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A Zombie Christmas Carol
This exciting and bloodthirsty story tells of the sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge and his epic journey of transformation and redemption, brought about by a plague of ravenous zombies. After the supernatural visitations of the long dead Jacob Marley, himself killed by zombies and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come he comes to realise that he is London's only hope. In a city under siege by the undead there is only one man with the character and sense of mind able to stand in their way. A thrilling and unusual twist on the festive tale originally written by Charles Dickens.
196 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2011
26 people want to read
About the author
Michael G. Thomas
217 books130 followersMichael G. Thomas, is a writer, martial artist and military historian. He has written books on European martial arts and military history as well as Zombie Survival books and fiction. He is the co-founder of the prestigious Academy of Historical Fencing that teaches traditional armed and unarmed European martial arts. His specialist subject areas are teaching the use of the medieval two handed longsword and the German long knife in both the UK and other parts of Europe.
His academic background is as varied as his writing with degrees in Computing, Classical Studies and Machine Learning. In recent years he has undertaken substantial research in the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence as well as Ancient Greek and Byzantine military history.
Michael is currently completing his Champions of the Apocalypse Series and Star Crusades science fiction series.
His academic background is as varied as his writing with degrees in Computing, Classical Studies and Machine Learning. In recent years he has undertaken substantial research in the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence as well as Ancient Greek and Byzantine military history.
Michael is currently completing his Champions of the Apocalypse Series and Star Crusades science fiction series.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 16, 2018
It was interesting to see the zombie story inserted into the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with all the beautiful use of language to match. The zombie insertion is quietly done and builds to a nice crescendo.
I appreciated Scrooge's ability for sword work a lot, and the incorporation of minor characters from the original story into somewhat more substantial roles.
Recommended for those that enjoy A Christmas Carol (but aren't going to be put off by the deviation from the original, of course) and zombie mashups.
I believe I picked this ebook copy up for free on Amazon.com.
I appreciated Scrooge's ability for sword work a lot, and the incorporation of minor characters from the original story into somewhat more substantial roles.
Recommended for those that enjoy A Christmas Carol (but aren't going to be put off by the deviation from the original, of course) and zombie mashups.
I believe I picked this ebook copy up for free on Amazon.com.
January 23, 2023
Felt like they were trying to bring more social commentary to the story and just...bored me even more than the original tale. Artwork was pretty though.
December 29, 2011
Having read a few zombie mash-ups of other literary classics, I swore I would never read another one. It's not so much that they're badly written; it's just that the zombie element doesn't add anything to the story. It's kind of like watching Lucas' reboots on his original Star Wars films—it's painfully obvious where the new footage was added, and you find yourself wondering why he had to go ahead and mess with perfection. So why, after swearing off zombie mash-ups, did I have a sudden change of heart and tackle this one? Because I love A Christmas Carol, and I was hoping against hope that the author was able to rise to the challenge and deliver something spectacular. What I found was no different than others I have read.
I'm not going to bore you with a rehash because I'm sure you are all familiar with Dickens' classic tale, be it from Mr. Magoo, The Muppets, or any of the hundreds of countless movies aired every Christmas; what I will tell you is that the only thing lacking in Michael G. Thomas' spin on things is a substantial amount of zombie action. We get through the first half of the book without seeing a single member of the Walking Dead class. They are mentioned; in fact, we find that they are the cause of Jacob Marley's death, but the threat had been entirely eradicated and nobody has seen a single zombie in the seven years since his death. We don't really see any zombies until Scrooge is visited by the first of the three spirits, and it is then that we learn of Marley's death, which could have been avoided if he hadn't been so damned greedy. The threat of another zombie invasion is hinted at when our beloved Ebenezer is visited by the second of the three spirits, but we don't get the full-scale invasion until after the third spirit has come and gone and Scrooge wakes up to realize that the spirits were able to do it all in one night. And thanks to what Scrooge witnessed during his visitation with the spirits, he knows exactly what needs to be done in order to put the Walking Dead to rest once and for all.
The one thing that stood out for me in this retelling is Thomas' attempt to explain the current zombie outbreak. We don't see any of the usual causes for the dead rising. There is no meteor shower and no failed government experiments. What we do see is a religious cult that possesses an artifact that allows the person who touches it the power to control the dead. This opens up an entire subplot that, unfortunately, isn't fully addressed in the book. If it had been, I might have enjoyed the book more than I did. The only thing Zombie Christmas Carol was able to accomplish with this reader is to strengthen my conviction that the classics need to be left alone.
I'm not going to bore you with a rehash because I'm sure you are all familiar with Dickens' classic tale, be it from Mr. Magoo, The Muppets, or any of the hundreds of countless movies aired every Christmas; what I will tell you is that the only thing lacking in Michael G. Thomas' spin on things is a substantial amount of zombie action. We get through the first half of the book without seeing a single member of the Walking Dead class. They are mentioned; in fact, we find that they are the cause of Jacob Marley's death, but the threat had been entirely eradicated and nobody has seen a single zombie in the seven years since his death. We don't really see any zombies until Scrooge is visited by the first of the three spirits, and it is then that we learn of Marley's death, which could have been avoided if he hadn't been so damned greedy. The threat of another zombie invasion is hinted at when our beloved Ebenezer is visited by the second of the three spirits, but we don't get the full-scale invasion until after the third spirit has come and gone and Scrooge wakes up to realize that the spirits were able to do it all in one night. And thanks to what Scrooge witnessed during his visitation with the spirits, he knows exactly what needs to be done in order to put the Walking Dead to rest once and for all.
The one thing that stood out for me in this retelling is Thomas' attempt to explain the current zombie outbreak. We don't see any of the usual causes for the dead rising. There is no meteor shower and no failed government experiments. What we do see is a religious cult that possesses an artifact that allows the person who touches it the power to control the dead. This opens up an entire subplot that, unfortunately, isn't fully addressed in the book. If it had been, I might have enjoyed the book more than I did. The only thing Zombie Christmas Carol was able to accomplish with this reader is to strengthen my conviction that the classics need to be left alone.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews