I have read this book 3 times, and I am listening to it on audible, but I still can't figure out the entire length of time from the beginning of the outbreak to the point where everyone is being recorded.
For example, I remember in the beginning that it had been 12 years since the US was liberated, and a decade since the liberation of China.
So how long did the epidemic last? How long was the gap between the first outbreak to the liberation? The ages of the characters is throwing me off heavily.
For example, the age of the feral woman who remembered the outbreak as a little girl, never really gives an age but she's old enough to look like a model.
But then the Chinese doctor, the Vice President, the DeStRes director, the mayor of the fortified city, Jurgen Warmbrunn, etc… where all at least 40 at the time of the outbreak, but likely much, much older.
How are they still alive in an era where the life expectancy has dropped like crazy? If my guess is right, they're all pushing 60 at minimum…
I am also curious how if my guess of 20 years is correct, how exactly did they US and other countries survive for 8 years before liberation? How long was the pull back behind the Rockies? Shit, how long did the government leave all the blue zones east of the Rockies?
This is a great book but the timeline confuses me.
by polish_addict
3 Comments
What a great book. The movie has NOTHING in common and the book. Don’t waste your time and the movie.
If we assume that the Brushfire Wars are Iraq and Afghanistan, I put the start of the outbreak/great panic as just after the 2008 election in The USA, and the republicans won that election. Say another 4 years before the new president and the Wacko are running together on the split ticket in 2012. I have always assumed the war took another 10-12 years after that, putting the end at maybe 2024.
The oldest people would be 80+ years old at the time their stories are recorded. However, most of the oldest ones we hear from are also famous and revered. There’s a good chance they are being protected/given the best care possible by their governments for the part they took during the war, just like the captain of the ISS was. I think Sinclair was the oldest of them all. He says his father was a staunch new-dealer, working with FDR in New York, so dad was already old enough to be established in politics by then. If we assume Sinclair was born in the 30s or early 40s that would put him at close to 100 by the time he’s being interviewed.
The post-war timeline is…flexible… as far as I’ve been able to discern.
I’m deduced that the zombie outbreak begins in late 2011, around September or October. Clues as to the time frame:
* “The Last Brushfire War”™ (probably OIF) is mentioned as having recently ended (OIF ended in 2010 when it became OND).
* Nelson Mandela is still alive (having died in 2013).
* There’s a Rugby World Cup going on at the start of the outbreak (2011 was the last one while Mandela was still alive).
* The U.S. recently held an election the year before the outbreak began (probably the 2010 midterms).
* The USS *Saratoga* is still afloat (it was scrapped beginning in 2014).
* Crimea is still under Ukrainian control (it having been invaded and occupied by Russia in early 2014).