Author: anninyn
Why you should be listening to Miracle of Sound
Miracle of Sound is the brainchild of Gavin Dunne. Dunne writes songs about games. It sounds simple, and maybe a bit silly, but Gavin Dunne has the enviable ability to capture the emotional feel of a video game in his music while never outright borrowing the games music.
And yes, this counts as apocalyptic, because Miracle of Sound has done music for some of the best post-apocalyptic video games that there are.
This includes The Best of Us, a song for Naughty Dog‘s The Last of Us. The Best of Us is a slow-building, sad song that captures the bleakness and tragedy of the game.
He’s also covered Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas with Beauty Bleak, a song that for me, perfectly captures the Capital Wasteland
Wasteland Soul
And Take a Trip to Vegas, a song which includes cheeky little nods to the glitchiness of Fallout: New Vegas.
Other apocalyptic games he’s honored with a song include Metro Last Light and The Walking Dead
They aren’t just songs that gamers will love. They are songs that are excellent in their own right. And of course, if you are a gamer they have the added wonder of being brilliant songs about things you love.
You can buy Miracle of Sound albums from Bandcamp, and if you like the ones I’ve shown you, you totally should.
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You CAN survive
You are the descendant of millions of survivors. In your genes, a resistance to plague and disease. You have a great deal of untapped potential.
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You can learn to set a fire. It’s not that hard. You can learn how to find food in the wild. They sell books.
Review: The Girl with All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
Everyone and their mother is reading The Girl With All The Gifts, and that is how it should be.
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class.
When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. But they don’t laugh.
Melanie is a very special girl.
It’s hard to review this without spoiling the various reveals. A smart reader will figure things out fairly early on in the book, but the discovery process is still part of it.
Enough to say that M.R. Carey has created a wonderful, unique take on a tired old concept. The Girl With All The Gifts is a heartbreaking novel, in places. The characters are real, and believable. Melanie herself is a lovely main character to spend time with.
We also spend time in the heads of the other characters. This could have spoiled the book, but Carey has the skill of writing genuinely different POV without ever confusing the reader.
The ending is right, and natural. It could never have ended any other way, but it still comes as a surprise. The whole way through The Girl With All The Gifts, we are asked to challenge our attitudes to humanity, and to ‘monsters’ and the ending makes it happen perfectly.
Read this book.
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Mental Illness in the Post-Apocalypse
Hi there. I am a crazy person. My mental illness impacts every part of my life. Specifically, I am a person with severe depression and a panic disorder. It’s possible (undiagnosed, but confirmed as very likely by a psychiatrist) that I have Borderline Personality Disorder. I am medicated in order to control this, taking a regular dose of Citalopram, and I am in therapy.
Obviously, none of these things will be available to me post-apocalypse. This could be a problem.
I Survived A Zombie Apocalypse
BBC Three are looking for applicants for a new reality show called I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse.
Zombie fanatics and fitness enthusiasts should apply to zombies@tigeraspect.co.uk for an application form. Applicants must be able to attend auditions in the UK.
Now, personally, I think zombies are a little old now – overplayed. They’re the least likely apocalypse, and everyone has added them to everything in a cynical attempt to hit the zeitgeist. But, I may be alone in this opinion, as they still seem to be popular.
With that in mind, I can see I Survived A Zombie Apocalypse being much enjoyed by a lot of people (yes, of COURSE I’ll watch it and report on it for you lovely folk) and the people who take part may even gain a small amount of reality TV fame – names in the papers, speculation about their love life, that sort of thing.
BBC Three are yet to release details about what challenges you’ll have to face in I Survived a Zombie Apocalypse, but it’s bound to be the typical combination of physical challenges along with social challenges – living with a group of people you’ll find it easy to hate. So, good practice for the post-apocalypse, then.
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Interview: Jay Posey author of THREE
So, your book Three is set in a post-apocalyptic world. This is a world where some kind of technological destruction has been wrought, leaving it suicidally dangerous to be outside after dark.. Tell us – and our readers – a little more about it.
