THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

This novel is a first-hand account of the final days of civilization, as seen through the eyes of a Zombie; the one they called Nigel when he was still a living, breathing human (or "Bean" as "Muters", Zombies, refer to them). The tale begins in the early days of the plague, where the discarded corpse of Nigel rises in the metropolis dump (his word for London) as an undead monstrosity. On his travels, and creation of more Zombies through the biting of humans, Nigel soon learns his mission - to bring death and enlightenment to all of mankind, ending the futile existence of the Beans.

MY VERDICT:

Rather surprisingly, I actually do not like this book at all and the whole concept of being written by a Zombie, the end of civilization from their eyes, is really the main problem. It thinks it is so unique, so creative, so 'never-been-done-before' (it has, in I, Zombie for instance), that there is really nothing else in the book; its just chapter after chapter of the main Zombie, the one called Nigel before he became a Zombie, murdering people to raise more Zombies or musing on the pointless existence of humans before they become undead. Yep, you read that right - this Nigel Zombie (and, in fact, all the Zombies in this novel) are intelligent, thinking, killing machines. They are unlike traditional Zombies in other ways too; they can run, jump, climb buildings, track victims, understand human language, even speak to them in a limited capacity, not to mention being able to form plans, lay ambushes and successfully engage with other Zombies, enfolding them into their carefully crafted schemes. In fact, My Name Was Nigel appears to be a vampire novel hijacking Zombie mythology simply because it is more 'in fashion' at the moment. Despite this, there should have been more action in the narrative, where the humans mounted intense resistance to the Zombie threat, where the story covers tense periods of being hunted by armed humans or large battles, seeing bodies, both dead and alive, fall under hails of gunfire or gnashing teeth. These elements are hinted at in the book but they are always glossed over as a mere mention, resorting to rehash of much the same content as the previous chapter and the chapters to follow.