Let's Get Political

Just finished watching the first season of the American version of House of Cards and I have to say I am a little disturbed and a little in love.  It was a bit like watching a train wreck, you know the outcome is going to be horrific, but you just can't help but watch the process.  To be fair, when it comes to shows about politics I am definitely more of a TheWest Wing fan, it is a bit more optimistic then most other shows about Capitol Hill.  When it comes to reading politics can be hit or miss for me.  If not done correctly it can get confusing and boring, but done right it can be as exciting as any battle scene.  Here are a few of my favorite books/series that have a strong political theme to them.

The Newsflesh Trilogy

Zombies and Politics what could be better!  Seriously though, this series is not what I thought it was gonna be, it turned out so much better, and involved, and fresh and different and...well you get the idea.  The politics are a central part of this story and it is extremely well done.

The Dragonriders of Pern

Dragons and Politics who knew they would turn out to be such a good mix.  Another series that on the surface seems to be about one thing.  Brave daring dragon riders battling an evil threat, but the more you read the more you realize it is about a whole world and it's way of life, with a heavy dose of conflicting politics thrown in for fun...and it actually is fun.

Ender's Game

Politics in Space with a side of ethics and morals.  I love this book for so many reasons, one of the chief ones it the look at a global political system.  I love how involved the children get, either by choice or by circumstance. This book really explores all the different ways you can use politics to manipulate just about anything.

Crown Duel

Politics at the Castle, this is actually an interesting duo of books.  The first half deals with a renegade noble trying to get her brother on the throne, along with politics there is a lot of swordplay and typical fantasyish mayhem.  The second half is an awesome contrast to the first half where our heroine has to battle using words and influence in a political arena instead of her fists, very very cool.

Seraphina

Politics and Religion in a land with an uneasy truce.  I loved how different this book turned out to be.  Aside from my few minor frustrations I liked how politics mingled with religion, fear, biases, and practicality.  I also liked how the politics were shown from different views, the higher ups, the lower class, the different age groups etc.  I also liked how the humans and the dragons had two completely different political and governmental areas.

As you can see I don't read a lot of realistic political books.  I figure if I want to deal with that crap I can just turn on any of our zillions of 24 hour news channels.  However I do like a book that can explore the politics of different times and places adapting it to things we don't have to deal with and yet making the struggle feel familiar.  There are tons of other books that do the politics well, these are just a select few of my current favorites. Happy Reading.

What is your favorite type of politics in books?  Do you like politics in your fiction or do you read to escape all that?  If you could invent a political party what would it be?  Is it bad that I can finish a 13 episode series in a single weekend?

 

Cold Politics

So I am pretty excited, I got to cross off one of the items on my living in the capital of the US bucket list.  I got to see not one, but TWO presidents speak live.  My ambulance crew did a stand-by (we are part of the team ready to go if any medical problems or injuries occur) for a rally involving President Clinton, President Obama and Dave Matthews!   Regardless of ones political preferences it was very exciting to see the current leader of our country in person.  The only downside to the whole deal was how incredibly cold it was, I like the cold and even I was shivering uncontrollably, we are talking down into the 20's after the sunset.  Oh well over all it was an amazing opportunity that does not come around very often and I was excited and proud to be a part of it.  The whole thing got me thinking about all the different presidents that I remember in my life time and how things have changed and stayed the same all at the same time in the political arena.  Here are some books by the presidents I have been around for starting with the most current.

The Audacity of Hope

Decision Points

My Life

Speaking of Freedom

An American Life

Regardless of your political leanings, I think it is always interesting to read about these administrations from their perspective.  I hope everybody goes out and votes tomorrow 'cause like my Hubbin says, you can't complain if you don't vote.  

What is on your hometown bucket list?  Who would you write in vote for if you knew they could win?  Do you know when the Secret Service says stop, you should listen...quickly?

