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RIZEN: Tales of the Zombie Apocalypse
RIZEN is a chilling collection of stories that will have you on the edge of your seat!
A plague has caused the dead to rise and stalk the living...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE CHOSEN: Ten years after the zombie apocalypse, Dan and his family try to stake out a new life for themselves in rural Wyoming. When he encounters a mysterious group of survivors who call themselves The Chosen, Dan is unsure whether he can trust them.
THE WHITE FIST: Five years after the first of the infected reach Texas, pockets of survivors are reminded that the living can be even more dangerous than the dead.
ROAD TRIP AT THE END OF THE WORLD: A middle aged couple, cut off from civilization for months, decides to strike out into the ruined world and make for the West Coast.
FLIGHT 124: Air Thailand Flight 124 threatens to bring a gruesome and unwelcome passenger to Los Angeles International Airport.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A plague has caused the dead to rise and stalk the living...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE CHOSEN: Ten years after the zombie apocalypse, Dan and his family try to stake out a new life for themselves in rural Wyoming. When he encounters a mysterious group of survivors who call themselves The Chosen, Dan is unsure whether he can trust them.
THE WHITE FIST: Five years after the first of the infected reach Texas, pockets of survivors are reminded that the living can be even more dangerous than the dead.
ROAD TRIP AT THE END OF THE WORLD: A middle aged couple, cut off from civilization for months, decides to strike out into the ruined world and make for the West Coast.
FLIGHT 124: Air Thailand Flight 124 threatens to bring a gruesome and unwelcome passenger to Los Angeles International Airport.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
44 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 27, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 14, 2016
-LugareZ comuneZ.-
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Cuatro relatos ambientados en diferentes momentos de un apocalipsis zombi, que nos cuentan como un cabeza de familia trata de organizarse ante amenazas de diferente índole, las acciones de un grupo de ultraderecha cerca de la antigua frontera con México, las esperanzas de una pareja madura y la conversación entre un piloto con problemas abordo y un controlador aéreo.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Relatos.
Lo que nos cuenta. Cuatro relatos ambientados en diferentes momentos de un apocalipsis zombi, que nos cuentan como un cabeza de familia trata de organizarse ante amenazas de diferente índole, las acciones de un grupo de ultraderecha cerca de la antigua frontera con México, las esperanzas de una pareja madura y la conversación entre un piloto con problemas abordo y un controlador aéreo.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
August 9, 2017
My heart is still racing. Shesh.
Ok, to start with, this is a short story collection, 4 stories by the same author in the same story universe. None of the characters reoccur. Also, it is in reverse chronological order. Which I noticed in an introduction before the stories. Which I am glad I noticed, because I decided to read them in chronological order. I have to say, if I had read them in the order the author had presented them, I probably would have rated the book roughly the book' average rating of 3 something stars. Instead, by reading it in chron order, the tension mounted from today's world, into the zombie apocalypse world. I've no idea why the author thought the book should be read the other way around.
I recommend two things: 1) read in chronological order (the free ebook I got has a link to each of the four stories in the front of the book); 2) read the first chronological story (which is placed at the end of the book). The book is free. It won't take too long to read that short story, and if you aren't captured, then you didn't really lose much. Except a few moments of your time.
Ok, to start with, this is a short story collection, 4 stories by the same author in the same story universe. None of the characters reoccur. Also, it is in reverse chronological order. Which I noticed in an introduction before the stories. Which I am glad I noticed, because I decided to read them in chronological order. I have to say, if I had read them in the order the author had presented them, I probably would have rated the book roughly the book' average rating of 3 something stars. Instead, by reading it in chron order, the tension mounted from today's world, into the zombie apocalypse world. I've no idea why the author thought the book should be read the other way around.
I recommend two things: 1) read in chronological order (the free ebook I got has a link to each of the four stories in the front of the book); 2) read the first chronological story (which is placed at the end of the book). The book is free. It won't take too long to read that short story, and if you aren't captured, then you didn't really lose much. Except a few moments of your time.
September 20, 2019
The second story was so full of angst it made this 4 short short anthology not worth the time at all.
December 29, 2024
Read the first two (of four). Nothing happened that was not covered by other stories or movies before and the writing is not particularly interesting.
Not my cup of tea.
Not my cup of tea.
December 13, 2012
Rizen is a pleasant mixture of light reading that deals with a heavy topic. The fact that it is a collection of several short stories makes it very approachable if you only have on-the-fly reading time to spare, which is a definite plus for me. The stories are all unique unto themselves, but remain connected by occurring in the same reality at different points in the apocalypse, all the way from patient zero to ten years after the outbreak. This also makes it easy to jump back in whenever it's most convenient. If you're looking to digest your zombie stories during your lunch break, Rizen may be for you.
The four stories in the book are presented in reverse chronological order, with the first occuring ten years after the outbreak, and the last marking the moment it began. Author Kirk Anderson includes a note at the beginning welcoming the reader to enjoy the stories in the order they are presented, or to read them backwards if you prefer to remain true to the flow of time. I chose the latter. It really doesn't matter how you approach it, but for me, the best part of a good zombie story is the very beginning, when the people in the story (who were apparently never exposed to the legacy of George Romero in their reality) have no idea what's happening and must cope with the horrors unfolding around them. I prefer to begin with that and then expand outwards. While I found all of the stories to be enjoyable reads, it may be the desire I just expressed that somewhat colored my opinion while reading this book. If I had to rank the stories from my favorite on downwards, I would rate them exactly in the order I read them. Allow me to explain:
FLIGHT 124--
By far my favorite of the offerings to be found in this book. Flight 124 deals with the moment of outbreak, and the shock factor in this story is high. Naturally I can't say much for fear of spoilers, but I want a zombie story to make me react, and this one gave me pause to look away and think, "oh man, did that just happen?"
ROAD TRIP AT THE END OF THE WORLD--
The outbreak is still in full swing at this point. Zombies are still the main adversary, and there is still plenty of ominous fear afoot (why read about zombies if not to be scared?), as well as hints as to what is going on in the rest of the world. The characters in this story have a better grasp of the situation than in Flight 124 for obvious reasons, but all that serves to do is involve them in more complicated moral dilemmas. I was expecting a different fate for the main protagonist, but I was still satisfied with what the story had to offer.
THE WHITE FIST--
At this point, the book has begun to skirt the line between zombies and dystopian drama. There are still enough shambling corpses for my taste and the story does culminate in some serious "what happens next" page turning, but I felt as though the opening was a tad contrived. The protagonist seemed to have a little too much handed to him on a platter to pull me into the believability of his circumstances.
THE CHOSEN--
Don't get me wrong, this was still a solid story. If I didn't think that, I wouldn't have read it to the end. But again, my perception of zombie apocalypse stories clouded my ability to entirely accept this tale as fitting in well with the others. Ten years is simply too much time for my taste. When I think zombies, I want to read about zombies...not the reconstruction of society that occurs after people are so used to zombies that they no longer represent much of a threat. If all mention of zombies had been removed from this tale and it had been included in a different anthology about a dystopian human future, I feel it would have fit right in. The main character came off as a Lara Croft type to me (many readers will like this, though I personally don't care for that character archetype). This story was more about race wars and Mad Max style antics than a zombie horror tale. This story was not a deal-breaker for me because as I've said, it is still a decent tale, but it did cause me to lose the general sense of "zombie-ism" I was hoping would exist throughout the book.
All in all, Rizen is worth the read in my opinion. It's reasonably priced for its length, and though there really isn't much new under the sun here, that shouldn't bother readers who are specifically looking for a zombie horror story to begin with. Writing about the zombie apocalypse is just about as difficult as writing about angsty vampires these days -- even before Twilight came long, the concept had already been beaten to death and well past the point of being a cliche (I reference The Vampire Lestat). To write decent tales these days on topics like these, one has to intermingle a healthy dose of the original in with what we expect and want to see, and that gets tougher as new ideas continue to be used up. Rizen has the groundwork, and I believe it incorporates enough uniqueness to keep it from being consigned to the rank of "just another zombie story". Check it out - for the time you put in, I believe you'll find it worthwhile.
