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Tomes of the Dead #1,10,11
The Secret Zombie History of the World
The Rotting Tide of History
Viking Northern Europe, 976 AD. Bjólf and the Viking crew of the ship Hrafn flee up an unknown river after a bitter battle, only to find themselves in a bleak land of pestilence, where the dead return as draugr to feed on the flesh of their kin. Terrible stories are told of a dark castle in a hidden fjord, and of black ships that come raiding with invincible draugr berserkers. And no sooner has Bjólf resolved to leave than the black ships appear...
Ranulf, a young English knight, is among the force sent to capture Grogen Castle from Welsh rebels. Even as the English celebrate their triumph, the native druids are summoning a tireless army of bone and raddled flesh in retaliation. Now, for the sake of all, Ranulf must defy his masters and rescue the daughter of his enemy, but hope lasts only so long as the stronghold – once thought impregnable – holds out against the legions of the angry dead...
Death Orders to chase down the French frigate Elita off the Cape of Good Hope come as welcome news to Captain Havelock, stranded with the rest of the fleet at Spithead and waiting for France to initiate hostilities. Here is a chance for glory – and wealth. Very soon, however, Captain Havelock will come to realise that theirs are not the only two warships in the southern ocean. An enemy thought long since vanquished has risen from the deeps...
Viking Northern Europe, 976 AD. Bjólf and the Viking crew of the ship Hrafn flee up an unknown river after a bitter battle, only to find themselves in a bleak land of pestilence, where the dead return as draugr to feed on the flesh of their kin. Terrible stories are told of a dark castle in a hidden fjord, and of black ships that come raiding with invincible draugr berserkers. And no sooner has Bjólf resolved to leave than the black ships appear...
Ranulf, a young English knight, is among the force sent to capture Grogen Castle from Welsh rebels. Even as the English celebrate their triumph, the native druids are summoning a tireless army of bone and raddled flesh in retaliation. Now, for the sake of all, Ranulf must defy his masters and rescue the daughter of his enemy, but hope lasts only so long as the stronghold – once thought impregnable – holds out against the legions of the angry dead...
Death Orders to chase down the French frigate Elita off the Cape of Good Hope come as welcome news to Captain Havelock, stranded with the rest of the fleet at Spithead and waiting for France to initiate hostilities. Here is a chance for glory – and wealth. Very soon, however, Captain Havelock will come to realise that theirs are not the only two warships in the southern ocean. An enemy thought long since vanquished has risen from the deeps...
816 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 28, 2019
An anthology of three books in one, this wasn’t too bad.
Two of the stories themselves seem to draw heavily on popular movies of the last twenty years. Think “The 13th Warrior In The Day Of the Dead” and “Master and Commander Meets The Pirates Of The Caribbean”.
All three stories had anachronisms that might make history nerds shudder. A Viking executing a dramatic theatrical bow before such a thing existed, or using modern expressions common to 21st century English; 13th century English knights making reference to time in five minute increments when clocks and the concept of minutes were yet more than two hundred years away; 18th century sailors using the term “zombie” and describing them as slow and shuffling as if they’d just watched a George Romero film.
All three stories are page turners, but the first, “Viking Dead” lost me at the end when the author strayed into science fiction to explain the presence of zombies. It didn’t work for me. The other two invoked the supernatural, which worked just fine. With science fiction the science has to have a suggestion of plausibility. This story didn’t. With magic anything goes, provided one gives it a creepy feeling.
The second story was the strongest. I would love to see it made into a flick.
Two of the stories themselves seem to draw heavily on popular movies of the last twenty years. Think “The 13th Warrior In The Day Of the Dead” and “Master and Commander Meets The Pirates Of The Caribbean”.
All three stories had anachronisms that might make history nerds shudder. A Viking executing a dramatic theatrical bow before such a thing existed, or using modern expressions common to 21st century English; 13th century English knights making reference to time in five minute increments when clocks and the concept of minutes were yet more than two hundred years away; 18th century sailors using the term “zombie” and describing them as slow and shuffling as if they’d just watched a George Romero film.
All three stories are page turners, but the first, “Viking Dead” lost me at the end when the author strayed into science fiction to explain the presence of zombies. It didn’t work for me. The other two invoked the supernatural, which worked just fine. With science fiction the science has to have a suggestion of plausibility. This story didn’t. With magic anything goes, provided one gives it a creepy feeling.
The second story was the strongest. I would love to see it made into a flick.
December 12, 2022
“This is not possible. There should be a carpet of corpses by now. I don’t see a single bloody one!”
For zombie apocalyptic delight blended with historical authenticity (well … except for zombie-part), Abaddon Books’ The Secret Zombie History of the World is as entertaining and grisly a package as one could hope for – the perfect grimoire to while away hours and hours in a horror-coma of monsters, Vikings, tall ships, and castles. The three novels included in this omnibus span more than 900 hundred years, but aside from their common antagonists – the unrelenting dead! – the tales have two other points in common: rich stories overflowing with immersive, historic detail.
The first book is Tony Venables’ five-star Viking Dead which (not surprisingly) pits the Norsemen against the undead. Under Venables capable pen, a clan of otherwise rapacious Viking marauders evolves into something closer to a D&D-inspired party of adventurers as the crusty, but honorable captain of the Hrafn Bjolf Erlingsson inducts the youthful Atli into his crew. Venables adroitly juggles a giant-size cast of characters, painting a vivid picture of Viking life and crew, while striking a compelling tale of the risen zombie dead. An origin of the zombie infestation was not required, but when Venables finally delivers it, it’s an earth-shaking plot twist that wraps this story up in booming crescendo.
Paul Finch’s Stronghold, on the other hand, does nothing to caramelize its cast of English knights, Welsh warriors, and Celtic priests whose wanton depredations made even this reader uncomfortable. As realistic a depiction of medieval siege warfare as in any history book (and clearly better than those … because … like on cherries on ice cream … there’s zombies on top of those trebuchets!), Stronghold is the omnibus’s pièce de resistance. Compelling, gritty, gruesome and unforgettable, this is a rock-solid, five-star tale. Like its predecessor, Finch gives us an inventive zombie-origin story inspired by Celtic myth that pulls no punches and is absolutely unsentimental in delivering a brutal time capsule of life (and unlife) in the Middle Ages.
We finish with Matthew Sprange’s Death Hulk as the English frigate Whirlwind is dispatched to face off against a French naval marauder only to run afoul of a vengeful, ghoul-crewed, ghost ship, the Deja. Sprange paints a vivid – if not exactly appealing – picture of life before the mast, and this book is at its best when the cannons roar and sabers rattle. It is, however, a slightly weaker novel than its brethren. Sprange hangs a suitably nasty curse around protagonist Captain James Havelock’s neck that provides a starting point for the creation of the ghost ship, but whether it’s by design or coincidence, the whole thing does feel very Pirates of the Caribbean. It was also an odd choice to have the English sailors already familiar with ‘zombie troops’ on continent as it robbed the Deja of some its uniqueness. Four stars for this one.
Regardless, there is not a true stinker in this whole volume and, planned or not, the collection marks an interesting parallel between man and zombie. The freest of the living men are the earliest in history, the Norsemen bound to their boat and comrades by choice. As the ages progress, the living come closer and closer to resembling the dead, compelled by lords or impressment into service with ‘self-determination’ increasingly ephemeral. The sailors on the Whirlwind, for example, feel very close to the Welsh undead, compelled to fight at the whim of their government puppeteers.
As we get toward the end of the 2022, it’s nice to hit yet another five-star book. For zombie fans, track this one day either as a collection or in its respective parts. It’s worth a chew.
