I’m a fairly serious fan of end of the world fiction. If it’s zombies rising up against the tide of humanity, I’m there. Strange lights causing physics to stop and reverting back to blade and club? Count me in. Giant comet slamming into the world – yup! I enjoy all of these stories, which is why I was pretty excited to receive a copy of Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse.
I find that end of the world stories tend to fall into two basic categories in which there’s some overlap. Fast and fun reads, and books worthy of reading. A book like The Road is not a fast and fun read, but it is certainly worth reading. We’re forced to watch as a man and his son wander through a wasteland making choices no person should be faced with. We’re reminded sentence by sentence that our moral compass can be compromised by so many outside forces and we’re forced to look deep within ourselves after reading the Road.
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse is not that kind of book. It is fast paced, entertaining and full of twists, paced well enough to keep me coming back and light enough that I could read it easily in a few sittings. Quick and fun with enough of a deeper meaning to make you think about what you’ve just read. It’s irreverent enough that I was chuckling to myself while reading and good enough that I didn’t want to stop.
We follow Mortimer, who’s escaped his almost ex-wife’s desire for signatures on divorce papers by holing up in a mountain cabin just as the end of the world arrives. After 9 years of isolation Mort re-enters society, pairs up with a cowboy emulating Buffalo Bill and finds out that civilization is all but dead, with only a series of strip clubs holding the meager threads together.
That sets us up for a wild ride where the Armageddon dollar is supreme, Joey Armageddon’s Sassy A-Go-Go clubs are holding things together between wild stretches of wasteland run by gangs and cannibals and the Red Czar, holed up in the fabled city of Atlanta wants to end it all so he can corner the market on booze.
Victor Gischler has given us a novel that’s full of guns, sex, adventure and the end of the world and still pulls off an entertaining read as we watch Mort adjust from a solitary survivor to an active, gun toting, platinum club Joey Armageddon’s card wielding member of society. The action is non-stop and at times the plot feels a bit surreal but then in a world where strip clubs offer salvation surreal is pretty much the norm.
The Pros
Fun, fast paced and easy to read. The plot throws heavy objects at you and changes rapidly in unexpected ways which is a good thing. The characters are likable and human. The end of the world hasn’t been so much fun since Good Omens.
The Cons
The book could have been a bit meatier. There is a good deal of graphic sex and violence, which while not necessarily a con, should be considered if you don’t want that sort of thing in your apocalypse.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking for an end of the world novel that combines the fast paced elements of an action flick with the survival sensibilities of a modern western with a dusting of black humor you’ll do well by Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse.
The Stats
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Touchstone (July 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416552251
ISBN-13: 978-1416552253
Price: $14.00 retail ($11.20 at Amazon.com)
Technorati Tags: book, review, go-go girls, apocalypse, end of the world
Popularity: 2% [?]
February 25th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Go-go-girls :OO
June 13th, 2011 at 9:04 am
Old Enron with hopefully just the money making parts.