Novella Review: Odium Origins by Claire C. Riley

Author: Claire C. Riley
Series: Dead Saga 0.5
Genre: Horror, Zombies
Expected Publication: December 27, 2013



When hell claws its way up from the dark depths of the earth, and the dead begin to walk again, for several people the zombie apocalypse doesn’t just mean the end of the world as they know it, it is also the beginning of a brave new life for them. For some it offers freedom, for others a deeper torment and unforgiving life than they ever thought possible.

The coward, the street rat, the hero, and the lovers, everyone has their place. What really decides their fate in this new existence, nature, or nurture? Who they become when the world goes to hell is the true decider on their own humanity, and will ultimately decide their fates.

Forever changed, they have to learn to adapt to this dangerous and dark new world before they become one of the living dead themselves.

Odium Origins is an accompaniment to the novel Odium. It contains several short stories featuring some of the characters that you lovedto hate from the novel Odium.

ReviewOdium origins is a prequel Novella to the main book Odium. In it we get to peak into the lives of the characters on the days right before and after the Zombie Apocalypse started.  What I like about Prequel Novella's is how we get to see missing pieces of the story without dragging down the main narrative with endless pages of world and character building. Odium Origins succeeds in expanding upon what we already had learned in the main book while still leaving enough mystery about events during the timeline pre-Odium that should another Novella be written we could see more from these characters lives without the information already learned feeling repetitive.  Another thing I found interesting was that I didn't have to necessarily like the characters or their actions to understand why they made them. Crunch in the main book is cold and off putting and she's no better in this Novella. Yet, seeing her home life and the hell she was put through made me a bit more sympathetic to her plight. What surprised me the most was how much I found myself hating Duncan. What a bastard. All the sympathy I had for him in Odium went out the window after reading this that's for sure. J.D.'s story was my favorite and based on the length of it I can tell the Author was a fan as well. So heartbreaking to read but also we can see how it shaped his life in the after. I'm pretty sure his story also explains in a roundabout way who The Forgotten are and like I said in my Review for Odium I don't think they are necessarily bad (not all anyway) just misguided. I also should mention Steven and his wife Jane. I liked their tale as well. Wish it had been just a smidgen longer though.  My only issue with Odium Origins was the lack of Mikey. I wanted to see some mention of his pre-outbreak days but instead we meet him after the events have started and only long enough to know that my assumptions about Crunch and him were true. I was really hoping it wasn't because it seems like he really did just drop Crunch when Nina came around because she was a  new piece of ass he could conquer. Sorta makes me dislike him a bit now as it makes him seem like a womanizer vs. a guy who didn't reciprocate the feelings of a girl whose obviously head over heels for him. Hopefully he can be redeemed in Odium's sequel.   Final ThoughtsIf you wanted to know a bit more about the characters in Odium then definitely pick this Novella up. It's fast paced, well written and action packed with Zombie slaying goodness. With that being said, I will be rating Odium Origins by Claire C. Riley ★★★★. *Copy reviewed received from Author. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any which way  for providing them

Want to learn more about this Novella or the Author who wrote it? Click below!
Claire C. Riley:
Goodreads Page 
www.clairecriley.com
@ClaireCRiley
Facebook Page 

Want to check out my review of Odium? Click Here!