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As the World Dies #2
Fighting to Survive
Picking up where The First Days ends, Fighting to Survive features the further zombie-killing, civilization-saving adventures of a pair of sexy, kick butt heroines and the men who love them. A hundred or so survivors of the zombie plague have found tenuous safety in the walled off center of a small Texas town. Now the hard work of survival begins—finding enough food; creating safe, weather-resistant shelter; establishing laws; and fighting off both the undead who want to eat them and the living bandits who want to rob and kill them.
Fighting to Survive won the Dead Letter Award for Best Novel from Mail Order Zombie. The first book in the As the World Dies trilogy, The First Days also won the Dead Letter Award and was named one of the Best Zombie Books of the Decade by the Harrisburg Book Examiner. Tor Books began bringing this series to a wider audience with the Spring 2011 publication of The First Days.
364 pages, Paperback
First published February 17, 2009
97 people are currently reading
3463 people want to read
About the author
Rhiannon Frater
68 books1,657 followersRhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies zombie trilogy (Tor) as well as independent works such as The Last Bastion of the Living (declared the #1 Zombie Release of 2012 by Explorations Fantasy Blog and the #1 Zombie Novel of the Decade by B&N Book Blog).
She was born and raised in Texas where she currently resides with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets).
She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.
She was born and raised in Texas where she currently resides with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets).
She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 379 reviews
April 17, 2009
Since I wrote this, I better give it a good review. :)
May 22, 2012
Sometimes when a plan goes awry, it still works out as intended, side effects and all. After finishing Frater's first book, The First Days, I quickly ordered the sequel from the library, planning to save it for a slow and deadly boring night of the living dead shift. Unfortunately, I was placed 'on-call,' which meant while I didn't have to work that moment, it was quite possible in the next eight hours I would be needed for brains to work. I celebrated my night almost-off by staying up afraid of zombies to read "Fighting," taking another hour to ratchet down from zombie-caused tension and ended up being up until 4 a.m. anyway, accomplishing the goal of reading and wakefulness--however unnecessary.
Briefest of summaries: survivors are walled off in a town center post-zombie apocalypse. Survivors are trickling in, putting pressure on space and resources. The goal becomes expanding into a store block for resources, and a nearby hotel to provide living space. Relationships continue to grow among the central characters, and individuals continue to deal with emotional fallout after having their loved ones turned into zombies. As the camp is taking a breather, internal malcontents trouble the group's unformed justice system, followed by problems from external marauders.
A bundle of improvements since the last book made it more compelling than the last. Similarly to the first book, the plot moves briskly along, making this a quick and engaging read. There are plenty of zombies, all the better toeat you entertain. you. As far as writing style, there was more sophistication in word choice, making for a better reading experience. However, there is still a tendency to describe repetitively people in single notes, which seems more of an author issue with characterization. Jenni, one of our heroines, is the loca one, Nerit is the icy sharpshooter, Curtis the red-faced inexperienced cop, etc. I get that a large group of people new to each other might tend to repetitively generalize, but eventually it's too easy for the author and the shortcuts make for shallow graves characters that are defined by one or two traits.
Speaking of characterization, my hackles rose a little when it was pointed out the bisexual character was finally in "comfortable shoes and casual t-shirts." Because, isn't that where alllesbians bisexuals (yes, we are still making an issue of her sexuality in this book) prefer to be? And why did the heavyset young black female come with stereotypical gay-boi sidekick with equally stereotypical dialogue? The rich people were right out "Rich Snob Here" character casting, and it is only a matter of time before the trophy wife becomes zombie bait. Honestly, Frater, you aren't being inclusive in the post-apocalypse community if the only thing you are including are stereotypes.
Still, the zombie bits are done well, and the (as always) living human meat-heads in and outside the fort are providing much of the threat. The scenes clearing the hotel were hair-raising and contained the full shiver-inducing complement of horror movie tropes. Idevoured read that section very quickly! I also give Frater full credit for a creative set-up for her survival situation. The downtown construction site is creative and seems possible, with the materials enabling survivors to build sturdy zombie-barriers. However again, the brief appearance of the internet was a bit much. CB radio is slightly more believable, as the tech and electricity is so much lower.
I can't seem to help it; despite the aforementioned glaring problems, it was an addictive read, and I've got the next book on hold at the library. I guess that tells you all you need to know about the book, or about my addiction. I wonder if there's an opening in Z.F.A.? (Zombie Fans Anonymous)
Three stars for being a challenge tosurvive put down.
Briefest of summaries: survivors are walled off in a town center post-zombie apocalypse. Survivors are trickling in, putting pressure on space and resources. The goal becomes expanding into a store block for resources, and a nearby hotel to provide living space. Relationships continue to grow among the central characters, and individuals continue to deal with emotional fallout after having their loved ones turned into zombies. As the camp is taking a breather, internal malcontents trouble the group's unformed justice system, followed by problems from external marauders.
A bundle of improvements since the last book made it more compelling than the last. Similarly to the first book, the plot moves briskly along, making this a quick and engaging read. There are plenty of zombies, all the better to
Speaking of characterization, my hackles rose a little when it was pointed out the bisexual character was finally in "comfortable shoes and casual t-shirts." Because, isn't that where all
Still, the zombie bits are done well, and the (as always) living human meat-heads in and outside the fort are providing much of the threat. The scenes clearing the hotel were hair-raising and contained the full shiver-inducing complement of horror movie tropes. I
I can't seem to help it; despite the aforementioned glaring problems, it was an addictive read, and I've got the next book on hold at the library. I guess that tells you all you need to know about the book, or about my addiction. I wonder if there's an opening in Z.F.A.? (Zombie Fans Anonymous)
Three stars for being a challenge to
May 11, 2012
Know how to beat a crippling addiction to zombie books? Find the most poorly written series available and read until your eyes bleed. I think that this book has finally shaken the last vestiges of my zombie love from me. The scenes with actual zombies are mildly entertaining, but the endless (ENDLESS!) pages of characters shacking up with one another, thinking about shacking up with one another, or agonizing about having shacked up with someone had me wanting to pull my eyes out and flush them away so that I could not read another word.
The female duo from the first book are significantly weakened and watered down here as Jeni falls head over heels for her one-time nemesis Juan and Katie remembers that "oh yeah!" before she was married to the wife of her dreams (who had then became the zombie of her nightmares), she had liked men too! What a coincidence that there is a kind and gentle giant ruling with a velvet glove over these survivors. How perfectly convenient. It bugged me. I understand Frater's often repeated points about how society expects people to fall on one side or the other of the gender binary and how it just isn't fair to force people to limit themselves to others' definitions of secuality, but I still hated it. Katie was a strong, self sufficient, lesbian trying to cope with some crippling PTSD after being chased by her zombified wife in the first book, but here she just grated on my nerves. And the rape. Please do not get me started on the rape scene. Ever. If you are at the bottom of the zombie literature barrel and absolutely must have one more, I would still recommend passing over these books.
The female duo from the first book are significantly weakened and watered down here as Jeni falls head over heels for her one-time nemesis Juan and Katie remembers that "oh yeah!" before she was married to the wife of her dreams (who had then became the zombie of her nightmares), she had liked men too! What a coincidence that there is a kind and gentle giant ruling with a velvet glove over these survivors. How perfectly convenient. It bugged me. I understand Frater's often repeated points about how society expects people to fall on one side or the other of the gender binary and how it just isn't fair to force people to limit themselves to others' definitions of secuality, but I still hated it. Katie was a strong, self sufficient, lesbian trying to cope with some crippling PTSD after being chased by her zombified wife in the first book, but here she just grated on my nerves. And the rape. Please do not get me started on the rape scene. Ever. If you are at the bottom of the zombie literature barrel and absolutely must have one more, I would still recommend passing over these books.
March 11, 2012
Zombies. They're scary aren't they? They eat your flesh, they don't feel pain, and they never EVER stop. But what about humans? Humans who are dead set on surviving? Humans who have a screwed up sense of humanity in this dying world? And these humans, they may not eat your face, or pound themselves on a wall for days on end to get a taste of you, but they have intelligence, they have strength… and they have weapons. Zombies are NOT the only enemy anymore! I'm not even sure which I fear the most.
