'Earthworm Gods' – Brian Keene (Deadite Press)

Yes, it's the book with the better title and the better cover than its 'Leisure Fiction' edition... Okay, I didn't mind the title 'The Conqueror Worms' ('Earthworm Gods' is the clear winner though) but the cover art was just dreadful, nowhere near as good as what we have here). Being almost a little too much into reading series in order, there was no way that I was going to be able to read that copy of 'Earthworm Gods II', I found on eBay, without reading 'Earthworm Gods' first so... here I am kicking off another week of blogging here with one of my favourite Brian Keene books. And yes, I've kind of given the game away a little but let me tell you a little more about 'Earthworm Gods' and hopefully you'll see why I enjoy it so much. Quick thoughts though, I'm afraid. Work is going to be interesting in the morning so should get some sleep at some point... ;o)

One day, it starts raining-and never stops. Global super-storms decimate the planet, eradicating most of mankind. Pockets of survivors gather on mountaintops, watching as the waters climb higher and higher. But as the tides rise, something else is rising, too.

Now, in the midst of an ecological nightmare, the remnants of humanity face a new menace, in a battle that stretches from the rooftops of submerged cities to the mountaintop islands jutting from the sea. What hope does an already-devastated mankind have against this new supernatural adversary.

The old gods are dead. Now is the time of the Earthworm Gods...

When Brian Keene writes an apocalypse, you know that it's an apocalypse that means business; an apocalypse that leaves even the bravest hero winded by the knowledge that there's no coming back from this one, only a question around how you go out. 'Earthworm Gods' is no exception to this rule, the only difference is that within a few pages it's all made clear. The world is drowning and there's nothing that anyone can do. Now you could be forgiven for thinking that Keene has shown his hand far too early. Where do you go next from there? Can you go anywhere next?

The answer is yes, of course it is. Keene builds on that early sense of horror by choosing to focus on a person that you'd think is least likely to be able to deal with it, an eighty-something year old veteran living on his own, up a mountain, and liable to do something really stupid in order to satisfy his nicotine cravings... There is a kind of quiet horror about growing older, keeping going while your friends die, not being able to trust your own body and gradually losing the ability to do things that you used to be able to. Keene picks up all of this and runs with it, making that apocalypse seem all the more personal as Teddy Garnett fights back in the only way that he can, by looking after his own. Keene writes brilliant heroes and Teddy is perhaps one of his most touching and heartfelt, a man who was a hero and had thought he could rest now, only for the world to end and for there to be one last fight to be fought. The measure of the man is in how Teddy reacts to this adversity and you can guess how he does. Teddy is one of those characters that you wish you could be like.

So what initially looked like a race being finished too early suddenly appears as it was the whole time, layers of horror being built up and creeping us right out while the real evil has yet to appear and make its play. Yep, we haven't even got onto the giant worms and the new denizens of the sea. Again, it's all about gradually building them up but when they do, the book suddenly shifts gear and becomes a sweet hit of action and horror that kept my eyes on the page but in that completely necessary way where you're feeling a little sick but you can't take your eyes off what is happening. And there is plenty happening to make you feel a little sick. I won't give too much away, I'll just say that this dying world is a grim old place now and even the most innocuous background detail can be lethal. And if that wasn't enough... Giant Worms :o) The finale is a joy to behold.

There is plenty to enjoy in 'Earthworm Gods' but the main thing I took from this re-read is the masterful way that Keene gets us into the horror of the setting and the plot; building it up almost without us realising. The apocalypse has never felt so relentless.