The Walking Dead: Book Six/ Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead: Book Six by Robert Kirkman. graphic literature, zombies, adventure, survival horror 304 pages.

Wow...I never realized how effective Robert Kirkman's end-of-book cliffhangers were until I reached the end of the last current book in his epic graphic novel zombie adventure "The Walking Dead". I find myself praying that book 7 will come out soon, but I realize that now I have to wait just like everyone else...sad.

I really enjoyed this volume, and it definitely surprised me with its content. When I saw Carl on the cover, I assumed that this would be the volume where Carl's father Rick dies or the two of them get separated and the series begins to chronicle both of their adventures simultaneously (mark my words, even though it didn't happen in this book, it's only a matter of time). The first half of the book dealt with the issue of a true loss of humanity. Whether it's needless killing or cannibalism, the remaining survivors began to realize just what they are willing to do to survive. This is one of my favorite aspects of the zombie genre, so it was definitely fun to read (and I kinda figured the subject of cannibalism would come up, I'm surprised it took this long).

The second half of the book was perfectly juxtaposed with the first. After making the reader very aware that the survivors have become "monsters" in their own way, we see just how different they are from people who otherwise seem normal. This is most obvious when we get to the next settlement on Kirkman's road, an almost-too-peaceful community know simply as "the community". The survivors are divided on whether or not they feel secure in this all-too-perfect environment, and I have to admit, it was really entertaining to see the characters (especially some of the more rough-around-the-edges ones like Abraham, Andrea, and Michonne) dressed up like normal people. I'm with the cautious survivors, however...something's gotta be wrong with this community, because 1. the story would get boring if they stayed there forever and 2. there's a freaking ZOMBIE outbreak going on outside the community's walls...they are hiding SOMETHING, we just haven't figured out what yet.

As I said before, my only issue with this book is that the next in the series hasn't come out yet, so now I have to wait like a normal person. I think it'll be good to separate myself from the series for a while though, because that'll make book seven even more fun to come back to.