Fighting to Survive continues the story of our exceptional heroines Katie and Jenni. They're surviving at the fort, making a new life for themselves behind the safety of the walls. As in The First Days, Fighting to Survive gives us incredible character development. We get acquainted with a lot of the survivors; even if only briefly, these people could not be any more real. I know them, with all my heart I love them, and this makes everything especially terrifying. It's a zombocalypse, people die, and it matters! Even when it's the less important characters who we barely know - It matters! In this sequel we really get to see the day to day events of what it takes to survive and build a new community after disaster strikes. There are all kinds of people with different views, different opinions; It's a whole planet in a nutshell. But don't get too comfortable!
It's not all peace and quiet - that's not really Rhiannon's style now, is it? (how boring would that be!) - zombies are aplenty, in addition, we still have a vigilante to find, as well as new bandits to deal with. Tension is, again, high from start to finish. Even during the peaceful times, the underlying mood is constantly ominous with a always present gut feeling that a storm is brewing. I LOVE it!
A mastermind in suspense, Rhiannon knows how to build excruciating anticipation where you just want to read until your eyes bleed. It's such an extraordinary adrenaline rush I had to stop mid-ending to scream at her, let it out a little. The ending: foreboding, exciting, terrifying. Siege, the third and final book in this epic series, will undoubtedly be a thing of legend!
If you haven't started this series yet, you have no idea what you're missing. It's the most amazing story about survival that I have ever read, with scenes so haunting, characters so vivid, that I will be hearing their words and remembering their fears for a very long time.
--
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
Fighting to Survive continues the story of our exceptional heroines Katie and Jenni. They're surviving at the fort, making a new life for themselves behind the safety of the walls. As in The First Days, Fighting to Survive gives us incredible character development. We get acquainted with a lot of the survivors; even if only briefly, these people could not be any more real. I know them, with all my heart I love them, and this makes everything especially terrifying. It's a zombocalypse, people die, and it matters! Even when it's the less important characters who we barely know - It matters! In this sequel we really get to see the day to day events of what it takes to survive and build a new community after disaster strikes. There are all kinds of people with different views, different opinions; It's a whole planet in a nutshell. But don't get too comfortable!
It's not all peace and quiet - that's not really Rhiannon's style now, is it? (how boring would that be!) - zombies are aplenty, in addition, we still have a vigilante to find, as well as new bandits to deal with. Tension is, again, high from start to finish. Even during the peaceful times, the underlying mood is constantly ominous with a always present gut feeling that a storm is brewing. I LOVE it!
A mastermind in suspense, Rhiannon knows how to build excruciating anticipation where you just want to read until your eyes bleed. It's such an extraordinary adrenaline rush I had to stop mid-ending to scream at her, let it out a little. The ending: foreboding, exciting, terrifying. Siege, the third and final book in this epic series, will undoubtedly be a thing of legend!
If you haven't started this series yet, you have no idea what you're missing. It's the most amazing story about survival that I have ever read, with scenes so haunting, characters so vivid, that I will be hearing their words and remembering their fears for a very long time.
--
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
January 12, 2013
Juan flicked the brim of his cowboy hat up. "Never a dull moment."
"I miss dull moments," Travis mused.
3.5 stars. Surviving the zombie apocalypse has never interested me more than it does right now. The As The World Dies trilogy is the perfect thing to fill in the gap for me until The Walking Dead comes back on television.
Three cheers for books which give me a variety of things to read about :
~ Violence, gore and all-around ass-kicking.
~ People battling their inner demons.
~ Conflict within the ranks, leading up to a call for the overthrowing of political power.
~ The fight for survival, even down to the day-to-day mundane details not involving zombies. That food ain't gonna come from thin air, after all.
~ Friendships and romantic relationships budding even in the face of adversity.
Half a point deduction for a few small details :
~ The dream sequences bordered on cheesy. It's awkward to read about dead relatives coming back in a person's dreams just in order to tell them to move on.
~ I felt like a few of the scenes repeated themselves, except for in different locations.
~ The emphasis on how much hate was thrown at Katie should have wrapped up sooner, or at the very least come to a head after the big "situation in the bathroom" scene happened. I felt like that part of the story dragged on for far too long, especially when the biggest conflict in the book should have (imo) revolved around the fight to stay alive.
~There were no zombie kitties.
Let's face it : a little action and adventure never hurt a book.
After just coming out of a read where not much was happening other than a relationship conflict, it was fun to sink back into something where I got to go along on the cast of characters' adventures.
Finally...I really do love the sense of community in these books.
Everyone works together to ensure survival. Old families are gone. New families are held together by something other than blood ties. In a sense, the new families are stronger because of the need to lean on one another.
In a world full of death, life was something to embrace.
June 24, 2012
This book, well really this serial, is precisely the equivalent of a cheesy tv show or maybe some sort of a snack food. It has that certain quality of being just good enough without really providing any substance. Yet if it's there, it's just entertaining enough or serviceable enough to keep eating or not change the chanel, depending on which metaphor you went with there. The best word to describe it is adequate. Yes, there are strong female characters, but all of their emotions are overexplained to the point of extreme. Could Katie's bisexuality possibly be discussed any more? Can we empasize the fact the Jenni is so loca for being good at eliminating zombies during a zombie aplocalypse? Seriously, exactly how crazy is that? Could the majority of the characters be any more cookie cutter? Every emotion, every action is so simplified and spoonfed to the reader that eye rolling is probably the most prevalent reaction to this book. On a positive note, the action and pacing are quite decent, there are a few interesting characters, the ending is good and it's a quick read. So yeah, just ok, 2 stars.
June 16, 2019
Katie and Jenni have settled into their new life in the fort. But tensions are increasing on both sides of the wall. Someone within the fort is delivering vigilante justice, while on the outside bandits are roaming the countryside picking off small settlements of survivors.
With the continuing threat of zombies and bandits, and winter fast approaching they make the decision to claim the hotel that adjoins the fort and bring any survivors they can find inside the walls.
The carnage continues in Fighting to Survive. It's incredibly violent but so over the top that it only rarely made me feel uncomfortable.
With the continuing threat of zombies and bandits, and winter fast approaching they make the decision to claim the hotel that adjoins the fort and bring any survivors they can find inside the walls.
The carnage continues in Fighting to Survive. It's incredibly violent but so over the top that it only rarely made me feel uncomfortable.
April 15, 2012
This is a review of both book 1 and 2.
I had a couple problems with these books, but overall I found them to be fairly enjoyable.
SPOILERS AHEAD
First, Nerit needs her own book. Best character by far.
One of my major issues was the constant descriptions of Jenni as “crazy.” Yes, she was in an abusive relationship and was dealing with the psychological trauma of that as well as the trauma of the Zombie apocalypse, but I didn’t really understand what she did to be described as crazy all the time. It became excessive to me, and then annoying. One of the major reasons people would call her crazy was because she took pleasure in killing zombies. No shit!!! They are eating people. (Actually, I’m going to digress a bit here, but why the f**k does the “Should we kill the zombies” debate always come up in zombie fiction? If you are in the midst of the zombie apocalypse and you happen to find yourself involved in this conversation the answer is always YES!!! Why are we discussing this? Zombies eat people!! Kill them all. I would be killing zombies like it was my job. Ooooh Jenni likes killing the cannibalistic walking corpses…what a crazy lady. Um no…Jenni is the only one who gets it!! Kill them. Don’t keep them in the barn, don’t try to help them – just aim for the head.) The crazy label continues into the second book, and it really started to make me crazy.
The strongest parts of the books are when there is some solid zombie action going on. I also really enjoyed the fight with the bandits. The books really stall when everyone is talking /thinking about their feelings or whatever. Especially in book number two. After they take the hotel things slow down quite a bit.
