| Feed | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Seanan McGuire (writing as Mira Grant) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction/horror |
| Publisher | Orbit Books |
| Media type | Print (Paperback), Ebook (Kindle) |
| Pages | 599 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 978-0-316-08105-4 |
| Followed by | Deadline |
Feed is a 2010 science fiction/horror novel, the first of the Newsflesh Trilogy, written by Seanan McGuire under the pen name "Mira Grant", about life in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. It is published by Orbit Books.
Contents |
In the zombie-infested world of 2039, foster siblings Georgia and Shaun Mason work as bloggers with their friend and partner Georgette "Buffy" Meissonier. In this new zombie-aware society, blogging is a licensed, restricted, and classified activity. Georgia is a "Newsie" who writes objective factual pieces. Shaun is an "Irwin", who writes emotional tales of his daring adventures. Buffy is a Fictional, who writes fiction inspired by their shared experiences.
Most of the novel consists of the first-person narration of Georgia, with excerpts from the bloggings of each of the major characters presented in between chapters.
The specific nature of the Kellis-Amberlee zombification virus means that any mammal weighing more than 40 lbs converts to a zombie on death, and exposure to live virus converts any living mammal large enough in minutes or seconds. Rigorous testing and decontamination are enforced because of this, in order to prevent another large-scale zombie outbreak.
The three main characters are hired by moderate Republican US Senator and candidate for the Republican nomination to the Presidency Peter Ryman to report on his campaign. He is opposed by conservative Texas Governor David Tate, and outlandish US Representative Kristen Wagman. On the campaign trail, the bloggers get to know and trust Senator Ryman.
Several times during the campaign, unknown forces use zombies as a weapon against Ryman and his family. First, the campaign's mobile HQ is attacked, then a zombie outbreak is deliberately triggered at the Senator's horse ranch, killing one of his daughters. Over the course of covering these events and the campaign, the bloggers have unprecedented popularity, but become concerned that they might be in danger. They add a fourth field blogger from the failed campaign of Congresswoman Wagman.
While traveling across the country in armored vehicles, the group is ambushed by unknown assailants, who disable their vehicles and withdraw, reporting them as killed (and thus converted to zombies) to local authorities. In fact, only one of their support crew and Buffy die in the attack, when he is killed as the vehicle crashes, and he reanimates, bites her, and infects her before she can escape the wreck. Before she converts, Buffy confesses that she had been passing information about the campaign to unknown religious fundamentalists.
With the threat now very real, the group continues investigating the source of the attacks. Meanwhile, the Senator is nominated at the Republican National Convention, and chooses Governor Tate as his running mate. Tate's addition to the campaign causes friction between him and the bloggers.
Eventually, the bloggers discover that unknown forces, possibly associated with the Centers for Disease Control, and working with Tate, are behind the attacks. They attempt to inform the Senator of this, but he demands evidence. Shortly thereafter, there is another attack, this time directly on the bloggers, and Georgia is infected. She writes one final blog entry and converts to a zombie, and is shot and killed by her brother Shaun.
The novel then switches to Shaun's narration as he struggles to make sense of a world without his sister, then swears vengeance on Governor Tate and the group he is working for. He, along with some of the campaign's security staff, slip away from the outbreak caused by the attack, and head to Tate's location.
When they arrive and confront him, Tate takes Senator Ryman's wife hostage with a syringe of zombie virus and proclaims his beliefs that the plague is an instrument of God sent to punish sinners. Trapped, he then injects himself to avoid capture, converts to a zombie, and is shot by Shaun using his sister's pistol.
Feed is Book 1 of the Newsflesh trilogy. Book 2, Deadline, was published in June 2011, and book 3, Blackout is scheduled for July 2012.
The book was shortlisted for the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Novel.[1] The A.V. Club compared it to "The West Wing by way of George Romero",[2] while Strange Horizons called it a "delight", with "delicious subtlety".[3] Howard Tayler praised McGuire for having her characters acknowledge the previous existence of zombies in popular culture.[4]