Xombies
Source: http://carlfootprint.blogspot.com/
When you read the title of the novel, Xombies, the subject matter is very clear. Xombies is a novel about Zombies, or the walking dead. As horror novels go, this one is a prime example of the now more popular Zombie genre, and is not quite as scary as it is thought-provoking. Zombie novels always have a reason for the walking dead including Necromancy, Aliens and viruses. Xombies are created for the latter reason, a virus called “Agent X” (quite the cliché name) which at first infects only mature woman. ‘ “Honey?” Her look was dreamy, detached. Unbalanced. “Something weird is going on” ’ (Greatshell Pg. 4) The Xombies have a great need to feast on the flesh of the living and soon most people on Earth are infected. The main character is a seventeen-year-old girl named Louise (Lulu) who is supposedly immune to Agent X because she has “Chromosomal Primary Amenorrhea” which is a real condition that suspends a woman’s menstrual cycle and makes her appear half her age. Lulu has to survive hordes of Xombies and team up with teenage boys onboard a nuclear submarine to ensure the survival of the human race. As if the Xombies are not enough, many fellow humans are prime antagonists and Lulu must face human despair, desperation and greed while living in a post-apocalyptic world filled with cannibalistic monsters. Lulu encounters strange things and people in her travels (Pakistani Beatles cover band anyone?) and thus the story is very interesting but sometimes slightly hokey.
Xombies are not unlike George A. Romero’s popular depiction of the walking dead, but yet they are different because they are fast and slightly intelligent to boot. This is a change from other walking dead literature that describes Zombies as slow dumb dead humans. Xombies are even more interesting than regular Zombies as they have a higher purpose that is exciting to find out about. Xombies are technically made of
Walter Greatshell might be (and probably is) a submarine aficionado because of the great detail of the inner workings of a submarine which he includes in his book about the living dead. In fact, it does seem odd that Lulu ends up in a submarine of all places! Authors must have their indulgences, and it makes for a more interesting read.
