5 ms·

I just don't get the multiple people saying "Zombie epidemics as a topic are over because of COVID-19". They might be over just because there's been a glut of t

I just don't get the multiple people saying "Zombie epidemics as a topic are over because of COVID-19". They might be over just because there's been a glut of them, but in no way, shape, or form does the current pandemic resemble a zombie pandemic.

dhosek 7y ago
He's not saying that zombie epidemics as a topic are over, just that his take on it has been rendered obsolete by current events. It's sort of like a short short (either written by or edited by Isaac Asimov, I don't remember—I read it forty years ago) that proposed that Everest would never be summited because it had been colonized by Martians. Between acceptance and publication, Everest was summited.
- dhosek 7y ago
  Another similar instance just popped into my brain—in college a friend wrote a piece for the college paper in which, writing about political changes in Eastern Europe, he wrote, "but don't expect the Berlin Wall to come down any time soon." As you might have guessed, the Berlin Wall came down between the writing and the publication.
  - WalterBright 7y ago
    I recall a book in the bookstore in 1989 about how IBM was inevitably going to grow and take over the world. Wish I'd bought it. :-)
  - macintux 7y ago
    I stumbled upon a paper I wrote in high school in 1987 about European unification. I came to the same conclusion; thankfully no one but my teacher ever read it, and I doubt she remembered it 2 years later.
- bryanrasmussen 7y ago
  >Between acceptance and publication, Everest was summited. That's obviously what they want you to think!
- teraflop 7y ago
  Sounds like the story was "Everest", which was indeed written by Asimov. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everest_(short_story) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everest_(short_story)
  - dhosek 7y ago
    That's the one. Thanks.
teucris 7y ago
He states in the article that the themes he wanted to explore in this novel aren’t worth exploring now that COVID-19 is making us deal with them right now. I wouldn’t say this is a “all zombie literature is over” post as much as a “my zombie literature project is over” post.
WalterBright 7y ago
Zombie epidemics are over because the genre has been done to death (!), and is now simply boring. I was very disappointed that Game of Thrones veered into just another zombie show.
- reificator 7y ago
  > I was very disappointed that Game of Thrones veered into just another zombie show. It wasn't a veer. The show was always about the seven kingdoms bickering among themselves instead of facing the actual threat that they could have unified against. (Or at least it was until the last few seasons were written by someone other than the original author, said author having not even come close to finishing the book series.) Just look at the first episode. It doesn't start in Winterfell or King's Landing. It starts north of the wall.
  - lmm 7y ago
    FTR the author was heavily involved in the show.
    - behindsight 7y ago
      FTR the show runners and the author had a lot of creative differences throughout the show (and especially in the later seasons) [1] > "It can be... traumatic. Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don't match, and you get the famous creative differences thing — that leads to a lot of conflict," he told Fast Company. 1: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10034023/george-rr-martin-game-of-thrones-cuts-five-more-seasons/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10034023/george-rr-mar...
- jeremyjh 7y ago
  It started out as a zombie show, in the very first scene you had a Nightswatch patrol being killed by Zombies. The reason the Wildlings massed and marched on the wall was because they were being savaged by zombies.
  - 7y ago

dhosek 7y ago

He's not saying that zombie epidemics as a topic are over, just that his take on it has been rendered obsolete by current events. It's sort of like a short short (either written by or edited by Isaac Asimov, I don't remember—I read it forty years ago) that proposed that Everest would never be summited because it had been colonized by Martians. Between acceptance and publication, Everest was summited.

dhosek 7y ago
Another similar instance just popped into my brain—in college a friend wrote a piece for the college paper in which, writing about political changes in Eastern Europe, he wrote, "but don't expect the Berlin Wall to come down any time soon." As you might have guessed, the Berlin Wall came down between the writing and the publication.
- WalterBright 7y ago
  I recall a book in the bookstore in 1989 about how IBM was inevitably going to grow and take over the world. Wish I'd bought it. :-)
- macintux 7y ago
  I stumbled upon a paper I wrote in high school in 1987 about European unification. I came to the same conclusion; thankfully no one but my teacher ever read it, and I doubt she remembered it 2 years later.
bryanrasmussen 7y ago
>Between acceptance and publication, Everest was summited. That's obviously what they want you to think!
teraflop 7y ago
Sounds like the story was "Everest", which was indeed written by Asimov. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everest_(short_story) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everest_(short_story)
- dhosek 7y ago
  That's the one. Thanks.

teucris 7y ago

He states in the article that the themes he wanted to explore in this novel aren’t worth exploring now that COVID-19 is making us deal with them right now. I wouldn’t say this is a “all zombie literature is over” post as much as a “my zombie literature project is over” post.

WalterBright 7y ago

Zombie epidemics are over because the genre has been done to death (!), and is now simply boring. I was very disappointed that Game of Thrones veered into just another zombie show.

reificator 7y ago
> I was very disappointed that Game of Thrones veered into just another zombie show. It wasn't a veer. The show was always about the seven kingdoms bickering among themselves instead of facing the actual threat that they could have unified against. (Or at least it was until the last few seasons were written by someone other than the original author, said author having not even come close to finishing the book series.) Just look at the first episode. It doesn't start in Winterfell or King's Landing. It starts north of the wall.
- lmm 7y ago
  FTR the author was heavily involved in the show.
  - behindsight 7y ago
    FTR the show runners and the author had a lot of creative differences throughout the show (and especially in the later seasons) [1] > "It can be... traumatic. Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don't match, and you get the famous creative differences thing — that leads to a lot of conflict," he told Fast Company. 1: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10034023/george-rr-martin-game-of-thrones-cuts-five-more-seasons/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10034023/george-rr-mar...
jeremyjh 7y ago
It started out as a zombie show, in the very first scene you had a Nightswatch patrol being killed by Zombies. The reason the Wildlings massed and marched on the wall was because they were being savaged by zombies.
- 7y ago