JP: The story follows Three, a reluctant gunman, as he escorts a dying woman and her son across an urban wasteland, pursued all the while by dangerous elements from her past. It’s sort of a post-apocalyptic western with a cyberpunk edge and a splash of anime influence. Or, as a friend of mine said, kind of like the result of throwing Mad Max, Neuromancer, and Metal Gear Solid into a blender. I’m pretty sure he meant that in a good way.
I really liked how the exact type of apocalypse was left pretty mysterious – what caused it, what the Weir were and the like. How did you decide how much to reveal and what to leave out?
JP: For Three, I really wanted to focus on the core of the story; it’s a pretty small tale, really, just three characters reaching a distant sanctuary, with danger ahead and behind. I also wanted to avoid dumping a lot of information on readers, since I wasn’t really sure how much people would be interested in as far as the history of the world was concerned. So my goal was to give readers all the information they needed to understand the heart of the story, and then focus more on creating the proper impression of the world rather than detailing How We Got There.
How did you build your post-apocalyptic world?
JP: I kind of half-jokingly refer to the Duskwalker series as a post-post-apocalyptic tale. If you take our world, advance it a few decades, throw it into a complete meltdown, and then give it a few years to recover, that’s more or less how I arrived at the world of Three. I wrote a short story several years ago that had a lot of the future-tech angle to it, and while I was trying to find the right setting for Three, I had the crazy idea of throwing that world into an apocalypse and seeing what came out the other side.
I loved the extra details of the world – Brain Hacking, The ability to upload your consciousness at Death, the fact that the tech had become hereditary. How much will those play into future books in the series, or can you not tell me?
JP: Those elements will all continue to play a significant role in the series.
Can you give me an idea about book two?
JP: I’m not sure how much I can say without spoiling things from the first one, but suffice to say Book Two picks up not long after the end of Book One, with a number of returning characters and a bunch of new ones.
OK, so here’s the stuff we ask everyone:
What do you think the most likely apocalyptic scenario is?
JP: Well, the most likely one is obviously Angry Robot’s plan for world domination, but I’m not supposed to talk about that. So, apart from that, I think the most likely apocalyptic scenario is more of a cascading series of events rather than a single Big One; you know, something like a war that leads to a humanitarian crisis that gets complicated by a biological event, that in turn creates an economic issue, that’s maybe compounded by an environmental one just for fun. Not necessarily in that order, of course. Whatever the case, I tend to think people’s tendency to overreact and panic will make things worse than they need to be.
Can you give our readers some survival tips?
JP: Have a plan, and don’t wait until the apocalypse to practice your skills. It’s tempting to think that if you read enough survival books, you’ll know what to do When the Time Comes. But you don’t have to break a leg to practice splints or basic first aid, and there’s no reason you can’t spend a couple of minutes trying to start your fire without matches before you resort to the lighter.
How happy would you be to serve for your natural lifespan under the benevolent dictatorship of myself or the other two fine ladies who run ICoS? Just asking.
JP: I’m pretty sure I’m contractually obligated to my Robot Overlords, but perhaps an understanding could be reached …
Now you can tell us anything you like about anything you like.
JP: First off, thanks so much for having me here and for reading the book! Secondly, I’d like to mention that 10% of my royalties from the sale of Three go to a great organization called Hope For The Warriors®. The mission of Hope For The Warriors® is to enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 service members, their families, and families of the fallen who have sustained physical and psychological wounds in the line of duty. They’re an amazing group doing some very important work, and I encourage everybody to check them out at: http://www.hopeforthewarriors.org/
Three by Jay Posey is the first the Legends of the Duskwalker series. Published by Angry Robot, You will be able to buy it from the 30th of July (US and Canada) or the 1st of August (UK and RoW)
Three by Jay Posey
Three by Jay Posey is a high-tech post-apoc adventure story and to be quite honest if you don’t run out and buy it right now we are no longer friends.
Three is a well put together story, with enough complexity to carry the narrative yet not so much it gets confusing. The characters are well-drawn and complex, the world is a fascinating, interesting one.
And above all that, for me, is that Jay Posey is just a damn good writer. He knows when to be poetic and when to be straightforward. He is never unclear or confusing. He describes things in a way that is fresh and new without being tortured or confusing.
I have been forcing this book on everyone I meet. I have reread it and reread it. My copy is falling part already.
If I have a problem with it it’s that the basic story is a fairly common one, especially in westerns. Jay Posey seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from westerns for this book, not that it’s a failing. But we have our tough, no-nonsense bounty hunter with a secret protecting a woman and her child from bad people. It’s been done. But the thing is, it works. It works because Posery adds twists and turns it on its head. It works because of the fascinating new post-apocalyptic world.
I’m very impressed.
4.5/5
You have a chance to win one of TWO copies of Three by Jay Posey.
“Each stop on this Blog Tour of Three by Jay Posey has a unique question. Be sure to enter your answers into the giveaway by dropping by My Shelf Confessions and enter your answers in the rafflecopter widget! You can answer as many or as few as you like as each answered question gets you an extra entry!
Here’s the question for my stop: Question #2 When does Three release in the US?”
Later in the week, I’ll post an interview with Jay
Pacific Rim Review
Pacific Rim is not a hollow, soulless film about big stompy robots. Pacific Rim doesn’t treat the audience like idiots. Yet, none of you are going to see it. This is a crying shame.
Pacific Rim is an impeccable summer action film. It is beautifully shot and well-told. There is nothing groundbreaking about it but if you wanted groundbreaking you wouldn’t be watching films about big mechs battling battling monstrous aliens.
I Like Big Mechs and I Cannot Lie.
I don’t know what else you want from a film. I don’t know what more you could want from a summer blockbuster. You have perfectly choreographed fight scenes, excellent CG and tons of explosions. You have a genuinely well-written plot with some rather good acting. You have monsters that are beautiful in their terrifying ugliness. You have Idris Elba, managing to make a Dad Moustache look sexy. Idris Elba should be in everything. You have back story that isn’t narmy. And you even have a couple of interchangable white men with sandy hair, for those of you who can’t bear to see a film without one of them present.
Your basic plot is that these huge, ugly monsters are coming through a crack between universes, lodged deep in the pacific. After they kill millions of people, all the worlds governments come together, share their resources, and build the Jaegers to combat them. However, stronger ones come through, and after a while the Yaegers can no longer do the job. The last few Yaegers and the director come up with a plan to stop the Kaiju once and for all.
I’m missing out a lot of context. As always, I can’t remember anyone’s names, which doesn’t help. Suffice it to say there’s a nice subplot playing with mind-melding – the Yaegers require mind-melded pilots working in sync – and some stuff about recovery, love of all kinds, bravery and self-sacrifice.
You have gigantic robots run by two people, beating up Kaiju. You have fight scenes between giant robots and terrifying monsters, through the glittering streets of Hong Kong. You have a fully-realised, beautifully shot world waiting on the brink of Apocalypse. Pacific Rim has everything you want, everything you wanted from all the films that disappointed you. If Transformers broke your heart, if World War Z makes you want to cringe, then you should see Pacific Rim.
If there’s a flaw it’s that I wish there’d been more time spent on some of the teams piloting the Jaegers. We didn’t really get to know them, and that was a shame.
Quite simply, if you claim to love big robots, and you don’t see Pacific Rim, you are a liar. If this fails, and Uwe Boll’s next butchery of a film succeeds, it’ll be your fault.
It’s directed by Del Toro, for gods sake. DelToro, borrowing heavily from Anime influences. Pacific Rim is Evangelion without the incomprehensible philosophy and teen angst. Pacific Rim is Transformers, crossed with Godzilla, directed by someone competent.
