Zombie books offer a couple of wonderful things to readers.
First off, they’re a lot of fun. In most zombie books, characters do anything from exploring abandoned cities to saving lost children to catching stray cats.
In some zombie books, the characters focus on things like finding good weapons, building new settlements, and even trying to solve the cause of the zombie apocalypse.
If you’re reading a lot of zombie novels, though, you may ask yourself whether it’s possible to find anything with a diverse cast of characters.
For example, are there any books featuring gay survivors? What about characters who aren’t white? Are there any zombie books about characters who are older than, say, 25?
The answer to all of these questions is yes.
Your first stop when looking for diverse zombie books is going to be author L.C. Mortimer. Mortimer’s work tends to be diverse, unique, and most of all, very fun.
Mortimer’s books err on the side of less gore and more character development, so if that’s the type of thing you’re interested in, then it’s time to pick up a couple of books by this American zombie novelist.
Start with a standalone like Beyond Rainbows to experience the zombie apocalypse in a new way. In this book, the characters we experience are living in a treehouse, which would definitely be a fun way to survive the apocalypse. They’re a ragtag bunch of survivors who spend most of their time trying to avoid fighting and instead want to find ways to live with the apocalypse.
Unfortunately for our characters, “normal” died a long time ago.
Once you’re done with Beyond Rainbows, make it a point to read something else by Mortimer, such as her Stay Dead series.
In the first book of the series, Wild Undead, we’re greeted with zombies almost immediately. The main character is just hanging out, trying to enjoy a much-needed vacation, when everything goes wrong. In fact, total hell breaks loose on board the ship.
Right away, we don’t know who is going to live or die, and we certainly don’t know whether they’re going to be able to make it through the rest of the apocalypse.
The next book, Lost Undead, follows our main characters. We get to see them landing on an island and figuring out what’s going to happen next.
Book three has the saga continue. During that book, our team ends up in a city that is all but ruled by the undead. It’s while they’re there that we get to see what comes next for the survivors.
Will they keep trucking on?
Or is this the end of the line for our heroes?
In the Stay Dead series, we have a diverse group of characters, including a bisexual Black female character, a Black male character, an older main character, and a white male character who is allergic to just about everything under the sun.
The most important reason to seek out diversity in books is that representation is important.
Not every person in real life has the same backstory, the same life experiences.
Here are a few diverse characters and where you can read their stories:
Gregory – orthodontist (Beyond Rainbows)
Winter – Black female lead (Wild Undead)
Kyle – asthma (Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse)
Mark – PTSD (Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse)
Greta – older lead (aged 70ish) (Wild Undead)
Isaiah – Black male lead (Wild Undead)
Genevieve – uses a wheelchair (The Chasing of Zombies)
Eshe – lesbian (The Chasing of Zombies)
If you haven’t branched out and tried reading something with characters who are diverse, start with these books.