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The Last Bastion of the Living
by Rhiannon Frater
Publication date: June 12th 2012
Genres: Adult, Horror, Science Fiction

Synopsis:
The Bastion was humanity’s last hope against the fearsome undead creatures known as the Inferi Scourge. A fortified city with a high wall, surrounded by lush land rich with all the resources needed to survive, protected by high mountain summits, and a massive gate to secure the only pass into the valley, the Bastion became the last stronghold of the living on earth. But one fateful day, the gate failed and the Inferi Scourge destroyed the human settlements outside the walls and trapped the survivors inside the city. Now decades later, the last remaining humans are struggling to survive in a dying city as resources and hope dwindle.

Vanguard Maria Martinez has lived her whole life within the towering walls of steel. She yearns for a life away from the overcrowded streets, rolling blackouts, and food shortages, but there is no hope for anyone as long as the Inferi Scourge howl outside the high walls. Her only refuge from the daily grind is in the arms of her lover, Dwayne Reichardt, an officer in the Bastion Constabulary. Both are highly-decorated veterans of the last disastrous push against the Inferi Scourge. Their secret affair is her only happiness.

Then one day Maria is summoned to meet with a mysterious representative from the Science Warfare Division and is offered the opportunity to finally destroy the Inferi Scourge in the valley and close the gate. The rewards of success are great, but she will have to sacrifice everything, possibly even her life, to accomplish the ultimate goal of securing the future of humanity and saving it from extinction.

Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of over a dozen books, including the As the World Dies zombie trilogy (Tor), as well as independent works such as The Last Bastion of the Living (declared the #1 Zombie Release of 2012 by Explorations Fantasy Blog and the #1 Zombie Novel of the Decade by B&N Book Blog), and other horror novels. Her next novel for Tor, Dead Spots, will be published in 2014. She was born and raised a Texan and presently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets). She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.

Dystopian

World Building

for

THE LAST BASTION OF THE LIVING

Rhiannon Frater

After I finished writing my zombie trilogy AS THE WORLD DIES (THE FIRST DAYS, FIGHTING TO SURVIVE, and SIEGE) in 2009, I was done with zombies for a bit. I turned to other types of monsters (vampires, necromancers, mummies, werewolves,) writing both short stories and a few novels.

Yet, I was faced with a fandom that really doesn’t like me to stay away from the zombies for too long.

I’d been toying with a dystopian short story on and off for a year. It was one of those ideas born of a dream that felt like the great beginning to a story. This particular idea started with two characters, Dwayne and Maria, and I was instantly in love with them. I wanted to know more about them and their world. As I began to pull the internal camera back a bit to get a good view of their surroundings, I realized the story and the world was much bigger than I had anticipated. It was definitely not a short story. It was something much bigger and more challenging.

And the best part, it had a different kind of zombie called the Inferi Scourge.

I recognized I would have to immediately set this world apart from the AS THE WORLD DIES universe. It was most definitely going to be a dystopian world, but how was I going to construct it?

The title was the first thing that helped me. THE LAST BASTION OF THE LIVING immediately established a setting. A bastion is a fortress. I already knew the story was going to partially take place within a dying city…the last living city of humanity, in fact.

The concept is pretty simple. The last-known city of humanity is tucked into an isolated valley with a massive gate as its only entry. I knew that at some point the gate had failed and allowed the zombie-like creatures in the story called the Inferi Scourge to invade the valley, forcing the humans to withdraw into the city. But the city itself was a challenge.

Obviously, the city in the valley started out as a utopian ideal. Cut off from the world ravaged by a virus that creates dangerous undead who want nothing more than to bite and spread the virus, the valley, its resources, and the city were a shiny new beginning. So in my mind, I had to create utopia first.

So what would a city be like that was built to be the last bastion of humanity?

The walls that surround the city that houses well over a million people are high and made of steel. On the walls are massive guns called Maelstrom Platforms. The military buildings are located near the wall, while the government facilities rest near the center of the city.

Housing so many people means that they would live in flats in multi-level buildings. Because of the threat of the Inferi Scourge infiltrating the city, each building has a collapsible stairway that leads to a second floor entry. People aren’t able to have vehicles like cars, so there is an extensive subway and monorail system to ferry people across the vast city.

The valley outside the city provides all the resources the city needs to survive. Farms, ranches, a hydroelectric station next to a lake, and mining facilities are vital to the long-term survival of the city. A massive gate protects the only pass into the valley, keeping the Inferi Scourge out.

All these elements made up the New Eden, the home of The Bastion.

Once I had utopia established, I destroyed it.

The gate fails. The Inferi Scourge swarm into the valley, killing the hundreds of thousands of people living and working outside the city, and force the leaders of The Bastion to close the city gates, trapping the remaining millions inside the walls.

With the city cut off from the valley, it’s fully dependent on the resources already stored inside its walls. Soon, the subway and monorail systems shut down. Rolling blackouts become a way of life. The population grows and more prefab buildings are constructed, making the city even more cramped. City parks are destroyed to create more living space while buildings along the wall are razed to the ground to create fields. Because the city is cut off, clothes, shoes, furniture, electronics, etc. are remade, refurbished, and salvaged to make new things.

Utopia becomes dystopia.

Add in the undead Inferi Scourge howling outside the walls and the world of The Bastion came into being.

The world that surrounds my main characters is close to collapse and utter destruction. Life is fragile and they know it. The world itself creates tension in the lives of Maria and Dwayne and inspires them to great feats of bravery.

In many ways, The Bastion itself is another character in the book, rich with personality and history. World building is not always easy, but it can add so much to a tale. Especially one like THE LAST BASTION OF THE LIVING.

REVIEW: (Previously reviewed on Goodreads)

Rhiannon Rhiannon Rhiannon!!! That was awesome!

Again Rhiannon put me right in the middle of this book. The Last Bastion, a walled city, has been cut off from everything. They have a shortage of food and the electricity is sporadic. Outside the walls the Inferi Scourge otherwise known as zombies, are pressing against the walls.. The Bastion has to set out on one last mission to try and save humanity as they know it. If they can just get outside the walls and get rid of the Infei Scourge the people can again have power and grow food to survive. The Science Warfare division decide to turn some of there military into Scourge to wipe out the Inferi. In comes Maria. She is one BAD soldier, great friend and a ZOMBIE. KILLER. This book had so much going for it-action and romance.

I so wish that Maria and Dwayne's story could go on and on! I hate that this is a stand alone novel! :( And for those of you who haven't read it, it is definitely the one of the best zombie stories I have read. This is why I continue to be a HUGE fan of Rhiannon's work. :)

5 HOOTS... AWESOME book... hands down!