Pacific Rim is what would happen if someone looked directly into your nerdy heart, plucked out all the things that bring you joy, and slapped them on the screen. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun watching a film. I really can’t. I can’t remember the last action film I watched that didn’t leave me feeling hollow, or manipulated, or like the director thought I was a moron.
Until I saw Pacific Rim.
I can’t think of a better way to spend two hours in a dark room this summer. Well, I can, but that also involves Idris Elba.
4.5/5
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Interview: The Vegan Zombie
I was excited to find out about The Vegan Zombie, a post-apocalyptic themed cooking show. Not jsut a cooking show, either – there’s a story to this baby.
While I’m not a vegetarian of vegan myself, I was for a while and I understand just how hard it is to find delicious, practical meals to make – and how much harder would that be post-zombie. It’s not just for vegetarians or vegans – all our followers who enjoy eating might find this useful. After all, ready-killed, skinned, cut and pre-packaged meat is going to be a bit thin on the ground.
For your delectation, an interview with Chris from The Vegan Zombie.
First off, tell us a little bit about The Vegan Zombie.
Well, I’m Chris, the creator and producer of The Vegan Zombie. Jon is the charismatic host of the show and Indy is the German Shepherd sidekick. Basically we do a vegan cooking show that is set in the zombie apocalypse. We prepare delicious zombie-free recipes that simple and easy to make.
What gave you the idea?
I got the idea one day while driving the back roads of upstate NY for work. I began thinking of a way I could mash up my love of the horror genre with my longtime vegan lifestyle in a cool way. That gave me the idea of The Vegan Zombie. I went home and began writing a movie script. I have always loved making videos and movies with my friends and family, especially horror. The script is a full-on zombie apocalypse story in which the infection originated through the meat and dairy that people were consuming. There is a twist at the end which will explain why we chose the name TVZ. To make a long story short, I put making the movie on the back burner and decided to start a youtube cooking series with the same concept. Jon is the lone survivor and is a little crazy. He’s always talking about zombies and making food. In some of our episodes he is fighting zombies and gets into some pretty tight situations.
How easy are the recipes to make? Could I make them while huddled around a fire in desperate fear for my life?
Yes, for the most part our recipes are really easy to make. There are some that are more labor intensive but we have something for everyone. We aim to make mostly vegan comfort foods to replicate that kind of foods that non vegans say they can’t live without. For example, we have a vegan version of cheesesteak called the No Killy Philly and we have pizza rolls and cheese sticks all vegan. We also have healthier raw foods for the health conscious folks. Yes, I said folks. Anyway, our show is for everyone. We have an non judgmental atmosphere and a lot of people make our dishes once or twice a week who aren’t even vegan.
Now for the questions we ask everyone:
What is the most likely apocalyptic scenario?
I’d say the most likely apocalypse would be of a viral origin. Kind of like 28 days later or WWZ. Something scientific that affected our brains and caused primal instinct to take over with no rational thought would be the most plausible out of the apocalyptic scenarios.
Any survival tips for our readers?
Stay away from populous areas. Aim for the head. Keep calm, you’re smarter than a zombie. Think about this, everyone associates zombies with brains. But unless someone’s head is cracked open they are most likely not gonna eat your brain. It’s too hard to get to. Your flesh and guts are what they will eat. Wear clothes that are not easy to bite through.
Are you OK with living under the benevolent dictatorship of myself or the other two ICoS ladies?
Well that all depends, I think we’d have to meet you all first before we answered that one. 🙂
Trust me, we’re great. Now tell us anything you want about anything you want.
We are currently doing a kickstarter for our cookbook, Cook & Survive, which will be out later this fall. It is full of our all vegan recipes and it will have a graphic novel that illustrates the adventures of TVZ. You can check that out here http://www.kickstarter.
You can follow us on youtube, FB, twitter, IG and other social media sites.
FACEBOOK:: http://facebook.com/zombiegate
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/
WEBPAGE: http://theveganzombie.com/
YOUTUBE: http://youtube.com/zombiegate
INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/
PHEED: TheVeganZombie
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