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Tomes of the Dead #15-16
The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack
Schneider Wrack Was Dead.
Until he wasn't. Convicted of a crime he's almost completely sure he didn't commit, executed, reanimated, then pressed into service aboard a vast trawler on the terrible world of Ocean, he was set to spend his afterlife working until his mindless corpse fell apart. But now he's woken up, trapped in a rotting body, arm-deep in the stinking meat and blubber of a sea monster, and he's not happy. It's time for the dead to rise up. From the stench and brine of Ocean to the fetid jungle of Grand Amazon, Schneider's career as a revolutionary won't be easy. But sometimes a zombie's gotta do what a zombie's gotta do.
Until he wasn't. Convicted of a crime he's almost completely sure he didn't commit, executed, reanimated, then pressed into service aboard a vast trawler on the terrible world of Ocean, he was set to spend his afterlife working until his mindless corpse fell apart. But now he's woken up, trapped in a rotting body, arm-deep in the stinking meat and blubber of a sea monster, and he's not happy. It's time for the dead to rise up. From the stench and brine of Ocean to the fetid jungle of Grand Amazon, Schneider's career as a revolutionary won't be easy. But sometimes a zombie's gotta do what a zombie's gotta do.
400 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 2017
37 people are currently reading
719 people want to read
About the author
Nate Crowley
29 books113 followersNate Crowley is an author, interactive fiction consultant, video games journalist, and public speaker.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 16, 2020
Being a zombie would suck. Rotting flesh, shambling gait, various oozings and bodily fluid stains all over your tattered clothing. Plus the smell, which can't be pleasant. But hey, most zombies are mindless automatons running solely on instinct and an unholy hunger for human flesh, so it stands to reason they'd hardly notice such setbacks. But imagine being a zombie who KNOWS you're a zombie? Now that would really suck! And on top of it all, to be a self-aware zombie pressed into indentured servitude on some kind of wacko futuristic steampunk whaling ship? The cherry on the suck sundae, the sucky icing on a sucky cake.
Schneider Wrack is just such an unfortunate fellow, and his story is wild. Bizarro horror fiction, I'd call it, and it just gets weirder and weirder as it goes.
Stylistically, it's actually not bad - full of interesting phrasing and a level of writing virtuosity I did not expect. It quickly becomes too busy to follow, which is a shame. I appreciate the imagery and the "show don't tell" spirit, but it teeters riiiiight on the edge of overwritten. Combine that melodramatic storytelling flair with the nonsensical hodgepodge of monsters, armored mech suits, and nautical siege battles, and it's a lot to take in.
2.5 stars. As far as fever dream genre mashups go, you could do a lot worse.
Schneider Wrack is just such an unfortunate fellow, and his story is wild. Bizarro horror fiction, I'd call it, and it just gets weirder and weirder as it goes.
Stylistically, it's actually not bad - full of interesting phrasing and a level of writing virtuosity I did not expect. It quickly becomes too busy to follow, which is a shame. I appreciate the imagery and the "show don't tell" spirit, but it teeters riiiiight on the edge of overwritten. Combine that melodramatic storytelling flair with the nonsensical hodgepodge of monsters, armored mech suits, and nautical siege battles, and it's a lot to take in.
2.5 stars. As far as fever dream genre mashups go, you could do a lot worse.
September 28, 2017
In its blurb for this novel, The Guardian claimed that it was a nautical sci-fi space battle zombie horror comedy adventure tale. Add to that the actual cover blurb and I knew I had no choice but to read Nate Crowley's The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack. I'm not too keen on zombies to begin with, but my curiosity was thoroughly piqued. If nothing else, I felt as though this book would be unlike anything else I had ever read. And believe you me, it was just that!
Needless to say, The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack was not what any reader would expect. Some times, this works in the novel's favor. On the other hand, occasionally it can be detrimental to the tale Crowley is telling.
Moreover, had I known of the book's genesis, perhaps my enthusiasm would have been a little more subdued going in. Problem is, you only find out at the very end, in the afterword and the acknowledgements, just how this work became a reality. And this explains the various shortcomings found therein. . .
You see, Nate Crowley was offered a book deal after coming up with 76 consecutive daily birthday tweets for one of his friends, tweets that soon became little stories in which said friend was portrayed as a fragile and vicious tyrant. The whole thing became viral and, wada wada wada, here we are with this work. This explains the author's ability to come up with countless witty and entertaining snippets throughout the novel. Alas, it also explains why these simply cannot form a cohesive whole that works as a plot.
Here's the blurb:
SCHNEIDER WRACK WAS DEAD.
Until he wasn’t.
Convicted of a crime he’s almost completely sure he didn’t commit, executed, reanimated, then pressed into service aboard a vast trawler on the terrible world of Ocean, he was set to spend his afterlife working until his mindless corpse fell apart.
But now he’s woken up, trapped in a rotting body, arm-deep in the stinking meat and blubber of a sea monster, and he’s not happy. It’s time for the dead to rise up.
From the stench and brine of Ocean to the fetid jungle of Grand Amazon, Schneider’s career as a revolutionary won’t be easy.
But sometimes a zombie’s gotta do what a zombie’s gotta do.
The worldbuilding is a bit of a mess. Another book review claims that the tale set in a thoughtfully constructed fantasy world, but I beg to differ. More often than not, Crowley doesn't even attempt to shine some light on the various concepts and ideas which are at the heart of The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack. There are plenty of questions throughout the novel. Yet the answers, when they come, are extremely few and far between. The author appears way more interested in coming up with a panoply of sea monsters and excuses for battle scenes filled with industrial quantities of blood and gore. If you're the kind of reader who doesn't ask too many questions and who can just buckle up and enjoy the ride, Crowley's debut just might work for you. It is a fun and easy read, no doubt about it. But the plot suffers from a little analysis. If you are the sort of reader who asks questions, who wants answers, who wants things to ultimately make sense, then things will quickly go down the crapper for you. As they did for me. To the vast majority of the "why this?" and "why that?" questions that come up in basically every chapter, Nate Crowley refuses to provide answers. It's not a failure of execution. The author doesn't even try to do so. The reader is expected to take everything on faith, hoping that the answers will be revealed at the end of the book and that things will make sense then. Unfortunately, answers are seldom offered, secrets are rarely unveiled, and nothing really makes sense, even when you reach the last page. What exactly was that tech that allowed people to create and control zombies and how did the city of Lipos-Tholos come into possession and control of it? How were they able to withstand such a siege forever. What were the Pipers fighting for? What are those gates and worlds? Continents on one planet, or different dimensions/worlds? What exactly was Teuthis and why is it drawn to High Sarawak? How did Dust puzzle out the truth behind the Tavuto and how it was the greatest prize to go for? The list goes on and on and on.
Nate Crowley's descriptive prose creates a stark and vivid imagery. It's often particularly gross, but the author makes you feel as though you are right in the thick of it. In that regard, the narrative deserves kudos for being such a multi-sensory experience. I kid you not. At times, you feel like you want to gag.