I had a couple really minor issues with some of the smaller details of the book. At one point they return to a hunting supply store and load up on guns and ammo, but then later they are all worried about running out of ammo. Why didn’t you take more?!?! Also, get practicing with those crossbows!! The survivors also seem to have an almost unlimited supply of food. I know they have scavenged and hunted and what not, but there’s not going to be abandoned wal-mart trucks laying around all the time so I think some rationing would be a good idea. I also agree with people on the whole electricity issue. These characters don’t even seem worried that the electricity might go out. Or that it might go out at a really bad time. Say, when they’re in the elevator…
I really didn’t like the love stories that emerged. I thought Frater had a great opportunity to have these two bad ass female leads and then of course they go getting all lovey dovey. The relationship between Travis and Katie really disappointed me. If you’re going to make your lead a lesbian just go for it. The whole “Oh, I’m actually bi…” thing felt like a cop-out to me. In fact, I felt as though both Katie and Jenni became a bit cliché. I was slightly confused by how Katie and Jenni related to each other. Maybe, it’s just me, but I found the relationship a bit bizarre. Almost as though Frater didn’t really know how two really hot, popular chicks would relate to each other. Honestly, at a couple points I wouldn’t have been shocked if they just started having a pillow fight in their underwear.
Finally, the book tends to be redundant. Take for example the “tiny fingers” description. That phrase gets brought up repeatedly. Oh my God!! I get it! The fingers were tiny!! There’s also times (I’m too lazy to look up the specifics) where a character’s inner emotions will be described in a paragraph, and then 4 or 5 paragraphs later is the same description with a couple of different details.
Although this review probably sounds negative I actually did enjoy this book. It’s entertaining zombie fun. That’s all I really wanted out of it. It’s certainly not going to win a Pulitzer any time soon, but both these books are entertaining and I will read the third one.
PS – Don’t hang out with people named Shane if you’re caught up in the Zombie Apocalypse. They seem to be bad news :D
I had a couple problems with these books, but overall I found them to be fairly enjoyable.
SPOILERS AHEAD
First, Nerit needs her own book. Best character by far.
One of my major issues was the constant descriptions of Jenni as “crazy.” Yes, she was in an abusive relationship and was dealing with the psychological trauma of that as well as the trauma of the Zombie apocalypse, but I didn’t really understand what she did to be described as crazy all the time. It became excessive to me, and then annoying. One of the major reasons people would call her crazy was because she took pleasure in killing zombies. No shit!!! They are eating people. (Actually, I’m going to digress a bit here, but why the f**k does the “Should we kill the zombies” debate always come up in zombie fiction? If you are in the midst of the zombie apocalypse and you happen to find yourself involved in this conversation the answer is always YES!!! Why are we discussing this? Zombies eat people!! Kill them all. I would be killing zombies like it was my job. Ooooh Jenni likes killing the cannibalistic walking corpses…what a crazy lady. Um no…Jenni is the only one who gets it!! Kill them. Don’t keep them in the barn, don’t try to help them – just aim for the head.) The crazy label continues into the second book, and it really started to make me crazy.
The strongest parts of the books are when there is some solid zombie action going on. I also really enjoyed the fight with the bandits. The books really stall when everyone is talking /thinking about their feelings or whatever. Especially in book number two. After they take the hotel things slow down quite a bit.
I had a couple really minor issues with some of the smaller details of the book. At one point they return to a hunting supply store and load up on guns and ammo, but then later they are all worried about running out of ammo. Why didn’t you take more?!?! Also, get practicing with those crossbows!! The survivors also seem to have an almost unlimited supply of food. I know they have scavenged and hunted and what not, but there’s not going to be abandoned wal-mart trucks laying around all the time so I think some rationing would be a good idea. I also agree with people on the whole electricity issue. These characters don’t even seem worried that the electricity might go out. Or that it might go out at a really bad time. Say, when they’re in the elevator…
I really didn’t like the love stories that emerged. I thought Frater had a great opportunity to have these two bad ass female leads and then of course they go getting all lovey dovey. The relationship between Travis and Katie really disappointed me. If you’re going to make your lead a lesbian just go for it. The whole “Oh, I’m actually bi…” thing felt like a cop-out to me. In fact, I felt as though both Katie and Jenni became a bit cliché. I was slightly confused by how Katie and Jenni related to each other. Maybe, it’s just me, but I found the relationship a bit bizarre. Almost as though Frater didn’t really know how two really hot, popular chicks would relate to each other. Honestly, at a couple points I wouldn’t have been shocked if they just started having a pillow fight in their underwear.
Finally, the book tends to be redundant. Take for example the “tiny fingers” description. That phrase gets brought up repeatedly. Oh my God!! I get it! The fingers were tiny!! There’s also times (I’m too lazy to look up the specifics) where a character’s inner emotions will be described in a paragraph, and then 4 or 5 paragraphs later is the same description with a couple of different details.
Although this review probably sounds negative I actually did enjoy this book. It’s entertaining zombie fun. That’s all I really wanted out of it. It’s certainly not going to win a Pulitzer any time soon, but both these books are entertaining and I will read the third one.
PS – Don’t hang out with people named Shane if you’re caught up in the Zombie Apocalypse. They seem to be bad news :D
May 9, 2012
Rhiannon Frater has amazing talent to take a topic that has been written about a lot and turn it into something new, fresh and different. Fighting to Survive is the second in the As the World series and it delivers gory, scary zombie goodness with great survival drama.
Fighting to Survive continues to be told from the alternating point of views of both Katie and Jennie who were introduced in The First Days. The story takes off exactly where it left off at the end of First Days, the group of survivors is hiding behind an enforced wall and making plans to move into a nearby hotel. There is political and emotional drama as the group struggles to deal with the new zombie infested world, their losses and a different power structure in this post apocalyptic world. Sometimes stuff like this can be presented in a boring manner or an overly dramatic way -- Frater does neither. The story is rich and complex and like everyday human life, nothing is simple.
Fighting to Survive is funny. Jenni is called La Loca and her personality adds a lot of humor to the gory and scary world,
Both Jenni and Katie suffered significant emotional losses in the first book and this fact is not glossed over. Both continue to be haunted by the pain. I really like how Frater makes her zombie books so real. Yes real in the the monsters are damned scary, gruesome and nonstop. But also, her characters are in emotional pain; they don't just rebound and move on. There are inner struggles and the characters act on these. In the first book, Jenni's children die -- how does a mother move past this? Can she? I was worried at first when I read the summary of this series that Ms. Frater wouldn't present a mother's pain realistically. Well, she does. Jenni is a complicated character to begin with and her losses only magnify this. But the twisted thing about Jenni, is that because of the way her life was prior to the zombie rising (she was an abused wife) and despite her horrific losses, her life now is freer than it ever was. Jenni recognizes the twistedness of this and she suffers for it.
Human beings can be ugly -- not just in the morning before a shower, but I mean dark souls and mean people who take advantage of the weak. And what better time for people like this to come to the surface than a zombie apocalypse? Dealing with the zombies in As the World Dies is pretty straightforward -- don't get bit, kill them and eliminate them. The human beings who want power and like to hurt people are less straight forward and this is where Fighting to Survive becomes really interesting. It is pure survival at its basic level -- food, shelter, fighting monsters and fighting human beings who want to assert their evil control.
Fighting to Survive is not all humor and drama though, it is filled with excellent gore and fight scenes,
So, I read both the self-published version and the Tor version. Are there differences? Yes, in a subtle why the Tor version is smoother and tighter. The same substantive story is there, but I enjoyed the Tor version even more. This is a series that I inhaled and read within a week but then still went on to buy all of the Tor versions and read those as well. If you like zombie and survivalist themed books, I think you will love this series.
To read this and other reviews check out: www.badassbookreviews.com
Fighting to Survive continues to be told from the alternating point of views of both Katie and Jennie who were introduced in The First Days. The story takes off exactly where it left off at the end of First Days, the group of survivors is hiding behind an enforced wall and making plans to move into a nearby hotel. There is political and emotional drama as the group struggles to deal with the new zombie infested world, their losses and a different power structure in this post apocalyptic world. Sometimes stuff like this can be presented in a boring manner or an overly dramatic way -- Frater does neither. The story is rich and complex and like everyday human life, nothing is simple.
Fighting to Survive is funny. Jenni is called La Loca and her personality adds a lot of humor to the gory and scary world,
"Moving determinedly toward the kitchen, Jenni caught a faint whiff of decay. "Shit!" Jenni screamed, "Theyre' here!" Abruptly, the door to the kitchen was flung open and the waitstaff flooded into the room, ready for the breakfast."
