Sarah Lyons Fleming

When I am feeling stress there is nothing better than reading about characters that are in a much worse situation than I and I found the perfect book for me with World Without by Sarah Lyons Fleming. This is the third volume of a zombie apocalyptic story and when we last left the characters, they were escaping from Eugene, Oregon and the massive horde of zombies that were being directed towards them.

One of the group has a home some forty miles east of Eugene and they find refuge there. Leaving as they did, they have very little supplies and so have to fish, hunt and forage for food. It’s good that it is coming into Fall and they are able to harvest a lot but bad that winter is just around the corner. They are in danger of starving but when winter comes and the temperatures drop, they discover that the zombies freeze so they are able to get back to Eugene and retrieve their supplies. Of course the people that drove them out are still there and a final confrontation is brewing.

This is the third zombie series by Sarah Lyons Fleming that I have read and she certainly has a way of bringing her characters to life and getting her readers eager to find out what is going to happen next. There was less zombie action in this book, but I was glued to the pages by their survival efforts. The story unfolds through four different narrators each with their own distinct voice and I found myself totally involved with the story. I am looking forward to reading the fourth and last book in this series but I certainly hope that this talented author continues to write and supply me with such great escape reads.… (más)

World Between by Sarah Lyons Fleming is the second book in her Cascadia series of zombie stories. These books are set in the same world as her previous two series but take place in Oregon. The book opens with the group that we are following sheltering at the Eugene, Oregon Safe Zone, the fairgrounds. The story unfolds through 4 different viewpoints, and we follow the progression of various relationships as well as the day to day activities of ensuring survival when surrounded by thousands of zombie-like creatures.

On top of everything else that is happening, the people at the Safe Zone also have to deal with sabotage that escalates in the last third of the book to hair-rising terror. The next book is promising to be very exciting as the group must now try to find a new safe place in a world that has changed forever.

These books need to be read in order as one book naturally flows into the next one seamlessly. The author spent a great deal of time in this book in character development so there wasn’t as much action as I would have normally expected. I did, however, really enjoy the details about setting up and running the fairgrounds as a community and, as always with this author, I enjoy her characters and the humor that they express. I am looking forward to continuing on with this series.… (más)

World Departed by Sarah Lyons Fleming is the first book in her Cascadia series about a zombie apocalypse. I am a fan of this author and have previously loved her two other zombie series so I was really looking forward to getting started on this series. Set in Eugene, Oregon the story follows a group of people through the first days of horror as a virus strikes and leaves behind dead people who rise up as flesh-eating monsters.

If you follow my reading at all, you probably know that I enjoy a good zombie story and Sarah Lyons Fleming is a top zombie story-teller. She makes her stories all about the characters that you learn to care about and want to see happy. At times these characters have to fight zombies but the author’s focus is usually on how her characters inter-act with each other. This series is set in the same universe as her previous zombie books although this one is set in Western America as opposed to the East. The characters are new and the reader quickly learns to identify with and root for Rose, Mitch, Craig, Tom and Clara.

While this was the first book in her new series and does spends time on setting the scene and introducing the characters, at over 700 pages, there is still plenty of story to be told. I loved the survival angle and how they worked together to develop ideas that would help the whole group. This was a read where I could cheer the characters on or gasp in fear when things were not going so well. World Departed was a great escape read with plenty of humor, multiple POVs, a little romance and lots of zombie action.… (más)

This was absolutely amazing! I was so excited to get my hands on this book. As soon as I finished the previous book in the series over a year and a half ago, I was eager to find out what would happen next to this group of characters that I have grown to care about. I have to admit that I periodically checked the author’s website to see if a release date had been published. As soon as I knew this book was finally available, I couldn’t get it on my device fast enough and ignored my other responsibilities so that I could spend more time reading. My expectations were incredibly high but I am proud to report that they were all met.

I don’t know how Sarah Lyons Fleming is able to consistently write characters that come alive on the page and feel like friends but she continues to excel at exactly that. This installment was lower on zombies but the situation these characters find themselves in was possibly even more desperate. I found myself relating to this group of people doing their best to survive in a world that throws obstacles at them at every turn. I was cringing every time one of them was in danger and delighting in their accomplishments.

This story is told from four different points of view. Rose, Tom, Clara, and Craig all have an interesting perspective on what this group is facing. After the events in the previous book, they fled as part of a group of 30 individuals to safety. Their biggest challenge is feeding this group for an extended amount of time. I felt their desperation and wondered just how far I would go if I were placed in their position. The descriptions of their hunger were incredibly vivid and I wondered if all the members of the group would survive.

I would highly recommend this series to others. This is the third book in the Cascadia series which really should be read in order. I am already counting down the days until I can get the 4th book in my hands (unfortunately I have a bit of a wait). This one that I know I will be reading again in the not-too-distant future.… (más)