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Tomes of the Dead #3
TOMES OF THE DEAD: THE DEVIL'S PLAGUE
England, 1651-The Battle of Worcester. To help him attain a victory over the Royalists, Oliver Cromwell has made a pact with the Devil. In return for his soul, he has been given a fearsome army of the dead - a blood-thirsty platoon of ancient evil. the Kryfangan! But whoever these demons slay, rise from the dead. And soon the country is overun by the zombie horde.
- GenresZombies
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 19, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 5, 2010
The Devil's Plague takes place during the English Civil War (British Civil War?) and Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Parlimentarians, has made a deal with the Devil (aka Mr. Cipher...perhaps a nod to Louis Cipher, from the movie "Angel Heart"?) that unleashes the Kryfangan, a demon army that looks somewhat like giant amphibians, upon the Royalist army, led by Charles Stuart, the heir to the English throne. They also were around in the time of Gengis Khan, who also signed up to have them fight for him. It seems they have been around since the dawn of humanity, getting greedy men to sign over their souls for the chance for them to fight for them.
The catch is that those killed by the Krynfangan rise from the dead, thus the undead tie in with this novel. The strange thing about the undead that rise is they have a real hate for the Kryfangan as well as all humanity. I guess I would figure the Kryf would lead the undead army to humanities entire destruction but instead, they seem forced to go to war with the undead after they all die by their blades or the undead kill all the human beings around them.
Overall, this story is well written but I really did not think it was all that compelling of a zombie story. Most of our time is spent with a rag tag band of actors who team up with Charles in an effort to stop Cromwell and then the Kryf and undead menace. The characters are somewhat interesting but not fascinating enough to have held my attention for the entirety of the book.
The writing is polished and the story is reasonably entertaining as a form of alternate history, especially if you are interested in British history, but as for a zombie story, I could take it or leave it. There was not enough of a sense of ominous forboding throughout the story that I really look forward to from a undead tale to make it something that really draws me in. Perhaps another reader will find it to be a more intriguing tale than I did.
The catch is that those killed by the Krynfangan rise from the dead, thus the undead tie in with this novel. The strange thing about the undead that rise is they have a real hate for the Kryfangan as well as all humanity. I guess I would figure the Kryf would lead the undead army to humanities entire destruction but instead, they seem forced to go to war with the undead after they all die by their blades or the undead kill all the human beings around them.
Overall, this story is well written but I really did not think it was all that compelling of a zombie story. Most of our time is spent with a rag tag band of actors who team up with Charles in an effort to stop Cromwell and then the Kryf and undead menace. The characters are somewhat interesting but not fascinating enough to have held my attention for the entirety of the book.
The writing is polished and the story is reasonably entertaining as a form of alternate history, especially if you are interested in British history, but as for a zombie story, I could take it or leave it. There was not enough of a sense of ominous forboding throughout the story that I really look forward to from a undead tale to make it something that really draws me in. Perhaps another reader will find it to be a more intriguing tale than I did.
May 21, 2011
Ok so I got this book from my local library and was instantly drawn to it. I haven’t read any of the other books in the Tomes of the Dead series, so unfortunately I have nothing to compare it too.
Ok so this isn’t your normal run of the mill ‘Zombies, walk, Braaaaaiiiiins, guns, kill, splatter, gore.” If thats what you are looking for then this isn’t going to be the book for you.
It starts off in 1204 with Genghis Khan who has sold his soul with the Devil and the consequences of that. It then moves on to Cromwell and 1651, whom makes the same mistake as Khan and sells his soul to the devil in return for the demonic army called the Kryfangan. There is however a teeny tiny problem. The people who are killed by the army seem to have this rather annoying trait. They don’t stay dead for long….and they are starting to cause havoc in the fair town called London!!!!! Only a King in exile and a troupe of actors stand any chance of stopping them… But can they? and at what cost?
I loved how the author intertwined the historical facts and content with the zombie storyline. It flowed well and worked together.
