Category Archives: Dystopian

May 20, 2013 · 20:42

An Apocalyptic Proposition


I have to admit, I’m a traditionalist, prefer my books in paper, hardcover and paperback. Did try an audiobook a couple of years ago, but no, didn’t get it and thought, ordinary books that’ll do nicely, thank you.
That is until this winter when I stumbled across the beautiful world that is podcast and on Adventures in SCI FI they were interviewing Matthew D. Jordan about his online novel; Tincture and I was blown away!

art_book1_thumbGrave robbing requires a corpse, so at most, this was all just simple thievery.

Rhamuel and the last of his family, Abranyah, travel their barren world, shack to shack, selling tinctures to keep a full belly and evading the dogmatists to keep their throats safe. Time turned funny after The Whatever, an apocalyptic event that few remember and even fewer can explain, danger now as commonplace as the unrecognizable relics of war, and the madman Aphulan – along with an iron rule over his small township – may hold the answers. With a cure for The Sick and a duty to protect their family, Rhamuel and Abranyah set off on a journey to the “other place,” the days before The Whatever, and ready themselves for a glimpse into what happened, and what was always meant to happen next.

Tincture, An Apocalyptic Proposition is an ongoing series of free audio books, or if you prefer you could read the chapters online, but I went for the audio version, read by the author himself and each chapter about 30 minutes, so perfect for my walks home from work.

Tincture is set in what seems to be a world (ours?) after some apocalyptic events, or after what the inhabitants call it, the whatever. Most of the world is barren wastelands, with just ruins as evidence that there was once a different world, another civilization, but no one seems to remember what came before. The few inhabitants that still are alive try one way or the other just to survive. Some you know are bad, some will stab you in the back as soon as they get their chance and some will surprise you. Each main character perspective take turn in the different chapters, mixed up with a parallel story (of sorts). Sometimes as a reader you think yes, now I get it! And then you are totally in the dark one chapter later. The central character aren’t your typical “heroes”, no you probably don’t what to meet them in an dark alley. But they are sort of likable and you want them to survive and the bad guy, well him you really, really loathe. There is a somewhat philosophical ending, but the story is more about surviving against all odds, the battle between the good and the evil. What path (or side) do we take as humans when each day is challenge to survive.

Its a (lovely ;)) dystopian story that Matthew D. Jordan is presenting. And although it has some typical post-apocalyptic elements, you will not find any zombies, vampires or other monsters. No the monsters are quite human in this one. I for one, who absolute love the classic take on the Apocalypse was pleasantly surprised. This story works and I liked it, liked it a lot!

If you want something different, another take on what comes after, I can highly recommend this. Or if you are just an Stephen King fan (listen to it and you will know)

 

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Tincture, An Apocalyptic Proposition
BY Matthew D. Jordan
Audiobook, Podiobook
Published 2012

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December 5, 2012 · 18:16

A Dystopian Winter


The winter has come to Gothenburg, its bloody cold, gray and snowy and I can tell you all, this is NOT my favorite time of the year!!

I suppose the cold and snow is one reason to just stay indoors with the company of books and films. For the moment I’m sort of stuck in all things post-apocalyptic/ dystopian, for some reason a world with zombies seems to be in the majority of my apocalyptic reality. My life these days revolve almost entirely around the walking dead (surprise surprise ;)), but of course I always need my vampires and for that I’ve revisited Priest recently (highly enjoyable in a dystopian/mad max/blade runner sort of way) and when it comes to novels, it’s in the form of Justin Cronin’s The Passage (which is absolutely brilliant, I can’t’ understand how I missed reading it until now!!).

So while Jadis is turning my town to a nasty white, bitter and cold place, I started to think about “winter” film. There is a lot (well at least some) vampire themed ones where the setting is snow, cold and almost no daylight. 30 days of night comes to mind, as well as Frostbiten and Låt den rätte komma in. But what about zombie films? Well that’s a tough one, Död snö is the only one that comes to mind right now, but I’m sure there must be others.

To be hones I like my post-apocalyptic/ dystopian scenarios in whatever form it may come in, but the weather outside just got me thinking about which winter film I would pick as favorite.
Well 30 days of nigh, Frosbiten, Låt den rätte komma in, Död snö are definitely on my winter top 10.

What’s your favorite winter film?

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July 23, 2012 · 18:42

Days Gone Bye

For some reason I been overlooking this graphic novel, so now when the TV-series approaching the third season it’s time to correct my mistake!

Days Gone Bye

How many hours are in a day when you don’t spend half of them watching television?
When is the last time any of us really worked to get something that we wanted?
How long has it been since any of us really needed something that we wanted?
The world we knew is gone.

The world of commerce and frivolous necessity has been replaced by a world of survival and responsibility.
An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions has swept the globe causing the dead to rise and feed on the living.
In a matter of months society has crumbled, no government, no grocery stores, no mail delivery, no cable TV.

In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living

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This is my first take on Zombies in a more graphic form; I absolutely love the zombie genre ever since my first encounter with the classic Night of the living dead. Most Zombie films are more about gore and quick scares than about character building or questions surrounding the human condition under extreme stress. But in the recent year there been a shift and we see more of the psychological aspects of human behavior.

How do we stay alive when the entire world as we know it seizes to exist?

This is a story that’s all about the characters and how they cope with their new reality. Tony Moor’s beautiful black and white art is setting the mood right from the beginning. At first it almost feels a bit dreamlike, you follow our hero Ricks awakening at the abandoned hospital, confused and totally clueless about what happened to the world. But that dream fast and brutally changes into a hellish nightmare instead.

The zombies are always there in the background during the whole story and when you start to relax there is a sudden burst and someone ends up dead. But the main theme is what happens to a modern society and its people when everything collapses. This story isn’t about gore, guts and cool zombies (well not all of it), it’s about survival, relationships and not all women and men might be good at heart, the may have started that way, but the fight to survive can lead us on to a different path.

I do wish that there were a bit more character development, and particularly when it comes to the women. They feel a bit one dimensional and to be honest not so very interesting. But then again maybe the story is all about Rick Grimes…although I personally hope there will be a bit more development of the women and some depth of the other survivors in future volumes.

Robert Kirkman just push you, right in to a reality were even the basics in life is a struggle and were friends may become the enemy in a blink of an eye. It is going to be interesting to see how the character reacts to this harsh new world. And when you get to the end of this first volume, it’s sad and chocking and you just want more!

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The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
By Robert Kirkman & Tony Moore
Image Comics

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