Both Jenni and Katie suffered significant emotional losses in the first book and this fact is not glossed over. Both continue to be haunted by the pain. I really like how Frater makes her zombie books so real. Yes real in the the monsters are damned scary, gruesome and nonstop. But also, her characters are in emotional pain; they don't just rebound and move on. There are inner struggles and the characters act on these. In the first book, Jenni's children die -- how does a mother move past this? Can she? I was worried at first when I read the summary of this series that Ms. Frater wouldn't present a mother's pain realistically. Well, she does. Jenni is a complicated character to begin with and her losses only magnify this. But the twisted thing about Jenni, is that because of the way her life was prior to the zombie rising (she was an abused wife) and despite her horrific losses, her life now is freer than it ever was. Jenni recognizes the twistedness of this and she suffers for it.
Human beings can be ugly -- not just in the morning before a shower, but I mean dark souls and mean people who take advantage of the weak. And what better time for people like this to come to the surface than a zombie apocalypse? Dealing with the zombies in As the World Dies is pretty straightforward -- don't get bit, kill them and eliminate them. The human beings who want power and like to hurt people are less straight forward and this is where Fighting to Survive becomes really interesting. It is pure survival at its basic level -- food, shelter, fighting monsters and fighting human beings who want to assert their evil control.
Fighting to Survive is not all humor and drama though, it is filled with excellent gore and fight scenes,
"With a grunt, Katie shoved the zombie over with her foot. It landed hard on the steps, its head flopping to one side, its teeth still gnashing. LIfting the knife, Katie narrowed her eyes, aimed, and struck the zombie through the eyes as hard as she could. The knife hit bone and she twisted, pushing the blade further in. The jaws stilled. Katie braced her foot on the head and drew out her weapon. Cleaning it on the dead maid's dress, she looked up to see Roger and Travis watching her with stunned expressions. "What?" "Damn," Roger said. "You were like Alice in Resident Evil. That was hot.""
So, I read both the self-published version and the Tor version. Are there differences? Yes, in a subtle why the Tor version is smoother and tighter. The same substantive story is there, but I enjoyed the Tor version even more. This is a series that I inhaled and read within a week but then still went on to buy all of the Tor versions and read those as well. If you like zombie and survivalist themed books, I think you will love this series.
To read this and other reviews check out: www.badassbookreviews.com
January 24, 2022
I didn't really like the first book much. I still read it, but I skimmed large chunks. I'm doing the same thing with this book, and I don't think I"m going to finish it. It really irritates me that there aren't many women writing in this genre and too many of the few women authors think they need to cram the series full of ridiculous romantic nonsense. There's another author, Susan Pfieffer or something, that wrote a series so full of stupid hook-ups and 'oh so tough' women that can't ever shut their mouths or say much that isn't sarcastic or soppy romance.
I am a woman. I'm not making these comments out of sexism, I'm annoyed because the female characters are just awful. I don't care about their sexuality. I don't care if they're gay, non-binary, bi or anything else, but I avoid romance books for a reason. I have no desire to read about someone's love life. It's fine if hook-ups and relationship are part of a story. That's very common and it's realistic. People have relationships, so any work of fiction involving humans is also going to deal with relationships too. I do not want to read a book solely focused on that aspect of human behavior. I'm reading this series because I wanted to read about zombies, not romantic entanglements and 'tough girls' melting into the arms of their men. (or women, or whatever)
The men aren't great here either, and the entire plot of this book is just silly. Why are the bandits so focused on this group? There's an entire country overrun with zombies and they're in an extremely large state in a region that was sparsely populated to begin with. The bandits could easily just go elsewhere and continue looting. Their determination to take out the 'fort' doesn't make any sense.
The sections of the book that actually involve zombies aren't bad. I skimmed over entire chunks of the first book because they were filled with two women making snappy, sarcastic remarks and comebacks nonstop. I'm trying to skim through the boring nonsense in this book too, but that requires skipping so much drivel that there isn't much of the book left to read. I've also noticed a lot of small grammar errors, repetition and contradictions (as in saying something in one paragraph and something entirely different a few paragraphs later). The author frequently uses words incorrectly. That bugs me more than any other type of grammar or spelling error. I don't even know how to describe another aspect of the author's writing style that really bugs me. She tries to use flowery language and similes to emphasize emotional scenes, but it doesn't work. Here's an example: "and for some reason, until her last day on earth, she remembered..." It just sounds awkward. As far as I could tell, every attempt to create those moving/inspirational passages was awkward and completely ineffective. Many talented authors can create memorable passages and quotes. I just pulled a few examples from Malazan:
"Survivors do not mourn together. They each mourn alone, even when in the same place. Grief is the most solitary of all feelings. Grief isolates, and every ritual, every gesture, every embrace, is a hopeless effort to break through that isolation.
None of it works. The forms crumble and dissolve.
To face death is to stand alone"
I even remember a single sentence in The Crippled God. 'He has given us our storm'
That was memorable, and even made me tear up, because I was so emotionally invested in the masterpiece that is the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'd love to find an author in this genre that can write something half as amazing as Malazan. I'd be thrilled with just half.
I am a woman. I'm not making these comments out of sexism, I'm annoyed because the female characters are just awful. I don't care about their sexuality. I don't care if they're gay, non-binary, bi or anything else, but I avoid romance books for a reason. I have no desire to read about someone's love life. It's fine if hook-ups and relationship are part of a story. That's very common and it's realistic. People have relationships, so any work of fiction involving humans is also going to deal with relationships too. I do not want to read a book solely focused on that aspect of human behavior. I'm reading this series because I wanted to read about zombies, not romantic entanglements and 'tough girls' melting into the arms of their men. (or women, or whatever)
The men aren't great here either, and the entire plot of this book is just silly. Why are the bandits so focused on this group? There's an entire country overrun with zombies and they're in an extremely large state in a region that was sparsely populated to begin with. The bandits could easily just go elsewhere and continue looting. Their determination to take out the 'fort' doesn't make any sense.
The sections of the book that actually involve zombies aren't bad. I skimmed over entire chunks of the first book because they were filled with two women making snappy, sarcastic remarks and comebacks nonstop. I'm trying to skim through the boring nonsense in this book too, but that requires skipping so much drivel that there isn't much of the book left to read. I've also noticed a lot of small grammar errors, repetition and contradictions (as in saying something in one paragraph and something entirely different a few paragraphs later). The author frequently uses words incorrectly. That bugs me more than any other type of grammar or spelling error. I don't even know how to describe another aspect of the author's writing style that really bugs me. She tries to use flowery language and similes to emphasize emotional scenes, but it doesn't work. Here's an example: "and for some reason, until her last day on earth, she remembered..." It just sounds awkward. As far as I could tell, every attempt to create those moving/inspirational passages was awkward and completely ineffective. Many talented authors can create memorable passages and quotes. I just pulled a few examples from Malazan:
"Survivors do not mourn together. They each mourn alone, even when in the same place. Grief is the most solitary of all feelings. Grief isolates, and every ritual, every gesture, every embrace, is a hopeless effort to break through that isolation.
None of it works. The forms crumble and dissolve.
To face death is to stand alone"
I even remember a single sentence in The Crippled God. 'He has given us our storm'
That was memorable, and even made me tear up, because I was so emotionally invested in the masterpiece that is the Malazan Book of the Fallen. I'd love to find an author in this genre that can write something half as amazing as Malazan. I'd be thrilled with just half.
November 15, 2015
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The Storyline
Fighting to Survive picks up a few weeks after The First Days left off: Katie and Jenni are helping establish a new life on the fort and working to minimize the ongoing danger of the zombies. Nothing much happens (in my opinion) in regards to the zombie as this book focused mainly on expanding on new characters, the growing of existing relationships, and establishing more problems outside of the zombie issue. The writing was still a bit stilted for me and I still love the zombie action scenes far more than the character interaction scenes.
The Relationships
So I totally get that everyone is living day to day not knowing how much longer one another will survive, but does that give everyone the right to become a bunch of hussies?
