Apocalypse Now Now (Apocalypse Now Now, #1) in SA Book & Challenge Lovers

Jan 31, 2014 Gerhard rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, sf-fantasy

When I started this I thought it was a much more imaginative book than Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, but it is let down by a thoroughly pedestrian superhero-movie ending that takes all the sting out of the satire and the wonder out of the set-up. The ending reminded me of The Avengers, The Puppet Masters and Transformers all rolled into one.

What a pity that Human did not make more of the break in the story when he gets both his protagonist and the reader to question their respective sanity. Yes, su ...more

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Dec 20, 2013 Lu rated it liked it

This interesting story is set in Cape Town, South Africa. Baxter Zevcenko goes to high school where gangs dealing in drugs, pornography etc. are at war. He happens to the be the leader of the porn gang that is slowly making a name for themselves. But when his girlfriend gets kidnapped and he starts looking for her, a dark and dangerous world of the underground paranormal opens up for him. And what he finds will blow your mind.

I loved how so many South African words, mythology and history is inco ...more

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Nov 04, 2014 Nerine Dorman rated it it was amazing

In Apocalypse Now Now, we discover right from the opening chapter that Baxter Zevcenko is, to put it mildly, not a very nice boy. At the tender age of 16, he is already a porn-peddling kingpin involved with school gangs, and he’s quite unapologetic about his calling in life. In his mind, everything’s perfect. He has enough cash, he’s manipulating others to do what he wants them to, and he has a hot girlfriend, Esmé.

Of course this is where everything starts to go south. It begins with the threat In Apocalypse Now Now, we discover right from the opening chapter that Baxter Zevcenko is, to put it mildly, not a very nice boy. At the tender age of 16, he is already a porn-peddling kingpin involved with school gangs, and he’s quite unapologetic about his calling in life. In his mind, everything’s perfect. He has enough cash, he’s manipulating others to do what he wants them to, and he has a hot girlfriend, Esmé.

Of course this is where everything starts to go south. It begins with the threat of a serial killer looming, and gets personal when Esmé goes missing, presumed kidnapped by the serial killer. Baxter’s only clue is a mysterious, glowing tooth found in Esmé’s room.

What follows is Baxter’s descent into the Mother City’s supernatural underground. Everything that he thought he knew is overturned. Fortunately, he’s not on his own, as he teams up with a mystical, ex-special forces bounty hunter, Jackson Ronin.

Their quest sees them tangling with elemental spirits and zombies, and Baxter gradually comes to realise that he stands at the centre of an eons-old conflict between a mantis and an octopus god—shades of HP Lovecraft much?

Baxter is not the hero we asked for, but he’s only one who’s going to take the blame for averting an impending apocalypse – a task for which no one will thank him due to what he has to do in order to come out on top.

Apocalypse Now Now is a gritty, action-packed quest that playfully subverts many of the tropes we encounter in popular urban fantasy, from zombies to dwarves, and generous lashings of local flavour when we encounter creatures such as a springbok faun and tokoloshes. It’s easy to see where the “Tarantino meets Neil Gaiman” applies, but I couldn’t quite help thinking of fun films like Men in Black. And, in a similar fashion, Apocalypse Now Now doesn’t take itself too seriously.

With that in mind, if you’re looking for a madcap romp filled with plenty of pop culture references and sometimes dizzying plot reversals, then you’ll likely enjoy sinking your teeth into this one. Though you may want to sit down and catch your breath afterwards. It’s a helluva ride. ...more

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Dec 25, 2013 Louise rated it liked it

This horror, fantasy is definitely original and a lot of fun. It was great reading a local story by an author that I'm sure will go places. The horror was a bit much for me - a bit too visual and definitely meant for boys - but it was a lot of fun too. For a much better worded review go here: http://cyanseagulls.wordpress.com/201... ...more

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