Alice in Deadland Trilogy

This book had potential. In the beginning, I was able to see a picture of what the author wanted the reader to see, so that was good. But due to the cheesiness (almost cartoonish) of this book, I'd have to say that this book would be better off as a graphic novel since characters would do things like snare and spat at each other. And I say inconsistent --and this is a spoiler alert-- because the characters would find things like the enemy's pc tablet and then use it to blog about conspiracy, and all the enemy does is delete the blogger's account and the characters would create new user accounts. The inconsistency is that the good characters are able to connect to the internet in a world that is overrun by biters and controlled by the enemy. I mean the enemy controls the internet service yet they're running paranoid that the good guys got one of their tablets. Either change the wi-fi password, or disconnect their service! It was so annoying to read!Overall, I felt like the author got lazy as the book continues and just threw in a bunch of repeated fight scenes just to fill up the Trilogy. I was almost done with the first book and I had to force myself to keep reading in hope that some really good twist will snap in, but I gave up. This book was lame!

(Book 1) Not to be confused with Alice in Zombieland, though this story's main character is a girl named Alice and it is based around a world of Biters (zombies). The entire world is at war, China and its Red Guards are the big hands here attempting to rule with some help from the hired hands of a large combat unit called Zeus. A few colonies of people still exist dotted around. Some of the people of these colonies cooperate with the Red Guard for their safety by sending some of their people as "volunteers" who toil in camps and farms - some are recruited for the fighting troops but most are tortured and work in horrific condition of hard labor. Some of these little colonies remember what freedom is and attempt to eek our their own existence by fighting Red Guard and Biters alike just to keep their people safe and most of all - free. Life as Alice, a hardened fighter at age 15, knows it all changes when she follows a Biter wearing bunny ears down a hole in the ground to discover a Biter underground base and she meets the Queen of the Biters. Through the Queen, Alice learns many things that were kept out of the public media and knowledge such as how the Biters came to be along with who and why the war started to make the world as it is now - far different in some ways than it was before yet Alice realizes there are still many similarities such as those in high political places have a greed for more power regardless of the cost to get it.(Book 2) Alice, Bunny Ears, Hatter and the rest of the gang in Deadland just can't seem to catch a break or stay out of trouble! A great second book to a (so far) enjoyable zombie series. I have to purchase the rest of the series because I need to know where things go on from here. I keep thinking that eventually Alice needs to go to the US...(Book 3) While this book is a prequel to the Alice in Deadland series, it certainly should not be read first. It details the events that lead up to the Rising, some key players that Alice meets in the first book and what they were doing prior to and during the early days of the Rising. You also find out how the country becomes known as the Deadlands and how her mother settles on the name Alice for her unborn child. Alice's family, General Chen, Appleseed, Dr. Protima and Bunny Ears are all key players with very interesting back stories. Even though this is a prequel, I strongly suggest reading it as it was released - as the third book in the series. If you read it first then there may not be any surprises or "the big reveal" for you when Alice meets the Queen in book 1.

Overall the trilogy was great. I thought it was great that the story took place somewhere other than the U.S. It seems that every zombie book that I read takes place here at home. It was refreshing to read a different perspective of the zombie genre. This is the first time I've read anything from this author, and I would read more from him.The first book was what drew me in, I loved everything about it. The character's, the details, and the storyline kept me begging for more. This was a little different than the traditional zombie story. The idea of a queen who could control the horde of zombies was very interesting. I've never read a story where any zombie could be controlled let alone any form of communication between them. I also liked the Alice in Wonderland twist to the story. The first book was just great.The second book was great too, but I noticed a lot of mistakes throughout. I found them very annoying because they were simple editing mistakes. Most of them were just a different tense of the word like the author was trying to decide which one to use and forgot to delete the other. Other than that the story was great. It took off where the first book ended and was another page turner.The third book was short but also worth the time to read. It was great to get some background on the characters, to know more about who they were and where they came from.Overall I recommend this for any who loves zombies. I would even recommend this for teenagers who like this kind of thing. I didn't read anything that a teenager doesn't already know. If the author writes more I hope that he doesn't rush and forget to edit his work again.

It's hard to give this 5 stars because so much of it is derivative. But in a way--aren't all zombie stories? Some do find something new, and so did this. These zombies aren't like the Walking Dead variety. There are some twists--intelligence and a Queen--and the Alice in Wonderland allusions are amusing. Most importantly, while this often walks well trod ground (especially in #3, the prequel), it is well paced and written, the characters are interesting and it moves along nicely. I also liked the international flavor. Overall, this is one of the best zombie books, interesting, well thought out and often clever.