“We just decided today,” he explained. “Life is so short. We just don’t’ want to waste time. We’ve been sleeping together in my tent. Might as well make it official and be a family.”
Uhh… okay?
Jenni and Juan were already together in the last book and their relationship steadily progresses until they are eventually living together. Jenni and Juan’s relationship is strange though and I’m not positive whether they actually like each other or not. And I swear… I was going to snap if I hear Loca one more time.
Then there’s Katie and Travis. In the last book Katie kept trying to keep Travis at bay by continuing to remind him that she is in fact lesbian and no she will not be with him. Her reasoning behind this was explained in the last book as she didn’t want to tarnish her memory of her wife Lydia even though she did have feelings for Travis. I felt that whole storyline and the ending was anticlimactic and definitely inevitable. But…
Final Thoughts
Reading these books back to back has caused me to become quite cynical. I do plan on finishing up the trilogy but will come back to it at a later date when I’ve managed to forget some of my irritations. I’m hoping the third one has lots of zombie action scenes and EVERYONE gets eaten! hahahaha
The Storyline
Fighting to Survive picks up a few weeks after The First Days left off: Katie and Jenni are helping establish a new life on the fort and working to minimize the ongoing danger of the zombies. Nothing much happens (in my opinion) in regards to the zombie as this book focused mainly on expanding on new characters, the growing of existing relationships, and establishing more problems outside of the zombie issue. The writing was still a bit stilted for me and I still love the zombie action scenes far more than the character interaction scenes.
The Relationships
So I totally get that everyone is living day to day not knowing how much longer one another will survive, but does that give everyone the right to become a bunch of hussies?
“We just decided today,” he explained. “Life is so short. We just don’t’ want to waste time. We’ve been sleeping together in my tent. Might as well make it official and be a family.”
Uhh… okay?
Jenni and Juan were already together in the last book and their relationship steadily progresses until they are eventually living together. Jenni and Juan’s relationship is strange though and I’m not positive whether they actually like each other or not. And I swear… I was going to snap if I hear Loca one more time.
Then there’s Katie and Travis. In the last book Katie kept trying to keep Travis at bay by continuing to remind him that she is in fact lesbian and no she will not be with him. Her reasoning behind this was explained in the last book as she didn’t want to tarnish her memory of her wife Lydia even though she did have feelings for Travis. I felt that whole storyline and the ending was anticlimactic and definitely inevitable. But…
Final Thoughts
Reading these books back to back has caused me to become quite cynical. I do plan on finishing up the trilogy but will come back to it at a later date when I’ve managed to forget some of my irritations. I’m hoping the third one has lots of zombie action scenes and EVERYONE gets eaten! hahahaha
November 16, 2009
I learned a valuable lesson while reading this book. My habit of reading right before bed has never been too much of an issue but with Fighting to Survive (as well as As The World Dies) it made it impossible to get any sleep. I could not put the books down, believe me I tried! Once I started reading I did not feel tired at all so I simply kept reading all through the night.
I enjoyed reading more about Katie & Jenni and all the other characters from the first book that I came to like. I also liked the introduction/exploration of new characters. The character development of both old and new characters is probably one of the things I like most about this series. It is smoothly done and draws me closer to the characters.
Can't wait to read the third book - but will have to wait until I catch up on my sleep! ;)
I enjoyed reading more about Katie & Jenni and all the other characters from the first book that I came to like. I also liked the introduction/exploration of new characters. The character development of both old and new characters is probably one of the things I like most about this series. It is smoothly done and draws me closer to the characters.
Can't wait to read the third book - but will have to wait until I catch up on my sleep! ;)
January 12, 2013
Whew! Man, my head is in a whirl. That was intense! While I'm glad that I don't live in a world where I need to be, there's a part of me that wishes I were as badass as Nerit. That bitch ROCKS.
I don't have much more to say on this series right now, since most of the first books review stands for this one too. I do want to go on record as saying that . I believe that this is possible, because it's on a deeper level.
Um, I also read an explanation for Jenni and her coping mechanisms, and I understand them. I understand them even if I find it hard to relate to her. I can say that even though I don't easily relate to her, she has grown on me. I love her passion. And I love her with Juan.
The best addition to this story was Calhoun. I don't know how many times his antics had me wiping tears of laughter off my face; in the middle of the zombie apocalypse at that!
(this is rather long, I'm sorry!)
And that's only the beginning, the man talks about Vampire's trying to bite him, and even grins with glee at one point cause he thinks he's 'hit on something'. Adding a conspiracy theorist to the story was tres brilliant! I love Calhoun, and I love his interactions with everyone in the fort. Hilarity all around!
And since Calhoun and Nerit were my favorites in this sequel, I have to post one more quote bit.
The trucks were about ten feet from the gate when Juan gave the signal. The crane, which had been stationed overhead early that morning, dropped a small storage unit onto the bandits' vehicles. Nerit smiled with satisfaction as it crashed down, clipping the front end of the blue truck and sending the hood flying. The big black truck jackknifed across the road.
All went silent below.
Juan clutched his binoculars tight. "We're winning, right, Nerit?"
"We're not planning to win."
Juan frowned. "I don't understand."
"We're going to make them fear us," Nerit answered with a cold smile. "And that is far more effective."
I don't have much more to say on this series right now, since most of the first books review stands for this one too. I do want to go on record as saying that . I believe that this is possible, because it's on a deeper level.
Um, I also read an explanation for Jenni and her coping mechanisms, and I understand them. I understand them even if I find it hard to relate to her. I can say that even though I don't easily relate to her, she has grown on me. I love her passion. And I love her with Juan.
The best addition to this story was Calhoun. I don't know how many times his antics had me wiping tears of laughter off my face; in the middle of the zombie apocalypse at that!
(this is rather long, I'm sorry!)
A man was coming down the street on a motor scooter. Its engine was coughing and sputtering, and the exhaust was a cloud of dark smoke. He was dressed in very old jeans, a leather jacket, and a beat-up, greasy straw cowboy hat that was so badly warped, it looked like a banana sitting on his head. Even from this distance, he looked dirty and smelly.
"Who the hell is that?" Jenni stood up and tried to get a better view.
The man cruised up to just under the fire escape. "Now, I am a taxpaying citizen of not only this country, but this city and county as well, and when the mayor decides to steal my property by sending rabid CIA clones to try to tear down my fence, I have a God-given, constitutional right to defend myself. And if you think I'm going to just sit back and not complain, you have another think coming. I fully intend to speak with the police, even if they are a bunch of coke-snorting, Mafia thugs, about what Mayor Reyes has been doing, and I will have justice. I killed the clones, but I figure since they are clones they don't count as a life-form, so it don't count as murder. Besides the mixture was bad on that batch and they had all sorts of things wrong with them..."
The man spoke earnestly, as if he were being interviewed by a reporter on TV, his hands moving eloquently. "...so even if they sit outside my house and snort up on coke so they don't feel a damn thing, I will defend myself. A good knock to the head seems to do the trick. Now the aliens, well, they don't die so easily..." A zombie runs around the corner but a nice hole through it's head sends it sprawling. "...And that's what I'm talking about. Now the damn clones are everywhere! I'm am going to write to the president of the United States, even if he is in league with the aliens, to let him know of the blatant abuse of taxes to fund this cloning program..."
And that's only the beginning, the man talks about Vampire's trying to bite him, and even grins with glee at one point cause he thinks he's 'hit on something'. Adding a conspiracy theorist to the story was tres brilliant! I love Calhoun, and I love his interactions with everyone in the fort. Hilarity all around!
And since Calhoun and Nerit were my favorites in this sequel, I have to post one more quote bit.
Calhoun emerged from the shadows, flipping on his video camera and aiming it at her face. The red light blinked at her.
"The queen of the Amazons is in full battle mode. There is a look of death in her eyes and she is-" He falters as she stared into the camera. "-kinda hot."
Nerit burst out laughing and patted Calhoun's shoulder as she passed him.
"She walks confidently, preparing to amass the defenders of this illegally built fort. The mayor has yet to explain himself and release an accurate accounting of how much taxpayer money was used in its construction. Meanwhile..."
Nerit turned and gave Calhoun a look. He stared, sudden silent.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"It's time for you to turn off the camera and do what you're supposed to," Nerit said.
Calhoun dramatically sighed, then tucked it away in his backpack. "You're a mean old bitch."
"I haven't pitched you over the wall yet."
"Are you the one pitching people over the wall?"
"Would you be surprised if I was?"
Calhoun considered this, rubbing his grizzled chin. "Nope."
Nerit shrugged. "Just get to your position."
"Wanna go out?"
"No."
"Have sex?"
"Definitely not." Nerit smirked and walked away.
"Damn Amazons."
April 14, 2009
I can't say enough wonderful things about not only this book, but the series. I want everyone to know that I am the last person on earth that would have ever believed I'd like a book like this. Imagine my shock when I not only liked it- but LOVED it!
Rhiannon Frater has a true gift people- I'm so serious! I plan on reading more "zombie" books in the future but I don't have a huge hope that any will compare to this. I don't even see it as possible.
Don't think that because I don't know my way around zombie-lit that I was in awe of the first thing I read either- I know my way around literature in general so that's a moot point.
Somehow, someway, Frater was able to make this so damn realistic that is was downright frightening for me. Not only the blood shed and attacks and that sort of thing, I mean the feelings involved. I had such a wide range of emotions show themselves while reading this that when I think back it's still shocking.
What to say about the characters? Have you ever read a book where each and every single character played a role? A good role? A role that is pertinent to the story? A book where you couldn't imagine it being a story still without this one character? Even if the character was off to the side for the entire story? Well, that's this. There are NO, I repeat- NO, frivolous characters in this story. They, each and every single one, bring something to the table.
I wouldn't want any of them changed in the slightest, they were as close to being perfect characters as one can come I think. Whether they were "good", "bad", or just "there"- they each had a unique part in the book that just wouldn't have been the same without them.
My favorite characters in this one? Hmmmm, it's hard to say but definitely Travis and Juan. Peggy is pretty cool too- of course Katie and Jenni. Nerit is just plain awesome.
I'm freaked when I think of how on the edge of my seat I was. Half of me wanted the story to go as fast as possible so I could know what happened and the other half just wanted time to stand still so I could hold on to each situation and event.
I could go on and on but I won't- I won't even give a quick run down of the book- read the description. Better yet- read the book. Even if you think you'd never in your life be caught dead reading a zombie book- READ THIS ONE and then say that!
Rhiannon Frater has a true gift people- I'm so serious! I plan on reading more "zombie" books in the future but I don't have a huge hope that any will compare to this. I don't even see it as possible.
Don't think that because I don't know my way around zombie-lit that I was in awe of the first thing I read either- I know my way around literature in general so that's a moot point.
Somehow, someway, Frater was able to make this so damn realistic that is was downright frightening for me. Not only the blood shed and attacks and that sort of thing, I mean the feelings involved. I had such a wide range of emotions show themselves while reading this that when I think back it's still shocking.
What to say about the characters? Have you ever read a book where each and every single character played a role? A good role? A role that is pertinent to the story? A book where you couldn't imagine it being a story still without this one character? Even if the character was off to the side for the entire story? Well, that's this. There are NO, I repeat- NO, frivolous characters in this story. They, each and every single one, bring something to the table.
I wouldn't want any of them changed in the slightest, they were as close to being perfect characters as one can come I think. Whether they were "good", "bad", or just "there"- they each had a unique part in the book that just wouldn't have been the same without them.
My favorite characters in this one? Hmmmm, it's hard to say but definitely Travis and Juan. Peggy is pretty cool too- of course Katie and Jenni. Nerit is just plain awesome.
I'm freaked when I think of how on the edge of my seat I was. Half of me wanted the story to go as fast as possible so I could know what happened and the other half just wanted time to stand still so I could hold on to each situation and event.
I could go on and on but I won't- I won't even give a quick run down of the book- read the description. Better yet- read the book. Even if you think you'd never in your life be caught dead reading a zombie book- READ THIS ONE and then say that!
November 8, 2011
Well, if you know me at all- even if you don't and we're just passing acquaintances... you've heard me talk about Rhiannon Frater's As the World Dies trilogy. This series is by far my favorite horror/zombie series of books EVER. I'm literally DYING for the release of Siege in April!
Fighting to Survive is the second book in this series of zombie epic-ness, otherwise known as the As The World Dies trilogy. In The First Days, Katie and Jenny survived the zombie hordes that swarmed their city, and safely made it to a survivor camp in Ashley Oaks (yep, the name still tickles me!) with Jenni's son Jason's in tow.
As more and more survivors arrive, they're running out of space. UNLESS they decide to take back the hotel that stands in the middle of camp and expand their boundaries. The threat of zombies lurking around every corner forces Travis to pause... until he doesn't have a choice.
Jenni is still plagued with nightmares of her dead children and Katie is still haunted by the memory of her beautiful wife. My affinity toward Jenni doesn't falter one bit in this book, I still ABSOLUTELY ADORE her.
"We all know Jenni is batshit crazy, but that's okay. She's good at killing the goddamn zombies." ~Ed
The hotel was worse than anyone could have imagined, there are WAY more zombies inside than originally anticipated and Jenni ends up LOCKED inside a room with not ONE... not TWO... but THREE freaking zombies!!!! Oh. My. God.
A zombie kid runs off the ELEVATOR after they get the power back on... And HOW do you kill a zombie with a metal plate in it's head?
Ooooh, and just an FYI... be on the lookout for Otis Calhoun- aka: Crazy Calhoun, he is a freaking riot! He rides up to the fort screaming about the CIA, mafia clones and a government conspiracy,
"So even if they sit outside my house and snort up on coke so they don't feel a damn thing, I will defend myself. A good knock to the head seems to do the trick. Now the aliens, well they don't die so easily..." ~Crazy Calhoun
(he's talking about the zombies...)
Once again, Rhiannon Frater completely blows my mind with yet another heart pounding, gut wrenching, emotional and STUNNINGLY written book that you will not want to miss! Fighting to Survive will leave you BEGGING for Siege, the third and final installment of the As the World Dies trilogy!
Fighting to Survive is the second book in this series of zombie epic-ness, otherwise known as the As The World Dies trilogy. In The First Days, Katie and Jenny survived the zombie hordes that swarmed their city, and safely made it to a survivor camp in Ashley Oaks (yep, the name still tickles me!) with Jenni's son Jason's in tow.
As more and more survivors arrive, they're running out of space. UNLESS they decide to take back the hotel that stands in the middle of camp and expand their boundaries. The threat of zombies lurking around every corner forces Travis to pause... until he doesn't have a choice.
Jenni is still plagued with nightmares of her dead children and Katie is still haunted by the memory of her beautiful wife. My affinity toward Jenni doesn't falter one bit in this book, I still ABSOLUTELY ADORE her.
"We all know Jenni is batshit crazy, but that's okay. She's good at killing the goddamn zombies." ~Ed
The hotel was worse than anyone could have imagined, there are WAY more zombies inside than originally anticipated and Jenni ends up LOCKED inside a room with not ONE... not TWO... but THREE freaking zombies!!!! Oh. My. God.
A zombie kid runs off the ELEVATOR after they get the power back on... And HOW do you kill a zombie with a metal plate in it's head?
Ooooh, and just an FYI... be on the lookout for Otis Calhoun- aka: Crazy Calhoun, he is a freaking riot! He rides up to the fort screaming about the CIA, mafia clones and a government conspiracy,
"So even if they sit outside my house and snort up on coke so they don't feel a damn thing, I will defend myself. A good knock to the head seems to do the trick. Now the aliens, well they don't die so easily..." ~Crazy Calhoun
(he's talking about the zombies...)
Once again, Rhiannon Frater completely blows my mind with yet another heart pounding, gut wrenching, emotional and STUNNINGLY written book that you will not want to miss! Fighting to Survive will leave you BEGGING for Siege, the third and final installment of the As the World Dies trilogy!
January 12, 2013
Tomorrow was a new day. A new beginning. And that was all any of them could hope for anymore.
