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Severance: Review

Severance by Ling Ma is a post-apocalyptic novel with an interesting twist on the zombie genre. Instead of becoming flesh-hungry monsters, infected people start a slow decline during which they mechanically repeat routines from their lives. Unfortunately for the story, this ratchets down the survival urgency, leaving only the "survivors turn on each other" part of any extended zombie tale.

The gradual decay of Manhattan, and the decline of the population and public services, is intriguing and believably portrayed. And there is genuine drama towards the end. But overall it felt more like a documentary than a compelling page-turner.

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Last modified on 20 Feb 2025 by AO

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