THE Dulwich Despatch Summer 2023
Post-apocalypse Zombie Chat
(No serious spoilers are contained in this article)
On a chilly Wednesday in February Mark Gill (Y7) attended an author talk upstairs in the Raymond Chandler Library. The event featured a live Zoom call with the renowned author Darren Charlton who wrote the popular books Wranglestone , and its sequel, Timberdark. Wranglestone is a unique zombie novel that combines elements of LGBTQ+ romance. Unlike other zombie stories, it takes place fifteen years after the start of the apocalypse and is set on an island in the middle of a lake. The town's residents live in treehouses to avoid the Restless Ones, the zombies. Among these people are two boys, Peter, the main character, and Cooper. They both love each other but are too scared and awkward to openly admit it, as they don ’ t think that the other person loves them back. Peter has always felt useless, and some of the people in his community agree with him. He is too soft, kind, and weak. He especially admires Cooper as he is so hardworking, strong, and respected in the community, which is why he believes Cooper doesn ’ t care about him. The book is about Peter overcoming his fears, with a few scary moments and plot twists between. I believe that it is an exceptionally good book that I would recommend for anyone to read. In the talk, Darren Charlton talked about his inspiration for some specific parts of the book, but the one that caught my interest was the setting of the book. He said it was based on when he went on a trip to America and some of the amazing sights he saw away from the cities, such as the huge mountains on the cover. He also said that at one point he went so far out from the towns that there was nearly no light pollution at all, and he could see the wonderful stars, some shooting stars and even Venus. This was what inspired him to set the book in the place that it is. Such a wonderful place for such a wonderful book.
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