Under a Graveyard Sky

Excellent Zombie Apocalypse Tale

Would you listen to Under a Graveyard Sky again? Why?

I've listened to Under a Graveyard Sky 4 times since downloading it. It is an excellent story about a rather unusual family and how they first avoid, then combat the spreading plague that turns intelligent human beings into raving animals

What other book might you compare Under a Graveyard Sky to and why?

I find similarities in this book to many other John Ringo books. Faith is somewhat similar to Cally from his Legacy of the Aldenata series, while her father is similar to all the best parts of both Iron Mike from the Aldenata series and Mike Harmon from the Paladin of Shadows series, both of whom are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission.As for the story itself, I haven't read any other apocalypse books, which are the only ones I can think of to compare this to.

Which character – as performed by Tristan Morris – was your favorite?

I think my favorite of Morris' characters is Steven Smith, that Australian-born naturalized-American citizen who is the father in this series. Morris' command of accents is amazing, and I love to hear it. He can switch from Australian to British to Irish to Russian with amazing alacrity, and is a wonder to hear!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Many parts evoked laughter, while many others brought on tears. Ringo's wit and writing are in top form in this book.

Any additional comments?

To the military listeners: WARNING - Morris spells out the acronyms rather than pronouncing them the way you are probably used to. Be sure you are okay with hearing M-R-A-P and S-S-G before listening. If you have a problem with this, I recommend reading the book yourself.

23 of 26 people found this review helpful

Awesome read/listen // surprisingly upbeat story

Where does Under a Graveyard Sky rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Found these (post apocalyptic) stories to be really engrossing. Mr Ringo has captured the moment. Have been a fantasy/sci-fi reader since Nam, Tolkin // Star Trek, Richardson, and this man does his job well. Have listened to all 4 and truly hate to see this series close.

Have you listened to any of Tristan Morris’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Really super to listen to // great voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me want to look around and make my own life better resistant to others whom might wish to intrude.

Any additional comments?

Well done Mr Ringo.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Great Entertainment

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Definitely worth a credit!! If you don't let yourself get wrapped up around the "details" ...

What was one of the most memorable moments of Under a Graveyard Sky?

This is not your typical "Z" story. The virus is hopefully just very imaginative fiction but the backstory detailing the delivery method, transmission vector, and official and unofficial actions leading up to the bridges coming down...was crafted very well. It built the post Z world that the Smith family is left to deal with.

Which character – as performed by Tristan Morris – was your favorite?

The narrator does especially good work delivering Faith's lines considering their absurdity when applied to "our" reality .... But I must say, since I have listened to this series twice...His performance of all the characters is highly crafted.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

If you are left to survive in this post apocalyptic world...remember to, Keep Faith Alive...

Any additional comments?

Faith is a complete stretch but if you disregard the absurdity of her age in relation to her abilities....she rocks!

12 of 14 people found this review helpful

Interesting beginning that goes nowhere.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would have liked it much better if it had stuck with the intense, serious tone it started with rather than turning into cheese after the first few chapters. Its really too bad, the basic premise of this book is a good one and the characters, at least at first, where pretty likable

Would you recommend Under a Graveyard Sky to your friends? Why or why not?

To my OMGZombies! friends I would recommend it, it has some fun parts and the writing is solid. But to my actual prepper friends, the kind who have actual disaster codes in place and view the zompoc as a metaphor for what is really going to happen to the world after about three weeks without electricity, no. There is nothing here for the serious survivalist, too much is just ridiculous. A 13 year old girl wearing 120lbs of gear jumping into a ship and slaughtering dozens of zombies single handedly? Yeah, I don't think so. It would have been hard to believe if it had been a navy Seal, its impossible to believe when its a young, civilian teenager.

Also this author seems to know very little about real world guns and a lot of about internet stereotypes. You would think Ringo would know better but as others have hinted at, I think this book was ghost written.

What about Tristan Morris’s performance did you like?

He did a good job with the accents, which was appropriate for the characters but it did get annoying eventually.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe. It probably would have made a better movie than a book.

30 of 38 people found this review helpful

Very disappointing

What could John Ringo have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

John Ringo can be brilliant or ridiculous depending upon the project. I think he does his best work when working with another author. Unfortunately this one went way outside the realm of plausible given the scenario (banks having medical research labs, concerts at the ende of the world in nyc etc). Unfortunately it was just a bit too much for me

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

dissapointment. The troy rising series is great though

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

High hopes

I have other good listens from this author and like zombie stories. However this is pretty bad even as background sound.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

returned it

I'm as unthrilled with this book as the characters are with the ZA. really this is the most nonchalant people in a crisis I've ever see. and unrealistic doesn't begin to describe the situations and characters in the book. We first start off with an ultra careful family that doesn't want to be around anyone to the same family allowing a 13 year old girl to rowm a zombie infested building all by herself?!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Boring Zombies?

Would you try another book from John Ringo and/or Tristan Morris?

I've read quite a few Ringo books, none by Morris.

Would you ever listen to anything by John Ringo again?

Of course! just not this series

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I'm 18 chapters into a 32 chapter book and it's STILL boring. I can't count how many zombie books I've read but this one is by far the worst. It looks to be a series of books. What should be an introductory chapter or two, seems to be the whole book.

Any additional comments?

John Ringo is better than this. What went wrong?

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Had High hopes for it

Has Under a Graveyard Sky turned you off from other books in this genre?

No I enjoy the Zombie Apocalypse genre. And will probably get another book in the DEAD series because the characters are interesting and likable

Which character – as performed by Tristan Morris – was your favorite?

I guess I would pick Tom the Uncle.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was pretty much feeling Disappointment

Any additional comments?

I was actually considering get the second book just to give it a try but when part of the preview at the end of the book was the one marine explaining to the female navy cook that she better like being passed around between five guys because she had no choice in the matter. I decided I had better uses for my time.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Could have been so much more

I wasn't to sure about this book when I started it since zombies isn't really my thing, but after a bit I thought I could really enjoy this book. Besides the performance not making it very clear which character was talking the hook became very technical with types of guns & military jargon. I really wanted to like it but I couldn't even finish it even when there was only 1 1/2 hours left. It was extremely gory to add to the confusion & the plot kinda got lost along the way as more & more characters were added. If you like gory military zombie apocalypse then maybe you'll love this book though you might want to read it rather than try to figure out who is talking from minute to minute as scenes change & more characters are competing for your attention.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful