“Humans catch bug that makes them cannibals” is the awesome headline for the San Francisco Chronicle‘s review of Peeps. I love you, anonymous headline writer, because I would so read that story.
If only they’d used an exclamation point! The blurb:
Peeps provides plenty of action, suspense and smart-alecky dialogue. Westerfeld . . . does a fine job of using some of biology’s grossest case studies to show how parasites mess with their hosts in fascinating ways. His new book is a standout tale of horror, well worth the attention of older readers, too.
Writing update: The sequel to Peeps is now called The Last Days. It has 15,000 words so far. One quarter done!
Mexico update: We watched the pamplonada here in San Miguel. It’s half running-of-the-bulls and half bullfight. No bulls are killed, although some looked really annoyed. It’s not the same as the pamplona in Spain, mind you.
It’s amateur bull-baiting, actually. Bulls are let out in the town square, and self-appointed heroes hang out and piss them off. There’s something for everyone. For those who believe in bravery, it probably takes some guts to have a bull rush you. For people who find animal-taunting a bit lame, well, we get to watch many of the taunters thrown into the air repeatedly.
But for my TV-addled brain, it was just another reality show, one where people get gored instead of voted out. It called up the same base emotions, and had me screaming things like, “Get rid of that chubby guy with the mullet!” except to a bull instead of a panel of celebrity judges.
They let out the eight bulls out one at a time, but all eight are out together by the end. This rewards “situational awareness” more than reflexes. (My mullet guy got caught from behind while taunting the wrong bull. Sucker.) My favorite was the ginger bull, who went full speed down the street taking out buttloads of gawkers instead of spinning in a circle. Oh, and I liked the one who kicked that guy who was pulling his tail. Nice.
No one died, okay?
See Justine’s blog for more about this affair.
and peeps has just gone up to 7,000 on amazon – yeah !
And “The Risen Empire” totally rocked, too. Especially Private Bassiritz and the wee men.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/jonathanmoeller/51013.html
I know this has nothing to do with the subject. But today my english teacher made us go to the library to choose a book to do a book report on and I found So Yesterday and chose it. I was suprised because usually my school library dosent have any good books in it. I was angry to find out that it was the only book they had by you in the library. There is a book drive coming up and I think I will donate my hard cover copy of Midnighters the secret hour because I bought the paperback version also.
Ah, guys running in front of bulls… the sport of kings.
(Once my mom’s cousin was the AP photo for the Running of the Bulls, photographic proof that at least some of my relatives are insane.)
Darn it, I was hoping it was a real thing. I mean, not really hoping, but it’s kind of a let down after the headline gets you all freaked out about infectious diseases to find out it’s a book review. I mean, I was all set with my zombie contingency plans.
Haven’t been able to track down peeps yet, due to limited funds and a slow library system, but the review made me think–would zombie contingency plans work if the world was overrun by parasite-positives, or should I make a new plan just in case?
And incidentally, do you want any photos of Bixby High School? I’ve got a bunch on my camera.
finally got peeps from amazon, which was hoarding it jealously, i guess. great fun! thanks for a terrific ride!