Fighting to Survive starts up right after the first book in the As the World Dies Trilogy. The first chapter, each section is dedicated to getting us up to date with whats happening with our favorite survivors. This is another non-stop zombie thrilling kill ride... our ever growing rag-tag group of survivors has a vigilantes and bandits are on the way. Not to mention hords of zombies are showing up daily. Fighting to Survive deals with how these issues should be resolved and who's going to make this decision. The Government is gone and it's just them in the Fort trying to survive day to day. Our group has been lucky so far, they have water and electricity. In this second book, Fighting to Survive there are hair raising moments that you fear you'll lose those characters close to your heart but there are also, laugh out load funny moments. This perfect balance between the fearful reality and the little sweet moments that life is still dealing out is what makes this series so realistic and engaging.
Jenni and Juan
Jenni thought it was good to have diversity. Jenni’s contribution was as the crazy zombie killer, and she was fine with that. She crunched another chip.
Oh, I know that others have said she's uncaring for moving past (so you think :) her children's deaths but I connect with Jenni. I feel for her and in a way I admire the women she is now and how she was able to move past her abusive past. Like many member of the Fort, Jenni is riddled with nightmares of Lloyd and her children coming after her. To me, this is where Jenni is working out her guilt for surviving and not being able to save her children or end their lives once they were turned. She is also haunted by the women she once was, controlled by Lloyd and his abuse, because the Jenni of the new world does not sit down or go away quietly. She's just as loca as Juan believes and it's so fun to read.
In Jenni’s waking moments, she was loving, outgoing, and funny. But in her dreams, she was afraid and emotionally shattered. It broke his heart.
Juan, he's a fine, sweet hearted, strong and lovable Mexican-American (or Texan). His fortification and constant surveillance of the Fort has saved countless lives. He's always there to protect those who cannot protect themselves and believes that Jenni is the best thing to come his way, ever. He's an amazing friend to Travis but he's also quick to temper and anger. His relationship with Jenni is so sweet you can feel your teeth ache. They are mad for each other and don't waste one moment fighting or not sharing in this bliss that they found. It's beyond fun to read and I love that Jenni found that, she needed it and in the end it's Juan and his endless love and commitment to her that will chase away the nightmare.
Katie and Travis
“I look at you and I want to save the world. I can’t help it” “Are you sweet-talking me again?” she lightly kidded.
Here is your warning... If you haven't read this book, then don't read any further **Spoiler**
“I’m madly in love with him. His body, his … smell … the way he touches me … all so different from Lydia, but I love him. I kept wanting not to love him, but I do.”
Katie, how could you not love her. She never skirts her responsibilities and she stands up for what she believe and loves. Her wife was killed in the beginning of the zombie attack and her guilt and grief is palpable. She cannot move past her love and misses Lydia ever day. The problem is she has a deep attraction to Travis. From the moment they met, they both knew that they meant something to each other. Katie has been hiding her secret that she is Bisexual for too long and as we progress into Fighting to Survive it's almost hard to read how she avoids Travis because they shared several amazing earth shattering kisses. In my review ofThe First Days I was disappointed that, Rhiannon Frater took this confident, successful lesbian and turned her conveniently bisexual. To me it seemed like a cop-out and I was truly looking forward to Katie finding another loving relationship with a women in this new world. Yeah, well that didn't happen but I also got over it because the way that Travis and Katie are together. Travis is so gentle with her loss, he's unbelievable comforting and supportive to Katie's life before him. This carefully crafted relationship that Ms. Frater wrote stole the show for me.
Jenni lifted her eyebrows. “Spill it!” “What?” Katie asked, then broke into a huge grin. Jenni tackled her. Like schoolgirls, they hugged each other and jumped around, laughing, until they collapsed into a heap on the bed. “You have FFG!” “Do not!” “Uh-huh! Freshly fucked glow!” Jenni howled with laugher, pointing at Katie’s flushed countenance.
Fun, engaging and a wild ride for sure. This fast moving series has grabbed hold of me and wont let go. Lets see how long I hold out until reading Siege. I cannot wait to read the conclusion to this fun and frightening series.
I cannot leave out all the funny moments that cut through the nail bitting ones...
Mr. Calhoun and his wacked comments...
“When did the town take over a privately owned building? This is socialism or communism, I can’t remember which. I don’t agree with you pushing your Amazonian agenda on the people of this fine town … .”
Calhoun looked shocked, then a little afraid. “I will not assist you in your nefarious plans, Amazonian Queen!” “Yes, you will” Nerit smiled at him confidently. “Because it will help defeat the marauding aliens attempting land grabs and abductions.” Calhoun looked at her suspiciously from beneath his scraggly eyebrows, then slowly tilted his head. “Okay. I’m listening.”
“I haven’t pitched you over the wall yet.” “Are you the one pitching people over the wall?” “Would you be surprised if I was?” Calhoun considered this, rubbing his grizzled chin. “Nope.” Nerit shrugged. “Just get to your position.” “Wanna go out?’ “No.” “Have sex?” “Definitely not.” Nerit smirked and walked away. “Damn Amazons.”
“So much for revitalizing Ashley Oaks, huh?” Juan smirked. “Oh, we revitalized it, all right—zombie-survival-style,” Mike corrected, high-fiving Juan.
“We ain’t racist in this town,” Peggy answered defensively. “We weren’t used to y’all’s ways. And I don’t mean because you’re black, but because you’re a bunch of East Texans.” Yolanda laughed briefly. “I know how much the rest of Texas looks down on us for being Southern hicks.
January 1, 2021
As other reviewers have said, this book suffered from a slowdown in the middle, pretty much once the citizens of the fort cleaned out the hotel until about 60 pages from the end. The character development was nice. I'm hoping we find out who "The Vigilante" is in the third book. That was a bit of a cliffhanger .
April 29, 2019
Not as good as the first, but still enjoyable. Looking forward to reading the conclusion of the trilogy.
November 5, 2010
In this, the second book of a trilogy that was first produced on the internet, the author moves us past the first few days of the zombie apocalypse detailed in book 1 and on to the nuts and bolts of the survivors living in a construction site in a small Texas town trying to rebuild the world around them...or at least trying to give themselves someplace safe to call their own.
This book is not focused on one particular plot point, as we are given some of the "days of our lives" treatment of what is going on with the survivors as a few things crop up as key elements to move the story along. The first is the survivor's goal to get the hotel next to the construction site under their control. This is good for a few chapters of mayhem as they do a floor by floor search for zombies stuck inside as they desperately try to wall in the outside of the hotel. The second is coping with the mysterious vigilante that has claimed another victim. The third is the bandits that are terrorizing other survivors in the area that those in the fort are trying to save. Overall, this book is more focused on character development than it is on action, though there is a good amount of it. But the author's primary objective here is to show us how these people, in particular our two main characters, Katie and Jenni, are coming to grips with the new world order.
The story is entertaining and certainly well thought out and makes sense. The stresses and challenges a surviving community would face under these circumstances ring true in this tale.
Some criticisms I have here are related to some of the extensive details given about the characters thoughts and frustrations. We are regularly reminded throughout the story of how much Katie loved her former spouse, Lydia, and how it is such a challenge for her to love Travis as well. We are reminded several more times about Jenni's ex-husband and children who were turned into the shambling undead and how she must cope with that while trying to build a new life for herself. I realize that some readers might feel it is crucial for us to truly understand what is going through these character's heads but I personally prefer a bit less rehash every time Katie and Travis get together about how much he wants to protect her and how much she wants to love him while coping with the ghost of Lydia haunting her dreams.
Most of the characters are developed fairly solidly and plausibly but I wish the author had been perhaps less willing to fall into stereotyping a few of the more minor characters. It seemed as if she was doing this to save time so we as the readers immediately know what to expect. The wealthy couple in town are predictably snobs who have the audacity to demand a suite in the hotel, for the common folk to serve them, etc. Calhoun, the town crazy, seems like the typical nutjob with a tinfoil hat on his head, ranting on about clones, amazons, and other flights of fancy. I've seen this type before, many times. Finally, the evil characters, like Shane and the bandits, are painfully and obviously evil with a lack of much in the way of common sense or intelligence. I do realize that this, the second book, is leading up to what is quite likely a far more disturbing and hopefully intelligent nemesis for the population of the fort for book 3 (as hinted at in the epilogue) so perhaps the author is working her way up to something more intriguing than the scumbags they had to deal with here.
