Corpses in Wonderland

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Malcolm Nelson, a psychotic army captain, recollects the life he's lived while facing the beginning of a mysterious pandemic that reanimates the infected into homicidal Berserkers. The onset of the apocalypse forces Malcolm to reckon with his own heinous morals, foul misdeeds, and abject madness, so that he and the soldiers serving under him may see a new day.*Expect 2-3 new chapters every week.*Flashback and Progressive chapters; a journey to the begining and end.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2024
Author: AndrosWorldEnder

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 5.0/ 5.0
Followers: 17
Views: 9,979

Chapters(45 total)

Reviews

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Community Reviews(3)

LiamVIRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I got lost in this one. The prologue is confusing, and arguably the weakest chapter, but everything after that was fantastic. Once I started, I couldn't stop myself and caught up when I had every intention of only reading 10k words.
Style: Bold, confusing at times, yet treads the line between chaotic and coherent when those tones suit the chapter, or scene, best. I didn't really like it at first, but after a couple chapters and the opportunity to grasp the rhythm I started to enjoy it much more. I think the font choice actually played a big part, though that might be a personal bias, as I usually find it harder to read when a non-standard font is used on RR.
Story: Tense and personal, the insight into the life of the stoic Malcolm and the psychotic Carnal Beast is a fantastic setting for an apocalyptic story. It feels realistic, even the uncomfortable bits, and although we're only just now starting to embark on the "apocalyptic" element of the story I'm sincerely looking forward to learning what comes next.
Grammar: No major concerns, completely readable and with only a few very minor mistakes.
Character: While I feel the nature of the story means it'll take longer to start to unravel Malcolm's true character, thus far the characterisation is excellent, in my opinion. I'm interested in learning more about Malcolm, the depictions of his self-inflicted misery are corporeal and relatable, and the dichotomy between the two characters that exist as part of the whole has a lot of future potential.
You've earned a follower in me!
Mischievous HundRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This has a strong pull on the narrative tension within the story. The war elements And characters enhanced the storytelling; the soldiers’ lines were realistic – even under great pressure.
Strengths:
Atmosphere & Tension: The author's description of events, mostly with the usage of military terms and the description of places, generates a powerful resonance. There is a deep sense that disaster and combat looms in the distance.
Character Development: The inner conflict of Dillon, especially the maturing relationship with the other soldiers, like Ramirez and Holmes, is rather captivating as well. The interactions of these characters are quite stressful and realistic thereby adding value to the character.
Action Sequences: The action in and around the patient and final gun sequences is a focal point that is concisely highlighted. This ensures that there is a good pace throughout those particular critical scenes.
Areas for Improvement:
Pacing: Generally, the narrative achieves the aspects of tension related to a particular plot as well. Nevertheless, some places did not feel so comfortable.
Dialogue Flow: Particularly during some actions where combat takes place, some of the conversations that transpired, especially the written pieces of dialogue, did seem to be reaching a fever pitch.
This piece delivers a highly immersive military atmosphere, filled with tension and realistic character interactions. The author excels at crafting vivid environments, like the chaotic camp and the high-stakes situation surrounding Private Dillan. The descriptions of the setting, particularly the military vehicles, weapons, and procedures, make the world feel grounded and authentic. The action sequences are gripping, especially during the confrontation with the infected patient, which adds intensity to the plot and highlights the horror elements.
However, some areas could benefit from refinement. First, the pacing could be improved, especially in sections where characters are simply movin
PhilOxnardRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style: The general writing style reminds me of Stephen King, which is very high praise (he's one of my favorite authors particularly because of his writing style). The use of dialogue quips and quotes from songs throughout the text helps to build up the world as well as MC Malcolm's relation to it. While the style is overall solid, I'm docking half a point for (in my opinion) excessive use of italics - almost every sentence seems to have at least one word italicized for emphasis, which makes it lose its punch.
Story: A slow burn that opts to focus on the life and troubles of its protagonist instead of digging into the "hooky" premise of a zombie apocalypse is a bold choice, but I think it largely works out. Zombie stories can very easily bleed into one another and become bland or forgettable, but the author's choice to focus heavily on Malcolm's history, his inner demons, and his relationship with his fellow soldiers promises to make this story a memorable one. I'd like to get to the action a bit quicker, but that's just my taste - I really appreciate that the author is willing to take their time to ensure that we really know who we're dealing with before breaking into the second act.
Grammar: No typos or grammatical issues from what I saw. Other than the italics thing I mentioned earlier (which is totally fine grammatically), everything flows really nicely without any issues or errors to take me out of the story.
Character: Malcolm is as three dimensional and fleshed out a protagonist as anyone could hope for. While he borders on being unlikeable because of how much of a psychopathic asshole he is, it's tough not to root for someone who acknolwedges his faults and has relateable problems. The care and effort put into sculpting Malcolm's personality and backstory makes this story feel less like a military thriller and more like a character study, which is actually really cool. I don't think I've watched or read any stories that attempt to draw such a detailed charac