A Review of Odium 2 by Claire C Riley

As the title suggests, Odium 2 is the follow up to Odium. Odium Origins is also available, which I'm yet to read.

The Odium series of books are about the zombie apocalypse. We start Odium well after the zombie outbreak with the main character, Nina, leaving the protection of the walled city she's living within. Sometimes taking your chances with the zombies is a better option than staying where you are.

The sequel follows on from the original, so Odium is essential reading before moving on to Odium 2.

Not only is the writing great in the Odium books, and the characters are well rounded and realised, but the thing that grabbed my attention more than anything was the settings the characters find themselves in.  I won't spoil the journey by listing them, but I found myself marvelling at the imaginative environments in which the characters ended up.

If you like well written zombie fiction, strong characters, and a strong female lead, then you can't go wrong with the Odium series. With intrigue from both the future and the past, I found myself hungry for more with every page turn.

My only complaint is that Odium 3 isn't ready yet!

A great series for anyone who loves zombie fiction. Tense, intriguing, funny, violent. What more could you want?

Keep up the great writing Claire.

For a full list of Claire's work, check her website out.

A Review of Sweet Tooth, Out of the Woods, by Jeff Lemire and Jose Villarubia

Out of the Woods is the first story arc in Sweet Tooth, a Vertigo comic by Jeff Lemire and Jose Villarubia. 

The first thing to grab me was just how beautiful this book is. Both Lemire’s art and Jose Villarubia’s muted colour palette set the tone for this bleak, post-apocalyptic tale.

The first story arc is called Out of the Woods and it introduces us to Gus, a hybrid child with antlers. We find out that his mother has died and his dad is keeping him in a cabin in the woods away from the rest of the world. Because of what his father has told him, Gus believes the outside world to be dangerous.

Having spent his entire existence in seclusion, Gus’ life is suddenly thrown into turmoil when his father dies. The boy knows nothing of the world and now has to survive in it. 

We find out very quickly that Gus’ antlers means he’s a hybrid. This makes him valuable to other people. Although, it’s not clear why. It creates wonderful intrigue as it makes the reader question every person’s motives that he comes into contact with. 

When Gus is approached by poachers, Jeppard, a haggard Clint Eastwood kind of character, rescues him. With the promise of being taken to a safe place, Gus goes with Jeppard. 

Seeing the world through Gus’ eyes gives the reader a naive view on things. You can see that the other characters have motives, but you can’t understand them because Gus doesn’t. 

It’s wonderful storytelling.

The set up of this book reminded me of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. We have a man and a boy trying to exist in a savage world where there are no rules. The biggest threat are the other survivors. 

I’ve always been impressed with Lemire’s story telling skills and Sweet Tooth is my favourite so far. The tale moves at quite a clip and the naivety of Gus broke my heart. He’s such a pure soul in a broken and violent world. 

I will definitely be reading more of this story. 

5 out of 5 stars!