating zombie type for me are the ones in V. M. Zito’s The Return Man. Marco, the main character, lives in the Evacuated States and hunts zombies for a living. People pay him to put down their relatives so they know they’re not suffering as a zombie. How the heck do you find one zombie in an area that makes up most of the US? Well, emotional geography is how you do it. Zombies in Zito’s world have some trickle down from the neocortex into the reptilian brain that controls them and this trickle down mainly consists of powerful memories. Zombies will go to where they spent a lot of time in their lives such as at work or at home. Maybe they’ll hang around the restaurant where they met their beloved wife or the hospital where their first child was born. But either way, if you know enough about a person you can be sure to find their corpse wandering around somewhere.
These are my favourite zombie versions. What I want to know now is this: What’s your favourite version of zombies? Do you like the traditional George Romero style ones or the fast-moving zombies? Does a particular author portray zombies in a way you like? (Please, no major spoilers if the truth about the zombies is main plot point, as in the case of The Scourge by A. G. Henley.)
Parasite by Mira Grant
(Cover picture courtesy of Orbit Books.)
A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.
We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the Intestinal Bodyguard worm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system – even secretes designer drugs. It’s been successful beyond the scientists’ wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them. But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ARC ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I would have picked up this book for the cover alone, but when I saw it was by Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire I knew I just had to read it. She did write one of my favourite trilogies ever, the Newsflesh Trilogy, after all. But would Parasite live up to my expectations?
It did, but in a way I didn’t expect. There wasn’t exactly the kick-butt awesomeness that made Feed an instant favourite with me, but Parasite channeled that same level of awesome in a different way. The heroine, Sal, is nothing like George from Feed but she is also an amazing character. Having almost died six years ago in a car crash, her parasitic implant from SymboGen saved her life—except that she remembers nothing from her own life and has become a completely different person. Amnesia is difficult to write about in fiction because it’s used quite a bit, but Mira Grant did it in a believable and scientific way: Sal had to relearn everything she knew before, including how to breathe, walk and tie her own shoelaces. Six years later she’s still learning the subtleties of human interaction, helped by her amazing boyfriend Nathan.
This book has been described as a medical thriller and that’s a pretty apt description. There is a lot of scientific jargon in it and so many explanations in typical meticulous Mira Grant fashion. Did I understand all of it? No, science was never my strong point anyway. But did Mira Grant explain it enough that normal people like myself can understand what’s going on? Of course! I’m sure the science in here can appeal to many different people on many different levels, depending upon their interest and knowledge of the subject at hand.
As always, there are incredible plot twists. Some I saw coming from a mile away, others completely threw me off even if looking back on it they made complete sense. The book doesn’t exactly start off with someone poking zombies with a stick, but I certainly wouldn’t call it boring as Mira Grant gradually ratchets up the tension over 500+ pages. Believe me, you won’t be able to put Parasite down. It’s just one of those fantastic books that you won’t put down for anything, including getting a proper night’s rest. If you’re also worried that there’s the old Evil Corporation trope in here, don’t be. If you’ve read Mira Grant’s books before, you’ll know she puts twists on all tropes like that and if you haven’t read her books before, prepare to be wowed.
Three dimensional characters, gross science and a fast-paced plot that throws lots of twists and turns makes Parasite one of my new favourite books. It releases on October 29, so if you haven’t already pre-ordered it, do yourself a favour and go do that now. You won’t regret it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Spotlight: Feed by Mira Grant
Spotlight is my weekly feature in which I highlight a book I’m eagerly awaiting or read and really enjoyed. This week, it’s another amazing zombie book: Feed by Mira Grant.
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we had created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.
Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives—the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.
Lots of books about a zombie apocalypse either take place during the apocalypse or after, when civilization as we know it has fallen completely. In Feed, Mira Grant presents a much, much different take, one that looks at what life would be like if we won. Blood tests, off-limits areas, the rise of blogging at the expense of traditional media, etc. The future Mira Grant imagines is terrifying in some aspects (the complete loss of personal privacy), but I suppose it’s better than total societal collapse.
Enter Shaun and Georgia (George) Mason, who are bloggers following the presidential campaign of Senator Ryman but uncover a conspiracy that involves the origins of the Kellis-Amberlee virus itself. Despite the fact it sounds like a dark book, Mira Grant has such a humorous writing style you can’t help but laugh out loud in some parts. It’s a whirlwind journey with an unpredictable ending. Feed also ends on such a cliffhanger that you’ll have no choice but to read the second book in the Newsflesh trilogy, Deadline.
Obviously, this is a zombie novel, so don’t read it if you’re sensitive to gore.
Books that Should be Taught in School: Feed by Mira Grant
You’re probably thinking I’ve gone insane right now, aren’t you? At least, literary snobs, those of you that have read Feed and those of you that have seen my review are. I mean, a zombie novel in school. How crazy can you get? Well, it’s actually not that crazy. So please hear me out before you pass judgment:
1. It will engage high school students.
Yes, Feed has violence and coarse language. Yes, it’s a zombie novel. But I know for a fact that ‘worse’ books (content-wise) have been studied in school. Does anyone here remember reading Catch-22 in high school English? When I first read it, I was shocked that anyone ever studied this in school, yet it was still studied because it was a good novel. Feed is an excellent novel and in my honest opinion, it’s no worse than Joseph Heller’s classic novel. In some aspects, it is less ‘offensive’.
In most people’s minds zombies=awesome. By high school, most people (especially boys in my experience) hate reading passionately. Educators are always asking themselves how to improve reading scores and get kids interested in reading again.
Do you see where I’m going here?
Feed has all of the themes, messages and three dimensional characters that educators love to analyze to death while having all of the zombies, weapons and gross science that teenagers love. It has bad language and violence (obviously), but for kids in grade 11 and 12…they’re going to see and hear a lot worse on television on an ordinary day. Continue reading