The Girl with All the Gifts
by Mike Carey · first published 2014
89% recommend11% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Emotional, thought-provoking zombie novel that stands out from typical genre fare by building a plausible biological model for its infection; suits readers who want science-driven sci-fi with character depth.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her "our little genius." Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh. Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau
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For a more recent sci-fi treatment, check out "The Girl With All The Gifts" by M. R. Carey, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17235026-the-girl-with-a.... A scary dystopian near-future tale of Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infecting humans.
on ““Zombie cicadas” infected with mind-controlling fungus return to West Virginia” ↗…Roger Ackroyd" (very surprising plot) Andy Weir - "The Martian" Charles Dickens - "David Copperfield" Clare Mackintosh - "I let you go" Carlos Ruiz Zafón - "The Shadow of the Wind" M.R. Carey - "The girl with all the gifts"
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?” ↗…develops in the first 75% of the book. Her thinking and information is so excellent that it's worth putting up with her moralizing towards the end. Completely fascinating research by a top rate mind. _The Girl with All the Gifts_, by M. R. Carey. Why did no one ever tell me this was a zombie story? Excellent! _Unfu*k Yourself_, by Gary John Bishop. Offensive title; great book. Advice is dead on, if not new. People need to review…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗More science fiction than just fiction: * Spider series by W. Michael Gear * Forbidden Borders series by W. Michael Gear * The Change series (aka Emberverse) by S.M. Stirling (first 6) * The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey * Dream Park by Larry Niven and Stephen Barnes * In The Country of the Blind by Michael Flynn * Me by Thomas T. Thomas * A State of Disobedience by Tom Kratman * Merchant Princess series…
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗The excellent novel The Girl With All The Gifts explores this theme
on “'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite” ↗Somewhat related. "The girl with all the gifts", which is on this subject was a great read. Emotional, thought provoking in a sea of horrible zombie related writing/TV.
on “How does a parasite create zombie-like behavior?” ↗in a single one of the zombie stories out there nobody bothered to wonder where the zombies get the energy You will enjoy the book "The Girl With All The Gifts" Spoilers in link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_with_All_the_Gifts
on “A History of the Silmarils in the Fifth Age” ↗Sounds like a prequel to the novel "The Girl with All the gifts" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Girl_with_All_the_Gifts) (great book by the way!)
on “Magic Mushrooms Injected into Man's Veins Started to Grow in Blood” ↗What a fantastic book. The movie was such a disappointment. The only let-down about WWZ was the lack of a convincing biology or physics model for the zombies. The Girl With All The Gifts does it better IMHO (only read the book, not seen the film).
on “Doomsday Ships Were Ready to Ride Out Nuclear Armageddon Before Doomsday Planes” ↗There's also the Girl with All the Gifts. Was made into a movie last year.
on “'Zombie ant' brains left intact by fungal parasite” ↗