The four stories in the book are presented in reverse chronological order, with the first occuring ten years after the outbreak, and the last marking the moment it began. Author Kirk Anderson includes a note at the beginning welcoming the reader to enjoy the stories in the order they are presented, or to read them backwards if you prefer to remain true to the flow of time. I chose the latter. It really doesn't matter how you approach it, but for me, the best part of a good zombie story is the very beginning, when the people in the story (who were apparently never exposed to the legacy of George Romero in their reality) have no idea what's happening and must cope with the horrors unfolding around them. I prefer to begin with that and then expand outwards. While I found all of the stories to be enjoyable reads, it may be the desire I just expressed that somewhat colored my opinion while reading this book. If I had to rank the stories from my favorite on downwards, I would rate them exactly in the order I read them. Allow me to explain:
FLIGHT 124--
By far my favorite of the offerings to be found in this book. Flight 124 deals with the moment of outbreak, and the shock factor in this story is high. Naturally I can't say much for fear of spoilers, but I want a zombie story to make me react, and this one gave me pause to look away and think, "oh man, did that just happen?"
ROAD TRIP AT THE END OF THE WORLD--
The outbreak is still in full swing at this point. Zombies are still the main adversary, and there is still plenty of ominous fear afoot (why read about zombies if not to be scared?), as well as hints as to what is going on in the rest of the world. The characters in this story have a better grasp of the situation than in Flight 124 for obvious reasons, but all that serves to do is involve them in more complicated moral dilemmas. I was expecting a different fate for the main protagonist, but I was still satisfied with what the story had to offer.
THE WHITE FIST--
At this point, the book has begun to skirt the line between zombies and dystopian drama. There are still enough shambling corpses for my taste and the story does culminate in some serious "what happens next" page turning, but I felt as though the opening was a tad contrived. The protagonist seemed to have a little too much handed to him on a platter to pull me into the believability of his circumstances.
THE CHOSEN--
Don't get me wrong, this was still a solid story. If I didn't think that, I wouldn't have read it to the end. But again, my perception of zombie apocalypse stories clouded my ability to entirely accept this tale as fitting in well with the others. Ten years is simply too much time for my taste. When I think zombies, I want to read about zombies...not the reconstruction of society that occurs after people are so used to zombies that they no longer represent much of a threat. If all mention of zombies had been removed from this tale and it had been included in a different anthology about a dystopian human future, I feel it would have fit right in. The main character came off as a Lara Croft type to me (many readers will like this, though I personally don't care for that character archetype). This story was more about race wars and Mad Max style antics than a zombie horror tale. This story was not a deal-breaker for me because as I've said, it is still a decent tale, but it did cause me to lose the general sense of "zombie-ism" I was hoping would exist throughout the book.
All in all, Rizen is worth the read in my opinion. It's reasonably priced for its length, and though there really isn't much new under the sun here, that shouldn't bother readers who are specifically looking for a zombie horror story to begin with. Writing about the zombie apocalypse is just about as difficult as writing about angsty vampires these days -- even before Twilight came long, the concept had already been beaten to death and well past the point of being a cliche (I reference The Vampire Lestat). To write decent tales these days on topics like these, one has to intermingle a healthy dose of the original in with what we expect and want to see, and that gets tougher as new ideas continue to be used up. Rizen has the groundwork, and I believe it incorporates enough uniqueness to keep it from being consigned to the rank of "just another zombie story". Check it out - for the time you put in, I believe you'll find it worthwhile.
February 23, 2014
A collection of short stories set in the same world where a zombie plague has taken over. I found these short and refreshing overall, each one could stand on its own but together they created a much larger and richer picture. These stories work great as a set, really giving a good timeline and atmosphere. The last one in particular built on the previous ones as it assumed at least basic knowledge of zombies to know what was going on before the characters did. A fantastic read
The Chosen: 4 stars
Set several years after the initial infection this short was a good intro, quickly getting into the action and what to expect from the remaining zombies. When the action increased I felt the author paid a bit less attention to his writing style, which was a shame but did not decrease the story quality.
The White Fist: 4 stars
Again set several years after the plague, but closer this time when people were still trying to sort out communal living arrangements… and doing a bad job of it even if they were zombie proof.
This is an interesting take on fights and wars between different colonisations (because come on, we know even when there are only a few of us left we won't be able to live in harmony), especially as it takes a look though the repenting eyes of the instigators of one such war. At one point the text looked more like a tactical battle plan, but this soon smoothed out to humans fighting for freedom. Despite the dark tones the ending left a smile on my face.
Road Trip at the End of the World: 5 stars
Wow.
At first this story seemed rather bah-humbug and lacking in plot, not engaging me. While I felt it never developed strong plot it didn’t need to. A few pages in the emotional factor really kicked it, building a water-tight raft for the narrative to float on.
