Monster Island

Zombies are an interesting topic as they are not something that has had much history in literature and human folklore. They are a fairly recent development in the timeline of humanity; something to pop up along side with our ability to control our environment. We now can genetically modify food and life to fit our modern needs; but at what costs? The development of the zombie reflects our worries in possible side effects of these modern convinces.

If you look at almost any zombie book or movie, it is usually a post apocalyptic situation where a virus has broken out from some sort of hi tech research or medical facility in a highly populated city or town. This virus infects life and creates what we know as zombies; the living dead. The protagonist is usually someone adjusting to life in this new world, struggling to rearrange the priorities in his or her life and survive.

What I found interesting about Monster Island was although it did include the typical "avoid/shoot the mindless zombies so I can survive for the next hour" it did contain something more. We are confronted with the idea that there is a new breed that still latches onto its former human self; one that can manipulate and control other mindless beings to its own advantage. Along with this whole intelligence jump, there is also the struggle of going to another continent, which is something that I haven't seen in this genre. The book takes the idea of survival to another idea and you begin to see how much the world has changed. Cultural gaps become apparent and the influence of the post apocalyptic world makes it that much more interesting.

I did get the feeling after reading deeper into the book that the idea of the zombie strayed too much away from what we consider it to be. I felt like the book became more supernatural instead of classic zombie, but hey, you always need someone to push boundaries.