Zombies II: Inhuman Book Review

Eric S. Brown’s latest book, Zombies II: Inhuman, is a collection of eight short stories. Many of the stories follow the premise of evolved humans living and fighting while the zombies look for their next meal. One might believe Brown is trying to capitalize on the popularity of the tv show “Heroes”. He makes it clear in his introduction that he’s a fan of zombies and comics so to put the two together seemed natural to him. Several stories in the collection don’t fit Brown’s premise which is a disappointment as I found it interesting. It’s soon apparent which stories don’t fit the context of the others but they stand on their own.

The first story, “Evolution Like Lightning”, introduces us to Michael, a survivor who finds himself far from home. Unsure of his precise location, he realizes another survivor is being chased by five hungry zombies. Weaponless, his survival instincts take over and he begins to attack the zombies. With the assistance of a tire iron and his unexplained perception that time has slowed down, Michael defeats all five. Michael then has his first interaction with a live being. It could have been days or weeks since Michael last saw another human. Brown convincingly shows that it doesn’t matter.

This is a good story to hook the reader into the collection. It introduces the evolved or super-hero powered human without the need to explain how or why the zombies came or how humans came upon their super powers.

My favorite story in the collection and probably the longest is “Inhuman”. Survivors with super powers trying to fight zombies and reason with the “norms” simultaneously could easily be expanded into a novel. The plot and details have been thought out and would fit into a larger framework. It has no problems standing on its own; I was caught up in the complexity of the story and wished it could continue after it ended.

For those readers who prefer their humans to not have special abilities, Brown has included a story set in space, another story set in the Old West, and a few about people who find themselves in tough situations. Of these stories I found the Old West story the most thought provoking and satisfying. Told from a first-person point of view it allows the reader to get inside the main character’s head.

In summary, there’s a little something for every zombie fan in this collection.