I squirmed, I even started to tear up at one image. The emotions packed into this story were fantastic, I would recommend this collection purely for you to read this one work.
Flight 124: 4 stars
Right back at the start of the plague. This showed how possibly one of the first wide spread contagions happened on a plane through the eyes of the air traffic controller and friend of the pilot.
The writing was tight and emotion based, but also with a fair dash of plot, and of course plenty of blood. It left you willing the plane to land and to save the pilot.
Although I gave most of these stories 4 stars for the cohesive picture this gives I give the book a big 5 stars. I'd recommend0 not just for horror and apocalypse fans, but foe anyone that enjoys a good story masterfully fitted together piece by piece
The Chosen: 4 stars
Set several years after the initial infection this short was a good intro, quickly getting into the action and what to expect from the remaining zombies. When the action increased I felt the author paid a bit less attention to his writing style, which was a shame but did not decrease the story quality.
The White Fist: 4 stars
Again set several years after the plague, but closer this time when people were still trying to sort out communal living arrangements… and doing a bad job of it even if they were zombie proof.
This is an interesting take on fights and wars between different colonisations (because come on, we know even when there are only a few of us left we won't be able to live in harmony), especially as it takes a look though the repenting eyes of the instigators of one such war. At one point the text looked more like a tactical battle plan, but this soon smoothed out to humans fighting for freedom. Despite the dark tones the ending left a smile on my face.
Road Trip at the End of the World: 5 stars
Wow.
At first this story seemed rather bah-humbug and lacking in plot, not engaging me. While I felt it never developed strong plot it didn’t need to. A few pages in the emotional factor really kicked it, building a water-tight raft for the narrative to float on.
I squirmed, I even started to tear up at one image. The emotions packed into this story were fantastic, I would recommend this collection purely for you to read this one work.
Flight 124: 4 stars
Right back at the start of the plague. This showed how possibly one of the first wide spread contagions happened on a plane through the eyes of the air traffic controller and friend of the pilot.
The writing was tight and emotion based, but also with a fair dash of plot, and of course plenty of blood. It left you willing the plane to land and to save the pilot.
Although I gave most of these stories 4 stars for the cohesive picture this gives I give the book a big 5 stars. I'd recommend0 not just for horror and apocalypse fans, but foe anyone that enjoys a good story masterfully fitted together piece by piece
May 13, 2017
For me, anthologies of short stories, whether by one author or different authors, are very hit and miss. This was a decent set of stories as I liked three out of the four. My comments will be short as I don't want to spoil each story for those wishing to read them.
1) The Chosen: This would do well as a full length novel as it had lots of good ideas and it would allow the good characters to be fleshed out more, seeing their story evolve instead of being told what happened over the last ten years. Dan and his family try to cope with the zombie apocalypse but an unlucky meeting with a survivor compound leads an army of the dead to their door. I liked the ideas, the reasons for Dan not wanting to join the compound and the aftermath.
2) The White Fist: This focuses on the survivor compound and what was really happening to the 'saved' people behind the walls. Resistance fighters plan an assault on it. Again, some great ideas and would do well in a longer format showing the start of the apocalypse and previous encounters with The White Fist which are mentioned.
3) Road trip at the end of the world: This is the one I was less keen on. I liked how it was written but one dumb choice by a character leads to a somewhat unsatisfying end. Richard and Andrea are stuck in their home, waiting for rescue and tired of keeping quiet. They make the decision to leave and this is where their problems start.
4) Flight 124: The infection breaks out on a plane about to come in to land leaving ATC with a moral dilemma. I liked this because we see the human side of the outbreak and the choices that need to be made. I would love to get the story of how the virus took over the plane.
Overall I liked the way the author put the stories together to give four different looks at the same zombie apocalypse. I would be interested in reading any zombie novels that he might bring out in the future.
1) The Chosen: This would do well as a full length novel as it had lots of good ideas and it would allow the good characters to be fleshed out more, seeing their story evolve instead of being told what happened over the last ten years. Dan and his family try to cope with the zombie apocalypse but an unlucky meeting with a survivor compound leads an army of the dead to their door. I liked the ideas, the reasons for Dan not wanting to join the compound and the aftermath.
2) The White Fist: This focuses on the survivor compound and what was really happening to the 'saved' people behind the walls. Resistance fighters plan an assault on it. Again, some great ideas and would do well in a longer format showing the start of the apocalypse and previous encounters with The White Fist which are mentioned.
