THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.
Seriously. If anyone comments here at all, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. So please don't read and then yell at me because you encountered spoilers. You were warned. (I will not reply to every comment; I call partial comment amnesty. But I may well join some of the discussion, or answer questions or whatnot.)
You can also start a discussion at my website forums, with less need to be concerned that I will see everything you say! In case you wanted, you know, discussion free of authorial influence, since I always wind up getting involved in these things.
Have fun, and you can't stop the signal.
July 18 2012, 14:54:36 UTC 4 years ago
July 18 2012, 14:56:14 UTC 4 years ago
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July 18 2012, 14:58:52 UTC 4 years ago
I'm so glad you did this. It makes a wonderful companion piece to Countdown, too.
July 18 2012, 15:14:23 UTC 4 years ago
Lorelei is very cross with me for killing EVERYONE SHE LOVES. Including, in context, myself; I was probably inside the blast radius in that universe.
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July 18 2012, 15:19:24 UTC 4 years ago
And that ending? The singing? Yes. Perfect.
Except...see, I've never been to Comiccon, and I've wanted to go, and now I see the recent pictures of everyone in costume, the con floor, etc., and ALL I CAN THINK OF IS THIS BOOK. Ahem. It's like looking at a body count. And I get chills.
Ok, it will pass, I am sure. :) I know I am an emotional goofball at times over stories--but, damn, ya got me here.
THANK YOU!
July 18 2012, 18:55:06 UTC 4 years ago
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July 18 2012, 18:54:15 UTC 4 years ago
I thought that COUNTDOWN was heart-wrenching until I read this.
I'm going to end up with a collection of books that I can't bring myself to read again, aren't I?
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July 18 2012, 18:52:48 UTC 4 years ago
I start to cry even THINKING about the dog POV scene in 'Countdown' and when we met Unis I was like OH NO NOT AGAIN WAAAAAAH!!! GOOD DOG WAAAAHHH!!
*wipes eyes*
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July 18 2012, 18:07:12 UTC 4 years ago
July 18 2012, 19:22:17 UTC 4 years ago
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July 18 2012, 20:23:47 UTC 4 years ago
Was already jealous about not getting to go to Comic-Con, so it was pretty awesome having this come out in the UK to read.
Loved all of the new characters, and the way their stories intertwined. Great to be able to develop such a big group of characters so well in such a short space of time, especially when it's a foregone conclusion what's going to happen to them all. The between-chapters segments with Mahir and Lorelai were really effective, adding a whole other layer of tragedy on top, and then you throw in another bloody dog POV chapter and I'm a mess. Really sweet but heartbreaking little book.
I also loved all of the stuff about geek culture. I loved the references, I loved the look at the fandoms and how enthusiastic they are, especially the main Browncoats group. I loved the heroism of the main characters, and the way that fandoms had brought them together and meant so much to them. But I also loved that the novella had some bits about the negative parts of geek culture - the section about Elle, the female sci-fi star, and the way the fandom had affected her life, the way she was treated as a female sci-fi star, as well as how it affected her relationship, really added something interesting to the story, and made it that much more of a great look at geek fandoms. Felt like a proper love letter to geek culture, as well as a kickass-zombie-tragedy-thing.
July 19 2012, 15:13:34 UTC 4 years ago
July 18 2012, 21:57:57 UTC 4 years ago
I like that Mahir was able to give her some small amount of comfort in response to her "what if?" questions.
Unis especially made me want to sob.
Brb while I stop sniffling.
July 19 2012, 15:13:48 UTC 4 years ago
*hugs*
July 18 2012, 22:22:05 UTC 4 years ago
Great work in general - bought and read in the same evening.
PJW
July 19 2012, 15:13:58 UTC 4 years ago
July 18 2012, 22:22:57 UTC 4 years ago
July 19 2012, 15:14:19 UTC 4 years ago
I'm also glad I didn't write Patty dying.
July 19 2012, 01:39:13 UTC 4 years ago
Mahir's POV was nice, and a great way to unify things.
(Also, in "real life?" I'm staying a hotel for a work trip that's also hosting a big immunology conference. I keep thinking that you'd probably be checking nametags and quietly squeeing all over the place.)
July 19 2012, 15:14:37 UTC 4 years ago
I am SO JEALOUS of you right now, ZOMG.
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July 19 2012, 15:15:16 UTC 4 years ago
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July 19 2012, 19:29:30 UTC 4 years ago Edited: July 19 2012, 19:41:55 UTC
So I start reading. Oh, look, it's Mahir. Hi, Mahir, nice to see you again. Cheers.
And then the description of Lorelei Tutt -- who has Been Through Some Shit, Y'all. And then we discover she's the sole survivor. The ereader facepunched me. Sole survivor. Ow.
And then we get introduced to Matty and Patty (that's how my brain put them together), and he's British and he wears a bowtie and oh, how cute. And they're on their HONEYMOON?! Cruel! (and how many other couples were on theirs, or somebody was planning to propose, or were celebrating anniversaries...)
Poor blind Lesley -- whose fate gave me the most chills because -- only faint vision?! And then Unis. Another Good Dog. Oh, man.
And Kelly, little badass in a skirt, and Stuart who has a weapons booth but no clue about weaponry. And who tries hard to be so affable.
And Marty -- black man described as brown skinned but NOT described as a food item, yay, bless you, bless you, a thousand times bless you! And Eric! And clever Pris with the tablet!
And the rest of the Tutt family and Rebecca, Vanessa and Robert.
And oh, Elle!
A giant building full of Genre Savvy individuals, and it made no difference. Genre Savvy can't stand against the unbeatable combo of stupidity and mobbing.
I'm a little disappointed that we did not get a scene of Elle's moronic butthead handler getting torn limb from limb by the zombies, but otherwise, I got what I expected. A bunch of characters I would come to care about despite having already been told that none of them make it out.
I managed to hold off the tears until the Browncoats started singing "You Can't Take The Sky From Me".
I don't blame Lorelei from jumping from tea to rum. (And wow, why did her family give her Jezebelle as a middle name? -- that was the one thing that caused me to fall out the narrative if only for two seconds).
Oh, also? What kind of dog was Unis?
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July 20 2012, 06:17:11 UTC 4 years ago
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July 23 2012, 20:47:57 UTC 4 years ago
Not so much.
July 20 2012, 17:55:34 UTC 4 years ago
July 20 2012, 17:58:11 UTC 4 years ago
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July 23 2012, 20:48:34 UTC 4 years ago
July 22 2012, 17:56:33 UTC 4 years ago
July 23 2012, 20:48:48 UTC 4 years ago
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!