The Good

Graveyard of Empires begins as a powerful narrative about a group of soldiers who are struggling with the ongoing war in Afghanistan. As they struggle to win the hearts and minds of the people of Afghanistan, to deal with insurgent attacks, and to protect themselves, the book gracefully, and rather tactfully, documents the personal struggles of these soldiers to rectify what exactly they are doing in a country that does not want them.

MINOR SPOILERS BELOW

Graveyard of Empires sets itself up to be a gripping story about the futility of the war in Afghanistan and the toll it takes on the individuals on both sides.

And then, zombies.

The Bad

Suddenly, out of nowhere, zombies begin to appear. No real reference is made to how they got there, and the once graceful and human pages turn to a rather cliched zombie book. I won’t go into detail too far, but the book even picks up the evil corporation behind the zombie attack trope, and yet leaves stuff unexplained.

I cannot help but feel the author was sincerely onto something, but then, about halfway through, someone up the corporate line just started to demand more marketable material and consequently inserted the ever-so-popular zombie.

The Verdict

If you go into Graveyard of Empires expecting a zombie book, you have a decent one. It hits all the classic horror requirements. It doesn’t do anything new but paints a new color on the outside of the genre. The writing is quite good, and the art fits the subject material in terms of displaying the grotesque in a stylized manner.

If you go into Graveyard of Empires expecting a gripping war novel, you might be a little disappointed. I was ready to read 100+ pages about these soldiers’ problems, addictions, return home, ect., but what I got was an action movie. A good action movie, but not what I was hoping for.