Product Description

The Blight arose from nowhere. It swept across the bickering nations like the End of Times and spared only those with a single fortuitous blood type. As the numbers thinned and societies crumbled, the survivors picked their way between silent streets and looked out on the squalid new order...and reconsidered their good fortune. Hotheaded religion and territorial savagery ruled the cities now. Somewhere amidst the chaos a damaged man received a signal, and with it the tiniest flicker of hope ... and the chance to rediscover the humanity he lost, long ago, in the blood and filth and horror of the Cull.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #303974 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 400 pages

About the Author
Simon Spurrier is an award-winning writer of novels and graphic novel fiction. He’s worked extensively for the UK’s talent-factory, 2000AD, has published novels with Abaddon, the Black Library and Black Flame, and has won a series of accolades and prizes for screenwriting. He’s worked as a cook, a bookseller, a BBC Art Director and a film student. He lives in London because the night sky is a far better shade of green than anywhere else.

Customer Reviews

Nice escape from the world for a few hours
I enjoyed the heck out of this book. Love the idea of looking at the new world after global "destruction" without zombies or vampires! It was a great way to pass hours at a time in a hospital waiting room over the weekend and the reason for the adventure was one I was not expecting at the end. Worth adding to your 4 for 3 Amazon deal!

Bloody, good fun.
In The Culled, the first of the Afterblight Chronicles, Spurrier introduces a post-apocalyptic world that's vicious, deranged, horrific and a whole lot of fun. Spurrier channels the golden age of splatterpunk in describing a disease-ravaged land populated by cannibals, cultists and drug-hazed maniacs.

The main character is an ex-SAS assassin type - exactly the sort of bullet-chewing hard man/action hero that the book needs. There's not a lot of subtlety going on - but that's not what the book requires. Spurrier takes the reader on a trans-atlantic, flashback-littered journey through the world of the Culled, keen to show off as much as possible before the ink runs out.

As a result, the plot (such as it is) takes a bit of a backseat. There are clearly defined good guys and bad guys (whew), so the reader doesn't really need to know why anything is happening as much as sit back and enjoy the show. And, again, it is a pretty spectacular show. Explosions, lunatics, super-violence, more explosions, car chases, man-hunts, gladiators, cannibals... anything that can blow up and/or lose a head appears during the course of the book. The result is surprisingly creative (and a very good time).

My one objection is the vague inference of the supernatural. Spurrier carefully mocks the rise of cult-like religion, while empathetically explaining how it came about. However, one of the sidekicks (a minor protagonist in his own right) is a Native American survivor of the Cull - chosen to go on a spiritual dream-quest by his tribal elders. He's plagued by mystical omens (some of which derive from his ultra-powerful drugs) and curious portents. It is a little over-the-top, and comes close to ruining an otherwise 'science fiction' style thriller. There's also the random editorial decision that allowed entire chapters to be written in italicized text - style aside, this was a (literal) headache.

Overall, a fun, filthy (in a good way) book. The Cull is shaping up to be a great shared world from a publisher that's not afraid to take risks. The second book (Kill or Cure) is fantastic, and I look forward to pressing on with the third!

Not sure about this book (I wonder about the sequels)
Simon Spurrier, who I never heard of before stumbling across this book, is apparently an British horror writer. Having always been interested in "End of the World" stories, I immediately got Spurrier's book and began reading. Overall, the novel was average. I do not think you will necessarily regret reading it if you are a horror or end-of-the-world fan, but there are several aspects of the book I found particularly annoying.

Please forgive me for focusing on my pet peeves, but...

1) The F-bomb is used repeatedly - I mean REPEATEDLY. It's used as a noun. It's used as a verb. It's used as a modifier. It's used too often.

2) Once again, as seen in way too many end-of-the-world/sci-fi books, the military is evil.

3) Once again, as seen in way too many end-of-the-world/sci-fi books, the Christianity is evil.

4) The hero is far too perfect in terms of his ability to survive, defeat superior odds, fight his way out of impossible situations, etc. He might as well have a big red S on his chest and be able to leap tall buildings.

5) The way that the hero locates a message from his long lost love is just so over the top, although it is a lead in for a sequel. Alas, a sequel.

I have no idea if I am going to bother reading the sequel.