The characters in the story can be quite one dimensional and I found I forgot a couple of the main troupe of people.
My only little issue was that for me, a zombie crazed reader, I wanted more zombie killing, more blood, more brains, more gore. I had been reading for a long time waiting for a zombie scene. Yet when I got it it only lasted a few pages. I would have loved some epic zombie battle scene and I think this would have made my review a lot better.
Overall a great little quick read. Perfect for a communte or beside the pool.
3 out of 5 stars!
Ok so this isn’t your normal run of the mill ‘Zombies, walk, Braaaaaiiiiins, guns, kill, splatter, gore.” If thats what you are looking for then this isn’t going to be the book for you.
It starts off in 1204 with Genghis Khan who has sold his soul with the Devil and the consequences of that. It then moves on to Cromwell and 1651, whom makes the same mistake as Khan and sells his soul to the devil in return for the demonic army called the Kryfangan. There is however a teeny tiny problem. The people who are killed by the army seem to have this rather annoying trait. They don’t stay dead for long….and they are starting to cause havoc in the fair town called London!!!!! Only a King in exile and a troupe of actors stand any chance of stopping them… But can they? and at what cost?
I loved how the author intertwined the historical facts and content with the zombie storyline. It flowed well and worked together.
The characters in the story can be quite one dimensional and I found I forgot a couple of the main troupe of people.
My only little issue was that for me, a zombie crazed reader, I wanted more zombie killing, more blood, more brains, more gore. I had been reading for a long time waiting for a zombie scene. Yet when I got it it only lasted a few pages. I would have loved some epic zombie battle scene and I think this would have made my review a lot better.
Overall a great little quick read. Perfect for a communte or beside the pool.
3 out of 5 stars!
June 4, 2012
This was the third book on this series. The first was Death Hulk and the second The Words of Their Roaring. The first two books were quite good and so I adventure into the third one straight away.
Review
This third book we adventure into a England Civil War in XVII. A turmoil with political and religion ramifications. It is an epoch that I like to dwell upon in my investigations in the internet and books. Cromwell the leader of the parlimentarians makes the same mistake as other ancient leaders and sells his soul (and country) to the Devil and in return the monstrous Kryfanganan army of demonic horsemen tries to the destroy the Royalists led by Charles Stuart. But Kryfangan's victims aren't staying dead. The characters are interesting (in a way). Davenant, Cromwell (the villain) and Mary (not that interesting) and there are others characters but they are quite awful. The demons and zombies well are also interesting. This is the first of the three novels that zombies look like zombies of the old days. Quite good are the battles between demons, zombies and humankind, specially the capital batlte in london. It's interesting the zombies hating the demons and mankind alike. It's a third way war. It's a nice adition to the series.
Review
This third book we adventure into a England Civil War in XVII. A turmoil with political and religion ramifications. It is an epoch that I like to dwell upon in my investigations in the internet and books. Cromwell the leader of the parlimentarians makes the same mistake as other ancient leaders and sells his soul (and country) to the Devil and in return the monstrous Kryfanganan army of demonic horsemen tries to the destroy the Royalists led by Charles Stuart. But Kryfangan's victims aren't staying dead. The characters are interesting (in a way). Davenant, Cromwell (the villain) and Mary (not that interesting) and there are others characters but they are quite awful. The demons and zombies well are also interesting. This is the first of the three novels that zombies look like zombies of the old days. Quite good are the battles between demons, zombies and humankind, specially the capital batlte in london. It's interesting the zombies hating the demons and mankind alike. It's a third way war. It's a nice adition to the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2016
The idea was interesting but the payout at the end didn't satisfy me. There were markedly confusing and pointlessly long moments where I wanted to just put the thing down because, despite being about an army of demons, it was boring. I've read a few of the other Tomes of the Dead so I kind of knew what to expect in terms of uniqueness. For that, I gave it a good go and was, for the most part, only slightly disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews