islam-halahla

This was a book with a very important premise: Which is cooler, zombies or unicorns? The whole debate, and the deeply entrenched opinions on each side, are wonderfully reminiscent of the great astronauts vs. cavemen debate (on this, as in almost everything else, I'm Team Angel. Er, I mean Team Astronaut). Two authors, Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier lead two teams of authors, Team Unicorn and Team Zombie respectively, in writing stories. The stated purpose was to determine which were cooler. The real purpose, of course, was to create a fun romp of an anthology. They succeeded. Each story was introduced by both Holly and Justine discussing how this story tips the balance toward or away from their chosen team. The banter was extremely amusing, and reminded me of many similar debates I've had with my friends over the years. To no one's surprise whatsoever, I came down firmly on the side of Team Unicorn. Holly's opinions pretty much echo my own: I don't care for shambling, disease, or the walking dead. I liked best the zombie stories where I could pretend they were "some other kind of undead thing I like." (Holly rocks, by the way. I must find more books by her. Or invite her to my next party.) I had to grit my teeth to get through the creepy zombie stories. Eugh. But I loved the unicorn stories (even the upsetting ones). The thing is, I understand Team Zombie's point of view. Zombies are a great metaphor for human society. They are entropy made animate and a perfect cipher for commercialism, materialism, and soullessness. But I just don't like them. I like unicorns. Even the ones whose farts smell like rainbows, and who live in Fairyland, and prefer virgins as company. It's the same as the way that I can recognize that lots of music is much more sophisticated and deep and worthy than my happy country music; I just like country music and unicorns better. (I feel like I ought to burst into a rendition of "Fireflies" by Patty Griffin. Or, even better, Faith Hill.) I want all my friends to read this book, so I can see if my guess of who would be which team is correct.

2023-06-08 06:40