The characterization is by far the best aspect of this work. Events unfold through three different perspectives. That of Schneider Wrack, a librarian sentenced to death for being part of the Piper rebellion. That of Mouana, a dead soldier who used to be part of one of the mercenary companies laying siege to Lipos-Tholos. And that of General Dust, Mouana's former commander and leader of the Blades of Titan. Both Wrack and Mouana regain consciousness with almost no memories of who they used to be. But as the tale progresses, their back stories take shape as vague memories become clearer and clearer. It's at this juncture that Dust's POV gets introduced and from then on there is somewhat of a balance between the three perspectives. Although it was well-done, the characterization is often bogged down by too much bantering or inane dialogue.
But in the end, what truly sunk The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack was the fact that there is no ending whatsoever. No resolution to any of the main storylines, no answers regarding most of those aforementioned questions. No ending, period. It's as if the final chapters are missing. Imagine if Star Wars: A New Hope had ended with the scene of the rebel fleet taking off for the Battle of Yavin and that's pretty much how I felt when I reached the end of the book. I've never been a fan of those make-your-own-ending kind of novels and I found this quite off-putting. It's also a major cop-out for an author, especially when we're not talking about an ending that can be interpretated in various ways. With no sequel in the making, it makes you wonder why you actually read the whole novel. A variety of things made little or no sense as you read along. But the absence of a true ending that offers some resolution pretty much ensures that almost nothing makes sense.
The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack is a dark, often funny, entertaining, and gore-filled affair that is unlike anything else I've ever read. The book certainly had potential. Lots of it, in fact. Ultimately, it suffered from too many shortcomings to live up to it. Still, if you're looking for something that will surprise even the most jaded genre readers, this novel is definitely for you!
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com.
Needless to say, The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack was not what any reader would expect. Some times, this works in the novel's favor. On the other hand, occasionally it can be detrimental to the tale Crowley is telling.
Moreover, had I known of the book's genesis, perhaps my enthusiasm would have been a little more subdued going in. Problem is, you only find out at the very end, in the afterword and the acknowledgements, just how this work became a reality. And this explains the various shortcomings found therein. . .
You see, Nate Crowley was offered a book deal after coming up with 76 consecutive daily birthday tweets for one of his friends, tweets that soon became little stories in which said friend was portrayed as a fragile and vicious tyrant. The whole thing became viral and, wada wada wada, here we are with this work. This explains the author's ability to come up with countless witty and entertaining snippets throughout the novel. Alas, it also explains why these simply cannot form a cohesive whole that works as a plot.
Here's the blurb:
SCHNEIDER WRACK WAS DEAD.
Until he wasn’t.
Convicted of a crime he’s almost completely sure he didn’t commit, executed, reanimated, then pressed into service aboard a vast trawler on the terrible world of Ocean, he was set to spend his afterlife working until his mindless corpse fell apart.
But now he’s woken up, trapped in a rotting body, arm-deep in the stinking meat and blubber of a sea monster, and he’s not happy. It’s time for the dead to rise up.
From the stench and brine of Ocean to the fetid jungle of Grand Amazon, Schneider’s career as a revolutionary won’t be easy.
But sometimes a zombie’s gotta do what a zombie’s gotta do.
The worldbuilding is a bit of a mess. Another book review claims that the tale set in a thoughtfully constructed fantasy world, but I beg to differ. More often than not, Crowley doesn't even attempt to shine some light on the various concepts and ideas which are at the heart of The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack. There are plenty of questions throughout the novel. Yet the answers, when they come, are extremely few and far between. The author appears way more interested in coming up with a panoply of sea monsters and excuses for battle scenes filled with industrial quantities of blood and gore. If you're the kind of reader who doesn't ask too many questions and who can just buckle up and enjoy the ride, Crowley's debut just might work for you. It is a fun and easy read, no doubt about it. But the plot suffers from a little analysis. If you are the sort of reader who asks questions, who wants answers, who wants things to ultimately make sense, then things will quickly go down the crapper for you. As they did for me. To the vast majority of the "why this?" and "why that?" questions that come up in basically every chapter, Nate Crowley refuses to provide answers. It's not a failure of execution. The author doesn't even try to do so. The reader is expected to take everything on faith, hoping that the answers will be revealed at the end of the book and that things will make sense then. Unfortunately, answers are seldom offered, secrets are rarely unveiled, and nothing really makes sense, even when you reach the last page. What exactly was that tech that allowed people to create and control zombies and how did the city of Lipos-Tholos come into possession and control of it? How were they able to withstand such a siege forever. What were the Pipers fighting for? What are those gates and worlds? Continents on one planet, or different dimensions/worlds? What exactly was Teuthis and why is it drawn to High Sarawak? How did Dust puzzle out the truth behind the Tavuto and how it was the greatest prize to go for? The list goes on and on and on.
Nate Crowley's descriptive prose creates a stark and vivid imagery. It's often particularly gross, but the author makes you feel as though you are right in the thick of it. In that regard, the narrative deserves kudos for being such a multi-sensory experience. I kid you not. At times, you feel like you want to gag.
The characterization is by far the best aspect of this work. Events unfold through three different perspectives. That of Schneider Wrack, a librarian sentenced to death for being part of the Piper rebellion. That of Mouana, a dead soldier who used to be part of one of the mercenary companies laying siege to Lipos-Tholos. And that of General Dust, Mouana's former commander and leader of the Blades of Titan. Both Wrack and Mouana regain consciousness with almost no memories of who they used to be. But as the tale progresses, their back stories take shape as vague memories become clearer and clearer. It's at this juncture that Dust's POV gets introduced and from then on there is somewhat of a balance between the three perspectives. Although it was well-done, the characterization is often bogged down by too much bantering or inane dialogue.
But in the end, what truly sunk The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack was the fact that there is no ending whatsoever. No resolution to any of the main storylines, no answers regarding most of those aforementioned questions. No ending, period. It's as if the final chapters are missing. Imagine if Star Wars: A New Hope had ended with the scene of the rebel fleet taking off for the Battle of Yavin and that's pretty much how I felt when I reached the end of the book. I've never been a fan of those make-your-own-ending kind of novels and I found this quite off-putting. It's also a major cop-out for an author, especially when we're not talking about an ending that can be interpretated in various ways. With no sequel in the making, it makes you wonder why you actually read the whole novel. A variety of things made little or no sense as you read along. But the absence of a true ending that offers some resolution pretty much ensures that almost nothing makes sense.
The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack is a dark, often funny, entertaining, and gore-filled affair that is unlike anything else I've ever read. The book certainly had potential. Lots of it, in fact. Ultimately, it suffered from too many shortcomings to live up to it. Still, if you're looking for something that will surprise even the most jaded genre readers, this novel is definitely for you!
For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com.
December 11, 2021
We read this book in my book club and I didn't really know what to expect from it at first. I had never heard of Nate Crowley before and Zombies aren't exactly my kind of horror, so I was kind of hesitant. But even with Zombies the premise sounded super interesting and the cover is very very cool... And I wasn't disappointed at all, once I had read the first chapter this book had me.
It wasn't the scary horror book that I was expecting, but Crowley uses a typical horror trope in an exceptionally creative way in order to tell a morbidly funny, very disgusting, horrifying, absurd and, towards the end, even surprisingly deep and heartwarming tale.
Spoilers from here on
Librarian Schneider Wrack comes to himself in a miserable state – blood and gut drenched, unwitting of what has happened to him, surrounded by monsters, enslaved on a trawler called Tavuto, where sea food for living people is produced in a very glibbery, squidgy, gross way.
It doesn't take him long to realize he's an undead but has somehow reclaimed his consciousness; he has woken up. It takes him a little longer, about a fourth of the book's length, to fully comprehend what is going on on this trawler. Each worker, zombie or not, is a convict and the worst of them have been punished by being executed, reanimated and forced to work under horrible circumstances.
With the help of his Zombie mate Mouana, he takes on the mission of waking up other zombies, start a revolution and avenge what has been done to them. To wake them up and create a bond between them, he needs to appeal to their memories and that's a hard piece of work, really. Being a zombie, your unfresh mind doesn't quite function the way it's supposed to be. But, as with all else, Wrack takes it with bittersweet humor.
“The dead laughed as he played the fool with his broken memory, but their faces hardened in solidarity as he reached the firmer, rawer memories. They cheered fiercely at the discovery of the pamphlets, they cheered at his branding, and at his father's helpless tears. And they cheered when he died. They cheered hardest when he died; they cheered for him, and he cheered for them. For a moment, the cheers made him brave enough for it not to matter. But then his story was over, and the cheers faded, and still he had no heartbeat.”
This alone is no easy task, but there's more trouble to come. In fact, there are few quiet moments in this book. The mess comes thick and fast: Zombies being used as bait while hunting an ET (huuuuuuge and frightening sea creatures); Zombies being betrayed by their overseers while trying to win them around; the discovery of Theutis, evil mastermind behind the ship's workings and sole survivor of an ancient species; Schneider BECOMING Theutis (and later even various sea creatures) in a bid to save the revolution; living revolutionaries joining in with the Zombies to put an end to extortion; the voyage to the Grand Amazon in pursuit of the legendary city High Sawarak where little amphibian humans live; the flight from Dust, Mouana's old general and one of the scariest antagonists in fiction history... The list goes on. But that's just one of the great things about this book. Crowley doesn't leave the plot at the Zombie revolution, which honestly would have been sufficiently brilliant. He further uses the premise as a background, or rather as a starting point for a story much greater, much more imaginative.
The utter absurdity and hilarity, so to say, which leaks from each and every page of this book is another highlight for me. Just take this extract where Wrack visits his old house unaware that it is now owned by other people:
“Schneider wanted to warn them of the devil behind them when he realised it was his own reflection in the hallway mirror.
The man waved his knife and the woman screamed. But all Wrack could do was laugh. Of course! He was a massive rotting stingray on mechanical spider legs! How had he forgotten that? He laughed and laughed, and the thing in the mirror shook with it, spraying black gore from its spiracles. What a thing to forget! Wrack wanted to double over, to shriek and giggle until he was sobbing for breath, but of course he had no lungs! Somehow, it made things even funnier. That poor baffled family, he thought, as they ran screaming to the front door. Woken in the night to find a monster in their house, getting confused by paintings.
Wrack reared with mirth as he stared at the mirror, and the ray laughed back. You had to see the funny side of things, he thought to himself as phantom tears began to pearl."
Priceless!
Crowley's The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack is a parade of submarine curiosities that had me highly entertained, it is THE zombie novel you never knew you're desperate to read - at least that's how it worked for me and the majority of my book club enjoyed reading it too.
It wasn't the scary horror book that I was expecting, but Crowley uses a typical horror trope in an exceptionally creative way in order to tell a morbidly funny, very disgusting, horrifying, absurd and, towards the end, even surprisingly deep and heartwarming tale.
Spoilers from here on
Librarian Schneider Wrack comes to himself in a miserable state – blood and gut drenched, unwitting of what has happened to him, surrounded by monsters, enslaved on a trawler called Tavuto, where sea food for living people is produced in a very glibbery, squidgy, gross way.
It doesn't take him long to realize he's an undead but has somehow reclaimed his consciousness; he has woken up. It takes him a little longer, about a fourth of the book's length, to fully comprehend what is going on on this trawler. Each worker, zombie or not, is a convict and the worst of them have been punished by being executed, reanimated and forced to work under horrible circumstances.
With the help of his Zombie mate Mouana, he takes on the mission of waking up other zombies, start a revolution and avenge what has been done to them. To wake them up and create a bond between them, he needs to appeal to their memories and that's a hard piece of work, really. Being a zombie, your unfresh mind doesn't quite function the way it's supposed to be. But, as with all else, Wrack takes it with bittersweet humor.
“The dead laughed as he played the fool with his broken memory, but their faces hardened in solidarity as he reached the firmer, rawer memories. They cheered fiercely at the discovery of the pamphlets, they cheered at his branding, and at his father's helpless tears. And they cheered when he died. They cheered hardest when he died; they cheered for him, and he cheered for them. For a moment, the cheers made him brave enough for it not to matter. But then his story was over, and the cheers faded, and still he had no heartbeat.”
This alone is no easy task, but there's more trouble to come. In fact, there are few quiet moments in this book. The mess comes thick and fast: Zombies being used as bait while hunting an ET (huuuuuuge and frightening sea creatures); Zombies being betrayed by their overseers while trying to win them around; the discovery of Theutis, evil mastermind behind the ship's workings and sole survivor of an ancient species; Schneider BECOMING Theutis (and later even various sea creatures) in a bid to save the revolution; living revolutionaries joining in with the Zombies to put an end to extortion; the voyage to the Grand Amazon in pursuit of the legendary city High Sawarak where little amphibian humans live; the flight from Dust, Mouana's old general and one of the scariest antagonists in fiction history... The list goes on. But that's just one of the great things about this book. Crowley doesn't leave the plot at the Zombie revolution, which honestly would have been sufficiently brilliant. He further uses the premise as a background, or rather as a starting point for a story much greater, much more imaginative.
The utter absurdity and hilarity, so to say, which leaks from each and every page of this book is another highlight for me. Just take this extract where Wrack visits his old house unaware that it is now owned by other people:
“Schneider wanted to warn them of the devil behind them when he realised it was his own reflection in the hallway mirror.
The man waved his knife and the woman screamed. But all Wrack could do was laugh. Of course! He was a massive rotting stingray on mechanical spider legs! How had he forgotten that? He laughed and laughed, and the thing in the mirror shook with it, spraying black gore from its spiracles. What a thing to forget! Wrack wanted to double over, to shriek and giggle until he was sobbing for breath, but of course he had no lungs! Somehow, it made things even funnier. That poor baffled family, he thought, as they ran screaming to the front door. Woken in the night to find a monster in their house, getting confused by paintings.
Wrack reared with mirth as he stared at the mirror, and the ray laughed back. You had to see the funny side of things, he thought to himself as phantom tears began to pearl."
Priceless!
Crowley's The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack is a parade of submarine curiosities that had me highly entertained, it is THE zombie novel you never knew you're desperate to read - at least that's how it worked for me and the majority of my book club enjoyed reading it too.