3) Road trip at the end of the world: This is the one I was less keen on. I liked how it was written but one dumb choice by a character leads to a somewhat unsatisfying end. Richard and Andrea are stuck in their home, waiting for rescue and tired of keeping quiet. They make the decision to leave and this is where their problems start.
4) Flight 124: The infection breaks out on a plane about to come in to land leaving ATC with a moral dilemma. I liked this because we see the human side of the outbreak and the choices that need to be made. I would love to get the story of how the virus took over the plane.
Overall I liked the way the author put the stories together to give four different looks at the same zombie apocalypse. I would be interested in reading any zombie novels that he might bring out in the future.
January 16, 2013
"It's easy enough to blend in with the undead. If only a few more people had learned that five years ago..."
This short collection of four zombie tales was a good read. (No pun intended on the name of this site.) It was short and quick, but I read it voraciously (kindof like a zombie might, if it had the intelligence to do so).
The tales are loosely connected and the organization was well-thought-out, with the first story set years after the apocalypse and the others set increasingly closer to the immediate aftermath. That organization keeps you reading. And the stories make you wish they were full novels themselves.
The only complaint I had was with the occasional grammar mishap. A misspelling here, an incorrect subject-verb agreement there, could easily have been edited and the story made better for it.
When I hit a grammatical snag, my reading is interrupted and the story pauses until I figure out what is being said. So making sure there is good grammar is a simple thing that helps the reading flow. (I love editing things and it would've taken me little time to do so.)
Overall, as one reviewer said of this collection before, if you like zombies, and especially if you like The Walking Dead, you will probably like this. Themes are repeated from other zombie franchises, but the stories are still good.
This short collection of four zombie tales was a good read. (No pun intended on the name of this site.) It was short and quick, but I read it voraciously (kindof like a zombie might, if it had the intelligence to do so).
The tales are loosely connected and the organization was well-thought-out, with the first story set years after the apocalypse and the others set increasingly closer to the immediate aftermath. That organization keeps you reading. And the stories make you wish they were full novels themselves.
The only complaint I had was with the occasional grammar mishap. A misspelling here, an incorrect subject-verb agreement there, could easily have been edited and the story made better for it.
When I hit a grammatical snag, my reading is interrupted and the story pauses until I figure out what is being said. So making sure there is good grammar is a simple thing that helps the reading flow. (I love editing things and it would've taken me little time to do so.)
Overall, as one reviewer said of this collection before, if you like zombies, and especially if you like The Walking Dead, you will probably like this. Themes are repeated from other zombie franchises, but the stories are still good.
March 6, 2014
I enjoyed this short collection of stories about the zombie apocalypse. There are 4 stories in total but none of them relate to each other in any other way than each one is about an experience in dealing with a post-apocalyptic zombie infested world. The stories range from right as the epidemic is starting till 5 years after it began but all were sad and ended in different types of tragedies specific to this type of end of world event. My favorite of the four stories was Flight 124.
February 7, 2013
I got this book as a free download, and I have to say it was a quick and great read. It is divided into 4 short stories that caught my interest right away and I was not able to put the book down. If you love books about zombies make sure you add this one to your collection.
March 22, 2013
this book was okay, its short stories on the survivors of zombie outbreaks. some of the stories were really great, heart wrenching and sad, they deserved 5 stars, the others were mediocre! if you love zombies as much as i do then this book is for you! ENJOY!!
March 16, 2016
Gave four stars because this was a pretty sweet little anthology, surprisingly.
April 7, 2013
Rizen falls into the 'could do better' categary. Four nice tales of Zombie madness, but too short with very little to grab you and make you want to continue.
Lots of better zombie books out there.
Lots of better zombie books out there.
August 11, 2016
These stories about thepeople that survived the apacolypse and where they are at that point in time. The stories tell about how they survived and what they aredoing now.Good short reads.
July 6, 2016
It was an okay short read
It was a quick read before bedtime. Not bad, but nothing special. 3 short zombie stories to pass the time deciding what to read next
It was a quick read before bedtime. Not bad, but nothing special. 3 short zombie stories to pass the time deciding what to read next
April 25, 2017
Very good
The stories are short but very well written. I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I will be looking for more by this author.
The stories are short but very well written. I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I will be looking for more by this author.
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