I LOVE it when you discover a new author that just has the innate sense of a storyteller and combines that with an interesting idea.
Z is a fantastic, can’t put down, great read. It is set in the future but this is subtly alluded to throughout the book, so you gradually piece together that although the people are human, we are on planet earth in an ordinary city, changes have happened that have effected society, landscape and how people occupy this space and it is not the world as we understand it.
Z stands for Zombie and an epidemic changing people to Zombies has swept through and changed life irrevocably by bringing war and destruction and mistrust.
The war is over, the uninfected have won and we are now in a world a few years on where the Zombie wars have become a computer game. Josh excels at this game and attracts the attention of others who are taking it to the next level.
But of course, all is not as it seems and the line between gaming and reality gets more and more blurred, the tension builds and you find yourself drawn right into the action.
Although the war is between the infected (Zombies) and the uninfected (Us)this book explores the social impact of war extremely well and I love the way the author explores the gaming culture and its ability to desensitize us to the consequences of our actions.
Michael Thomas Ford is great at exploring of concepts that affect our kids without preaching or a single goody two shoes in sight. His characters are so real they could be the kids that live in my street and attend the local high school and he has some great one liners and snappy comebacks to remind us of that.
I am hoping the ending is an indicator of more to come.
Title: Z
Author: Michael Thomas Ford
Publisher: Random House, A$19.95
Publication Date: 1 October 2010
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781864718225
For ages: Teens
Type: YA Fiction
- this review by Cate Hale