June 10, 2019
It took me a while to get through ‘The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack’ as it had an about evenly balanced mixture of interesting and frustrating elements. When I began reading, the setting of a monstrous whaling ship crewed by undead slaves seemed like a Snowpiercer-level allegory for capitalism. However the opening chapters started as they meant to go on: with intriguing world-building nearly submerged beneath an excessive quantity of gore. All the main characters are zombies, which makes some gruesomeness inevitable. However, the continual body horror proved a distraction from a genuinely interesting sci-fi adventure. I enjoyed the pastiche 19th century settings: a whaling ship, besieged city, and river winding through unexplored jungle; I was much less keen on the gory and repetitive fight scenes. The book was apparently written as two novellas originally, which explains the odd recap halfway through. In the second part, the narrative point of view extends beyond the titular Wrack to Mouana, who I much preferred. Although everyone is depressingly OK with murder and torture, at least Mouana has a decently developed backstory and nemesis. The ship names are excellent; Asinine Bastard is a particular highlight. It felt to me like there was so much potential in the plot and world-building of this novel, yet it kept swerving into B-movie splatterpunk rather than developing them. Then the ending resolved absolutely nothing, which was very annoying.
August 12, 2017
I'm grateful to the publisher for an advance copy of this book via Netgalley.
Schneider Wrack wakes in hell.
Then he revises his opinions; he’s on a factory ship.
Then he re-revises – this is Hell, and he’s not out of it. He is dead, and has been reborn as a zombie, condemned to work until he rots, Wrack is part of an undead workforce, slaving to carve up the great sea creatures of the planet Ocean to feed his native city, Lipos-Tholos. On decks slick with blubber, in the driving rail, they toil ceaselessly until, too decomposed to work, too cursed to die, they are left stacked in charnel heaps. All this takes place on the great ship, the Tavuto. Lipos-Tholos has been besieged for generations and depends on the sea - and especially the Tavuto - for food.
In this far future, there has been time for humanity to spread across the planets, to form a civilization ("the lemniscatus") which is now in decay, but, in its prime, opened gates between far locations - gates forgotten to worlds forgotten, gates and worlds rediscovered and lost again. So the great whale-like creatures that Tavuto (a "nightmare in steel, floodlights and scale") hunts, disassembles and renders, flow back through the gate to whatever world that city's on - while the zombies and their human handlers face the horrors of Ocean: they have "lips like salted dogs" and experience "the piercing, ammoniac stench of a sharkmonger's stall at midsummer".
It's a very vivid, stark novel, the sights, sounds and - especially - smells being rendered viscerally. You can taste the salt, smell the decaying blubber, the fraying flesh of the zombies, feel their despair as they sink into the dark dreams that keep them under control.
But Wrack wakes from these dreams, and the first part of the story is then about how he finds himself again, striking up an improbable friendship with a woman, Mouana. There are limits to this friendship ("no point in holding hands like lovers; we're both far too rotted in the funbits to care about that") - but what they do both have an appetite for, is fighting.
So the story proceeds with Wrack's and Mouana's revolt against the powers that zombified them. It's a long road and it takes a great number of twists and turns, bringing in both Wrack's past (he may have been one of the rebels - the Pipers - who oppose Lipos-Tholos's government. Or he may be an innocent bystander) and Mouana's (spoilers!) All around are the hints of an older, higher technology – like the zombifying process – which present-day societies are clumsily trying to use.
All this leads, after many adventures, betrayals and revelations, to another world entirely, a jungle world - Grand Amazon itself, where the zombies are eaten dead by bugs and fragments of an even older civilization - the hulk of a burned out starship, a city of lizard people - loom and are then forgotten.
Only at the end of this quest, in High Sarawak, will the pair find what they need.
This book is in three parts - The Sea Hates a Coward, Fisheries and Justice and Grand Amazon - which have previously been published separately (do bear this in mind if you've read, or especially bought, them separately). I hadn't read those books so I don't know if Crowley has reworked the material at all to bring the stories together but they do read very much as a single narrative, with puzzles and mysteries from the earlier parts (such as what happened to Wrack to get him on Tavuto) explained in good time. It's an intense read, very sensual as I noted above, but also very distinctive in style, both evoking great adventure stories by writers like Rider-Haggard, Conan Doyle and, of course, in the Ocean sections, Melville and also adding a distinct sense of darkness, of unease.
All that, and this is a "zombie uprising" story told from the perspective of the zombies themselves... and it makes them sympathetic (and at times funny). It is also, though, a ruthless book, with innocent blood poured out in torrents and, for a long time, seemingly no moral centre. But do hang in there.
I don't know whether I should call this SF, fantasy, adventure, or a combination of these, or something entirely different. For me it read as very new, very different and I'd strongly recommend it.
Schneider Wrack wakes in hell.
Then he revises his opinions; he’s on a factory ship.
Then he re-revises – this is Hell, and he’s not out of it. He is dead, and has been reborn as a zombie, condemned to work until he rots, Wrack is part of an undead workforce, slaving to carve up the great sea creatures of the planet Ocean to feed his native city, Lipos-Tholos. On decks slick with blubber, in the driving rail, they toil ceaselessly until, too decomposed to work, too cursed to die, they are left stacked in charnel heaps. All this takes place on the great ship, the Tavuto. Lipos-Tholos has been besieged for generations and depends on the sea - and especially the Tavuto - for food.
In this far future, there has been time for humanity to spread across the planets, to form a civilization ("the lemniscatus") which is now in decay, but, in its prime, opened gates between far locations - gates forgotten to worlds forgotten, gates and worlds rediscovered and lost again. So the great whale-like creatures that Tavuto (a "nightmare in steel, floodlights and scale") hunts, disassembles and renders, flow back through the gate to whatever world that city's on - while the zombies and their human handlers face the horrors of Ocean: they have "lips like salted dogs" and experience "the piercing, ammoniac stench of a sharkmonger's stall at midsummer".
It's a very vivid, stark novel, the sights, sounds and - especially - smells being rendered viscerally. You can taste the salt, smell the decaying blubber, the fraying flesh of the zombies, feel their despair as they sink into the dark dreams that keep them under control.
But Wrack wakes from these dreams, and the first part of the story is then about how he finds himself again, striking up an improbable friendship with a woman, Mouana. There are limits to this friendship ("no point in holding hands like lovers; we're both far too rotted in the funbits to care about that") - but what they do both have an appetite for, is fighting.
So the story proceeds with Wrack's and Mouana's revolt against the powers that zombified them. It's a long road and it takes a great number of twists and turns, bringing in both Wrack's past (he may have been one of the rebels - the Pipers - who oppose Lipos-Tholos's government. Or he may be an innocent bystander) and Mouana's (spoilers!) All around are the hints of an older, higher technology – like the zombifying process – which present-day societies are clumsily trying to use.
All this leads, after many adventures, betrayals and revelations, to another world entirely, a jungle world - Grand Amazon itself, where the zombies are eaten dead by bugs and fragments of an even older civilization - the hulk of a burned out starship, a city of lizard people - loom and are then forgotten.
Only at the end of this quest, in High Sarawak, will the pair find what they need.
This book is in three parts - The Sea Hates a Coward, Fisheries and Justice and Grand Amazon - which have previously been published separately (do bear this in mind if you've read, or especially bought, them separately). I hadn't read those books so I don't know if Crowley has reworked the material at all to bring the stories together but they do read very much as a single narrative, with puzzles and mysteries from the earlier parts (such as what happened to Wrack to get him on Tavuto) explained in good time. It's an intense read, very sensual as I noted above, but also very distinctive in style, both evoking great adventure stories by writers like Rider-Haggard, Conan Doyle and, of course, in the Ocean sections, Melville and also adding a distinct sense of darkness, of unease.
All that, and this is a "zombie uprising" story told from the perspective of the zombies themselves... and it makes them sympathetic (and at times funny). It is also, though, a ruthless book, with innocent blood poured out in torrents and, for a long time, seemingly no moral centre. But do hang in there.
I don't know whether I should call this SF, fantasy, adventure, or a combination of these, or something entirely different. For me it read as very new, very different and I'd strongly recommend it.
April 30, 2018
If I was rating based on the second half, this book would get five stars for its original story of a zombie trying to learn his living origin and organize an uprising amidst sea monsters. The back half had humor, surprising upsets to status quo, and challenging moral questions, and it was a take on zombies I hadn't seen before. But the first 160 pages are almost unreadable, a messy collection of words that can spend three pages describing a scene and leave me with no knowledge of what the place looks like, and the parts I did follow often didn't fit the description of what happened in them. How did she punch her if she's on the other side of the room? How is the room a little office and holds two hundred zombies? That kind of thing. Also, I should warn, this is a fantasy novel. Once Schneider has figured out who he used to be, the fantasy genre allows for fun exploration and worldbuilding, but when the reader is solving a mystery, this feels more like a game of "What have I got in my pocket?" The back is good enough to merit the misery of the front, but reader be VERY warned.
September 25, 2018
This book is a blast to read. Stuffed to the gills with action and humor as dark as a dead man's gullet. The characters are disturbing but always relatable, even when their entire vocabulary consists of a two-word expletive. The setting is basically New Weird Pulp with a nautical bent, and the author is not scared to throw in one cool idea after the other to surprise the reader. The ending is rather abrupt and leaves open a few questions that I'd like answered, but this isn't so much a complaint on my part as a demand for part two.
Don't read this if you're averse to gore and explosions, or have trouble seeing the funny side of violent amputations, but do read for a hilarious speedboat ride through a remarkably well-crafted world of dark fantasy.
Don't read this if you're averse to gore and explosions, or have trouble seeing the funny side of violent amputations, but do read for a hilarious speedboat ride through a remarkably well-crafted world of dark fantasy.
July 30, 2022
9 Purely for entertainmentvalue this deserves my five star rating. Before writing a review I always read some reactions on Goodreads or other review online, to get a sense of the discourse surrounding a book. I was honestly a little surprised to find so many quite negative (one and two star) reviews of this book on Goodreads. While I do not agree with them, they do suggest that my reaction to this book is not universal and it certainly is not for everyone.
One complaint I noticed, was that it was 'too weird', and that the world building didn't make much sense, or that the story did not end satisfyingly. I do see how for some readers that would be the case - the same way people who like regular Tolkienesque fantasy will not like the Bas Lag-novels of China Mieville, that are also filled to the brim with grotesque imagery, weird races, barely explained world building and characters it's hard to sympathize with. They do ooze imagination though, and I like that. If this was not framed as a science fiction story but as fantasy this would fit neatly into the 'New Weird' category of fantasy - even up to the anti-kapitalist message underneath it all.
This is a mixture of genres. It's horror (there are living dead in here and their decay and bodily mutilation is described extensively). It's science fiction (there is nano technology, mechs, portals to other worlds and more). It's pulpy (giant sea monsters and lizard people) and it has humour too (I was reading this with a grin on my face the whole time). It's written in prose that engages all senses, with great descriptions. It's purple prose, but it fits with the whole atmosphere of the book. You know you don't pick this up to read literature with a big L - it's entertainment and the prose does entertain. It's also original - I picked this up after hearing Adrian Tchaikovsky (one of my favourite authors) sing its praises. He described the thesis: zombies on an immensely deep ocean on another world, hunting giant whales - and that alone sold me. But there's more to this than that even. I can see why he liked it, as there's a whole menagerie of species here, lovingly imagined. And I got quite attached to the characters too. They felt alive (pun intended) and I was engaged with their wellbeing. It all ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but that is something that fits with the genre.
I do think this SF/horror/humour/weird-novel deserves a bigger audience - or at least, I hope that all reader who love being entertained by over the top weird SF/fantasy with sea monsters and zombies will have this book on their radar. To me it gave one of the more pleasurable reading experiences of the last weeks. A shot of pure, gory fun that made my own imagination run a little faster ...
One complaint I noticed, was that it was 'too weird', and that the world building didn't make much sense, or that the story did not end satisfyingly. I do see how for some readers that would be the case - the same way people who like regular Tolkienesque fantasy will not like the Bas Lag-novels of China Mieville, that are also filled to the brim with grotesque imagery, weird races, barely explained world building and characters it's hard to sympathize with. They do ooze imagination though, and I like that. If this was not framed as a science fiction story but as fantasy this would fit neatly into the 'New Weird' category of fantasy - even up to the anti-kapitalist message underneath it all.
This is a mixture of genres. It's horror (there are living dead in here and their decay and bodily mutilation is described extensively). It's science fiction (there is nano technology, mechs, portals to other worlds and more). It's pulpy (giant sea monsters and lizard people) and it has humour too (I was reading this with a grin on my face the whole time). It's written in prose that engages all senses, with great descriptions. It's purple prose, but it fits with the whole atmosphere of the book. You know you don't pick this up to read literature with a big L - it's entertainment and the prose does entertain. It's also original - I picked this up after hearing Adrian Tchaikovsky (one of my favourite authors) sing its praises. He described the thesis: zombies on an immensely deep ocean on another world, hunting giant whales - and that alone sold me. But there's more to this than that even. I can see why he liked it, as there's a whole menagerie of species here, lovingly imagined. And I got quite attached to the characters too. They felt alive (pun intended) and I was engaged with their wellbeing. It all ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, but that is something that fits with the genre.
I do think this SF/horror/humour/weird-novel deserves a bigger audience - or at least, I hope that all reader who love being entertained by over the top weird SF/fantasy with sea monsters and zombies will have this book on their radar. To me it gave one of the more pleasurable reading experiences of the last weeks. A shot of pure, gory fun that made my own imagination run a little faster ...
June 30, 2017
Review to come on Fantasy-Faction at the beginning of August!
April 14, 2018
This was a weirdy-beardy kind of book. It started off aimlessly and didn’t much improve from there on in. For ages, I couldn’t tell where the story could possibly be going, which left me disinvested in it. It did pick up in the second part, thankfully, but finally it ends. There’s no resolution, nothing. Hopefully, there will be another book in the series to reveal what happens next.
The world-building was done quite well, I thought. It took a while before I realised we were in a different world, which I quite liked. The rest of the world-building is done via snippets and clues left for us, so we’re piecing things together for ourselves, rather than old Basil Exposition raising his head!
This wasn’t a terrible book; I can see that some people would get a lot out of this book - it did at least do something different with zombies (not a particular favourite genre for me) - but for me it felt like an unnecessary trudge. That could be because zombies aren’t really my thing, though.
The world-building was done quite well, I thought. It took a while before I realised we were in a different world, which I quite liked. The rest of the world-building is done via snippets and clues left for us, so we’re piecing things together for ourselves, rather than old Basil Exposition raising his head!