High Tech Zombies With A Side Of Politics

Anybody else feel like this stupid election has been going on forever?  Don't get me wrong, I love politics, heck The West Wing is one of my favorite shows of all times (in fact I'm re watching the entire series for at least the fifth time as we speak), but seriously folks year long elections?!?!  Imagine my delight after suffering through many a political commercial aimed at convincing me that voting for the "other" guy will bring about the apocalypse (I live in a swing state, lucky me) I found a book that actually mixes a presidential election with ZOMBIES!!!!!!  Not only that but the book was well written, intriguing, horrifying, thought provoking, humorous and tragic all at the same time, I literally could not put it down, I had to sneak it into work, kept in in my ambulance, stayed up to all hours, it was wonderful.

The book is Feed the first book in the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant (pen name for Seanan McGuire).  It is set in the 2040ish time frame, about 20 years after the Uprising the name for the event where zombies became part of everyday life.  The book quickly lets you in on what happened two separate virus's one to cure cancer which was in the clinical trial phase and one to cure the common cold, which got prematurely released by eco-terrorists got together and mutated into what is known as the Kellis-Amberlee virus.  Everybody is infected with this virus which stays dormant in any mammal over 40 pounds until it is activated. When somebodies virus is activated they call it amplification and it is usually caused by death, though an injection of live virus through bites or needle or swallowing are possibilities as well.  When a person or animal amplifies it loses all sense of self and goes looking for sustenance to feed the virus as well as new hosts to send the virus to.  This results in zombies, the newer zombies are pretty strong and very dangerous, the older and more malnourished a zombie gets the slower and clumsier it gets.  The odd thing about these zombies is that the more of them that group together the smarter they get, so one zombie may do nothing more than shamble after you, but a group of five zombies may start to herd you, and a group of twenty zombies may be able to lead you into an ambush.  This is the life that people now live.
The coolest thing about this book, for me at least is that it is not a post-apocalyptic novel, it is about how people try and find some sense of normalcy and a way to keep living despite the zombies.  The story is told from the perspective of Georgia Carolyn Mason a blogger.  It follows her, her brother Shaun and there partner Buffy as they become official bloggers on the campaign trail of Senator Ryman.  Through out the book Georgia lets us glimpse at what life has become after the Uprising, the fear it inspired and the various thoughts on how it should be dealt with.  For instance, since any mammal over 40 pounds can potentially undergo amplification and become a zombie, people no longer eat beef, or pork, or any other large animal.  There are laws in place about keeping large animals in residential areas and there is an ongoing debate on weather or not they should try to eliminate all large mammals in general. Technology plays a huge role in this story, from the elaborate blood tests and security, to all of the cameras, recording equipment, computers and servers used by the bloggers to keep there readers informed. Georgia, Shaun, and Buffy are the first group of non-traditional media to be officially invited on the campaign trail, giving them the opportunity to report first hand the going ons of the election process, which disturbingly is one of the few things that has not changed very much despite recent events. As the story progresses we learn of a potential conspiracy that threatens not only the campaign, but the public in general.  This book does not go into all of the details, and I am assuming that is what the next two books are for.  The trio meet a lot of people who are willing to help them, and some not so savory characters as well.
This is where I decide not to say any more about the story, needless to say I think it is awesome, but part of the awesomeness is those AH WHAT THE HECK moments that make this such a page turner and these happen everywhere.  There are scary moments, sweet moments, moments that made me cry (seriously a zombie book made me cry, there I admitted it!)  The author does not hold back and by the end of the book I was drained, but in a totally satisfied way.  There were a couple minor, minor flaws, on occasion things got a tad repetitive, certain things were pounded into your head (oh does Georgia really have another retinal KA induced headache, really?!?), but it does not take away from the story at all.  Some people might find the relationship between Georgia and Shaun a bit weird, but again nothing untoward happens so I give it a pass. Again, this is not your typical horror zombie book, this is about all the people who live in this world where zombies just happen to be the latest threat to human kind.  That being said, the best part is that people who had seen George Romero's zombie movies, could actually use them as lessons to survive the uprising :-)  (geek love)  I give this book 9.5 out of 10 zombie blogging politicians.

What do you think about sharing our world with zombies?  How much would fear of zombies affect your everyday life if you knew they were here to stay?  Do you think the elections would be way more exciting if you knew there could be a zombie attack at any moment?