February 7, 2015
The main theme of this book seemed to be "our zombies are different". I'm used the idea of a shambling, mindless horde who will tear at you with their bare hands and try to eat you, but none of the stories here matched that. I can't really say that it's wrong, because there's certainly precedent for different types of zombies (e.g. characters in the Discworld series who just treat their death as a minor inconvenience and carry on as before). There's even precedent for these particular ideas. Still, it's not quite what I was looking for.
Viking Dead
This story is the main reason I bought the omnibus, because I enjoyed Hunter of Sherwood: Knight of Shadows by the same author. I think it was the best of the 3, and there's scope for a direct sequel. (According to the intro, the original idea was for all the books in the "Tomes of the Dead" series to be in a shared world, but that's been more or less abandoned now.)
One problem is that there were a lot of characters to keep track of. The new member of the crew initially gave them nicknames based on their physical appearance, but since the other people were using real names this meant that there were twice as many names to keep track of (with no immediate mapping between the two lists).
The unique point about these zombies is that . To be fair, I've done the same thing when I've been acting as a zombie at LARP events, and it's not too much of a departure from the traditional approach: the zombies are still mostly acting on instinct.
Looking at other reviews, the ending has been a bit controversial. I suspected it before it was actually revealed, so I think there were enough hints to avoid it coming completely out of nowhere.
Stronghold
The basic premise is a castle under siege. That's a good concept, and the author brings in appropriate weaponry (e.g. giant catapults). However, I really didn't like this version of zombies: it felt unbalanced, and the humans were basically up against an army of superhumans who didn't have any disadvantages.
Looking at "normal" zombies, they tend to be slow moving and they're not very smart. An individual zombie could still be dangerous if it catches you by surprise (e.g. if it lunges at you when you open a door), but the main risk comes from a group. You can't intimidate them or negotiate with them, so any confrontation comes down to "fight or flight".
By contrast, the zombies in this story
Death Hulk
This took a while to get to the zombie part, and I think that the first half of the novel was actually the stronger section. It reminded me of the Temeraire series, showing what it was like to be in the British navy during the 18th century.
When the zombies turned up, it reminded me of the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" film.
Viking Dead
This story is the main reason I bought the omnibus, because I enjoyed Hunter of Sherwood: Knight of Shadows by the same author. I think it was the best of the 3, and there's scope for a direct sequel. (According to the intro, the original idea was for all the books in the "Tomes of the Dead" series to be in a shared world, but that's been more or less abandoned now.)
One problem is that there were a lot of characters to keep track of. The new member of the crew initially gave them nicknames based on their physical appearance, but since the other people were using real names this meant that there were twice as many names to keep track of (with no immediate mapping between the two lists).
The unique point about these zombies is that . To be fair, I've done the same thing when I've been acting as a zombie at LARP events, and it's not too much of a departure from the traditional approach: the zombies are still mostly acting on instinct.
Looking at other reviews, the ending has been a bit controversial. I suspected it before it was actually revealed, so I think there were enough hints to avoid it coming completely out of nowhere.
Stronghold
The basic premise is a castle under siege. That's a good concept, and the author brings in appropriate weaponry (e.g. giant catapults). However, I really didn't like this version of zombies: it felt unbalanced, and the humans were basically up against an army of superhumans who didn't have any disadvantages.
Looking at "normal" zombies, they tend to be slow moving and they're not very smart. An individual zombie could still be dangerous if it catches you by surprise (e.g. if it lunges at you when you open a door), but the main risk comes from a group. You can't intimidate them or negotiate with them, so any confrontation comes down to "fight or flight".
By contrast, the zombies in this story
Death Hulk
This took a while to get to the zombie part, and I think that the first half of the novel was actually the stronger section. It reminded me of the Temeraire series, showing what it was like to be in the British navy during the 18th century.
When the zombies turned up, it reminded me of the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" film.
October 17, 2017
A compendium of historical zombie fiction. This book includes a story of Vikings, Knights during the reign of Edward Longshanks, and the Napoleonic War. They are well written and for the most part satisfying reads.
