San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant

San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant

2012, Orbit

Series: Novella from Newsflesh

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Rating

Synopsis: It was the summer of 2014, and the true horrors of the Rising were only just beginning to reveal themselves. Fans from all over the world gathered in San Diego, California for the annual comic book and media convention, planning to forget about the troubling rumors of new diseases and walking dead by immersing themselves in a familiar environment. Over the course of five grueling days and nights, it became clear that the news was very close to home…and that most of the people who picked up their badges would never make it out alive.

The Good: This novella was rich with geeky splendor. Set at the 2014 Sand Diego Comic-Con. A bulk of the main characters are Firefly fans selling merchandise at the con. Another main character is the star of a hit sci-fi show, fictional but seeming to more than mildly resemble Katee Sackkoff (the actress who played Kara Thrace on BSG), but that could just me my own interpretation. Taking us back to the first major outbreak of the zombie apocalypse that is in full swing during the Newsflesh trilogy, trapping us in the convention center as first of the zombies come and begin to multiply (as they are wont to do). This was an amazing, fun story that added little to the Newsflesh world, but was still a super fun experience.

The Bad: It's a novella, when it really should have been a full novel. It has more than enough plot and action to fill a full novel. I'm not a fan of novellas to begin with, but this one clearly had all the makings of something more.