REVIEW: Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall

While I am clearly a zombie fanatic at heart I’ve always had a love for good science fiction. In fact the first movies that got me into horror had nothing to do with the undead in the slightest but were actually Alien and Aliens. Pre-horror I was a science fiction geek and that being the case Star Trek holds a sentimental place in my heart that I cannot fully admit to in public. (That’s a lie actually but I’m saying that to humor my girlfriend.) Therefore the idea of a novel that mixes both the type of zombies I love WITH a science fiction series that I always enjoyed? My first thought was what a brilliant idea. My second thought was how badly they are going to butcher this concept. My third thought was fully reading through the blurb and going back to thinking what a great idea.

Having read the book now I can not only tell you that it is truly an entertaining read but it’s funny as well. If you are a fan of Star Trek there are countless nods to the series that are both obvious and obscure and it’s written with full humor in mind. The main character is Jim Pike who is a manger at a hotel that is hosting a Star Trek convention. How is a hotel manager going to hold out in a zombie outbreak? Well we get the extra bonus that he is an ex-soldier so actually has some training for an explosive situation to occur.

Attending the Star Trek convention where the outbreak is occurring is his sister who he has to work with a group of trekkies to attempt to save. The novel dances a fine line between the Star Trek and zombie genres and does so in a humorous manner. It’s fast paced enough to fit itself into a well paced zombie story and has enough of an interesting plot to feel like something out of a well put together Star Trek episode. The author s’ are clearly playing on the fandom that exists in both genres and you can’t help but love the book for it. In fact the way they write it if you are only a fan of Star Trek or of zombies and not both the combination shouldn’t bother you. They have enough combination and separation of the two to let it fluidly move forward even if you don’t get the Star Trek references in question.

If you are looking for a zombie comedy that plays off of science fiction fans (and Star Trek if you want to be more specific) this is a great novel to pickup. If you are looking for an original zombie novel to pick up this is a great one to add to your collection. If you are looking for a traditional zombie novel this one probably won’t be for you. However, the zombies are of the slow variety and shouts out to classic zombie fans as well. It’s quirky and original and is holding a permanent space on my shelf.

Available at Amazon!