November 29, 2013
...this collection of three novellas attempting to place zombie plagues throughout history was an intriguing twist. There was a slightly sophomoric match-up vibe, a 'zombies vs. _____' sense in all three: Vikings, knights, and British navy, respectively (needless to say, the good, or at least the living guys carry the day!). In each, the reader is presented with an intrepid leader (or, in the Welsh story, a maverick knight) whose can-do attitude and refusal to be cowed by the macabre attackers holds the key to survival.
This collection certainly isn't for the faint of heart. Violence is in ghastly supply in all three, with the gore reaching ludicrous volume in knights vs. zombies, where the phrase "a porridge of brains" or a close variant appears something like five times. Given the slaughter, one might expect the knights vs. zombies tale to be a parodic take on violence in zombie stories, but unfortunately, it's deadly serious in tone, and even situations whose comic potential is tantalizing, truly low-hanging fruit, have all the laughs beaten out of them with bone-shattering force. In fact, given the patently absurd starting premise—just another day as a Viking/knight/sailor when suddenly the zombie horde is unleashed, but trusty captain/sir ____ leads the good guys to victory—it's surprising just how seriously all three stories take themselves...
Read the full review at Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together
This collection certainly isn't for the faint of heart. Violence is in ghastly supply in all three, with the gore reaching ludicrous volume in knights vs. zombies, where the phrase "a porridge of brains" or a close variant appears something like five times. Given the slaughter, one might expect the knights vs. zombies tale to be a parodic take on violence in zombie stories, but unfortunately, it's deadly serious in tone, and even situations whose comic potential is tantalizing, truly low-hanging fruit, have all the laughs beaten out of them with bone-shattering force. In fact, given the patently absurd starting premise—just another day as a Viking/knight/sailor when suddenly the zombie horde is unleashed, but trusty captain/sir ____ leads the good guys to victory—it's surprising just how seriously all three stories take themselves...
Read the full review at Nerds of a Feather, Flock Together
April 15, 2014
Not a bad read really. This is the third in a series of anthology books. The three novels were surprisingly well written and some very good research was done on them as well. The first was about a group of river raider vikings was exceptional reading. The only problem I had with that tale was I was not sure how some of the names were pronounced, however that sort of goes with the territory when reading any story about vikings.
The 2nd story was not as good but still entertaining with it's historical aspects. It takes place during the rule of Edward Longshanks and his bid to rule all of England. The largess of the story takes place in a castle stronghold and examines the zombie rise through the use of druidic magics. The battle scenes were well done but the story felt a little lacking to me overall, however it was still enjoyable.
The third, and possibly the best of the three, takes place aboard a British warship during the Napoleonic area. The captain of the HMS Whirlwind, a sloop of war, get orders to find and hopefully sink a French frigate praying on shipping along the African coast. However, the deeds of the captains grandfather comes back to haunt the present Capt. Havelock. All told, good characters, well researched and fills the pirate/swashbuckling story with a zombie mix!
This is the first in this series I have read from Abaddon Books but if the first 2 are anything like this one I shall have to see if I can find myself a copy of them as well!
The 2nd story was not as good but still entertaining with it's historical aspects. It takes place during the rule of Edward Longshanks and his bid to rule all of England. The largess of the story takes place in a castle stronghold and examines the zombie rise through the use of druidic magics. The battle scenes were well done but the story felt a little lacking to me overall, however it was still enjoyable.
The third, and possibly the best of the three, takes place aboard a British warship during the Napoleonic area. The captain of the HMS Whirlwind, a sloop of war, get orders to find and hopefully sink a French frigate praying on shipping along the African coast. However, the deeds of the captains grandfather comes back to haunt the present Capt. Havelock. All told, good characters, well researched and fills the pirate/swashbuckling story with a zombie mix!
This is the first in this series I have read from Abaddon Books but if the first 2 are anything like this one I shall have to see if I can find myself a copy of them as well!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews