BOOK REVIEW: "Symbiont" by Mira Grant

"Symbiont" is the second book of my favourite science fiction/horror zombie series:"Parasite", where we see Sal continue her life in a zombie infested America. Previously a duology, Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire) has now decided there will be a third instalment of the series ("Chimera") that will conclude Sal’s story, and that is one thing I am mighty glad for seeing as this book pales in comparison to the first book; now I can blame that on middle-book syndrome rather than whining about a mediocre ending to what could've been a great series. Though Grant continues to impress me with her attention to detail and the strong narrator voice, this book fell apart for me in regards to the lack of drive in terms of the plot, and where the characters were headed. This book in its entirety acts as a terrific world builder but unfortunately falls short of the kind of continuation of a story which you would expect in a sequel. 

First of all, Grant’s writing style and form remains ultimately effective in giving her dystopian zombieland dimension. Seamlessly integrated flashbacks, vivid and lush imagery, and Sal’s detailed internal monologues/narrations all form part of Grant’s strengths in providing clarity to the reader and executing well-written sci-fi/horror fiction. Within this, however, lies a certain downfall to her style of writing, which is that in parts of the novel, Grant “tells, but does not show” causing the prose in some places to sound a little forced:

“It’s not selfish to want to exist. It’s a function of the survival instinct buried in all complicated organisms. Even the Sleepwalkers had it. That is why they ate so voraciously following the deeply ingrained “this is how you survive’ commands remembered by their tapeworm minds, even as they struggled against the complicated and unfamiliar wiring of the human brain” (One of Sal’s interior monologues)

Throughout the novel, in extracts such as these, it seems as though Grant feels trapped by the first person perspective as she tries to imbue Sal with a uncharacteristically in-depth perception of the world which just says: “Man, I really wish I wrote this in third person.” It’s evident that Grant wishes to make valuable commentary on a number of issues including what it means to be human, the nature of evolution, and transphobia, but unfortunately falls short of well-integrated commentary because of the confinements of the first person perspective. While it’s important that entertainment industries make such commentaries, especially regarding transphobia, the effect of this in Grant’s book, is that it does come off as too forced, a little too much like a TedxTalk, and disrupts the natural trajectory of the story. An example of this can be seen in this interaction between Sal and Ronnie (where Ronnie is effectively a transgender character):

”Please don’t take me back,” I whispered
“I’m not going to.” [Ronnie replied]
“Why…”
“Because you’re the only person here who used the pronouns I asked them to use,” said Ronnie. He put the pistol away. “That buys you one ‘get out of jail free’ card from me.”

Here, Ronnie foils a master plan that he has effectively been a part of his whole life for Sal because she used the correct pronouns. I mean, part of me is yelling: “Noooo!!! Ronnie!!!!!! You deserve so much better than to go out of your way to reward basic human* decency!!!!” and the other part is saying: “This is an awfully forced use of social commentary to get Sal out of this situation.” But regardless of this, I appreciated the much needed transgender representation within this novel, and the numerous philosophical commentaries regarding human nature that Mira Grant has presented.

One other aspect of this book I also appreciated was the undying strength of Sal’s character. Though our leading lady is undeniably physically and, in some instances, mentally weak for the majority of the novel having to constantly overcome her phobia for cars and having her body being grotesquely violated (I would even argue: mutilated) TWICE, she remains one of the most spiritually strong characters I have read despite these unfathomable hardships. In addition to this, Sal thrives in a healthy inter-racial relationship (hell yes!!) where both she and Nathan learn and grow with each other. The only critique I have with the characterization of this novel is that there seems to be a time gap between "Parasite" and "Symbiont" where Sal is forced to adapt to new information, and this adaptation seems to be brushed over in the small time jump. As a result of this, it felt a bit fantastical to expect so little adversity in a situation where Nathan and Sal are both confronted with the fact that: (view spoiler) This felt a bit unnatural, but was not totally illogical. 

However as aforementioned, the greatest shortcoming of this novel is by far the lack of overall drive in regards to character motivations and plotline. The book, as Grant mentions briefly in the acknowledgements, is a product of the audience response which wanted more in depth detail of the inner-workings of this dystopian world over-run by this zombie virus. Because of this, the book was rich in lavish detail and scientific explanations of genetic markers and DNA splicing, and explored new possibilities such as different types of chimera/zombies but was so lacking in a direction for the story. Sure, the characters had objectives throughout the novel such as “SURVIVE!!!”, “ESCAPE!!!” and “RESCUE!!!” but these together felt like fragmented plot pieces that didn’t point to anywhere in particular. The best description of the overall plot of the novel from my impression was: “Save the human race!!! ...and maybe the zombies!!!”which is a pretty broad objective that really isn’t explored that well in the novel. Having finished the second book I don’t have a very good idea of what the third book wants to encapsulate which is a huge problem, and I predict this would cause readers to discontinue the series, and if not for the “TO BE CONTINUED” at the end of the story, perhaps they would not even suspect there was a third book because of that lack of drive and objective in the storyline. It’s because of this, I believe this series would have benefited to a very large degree, if Grant had combined this book with the third she is writing and cut out some of the smaller plotlines in "Symbiont".

That all being said, overall: I was disappointed with this novel. I had high expectations after having finished the first book "Parasite" which was one of my top two favourite books that I read in 2014. Perhaps it was my high expectations, but I know for sure, the third book "Chimera", has to be better than "Symbiont". It has to be. Logically. C’mon. Hence, I will write "Symbiont" off as having a serious case of middle-book syndrome, and wait patiently for what has to be a spectacular end to the "Parasite" series later this year.