Atrum Terra: Dark Lands
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆
Dark Lands (Atrum Terra, Book 1) by Brenton J. Cox
A zombie apocalypse I can get behind. 🧟♂️
Atrum Terra offers a fresh perspective on the zombie apocalypse by focusing primarily on the military response. Now, sure, most zombie stories feature the military in some form. But think about it: how often are they actually the focus? Almost never.
Traditionally, zombie stories are told through a narrow lens—one person, or a small group of survivors—letting us experience the outbreak through “average” eyes. It’s less about creative choice and more about practicality. By sticking with everyday characters, the story becomes more relatable, and it allows creators to rely on familiar zombie tropes without needing to explain the larger picture. You get the usual lines like “for all we know, this could be happening everywhere”, which keeps the story intimate while hinting at a wider disaster (and conveniently saves money when it comes to film and TV adaptations).
But Atrum Terra goes in a different direction. It splits the narrative between two perspectives: one civilian, one military, with about a 70:30 focus in favor of the military. And that shift unlocks two big advantages most zombie stories lack:
A break from cliché. We’re not just following another average survivor wandering around, trying to find loved ones (though the civilian storyline has its own unique twist on that theme).
Real scope. Instead of vague assumptions about how “bad things must be everywhere,” you actually see the outbreak unfold on a national scale. You get the sense not just of survival, but of coordinated efforts to contain and stop the apocalypse.
