Reviewed by celinenyx on
As they left Cape Town in the last book, the Mall Rats find themselves near Johannesburg in The Army of the Lost. Although there are no Resurrectionists here, and the people are relatively safe from zombies, the living conditions are terrible, and they have returned to slavery. The Mall Rats are split up, and each of them have to fight their own battles.
It's easy for me to pin-point exactly where this book went wrong for me. Instead of the usual banter and family-like feeling we have in Deadlands and Death of a Saint, all of the main characters are separated in The Army of the Lost. Instead, a dozen new characters are introduced, and two new points of view is added to the narrative. Death of a Saint ended on quite the cliffhanger, and all I wanted was to dive into this one - and then it felt like I encountered the fictional equivalent of a brick wall. Instead of the fast-paced beginning I was expecting, I got all these different points of few, and tons of exposition because all the characters are in new environments.
I honestly couldn't care for the inhabitants of Sandtown. Their plight is probably the worst so far, but I wasn't interested, and all I wanted was to get the group back together and send them to Cape Town.
It took me months to get through the first part of the book. The only reason I'm still giving The Army of the Lost three stars is because the speed did pick up around halfway. It looks like we're finally getting some answers (something that doesn't happen often in zombie books). I'm starting to see the bigger picture, and understand now that this small detour book does have a purpose.
I'm sad that this book wasn't what I was expecting, but I'm still invested in the fate of most of our characters (though one of them is annoying me to death). The fourth book is scheduled to come out in a few months, and I'll try to get my little hands on that one as well.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 29 July, 2014: Finished reading
- 29 July, 2014: Reviewed