The Colony: Genesis

By: Michaelbrent Collings

Narrated by: John Alexander Brancy

Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Forget everything you know about zombies

In under 10 minutes, 99.9% of the world's population will be dead... or changed. Conversion is instant. Headshots just make them angry. And they're getting smarter.

Ken Strickland has made it through the first moments. But his family is still out there. Can he survive? Can he find them? Or will he become one more of the creatures that now rule our world?

©2013 Michaelbrent Collings (P)2014 Michaelbrent Collings

Not what I was hoping for

This story moves. fast. There are a ton of chapters but the whole thing takes place over just a few hours on one day. Just as the main character starts to reach his purpose, the story ends, to be continued. I like to savor a story and I felt I couldn't do that because the listener is just slammed with event after event and disaster after disaster with not much of a break anywhere to be found. If you like fast paced zombie tales, this is for you.

A GREAT ZOMBIE STORY

What made the experience of listening to The Colony: Genesis the most enjoyable?

I liked how within seconds things were already happening. There was no long delayed build up. Just BOOM, and a total decline of our government and our world as we know it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Colony: Genesis?

When Ken met Dorcas. She is a great character.

What about John Alexander Brancy’s performance did you like?

I really like his voice. He did not over-do the female voices (which I really appreciate)

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES!!! I hated to have to stop. I wanted to keep listening to find out what was going to happen next.

Any additional comments?

Anyone who enjoys horror really need to read anything by Michaelbrent Collings. I have now started the second book in The Colony series..Renegades.

I hate Zombie books

My headline should say it all but it doesn't by any means touch the surface! Read it front to back, you will see what I mean! Not just another Zombie book! Excellent, superb, the best Zombie book I have ever read! Go ahead, pick it up and read the first few chapters....then try putting it down. Ha, ha, ha, I warned you!
The Grinn Wreather Studio

Gripping, fast, moving

Any additional comments?

Basically, I want an audiobook to sweep me away. The more it engages me, the less I think about the boring drive I'm making, the room I'm cleaning, the makeup I'm putting on. Colony SO delivered. There were no dead spots, no slow introspection. Just bam. End of the world. Then bam. Action and adventure. Then bam. Suspense. I loved it.

The characters are likable and hopeful. Mysterious and secretive and a little weird, certainly, but decent. Sometimes you read post-Apocalpytic fiction, and you think, "Humans are the worst. Why have we not already died en masse like the wretched swarm of cockroaches that we are?" But this book shows humans at their best, or at least at their most decent. I appreciated that. The zombies are freaky-weird (I need to grab the second one and find out wth is going on with this whole uber-bizarre zombie situation), but the humans are still acting like humans, not monsters.

All in all, if you're looking for a quick-paced, high-action, zombie read that won't make you despair of all hope for mankind, this is the one for you. Or even if you don't mind despairing of all hope for mankind and you just want a good zombie read, this is the one for you as well.

Zombies on Angel Dust

Would you consider the audio edition of The Colony: Genesis to be better than the print version?

I don't have the print version, but I do have the ebook. The narration adds another dimension to the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The main character, Ken. He's just a regular guy striving to survive in the midst of madness.

What does John Alexander Brancy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A smooth voice. He reads clearly and adds emotion when necessary.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There is a certain scene with certain fingers and a certain decision.

The Colony part 1

If you could sum up The Colony: Genesis in three words, what would they be?

Zombies, exciting, action

Any additional comments?

Wow!! The book starts out with a bang and never let's up. Not your shuffling zombies of old-school. These zombies are fast and there are hints of a collective consciousness starting. And there is the intrepid band of survivors, and everyone of them is a great character so far. This is the first in a series and I must get the rest. Also, the reader is very, very good.

First book I have read/listened to from the Author

First book I have read/listened to from the Author. So I was pleasantly surprised by the story and really enjoyed it.

