The Burning World is the sequel to Warm Bodies, and it continues with R struggling to fully embrace his humanity but being human is not easy and his memories of his past life are elusive at best. As with Warm Bodies, Isaac Marion’s prose and rich storytelling keep the reader engaged throughout.
Julie and Nora are more fully developed and M is reclusive, but on his way to being a more evolved zombie, while other zombies remain dazed and confused about this new life they are trying to reenter.
As if life for zombies and humans alike isn’t hard enough, enter the Axiom Corporation. These humans seem to be brain-washed minions who want to restore order to the world by any means possible. They are really creepy and dangerous.
The world becomes even more dangerous as reality sets in for R, Julie, M and Nora and they decide to escape Axiom and head out into the unknown and fractured world.
The final installment to the series is The Living, due out soon I hope. As in Warm Bodies, Isaac’s imagined world seems to be a metaphor of our own world. We wander without knowing where we are going, or why. Our daily routines click in in a robotic way as we wait for that proverbial light bulb to illuminate, to answer the enduring questions: Why are we here and what’s it all about.
Kathy Lauren Miller 