Feed by Mira Grant

[lightreads]

Feed by Mira Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The one about the bloggers embedded in a presidential campaign in post-zombie apocalypse America of 2040. It’s going to take me a bit to get to the punchline here, so bear with me.



This book had the misfortune of spending its research budget on things I don’t know much about – virology and disease containment science – and none on things I know a shit ton about – presidential campaigns, politics in general, and political blogging in particular. And by “research budget” I mean ‘bandwidth Mira Grant dedicated to good world building.’ The zombie virus stuff looked shiny keen, but I was too distracted by going, ‘presidential campaigns don’t work like that. No, really, not even when there are zombies.’ I will show enormous and uncharacteristic restraint and not explain everything that was slapdash or illogical or nonsensical or just flat out incorrect about the politics in this book, because we’d be here all day. And also, I have been informed that not everybody cares about this stuff. I don’t always believe it, because I’m with the narrator of this book, who said, “There are moments when I look at the world I’m living in, all the cut-throat politics and the incredibly petty partisan deal-mongering, and I wonder how anyone could be happy doing anything else.” Yeah. It’s like that for me.



But restraint! I sometimes have it. So anyway, politics was a bust, and the blogging was a little shaky. Just the most obvious thing – you can’t have your characters explain how they’re the first bloggers to be embedded in a presidential campaign in 2040 when it has already happened when your book goes to press in 2010. And more fundamentally, there is something disingenuous about both author and characters using a lot of this ‘blogs are where the truth is, the little guy on the internet has integrity that the print media doesn’t’ shpeel when the bloggers in the book (government-licensed, by the way) are all but indistinguishable from traditional media outlets, like some of the wire services. With the exception that it’s actually much more obvious where the money for the traditional media is coming from. And don’t get me started on this print media versus blogging culture clash she has going on – I haven’t heard people trotting out a lot of this stuff since the Howard Dean campaign. That was back in 2004, for anyone not keeping track.



Aaanyway. I say all this first because it’s stuff that did bug me about the book. But secondly to make the point that when I say this book got me, I mean it had to work at it. And it got me but good. It is frustrating and tense and scary, and sweet, and wrenchingly sad. It’s one of those stories about the little guy on the internet fighting back that work on me even though they always trip my cynicism circuit. I was totally wrung out when I was done reading it, with that physical ache you get when it feels like you’ve cried hard, even though you haven’t.



So yeah, definitely a recommendation. I’m just frustrated because the book was pretty good, but there were a solid dozen ways it wasn’t brilliant, and it really, really could have been.



(Disability tag for protagonist's retinal condition and chronic pain, handled in subtle and interesting and totally believable ways).



View all my reviews

Comments

[eagle]

Yeah, I don't know much about political campaigns, but your reactions as someone who does don't surprise me. It felt to me too like that wasn't where the research budget was spent. (It was instead spent on the way computer technology works, for once, which I greatly appreciated, since I got through the book without wanting to strangle anyone. Also, Buffy acts like an actual person who is a computer security expert, which is pretty damn close to the first time I've ever seen that happen in a book, so yeah.)

You sum up quite well why I didn't give it a 10. And on the emotional reaction, yes, that's why I gave it a 9. It contains something close to a perfect fictional moment.

I'm really glad to hear that the disability stuff wasn't bad. I didn't have any way of judging it, but I was hoping, because it seemed okay, and that makes me very happy.

[lightreads]

a perfect fictional moment

Yeah, that. For me it was when she was writing her final entry, and he came and put his gun against the back of her neck and stood there, waiting. Shivers, right down the spine.

I have the sequel on my handheld, but I think I need to take a breather. I suspect it's going to be draining.

Thanks for your review, by the way -- you were one of the people who finally hit the critical mass of praise and made me pull this out of the endless TBR folder.

[eagle]

Yup. That was the one. (Although you may want a spoiler warning for people clicking through to comments.) And yeah, I can't remember a moment in a book that hit me quite that hard. That whole scene was absolutely amazing. Particularly her reaction to the feeling of the gun.

The sequel ends on a ginormous cliffhanger, just to warn. The third book is out in spring of 2012.

And very glad you liked the review! I've enjoyed selling people on this book. I love discovering a new author who wasn't on my radar.

[lightreads]

Eh, hopefully everyone knows to click comments at their peril.

Mira Grant is Seanan Maguire, if you didn't know. I found the first book of her series under that name uninspiring (San Francisco, faeries, etc.) but am definitely willing to give her another go based on this.

[eagle]

Yeah, I did some searching right after reading Feed and found her other identity (but thank you!). I have the first one and will probably read through it when I clear some other backlog stuff, but I'm expecting it to not be as good (if for no other reason than first novel). She has a new series (InCryptid) coming out next year; I'm curious if she'll keep getting better, since Feed showed a ton of potential.

[livingbyfiction]

The further we get from Ender's Game's 1985 pub date, the more I'm struck by Peter and Val's blogging. I haven't read Feed, but it's on the wrong side of that prediction line.

[lightreads]

Believe it or not, I haven't actually read that yet. It's in the stack...somewhere.

[livingbyfiction]

sputters, gestures, more gestures!!!

well, when you do get around to it, be sure to skip the author's preface: (a) there is no point to it, (b) it may be vaguely spoilery, and (c) unfortunately it only serves to foreshadow the fuckwittery that will happen in Card's later career.

but seriously, bump it up the queue. no reason to roam around Wilson's back catalog looking for the book that's as good as Spin when that book is obviously Ender's Game.