Criticisms aside, I liked this book. Please don't get the impression that I think that the author did anything but a terrific job in crafting the overall storyline she has come up with. We are still dealing with strong, tough women (besides our main characters Nerit stands out as a prime example) and equally capable males in these books. The author has done a good job of building a saga that will hopefully come to a rousing conclusion in the third book.
This book is not focused on one particular plot point, as we are given some of the "days of our lives" treatment of what is going on with the survivors as a few things crop up as key elements to move the story along. The first is the survivor's goal to get the hotel next to the construction site under their control. This is good for a few chapters of mayhem as they do a floor by floor search for zombies stuck inside as they desperately try to wall in the outside of the hotel. The second is coping with the mysterious vigilante that has claimed another victim. The third is the bandits that are terrorizing other survivors in the area that those in the fort are trying to save. Overall, this book is more focused on character development than it is on action, though there is a good amount of it. But the author's primary objective here is to show us how these people, in particular our two main characters, Katie and Jenni, are coming to grips with the new world order.
The story is entertaining and certainly well thought out and makes sense. The stresses and challenges a surviving community would face under these circumstances ring true in this tale.
Some criticisms I have here are related to some of the extensive details given about the characters thoughts and frustrations. We are regularly reminded throughout the story of how much Katie loved her former spouse, Lydia, and how it is such a challenge for her to love Travis as well. We are reminded several more times about Jenni's ex-husband and children who were turned into the shambling undead and how she must cope with that while trying to build a new life for herself. I realize that some readers might feel it is crucial for us to truly understand what is going through these character's heads but I personally prefer a bit less rehash every time Katie and Travis get together about how much he wants to protect her and how much she wants to love him while coping with the ghost of Lydia haunting her dreams.
Most of the characters are developed fairly solidly and plausibly but I wish the author had been perhaps less willing to fall into stereotyping a few of the more minor characters. It seemed as if she was doing this to save time so we as the readers immediately know what to expect. The wealthy couple in town are predictably snobs who have the audacity to demand a suite in the hotel, for the common folk to serve them, etc. Calhoun, the town crazy, seems like the typical nutjob with a tinfoil hat on his head, ranting on about clones, amazons, and other flights of fancy. I've seen this type before, many times. Finally, the evil characters, like Shane and the bandits, are painfully and obviously evil with a lack of much in the way of common sense or intelligence. I do realize that this, the second book, is leading up to what is quite likely a far more disturbing and hopefully intelligent nemesis for the population of the fort for book 3 (as hinted at in the epilogue) so perhaps the author is working her way up to something more intriguing than the scumbags they had to deal with here.
Criticisms aside, I liked this book. Please don't get the impression that I think that the author did anything but a terrific job in crafting the overall storyline she has come up with. We are still dealing with strong, tough women (besides our main characters Nerit stands out as a prime example) and equally capable males in these books. The author has done a good job of building a saga that will hopefully come to a rousing conclusion in the third book.
September 1, 2013
Well, i'm not gonna lie..it was o.k. I was expecting more. The first and last parts of the book saved it for me but the middle of the book was super long,boring, and almost killed the story for me. Instead of "As the World Dies" it became "As the World Turns" (for those of you that don't know-Google it). The book went from being fast paced and exciting to dull, dull, dull. I kept thinking it would pick back up but after 150 pages of filler i started skimming through paragraphs because nothing was happening except for budding love and page after page of the same thing repeated. Let me sum it up for you in a couple of quick sentences.... i know all of this is important to the story but i really don't need to read it more than a couple of times to get it. 150+ pages of reading it over and over again is not only repetitious but also unnecessary. Like i said, filler. Will i read the next installment? Yes but only because 1)I've read the series this far and 2)i bought books 2 & 3 because my local library system didn't have these copies and 3)after i read the first book i thought the series was gonna be good. Who knew book 2 would do such a 180 from the first book? I hope book 3 gets it back on track.
January 16, 2012
This was another page-turner! I really enjoyed reading about the characters' continuing struggles to survive. And the hotel-clearing scene was absolutely nail-biting! I'm also glad that tough decisions--the right ones--were made when necessary.
I absolutely love Nerit, and was happy that she played such a big role in this book. Jenni and Katie occasionally drove me crazy, as with the first book. The mystery of the vigilante continues in this book and the person is not yet revealed, but some clues are provided.
There is one minor nit that I cannot get past, though...they still have power and Internet service. This was explained by a brief mention of a new power station, but it was still highly unbelievable. I mean, you need people to continue maintaining the station, and I highly doubt there are folks at that power station keeping the lights on.
Despite this, I can't wait to read the final book to see how everything turns out!
I absolutely love Nerit, and was happy that she played such a big role in this book. Jenni and Katie occasionally drove me crazy, as with the first book. The mystery of the vigilante continues in this book and the person is not yet revealed, but some clues are provided.
There is one minor nit that I cannot get past, though...they still have power and Internet service. This was explained by a brief mention of a new power station, but it was still highly unbelievable. I mean, you need people to continue maintaining the station, and I highly doubt there are folks at that power station keeping the lights on.
Despite this, I can't wait to read the final book to see how everything turns out!
August 31, 2011
In a genre dominated by male writer. It's refreshing to read a zombie trilogy from a female writer. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of action. The story picks up after the outbreak and the survivors have found a fort. Not only they have to fight zombies, there is a well woven plot of the struggle and life within the fort.
The reads like a nice screenplay. If it was to be made into a movie, it would be Resident Evil filmed by Lifetime network
The reads like a nice screenplay. If it was to be made into a movie, it would be Resident Evil filmed by Lifetime network
November 2, 2011
Reading with my lovelies, Bonnie and Wendy D.
May 4, 2017
An oxymoron of a title to Rhiannon Frator's livin' the zombie life second novel, "Fighting To Survive: As The World Dies". Still working hard to protect their Ashley Oaks fortified "fort" are fiery female duo of Jenni and Katie taking care of zoned out zombies or marauding banditos. They are focused on taking control of a hotel within their fortification, a massive source of majorly needed resources and direly needed housing the new six story structure would provide their group.
New relationships are made, celebrations and sorrows. These books are so awesome! They are massively addicting and the only thing wrong with them is how fast you read them and need another...! You are pulled in completely to the world and to the story and are 100 percent invested in these characters. Five and a quarter stars!!! I love this trilogy!
What would you do in the zompocoloypse??
New relationships are made, celebrations and sorrows. These books are so awesome! They are massively addicting and the only thing wrong with them is how fast you read them and need another...! You are pulled in completely to the world and to the story and are 100 percent invested in these characters. Five and a quarter stars!!! I love this trilogy!
What would you do in the zompocoloypse??
July 19, 2020
Not as good as The First Days (not as much gore; I love the gore) but still awesome! Love Nerit!! She is the coolest person I’ve ever read about!! These books are kind of unrealistic but they’re zombie books, so it’s all good! Ima start Siege next! Thanks Rhiannon Frater for making these awesome books! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
November 8, 2020
Lidt bedre end etteren.
June 22, 2022
I enjoyed this zombie book! It did drag on in some places and the romantic liaisons got tiring at times, but all in all good zombie fare!
Read
November 30, 2024DNF 6%
The use of Thug as a legit descriptor made me angry and nope out.
The use of Thug as a legit descriptor made me angry and nope out.
March 21, 2022
The second in the As the World Dies series, Fighting to Survive picks up where The First Days ends. Another well-written, easy read with some likeable and believable characters that develop in a satisfying way. The battle to clear the hotel was harrowing, as were some of the efforts to rescue outlying survivors. There is no doubt it was an exciting read with lots of ups and downs. The book attempts to get to the heart of human behaviour in a post-apocalyptic world - always more interesting than that of the zombies! It also tackles various forms of prejudice and discrimination. A tiny bit cheesy and predictable at times for my taste, particularly in the romance department but this did not spoil my enjoyment at all. Good fun!
January 16, 2020
Excellent 2nd book in the series. Can't wait to read the final one.
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