By the blood of heroes
By the blood of heroes
By the blood of heroes
Ratings1
Average rating4
15
By the blood of heroes
By the blood of heroes
Ratings1
Average rating4
"At the tail end of 1917, the Germans introduced a new type of gas to the battlefield, T-Leiche, or "corpse gas," and changed the face of the war by resurrecting the bodies of the dead, giving the enemy an almost unlimited source of fresh troops. When the American ace Major Jack Freeman-poster boy for the war against the Kaiser's undead army of shamblers-is downed over enemy lines and taken captive, veteran Captain Michael ''Madman'' Burke is the only man brave and foolish enough to accept the mission to recover Freeman. Burke assembles a team of disparate members, from his right-hand man, Sergeant Moore, to big-game-hunter-turned-soldier Clayton Manning, who funds the mission for an opportunity to confront this most dangerous zombie game, to professor Dan Richards, one of Tesla's top men and the resident authority on all things supernatural. With the help of a highly advanced British dirigible war machine to infiltrate enemy territory, the team faces incredible danger as it struggles to reach the prison camp and strike at the heart of the enemy. But they are pitted against the most deadly enemy of all: Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Having risen from the dead with his abilities enhanced but his mind on the brink of madness, Richthofen has plans for victory that give no quarter to soldiers or civilians" -- Cover verso.
Reviews with the most likes.
I very much enjoyed this book. A mash-up of steampunk, zombies, alternate history and boys-own war story, it was perhaps in serious danger of over-egging the pudding, but fortunately the author avoids that and instead manages to create a fast moving, rip-roaring yarn.
The creation of ‘corpse gas' by German scientists has driven the Great War to last much longer than perhaps it should. Reanimated corpses of both German and Allied soldiers attack the Allies, forcing the war into a nightmarish stalemate. Other zombie soldiers seem to have held on to their personality, the most famous of these being The Bloody Red Baron, Von Richtofen himself, who plays a major part in this book. It's the Baron who sets the events of this tale off, as he shoots down American flying Ace Major Jack Freeman. Freeman's half-brother, Captain Michael Burke and his team of fighting men is dispatched to rescue him, as Freeman is more important than a normal soldier...
Nassise creates a fascinating tale that, while fantastic, feels grounded and credible. Some of the characters in Burke's squad are somewhat underdeveloped, and the novel isn't quite as clever as Kim Newman's The Bloody Red Baron, which it will invariably be compared to. It is however a lot of fun, and Nassise has a steady and assured style of writing that makes his prose a pleasure to read. I would recommend it to fans of alt-history and steampunk novels, especially if they enjoy a bit of horror too!
7.5/10
