Dr. Z's Zombie Apocalypse

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Doctor Abraham Henry Zolnikov has spent the last seven years isolated in his orbital laboratory, watching the Earth below descend into chaos. A biological virus and a nanite programming virus have combined to create flesh eating, mindless abominations that hunt all other living things for food. Human civilization fell in a matter of weeks. There has been no indication of any living survivors on Earth's surface for over two years. As far as he knows, he is the last living human in the entire solar system.

Then one day the power begins to fail on the space station he’s called home for over a decade. Stepping outside the lab will be risky. But remaining means certain death. The good doctor is a curious man, however. If he manages to survive, who knows what hidden secrets he will discover?

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2022
Author: Dan Lane

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.7/ 5.0
Followers: 308
Views: 135,736

Chapters(63 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

KryFasterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Awesome read, really engaging and interesting.
-Style
I love the jornal format as it shows what needs to be shown and told without overexplaining or giving unnecessary information, Moreover it is in sync with the MC.
-Grammar
Only some typos and small mistakes, the grammatical structures are inmersive and match the writing style and Mc.
-Story
It is well though and planned, a must read for Sci-fic readers. Everything has a meaning and an origin. The world-building is also good although we still couldn't see much of it as the story is motsly still told in the Walker. Even them we can glimpse it on the last 20 chapters overall and of course the own Walker background is enough to write a ton of chapters.
-Character
The Mc is well written and in persona, the author doesn't makes any slips while writing him, which helps with how the story is told. As for the rest of the characters we can see that each one has his own personality altough we still would need more chap to see how they are really structured as the Mc is antisocial.
On my part i would really love if the future Mc could develop a bit of human affection (For what we could see it's probably on the plan of the author, as the Mc has talked various times about changing himself) , andddd maybe get togheter with our catgirl Doctor, i really like the sync and interactions betwen them and can feel the tension even while reading.
Now for the subjetive part i loved to read what we had. I had always looked for a realistic Z-apoc but i hardly ever found something worth it until i found this jewel.
Dear author , i hope you can retake this someday in the future and can tell the story. I really don't want to get another Scourged Earth situation :c
For the new readers, give it a try , it's worth it, even if there are only 57 chap each one is long and juicy. Really worth of your time.
ShustrikeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I really like the story and the writing style utilized here. Putting zombies in a more realistic scifi setting has worked well and feels more unique than typical fare of the genre giving a feeling of a civilzation similar to that of The Expanse series, looking foward to seeing how the rest of it goes.
Cyoa11aaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I will try to avoid spoilers but do be warned that it may be impossible while describing story elements, you have been warned.
So do you like Journalling, Sci Fi, or Zombies???? Well then this story is right for you! Dr. Z's Zombie Apocalypse is a Zombie survial story that begins on a space station and is written in a journal style which is very uncommon on RR but works so well in this story.
Style:
The journal format of Dr. Z's Zombie Apocalypse seems to be very well attuned to this sort of story. A journal pov puts the focus on important events in the character's life while leaving out the more routine events that one would have while living for 7 years on a derelict space station. This allows a greater insight to our main character while keeping the focus on the events inside the Space station.
Grammer:
Nothing more than the very occasional gramatical mistake 5/5
Character: Spoilers
So now we have more than one guy on a space station and now we get to compare the author's character design with each other. we havent had much in the way of "page time" with the new guys yet but im sure that whatever happens that it'll be intresting.
Story: Spoilers
Having just met 2 (or 3 depending on your definition of character) additional characters have expanded the story from a Dr Z's struggle with zombies into Dr Z's struggle with zombies and people. Until that point the story was lacking a bit, after all the survival of a single human amid a world of infected does not make for an espessicaly compelling narrative
BullerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I know it's not meant to be direct comedy but I did snigger a little while getting through this story. With the sci-fi aspect, it allows the author to be creative to a weird degree. While I do have some complaints about the lack of ducks as the main attraction, it is overall a brilliant little thing
Style might feel a little hasty at times but I'm guessing that's due to the hurry this was written in. Grammar is fine tho. 5/5
SrayanRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Story:
Really impressed with this story. A genuinely "novel" story concept in the tradition of great SF. The basic concept involves an interaction between biotech and nanotech that has gone disastrously wrong. Ergo a major Z problem.
And it's in space. At least a Pan-Solar space culture, so we aren't talking a Galactic Arm level Civ here, although the tone of the early chapters definitely reminds me of some of Banks "Culture" novels. That's down to the MC - a fascinatingly hyper-rational character even before his other special talents and accomplishments are factored in. Hopefully he will hack into his own psych evaluation in a later chapter - I would love to read his thoughts on such a document.
Character:
Our hero starts (as far as he knows) alone on a station infested by zombies. He is basically a wizard-scientist, wizard in the sense that what he does is based in science as we know it but so far advanced that it would be magic to us, and is not all that understandable to people of his own time either. He is also a special character in the personality sense - of a type that you occasionally find in great SF. And Yes he does find and rescue other survivors - this is a major inflexion point in the story.
Style: the inflexion point (multiple survivors) allows the starting journal style (reminiscent of some "Culture" novels), to transition to a more socially oriented style. Both styles are written very well, although the journal style helps to emphasise just what a weird situation he is in. Most non SF-loving readers will probably prefer the social style. But real SciFi fans will totally get the journal style - because it emphasises just how alone the MC is for the first arc. The focus is more intense with this style. To me it is like "Black and White" in an art-house movie, done well it enhances the focus and intensity of the story. By definition this involves a bit of "tell" compared with social style, simply because there are no discussions that can be used to tr
167fiveRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a nice, well-rounded story. I love the idea of a doctor stuck in orbit, while humans are being hunted by zombies. I like the realism of the zombies, and the realistic way the government and people reacted to the virus.
The only complaint I have is that there isnt enough of showing, just telling. Im quite confused if this is a log or the doctors pov, due to the multiple different changes in ways the author presents the story.
However, this is still a great story with a very original plot. I would definately recommend new readers to give this a try.
ItsFREEEEEEERoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Play by play journals of a pedantic zombie apocalypse survivor in space. Less 'the martian' and more actiony and in the moment. Author tries to insert the nerdy 'how does that work' thought in frequently, which I appreciate.
IMO, the story could use a bit more quiet moments and clear description of characters plans for how to get thru an upcoming situation, but I think author is trying to keep up the level of suspense.
Dragonslayer4466Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
My main appreciation for this novel, is how the author manages to make the mc seem smart. The word choice, how he talks it all helps him actually seem like a reasearcher. Other thn that the descriptiveness is also appreciated. The combat seems fairly realistic, and the characters seem realistic too.
OGsecurityvikingRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
The story, while interesting in its own right, is one I have a hard time focusing on. I have no idea how or why this is, but for some reason, I simply can't keep my attention on the words I am reading. It is not meant as something negative about the story, it is merely meant to explain a personal issue I, for some reason, have with this story.
The style is fairly straightforward, mostly a first-person perspective from our main character. It can be hard to differ between inner monologue/thoughts and general description at times. I suggest using "or * to mark thoughts. Some more breaks in the text would also be great. sometimes, I feel like I am looking at a wall of text, despite the plentiful spacing. Other than that, the style is fairly good.
The grammar is great both in simple grammar and in sentence structure. At no point am I in doubt about what the author is attempting to communicate in terms of the story.
The story itself is nothing not seen before. A scientist, forgotten in a distant part of the lab eventually exits to discover hell has been let loose upon Earth. I find his quick adaptation to violence and general lack of mental breakdown at the ramifications of his situation a bit unbelievable from a man of science and ethics, but, be that as it may.
The character is well written. As expected from a scientist, much inner monologuing going on and a lot of thoughts between situations. Sometimes even a bit many, but one would expect a researcher to have a habit of going on a tangent.
Overall, I'm giving this story 4 stars. Once I got past my own inhibitions, I found myself enjoying the story. will continue to read in the future.
Dusty_GlamourRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Style: The Style, as mentioned in the title, uses Telling a lot and proves the fact that most rules of writing on the internet are just advice. If anything, the fact that it's told makes the story stand out. If it only showed, then it'd just be another zombie book among the hundreds of others but the fact that it's told makes it stand out. Can't say I'm a fan of it, but it works oddly well.
By the way, I mean the First Person POV, not the Telling. The Telling is perfect.
Grammar: There are slight issues for paragraph structure but aside from that, all is good. The few typos that were there weren't discernible enough to matter.
Story: The weakest part. It just feels like a long and drawn out rambling rather than any actual story so far. Maybe it's the pacing, or maybe it's just the excess of telling that's taking its toll on it. The fact that the chapters are decently large is the only solace of that. If chapters were as small as the Royal Road standard, it definitely wouldn't work.
Character: We see everything through the lens of the narrator, and as such, it shows their personality perfectly well. It'd be worrying if the Character score wasn't high with a style like this. It just screams "Hey, look at me! Get into my head!"
Suggestion: Maybe shorten the chapter names and use the Volume function to your advantage? It's just my OCD speaking, and from what my understanding of people online is, it'd be better to cater to the folk with OCD. It also has the benefit of looking more organized.