2: Gamer of the Apocalypse; a Good Fan Fiction

 Alright so I got asked to write this and while I did want to do things about books I guess I'll start with this. SO

SPOILER WARNING. Also not sure but just go ahead and realize I've been asked to write this. If you think that has impaired my judgement like a near fatal head wound in the trenches I perfectly understand that. 

 Gamer of the Apocalypse. (GA) Is a fan fiction story for Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. Your typical rouge-like the world has gone to hell with everything you could throw into it gone wrong sort of thing. And of all the fan fictions I've read (around ten or so) this one actually does a lot of good things.

 It is still being written so this is going to cover to Chapter 37; the latest chapter. Let's get into it.

 The narrator is a teenage gamer Jonathan who witnesses his younger brothers being torn apart by zombies in front of his eyes. He is joined by Mute, a mute ten year old kid who shot his zombified dad and Anastasia who was experimented on by her dad. Daddy issues galore and of course we now have the pretext for camp fire "kumbaya-our-lives-suck-offs." And yet that doesn't happen anymore than it needs to in the story and the moments are poignant and well-written. Mute doesn't start talking about shooting his dad, he just makes subtle motion to it knowing Jonathan will get it and leave it be in a sort of reverent "we all have our problems, you don't have to go any further" mentality that means we mostly get this foreboding moral qualm undertones from Jonathan as he's thinking about these Nietzsche wet dream topics. However the fact that Mute and Anastasia seems to have hopped on that bandwagon and may soon shout "God is dead!" in the city square is a bit unsettling.

 Also I feel it is worth mentioning that Jonathan is fairly easy to be a self insert. Just putting that out there and if it is the case to attract the audience the writer is a bloody evil genius at getting people to love his work although the writing already seems to do that from what I can tell scrolling through the comments. And yes the writing is good.

 Speaking of the writing let me say what I like about it the best. I'm not one for distopian horror and the like but I can actually get into this. Yes the world is in shambles and burning in a tailspin into the sun but everything clicks for the most part and only occasionally do I get the feeling he said "you know what would be cool?" Which is more than most fan fictions can say. And then there's the fact that what you can consider the morals and meanings in this story are always present in the background like actors having an orgy behind the curtain during the show. The play is great and if you want you can look at the motivations and sleep into the fetal position for the next few weeks you can. But the people who read/write fan fictions aren't known for hard hitting fiction so that makes this a nice touch.

 Also the fact that the apocalypse isn't overhyped with blood and gore and etc. makes it much more approachable for the non-blood and gore fanboys. If such a group exists. I will warn you however if you don't play the game it is based off of you will scratch your head and think occasionally "wtf, sharknados are jumping the fucking shark eating the Fonz."

 All in all:
- Interesting anti-heroes who aren't the generally expected (even if they occasionally border it): +10
- Realistic view point of the apocalypse: +5
- Subtle undertones that you could write a literary paper about: +10
- Writing quality and style not usually seen in fan fictions that could easily pass for a novel: +25
- Occasionally obvious: -5
- Harder to get into if not into the game: -5
- Fan Fiction: -5 (only because universe already created)
- Kinda self-inserty (would penalize but can't decide whether or not to): +- 0

+35. You'll be hard pressed to have me find a lot of fan fictions that can get this high a score. Also Heart of Darkness may be getting a run for its money now.

Now if he'd write a novel (which he should) in the same line he'd be pushing a fifty and I'm going to say that's the benchmark from now on.

You can read Gamer of the Apocalypse here:


I am now taking suggestions for the next book to review.