This wasn’t a terrible book; I can see that some people would get a lot out of this book - it did at least do something different with zombies (not a particular favourite genre for me) - but for me it felt like an unnecessary trudge. That could be because zombies aren’t really my thing, though.
June 17, 2025
It's unfortunate that this book is two novellas connected together instead of a cohesive whole, as it does make it feel a bit disjointed. The first novella was the strongest - 5 stars; from the outset it provides a vividly horrible, dark, and atmospheric setting. I was all for following a zombie POV in the beginnings of an undead revolution on a city-sized ship designated to hunt giant sea monsters on another planet. The best moments are when the story really engages with the pulpy nightmare of the undead experience, or of the thalassophobia inherent to the setting.
Despite the setting, this isn't a depressing or sombre work - there's a sense of humour and irreverence throughout here, lightening the tone. The second novella continues this blending of themes and tones, giving you some really grim stuff - e.g. the origin of the antagonist Dust - but also balancing it with silliness and offbeat weirdness. I thought I'd like the second novella (which continues the story of the first) more, given it's a river journey into long-unexplored fantastical jungle, Heart of Darkness vibes. But it just wasn't as strong as that initial intense opening and plot of taking over a ship present in the first book. The horror elements are diminished, and it feels somewhat less focused and powerful.
It's still full of fascinating and creative and fucked-up worldbuilding - the worldbuilding is where this whole book shines. It's not surprising to me that the author went on to write (very good) Warhammer 40k stories (especially of the Necrons). It's full of strangeness and mystery and adventure and dread and total weirdness (e.g. sharks and manta rays with hydraulic legs, kept on leashes like attack dogs). The downside is that there's so much potential for the worldbuilding, so much scope to it - and all the things it doesn't tell us - that this really needed to be a series, or a bigger book. There's so much left unknown at the end, and it feels like the story told here was simply too small and confined for the universe imagined around it. I wanted more.
This is most apparent at the end - because we don't really get an ending. It stops just before the unravelling of the greatest mystery. This is a choice; it didn't leave me angry or too frustrated, and it kinda worked, but I really would like to see another novella or novel continuing this story, as I feel there is still so much more to tell in this universe - and there's more to tell of protagonist Wrack's tale, too (God, he's been through a lot). I hope Nate Crowley goes back to this universe, one day, and continues to flesh out his uniquely astonishing creation.
4.5
Despite the setting, this isn't a depressing or sombre work - there's a sense of humour and irreverence throughout here, lightening the tone. The second novella continues this blending of themes and tones, giving you some really grim stuff - e.g. the origin of the antagonist Dust - but also balancing it with silliness and offbeat weirdness. I thought I'd like the second novella (which continues the story of the first) more, given it's a river journey into long-unexplored fantastical jungle, Heart of Darkness vibes. But it just wasn't as strong as that initial intense opening and plot of taking over a ship present in the first book. The horror elements are diminished, and it feels somewhat less focused and powerful.
It's still full of fascinating and creative and fucked-up worldbuilding - the worldbuilding is where this whole book shines. It's not surprising to me that the author went on to write (very good) Warhammer 40k stories (especially of the Necrons). It's full of strangeness and mystery and adventure and dread and total weirdness (e.g. sharks and manta rays with hydraulic legs, kept on leashes like attack dogs). The downside is that there's so much potential for the worldbuilding, so much scope to it - and all the things it doesn't tell us - that this really needed to be a series, or a bigger book. There's so much left unknown at the end, and it feels like the story told here was simply too small and confined for the universe imagined around it. I wanted more.
This is most apparent at the end - because we don't really get an ending. It stops just before the unravelling of the greatest mystery. This is a choice; it didn't leave me angry or too frustrated, and it kinda worked, but I really would like to see another novella or novel continuing this story, as I feel there is still so much more to tell in this universe - and there's more to tell of protagonist Wrack's tale, too (God, he's been through a lot). I hope Nate Crowley goes back to this universe, one day, and continues to flesh out his uniquely astonishing creation.
4.5
March 2, 2025
The afterword is by Daniel Barker and credits the start of Crowley's writing career to Daniel Barker's Birthday, but I remember Zoofights, and if you yearn for the days of swans with big muscly arms then this book will seem eerily familiar. Cunningly, it also has actual characters and plot. Would recommend to anyone.
November 27, 2019
A dark and ferociously imaginative story of revolutionary zombies, interlinked worlds and psychically-possessed marine life, this is part science fiction, part horror, part black comedy and entirely bonkers. Schneider Wrack wakes to a scene of absolute terror, finding he’s not only dead – with no idea why – but a zombie, one of thousands enslaved upon the gargantuan ocean trawler Navuto. With only vague memories of his life beforehand – as a quiet, hapless librarian – and a burning sense of injustice, he stumbles his way towards becoming the figurehead for a bizarre uprising against the Navuto’s brutish overseers, setting himself upon a path he couldn’t possibly have foreseen.
There’s no doubt about it, this is absolutely bonkers – but utterly brilliant. At times the narrative rambles a touch, it sometimes requires a little patience and faith in Crowley that things will make sense, and it’ll test your knowledge of obscure (to most of us) marine life, but in the end it’s massively rewarding and just so much fun!
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/11/...
There’s no doubt about it, this is absolutely bonkers – but utterly brilliant. At times the narrative rambles a touch, it sometimes requires a little patience and faith in Crowley that things will make sense, and it’ll test your knowledge of obscure (to most of us) marine life, but in the end it’s massively rewarding and just so much fun!
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/11/...
December 25, 2020
I just couldn't get into it unfortunately. I stopped reading after a few chapters :/
September 7, 2017
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy
I tried to read THE DEATH AND LIFE OF SCHNEIDER WRACK with my speed reading app but there were so many words that were gigantic or outright invented there was no way that my eyes could keep up at 300 and 400 words a minute. I'm glad I slowed down; when I did I started really enjoying this book that is more akin to Alice In Wonderland than it is to most other zombie books.
Zombies in this book are one part steampunk wonder, one part magical mystery, and all horrific. They bear the marks of their execution method but also the wear of the work they do. They are sun baked, missing limbs and often preyed upon by the giant ocean creatures they are tasked with hunting. It was so much fun to have them evolve from creatures described as "one arm" or "the fat man" into characters with names and personalities; even if in one case, all he could say was "Fawk offff!!!".
In a book where the main characters are passionate and real, it's strange that it's the setting that steals the show. The world of Ocean and the fishing boat expands, bit by bit, as Wrack and his commerades fight back, learning new things about the various people, fauna and unknowns that inhabit their world.
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF SCHNEIDER WRACK is a trip, a book to read carefully but not too slowly. If you're the kind of person who looks up words in the dictionary, don't bother. If you love imagining massive creatures with names you can barely hold in your brain, dive in.
I tried to read THE DEATH AND LIFE OF SCHNEIDER WRACK with my speed reading app but there were so many words that were gigantic or outright invented there was no way that my eyes could keep up at 300 and 400 words a minute. I'm glad I slowed down; when I did I started really enjoying this book that is more akin to Alice In Wonderland than it is to most other zombie books.
Zombies in this book are one part steampunk wonder, one part magical mystery, and all horrific. They bear the marks of their execution method but also the wear of the work they do. They are sun baked, missing limbs and often preyed upon by the giant ocean creatures they are tasked with hunting. It was so much fun to have them evolve from creatures described as "one arm" or "the fat man" into characters with names and personalities; even if in one case, all he could say was "Fawk offff!!!".
In a book where the main characters are passionate and real, it's strange that it's the setting that steals the show. The world of Ocean and the fishing boat expands, bit by bit, as Wrack and his commerades fight back, learning new things about the various people, fauna and unknowns that inhabit their world.
THE DEATH AND LIFE OF SCHNEIDER WRACK is a trip, a book to read carefully but not too slowly. If you're the kind of person who looks up words in the dictionary, don't bother. If you love imagining massive creatures with names you can barely hold in your brain, dive in.
December 9, 2019
"Why stop there?"
I could visualize Nate Crowley writing The Death And Life Of Schneider Wrack whispering this phrase to himself almost at a dozen points in this weird, gory, imaginative, bleak, funny, bittersweet and utterly brilliant novel.
It's one hell of a ride, and continued to surprise me. Taken together with the other story from Crowley that I've read - his novella 'Severed', set in the Warhammer 40.000-universe and being about 'a geriatric terminator & his butler, who is also a geriatric terminator' (to use the words of the man himself) - I believe that a theme is identifiable: come for the crazy concepts, the gory action and the eldritch horror, but stay for the eccentric characters, the emphatic look at human/alien/undead relationships and the bittersweet moments of loss, love and friendship.
I've been quite lucky with my novel picks in 2019, but TDALOSW takes the cake in terms of pure imagination. I'm fairly sure that this won't be the last time that Mr. Crowley goes on a journey into the Lemniscatus, and when he eventually ventures forth anew, I'll make sure to rip out my heart and join his revolution once again.
"We'll find out! We'll find out, won't we!"
I could visualize Nate Crowley writing The Death And Life Of Schneider Wrack whispering this phrase to himself almost at a dozen points in this weird, gory, imaginative, bleak, funny, bittersweet and utterly brilliant novel.
It's one hell of a ride, and continued to surprise me. Taken together with the other story from Crowley that I've read - his novella 'Severed', set in the Warhammer 40.000-universe and being about 'a geriatric terminator & his butler, who is also a geriatric terminator' (to use the words of the man himself) - I believe that a theme is identifiable: come for the crazy concepts, the gory action and the eldritch horror, but stay for the eccentric characters, the emphatic look at human/alien/undead relationships and the bittersweet moments of loss, love and friendship.
I've been quite lucky with my novel picks in 2019, but TDALOSW takes the cake in terms of pure imagination. I'm fairly sure that this won't be the last time that Mr. Crowley goes on a journey into the Lemniscatus, and when he eventually ventures forth anew, I'll make sure to rip out my heart and join his revolution once again.
"We'll find out! We'll find out, won't we!"
August 21, 2017
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but unfortunately, I found it a bit of a slog to get through! It tells the story of Schneider Wrack, who wakes up one day and thinks he's in hell, only to realise that he's actually a zombie. This is a wonderful premise and led me to think that this would be a funny story. What it actually is, is a very cerebral and serious (with brief moments of levity) story dealing with a rebellion and subsequent voyage. I just found large sections of it quite boring, but I did really like the character of Dust. As a villain, she was really interesting and I thought she could have been explored a little bit more. There are some epic fight scenes here and a lot of militaristic episodes that I know will definitely appeal to some. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
August 18, 2018
I thought about giving up this book so many times that I cannot even remember them all, the only reason why I finished it was the sci-fi/horror book club, which is also the only reason why I read in on the first place. I hate zombies and of course this book was not only full of them but there was gore and it was splatter. Plus there is no real ending....
Ho pensato di smettere il libro non so nemmeno quante volte e l'unica ragione per cui ho continuato a leggerlo era per discuterne e soprattutto parlarne male al book club, che é stata anche la causa di questa infelice lettura in prima istanza. Io non amo gli zombi, specialmente se poi sono associati a scene splatter. Inoltre, dopo tutte queste pagine non c'era nemmeno un finale.....
Ho pensato di smettere il libro non so nemmeno quante volte e l'unica ragione per cui ho continuato a leggerlo era per discuterne e soprattutto parlarne male al book club, che é stata anche la causa di questa infelice lettura in prima istanza. Io non amo gli zombi, specialmente se poi sono associati a scene splatter. Inoltre, dopo tutte queste pagine non c'era nemmeno un finale.....
May 22, 2018
Fun world building and a unique take on zombies
“The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack” took me wholly by surprise. What I expected was yet another zombie novel with a bit of humor thrown in. What I got was non-stop world building, and although it features a portrayal of zombies I can’t say I’ve seen elsewhere, manages to be a lot more than another zombie novel.
A couple of criticisms: 1) the author spends the first quarter of the book throwing in way too many 5-dollar words and 2) while impressively expansive, it still has some telltale signs of being a first novel and doesn’t quite stick the landing.
Among my horror reading club, this one has been quite polarizing, but I’m glad I gave it a read. A must for horror fans who like dry British humor or lots of world building.
“The Death and Life of Schneider Wrack” took me wholly by surprise. What I expected was yet another zombie novel with a bit of humor thrown in. What I got was non-stop world building, and although it features a portrayal of zombies I can’t say I’ve seen elsewhere, manages to be a lot more than another zombie novel.
A couple of criticisms: 1) the author spends the first quarter of the book throwing in way too many 5-dollar words and 2) while impressively expansive, it still has some telltale signs of being a first novel and doesn’t quite stick the landing.
Among my horror reading club, this one has been quite polarizing, but I’m glad I gave it a read. A must for horror fans who like dry British humor or lots of world building.
September 12, 2019
I adored the first part of this book, formally 'The Sea Hates a Coward'. Ocean and the Tavuto are hellish, alien creations and the language used to bring them to life is nauseatingly tactile. I'd never heard the word 'flensing' before but knew immediately what it meant!
This rich evocation of place falters as the narrative continues however and the sections in Lipos-Tholos and Grand Amazon don't compare to the opening on Ocean. Also the book suffers from a lack of narrative drive and purpose. It just shuffles along until it expires in a disappointingly limp finale that offers no resolution and I found it all a bit of a slog in the end.
Crowley obviously has a incredible imagination. The world-building and characters (especially the synaesthesic and unhinged Dust) are top-notch. Structure and pacing need a bit of work however. A promising debut.
This rich evocation of place falters as the narrative continues however and the sections in Lipos-Tholos and Grand Amazon don't compare to the opening on Ocean. Also the book suffers from a lack of narrative drive and purpose. It just shuffles along until it expires in a disappointingly limp finale that offers no resolution and I found it all a bit of a slog in the end.
Crowley obviously has a incredible imagination. The world-building and characters (especially the synaesthesic and unhinged Dust) are top-notch. Structure and pacing need a bit of work however. A promising debut.
January 5, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyable read, but don't expect not to have to work for it!!
Like all good Hard Sci-fi, you're dropped into a fully formed world where everything is strange and alien, where words & phrases are used which have no meaning to you, but are clearly common to the characters and no apology is made for not offering any immediate explanation for their meaning... There are times when, as a reader, you may be left bewildered, confused and frustrated by this, but Nate Crowley's writing is always entertaining and immensely descriptive.