It always nice to see a twist on the whole zombie thing. Felt more alien based. But again you don’t really know, because the characters don’t know. Also, the whole kill zombies in the head thing was a nice twist.

INTENSE thrill ride

If you could sum up The Colony: Genesis in three words, what would they be?

run and hide!

Any additional comments?

as the story opens, ken's history class is taking a test. one of his students gets distracted by something weird. one of the window panes is swarming with thousands of bugs. unnerved at the strange sight, ken tries to shoo the bugs away by pounding on the window. all of the sudden, a familiar noise and sight causes the students rush to the windows and look out. as ken raises his head, he quickly notices something else wrong with the sight. the plane coming in to land at boise airport is coming in too low. and if that's not bad enough, one of his students falls to the floor, seemingly having seizures.

what follows is an intense, edge of your seat, thrill ride. the story starts out fast and doesn't let up. the pacing and narration of the story combine exquisitely for a wonderful, heart-pounding listen. the narrator's tone conveys what is happening- the fear, the panic, the disbelief... i was totally engrossed in the first 10 minutes and couldn't stop listening.

while there's not a lot of character development, you do a get sense of the characters. i'm sure there'll be more character development in the subsequent books, but i understand you really can't do much when your characters are running for their lives. but i was satisfied with the characters; however, one character has an awful name, dorkus. but don't let that put you off!

the zombies in this story are the fast, aggressive type. the author does differentiate his zombies a little by giving them a hive kind of mind, where they act as a group, like a swarm of flesh hungry ants. the author had some really good, horrifying hoard scenes. there is kind of a supernatural twist to the zombies, which adds another layer of fear to them. i won't spoil what it is, but it's an interesting twist.

my biggest disappointment is how the story ended with a major cliffhanger. i wanted to know what happens next, and i wanted to know now! LOL i guess that's not too bad of a thing to be disappointed about.

coming in at just over 4 and a 1/2 hours, it is kind of expensive, but it's definitely better than anything at the movies right now. so, i think it's worth the $$$. just make sure your schedule is wide open b/c you'll want to listen to the story in one sitting!

Fast Action, Unique Zombies, High Tention

The Colony: Genesis is the first book, novella or whatever you want to call it, in a huge undertaking by Michaelbrent Collings. He says himself that the series is panning out to be half a million (500,000) words, which could be translated to approximately 50 hours in audiobook. The Colony: Genesis starts off with a bang. All of a sudden everyone is going, what looks like, insane. Attacking each other, running around madly, or that's what it seems like to Ken Strickland, a mild mannered school teacher. Who's first mission is to escape his school. Then throughout he meets up with others like him. With the use vivid descriptions of gore and madness, very short chapters, of which each seems to end with a cliff hanger. I was kept at the edge of my seat, full of anticipation of what is about to happen. Collings also states, in the afterword from the author, that he wanted a create a zombie story that focuses more on the zombies then on the heinous monsters that humans can turn into in apocalyptic situations. This was made very apparent When something strange happens to the zombies, they all, at the same time stop moving or attacking and just stand there. As if they are in a trance of some sort. While the secondary characters had little development. I felt Ken was explained very well. He could be any normal person that is searching for his family, hoping that they too have survived as long as he has. While it is never explained what happens to "turn" almost everyone into mindless, or are they, walking corpses. I felt like I didn't need the explanation as I am sure more will be revealed in future installments. If you are looking for an very fast paced action packed, tension filled, zombie assault, with a little more that in "normal" for this genre, you have to check out this audiobook.

Audiobook provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at audiobookreviewer dot com

Fast Paced Gorefest

Any additional comments?

Nice spin on the zombie genre. It's fairly action packed -- lots of elements seem to be taken from other novels or movie, such as Stephen King's Cell and the 28 Days/Weeks movies. However, the writing is a bit over the top and reads like a bad screenplay at times -- each chapter ends with some sort of teaser or overdramatic cliffhanger as the major characters constantly find themseves in persistent peril as they jump from scene to scene.