Hollow Kingdom

I’m pretty much over the zombie genre, but this book caught my attention because it’s a really unique take on a zombie story. The book is written from the point-of-view of the animals that are left to rule the earth as mankind dies out from a zombie virus.

The star of the book is S.T., a wisecracking, profane, domesticated crow with a keen eye for the human condition, and opinions on nature television, and lots of other things. S.T. is as well developed a character as any human character I’ve read about recently. When S.T. realizes something is amiss with his human he sticks around and tries to help, and even makes sure the dog (Dennis) gets fed. Eventually though he realizes he has to go, so he and Dennis head out into the world for a grand adventure in the now overgrown streets and parks of Seattle. Along the way they’ll realize many domesticated animals are trapped in their homes, (damn door knobs) so they set out to free as many as they can.

It’s LOL funny frequently, as S.T. has lots to say, about everything. It’ll also cause tears of the non-funny kind in at least one place. However the author tries to make a bigger statement about climate change, our attachment to our phones, and evolution, and I don’t think she really sticks the landing on that. It’s still a really fun book to read and that stuff doesn’t really come into play until the last third of the book. I almost wonder if an editor had some hand in trying to make it all mean something.

It would have been okay to just write a LOL funny zombie story from the P.O.V. of a foul-mouthed crow that overcomes adversity, puts himself on the line for others, and discovers the importance of having the backup of friends and family in the big bad world.