So... come and visit Ocean, join the undead revolution and see where this strange journey takes you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I (eventually) did!
Like all good Hard Sci-fi, you're dropped into a fully formed world where everything is strange and alien, where words & phrases are used which have no meaning to you, but are clearly common to the characters and no apology is made for not offering any immediate explanation for their meaning... There are times when, as a reader, you may be left bewildered, confused and frustrated by this, but Nate Crowley's writing is always entertaining and immensely descriptive.
So... come and visit Ocean, join the undead revolution and see where this strange journey takes you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I (eventually) did!
October 25, 2019
I only read books that speak to me: this one I read because I met Nate at a reading, and I really loved the way he speaks (oh the sea shanty!) and the way he thinks.
This book seems to have a flaw of being an authors first book. For example, I found it somewhat hard to believe there's a motivation for the "flirting" between Schneider Wrack and Mouana. And the first part of book is much more compelling and strong than the second part. Where there's a lot of pointless action and not enough character growth. The antagonist (Dust) seemed much more interesting than the protagonists!
Having said that, I can't wait for Nate's second book.
This book seems to have a flaw of being an authors first book. For example, I found it somewhat hard to believe there's a motivation for the "flirting" between Schneider Wrack and Mouana. And the first part of book is much more compelling and strong than the second part. Where there's a lot of pointless action and not enough character growth. The antagonist (Dust) seemed much more interesting than the protagonists!
Having said that, I can't wait for Nate's second book.
February 19, 2021
If I were to review The Sea Hates A Coward by itself, I'd give it 4 stars. It's an excellent, tightly paced novella that turns the zombie story inside out.
The rest of it is good, but imo blows its ending.
I'm perfectly happy with ambivalent endings, don't get me wrong. But if the bones of your story are "get to this lost city to destroy the evil tech that lets ppl create zombies, and do it before the power mad Big Bad arrives to use that tech," well. Ending the story in the middle of the boss fight doesn't satisfy.
Worth reading anyway? Totally! Hoping he's not actually finished with this series? VERY MUCH SO.
The rest of it is good, but imo blows its ending.
I'm perfectly happy with ambivalent endings, don't get me wrong. But if the bones of your story are "get to this lost city to destroy the evil tech that lets ppl create zombies, and do it before the power mad Big Bad arrives to use that tech," well. Ending the story in the middle of the boss fight doesn't satisfy.
Worth reading anyway? Totally! Hoping he's not actually finished with this series? VERY MUCH SO.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2022
Very vivid, and a good concept. Crowley has an incredible imagination and his obsession with sea creatures pays off here. The characters are all well drawn, and the pace never lets up.
But the ending? Well, it finishes on a VERY open note. I can't say much more than that without spoilers. You do find out how Wrack and Mouana ended up where they are and who put them there. But the story itself ends very abruptly and you never see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow they are chasing. That's what knocks it down to 3 stars for me. If there was a sequel, I could let it go, but there isn't one a d won't be as far as I can tell.
But the ending? Well, it finishes on a VERY open note. I can't say much more than that without spoilers. You do find out how Wrack and Mouana ended up where they are and who put them there. But the story itself ends very abruptly and you never see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow they are chasing. That's what knocks it down to 3 stars for me. If there was a sequel, I could let it go, but there isn't one a d won't be as far as I can tell.
January 13, 2025
Not gonna lie, I had to take a break somewhere in the first quarter of this book, read something lighter just to get the smell of the thing out of my brain. Bit of bleach sort of thing.
But I came back because the story is so well written, and I’m glad I did. World-building and character development continues throughout and even more than halfway in I still didn’t have the foggiest idea where it was all heading.
Word of advice, if you’ve got an Oxford English Dictionary (the unabridged one) you’ll want to keep that handy as you read, along with the bleach. The author’s vocabulary is… compendious? Prodigious? I don’t think he’s trying to baffle us, it all adds to the feeling.
But I came back because the story is so well written, and I’m glad I did. World-building and character development continues throughout and even more than halfway in I still didn’t have the foggiest idea where it was all heading.
Word of advice, if you’ve got an Oxford English Dictionary (the unabridged one) you’ll want to keep that handy as you read, along with the bleach. The author’s vocabulary is… compendious? Prodigious? I don’t think he’s trying to baffle us, it all adds to the feeling.
September 15, 2017
An absolutely bizzare and wonderful world that it pained me to leave at the end. The adventure this book took me on led me to places I never would have expected from the start and forced my imagination to conjure up creatures and scenery that will inspire me for years to come.
I strongly believe that Mr. Crowley wrote this on hallucinogens while two separate televisions played Dead Alive and Deep Blue Sea at full volume mere inches from his face.
Do yourselves a favor, take the journey this book will lead you on and join me in High Sarawak
I strongly believe that Mr. Crowley wrote this on hallucinogens while two separate televisions played Dead Alive and Deep Blue Sea at full volume mere inches from his face.
Do yourselves a favor, take the journey this book will lead you on and join me in High Sarawak
January 21, 2018
Schneider Wrack wakes up as a corpse inside the hollowed out carcass of a leviathan, and thus begins this sci-fi-horror-comedy. Teaming up with another zombie, whom he saved from the jaws of a shark on metal legs, they seek out to destroy the city that made them what they are (undead slave workers) and then travel up an Amazonian river to find the alien power that made it all possible, all the while being pursued by a technically-enhanced super soldier with her own army of the dead. You know, as Austin Powers said, "that old chestnut."
January 28, 2019
The synopsis for this two-book collection didn't really get into the second book much, so I didn't realize until about halfway through that the story it described was basically only half of it. Which was actually a pleasant surprise, because I think the last third or so of the first book was where the direction of the story really started to grab me, and I was finally fully invested going into the second book. I felt that the synopsis had caused me to sort of mischaracterize the story, starting out. After mentally shifting gears, the ending felt satisfying.
June 29, 2021
Loved it. I let myself be carried on strange tides through this book which was at various times terrifying, beautiful and grotesque. I loved the way the story moved through various stages of understanding, starting in a weird haze then moving towards clarity and complex diffusion mirroring the journey of the characters. Smart and well done with tantalising glimpses of a deep and rich world at the corners of reality. Even throwaway references to forgotten places/times felt intriguing and well-deployed. Excellent stuff!
September 7, 2022
A strangely fun book (technically two books in one) in which a librarian and a mercenary join forces leading to a zombie uprising on a trawler. Then things get really weird...
I was hooked from the start - what an opening - and continued to enjoy Crowley's bizarre tales and grotesquely explicit descriptions. Plus there's the heart-warming theme of friendship and accepting people for who they are, even if they no longer have hearts. Not for the squeamish but anyone who likes fantasy fiction and isn't opposed to a bit of gross out horror should seek this out.
I was hooked from the start - what an opening - and continued to enjoy Crowley's bizarre tales and grotesquely explicit descriptions. Plus there's the heart-warming theme of friendship and accepting people for who they are, even if they no longer have hearts. Not for the squeamish but anyone who likes fantasy fiction and isn't opposed to a bit of gross out horror should seek this out.
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