At once provocative, terrifying, and darkly subversive, Dread Nation is Justina Ireland's stunning vision of an America both foreign and familiar - a country on the brink, at the explosive crossroads where race, humanity, and survival meet.

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.

In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.

But there are also opportunities - and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It's a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston's School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.

But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.

And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.

"Abundant action, thoughtful world-building, and a brave, smart, and skillfully drawn cast entertain as Ireland illustrates the ignorance and immorality of racial discrimination and examines the relationship between equality and freedom." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")

Listening Length

11 hours and 56 minutes
Author

Justina Ireland
Narrator

Bahni Turpin
Audible release date

April 3 2018
Language

English
Publisher

HarperAudio
ASIN

B07BB6BLBX
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	11 hours and 56 minutes
Author	Justina Ireland
Narrator	Bahni Turpin
Audible.ca Release Date	April 03 2018
Publisher	HarperAudio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07BB6BLBX
Best Sellers Rank	#47,457 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #76 in Historical Fiction for Teens #129 in Young Adult Fiction on Prejudice & Racism #197 in Survival Stories for Young Adults

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

2,449 global ratings

5 star		65%
4 star		26%
3 star		7%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Jane

Super fun alternate timeline zombie apocalypse

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 9, 2018

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Wow! Wow! Wow! So much fun! 5 very enthusiastic stars for the audiobook as narrated by Bahni Turpin. (I alternated between the audio and Kindle versions.)

I'd been putting this book off for quite a while and boy, do I regret that! This is the second book I've read in as many months that follows a tough chick in an alternate timeline where something supernatural has altered American history. I'm not sure what that genre is called, but gimme more -- I love it! In Dread Nation, we're introduced to a world in which the Civil War was interrupted when the dead suddenly started acting decidedly very undead.

We follow Jane, a young woman born just days before the undead appeared, as she studies at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore. Her classes there teach her both fighting and etiquette skills as is required by the Native and Negro Reeducation Act. Most graduates of the school hope to be assigned as an Attendant to one of the rich white women, to act as a bodyguard-cum-chaperone. The alternative often means heading to the front lines to keep the shamblers (zombies/undead) at bay.

Although the shamblers (zombies/undead) are definitely very present in this story, instead of being the real focus, they act mostly as a vehicle to explain this alternate world and to add a bit of excitement here and there. Don't get me wrong, the battle scenes are definitely tons of fun, but this book has much deeper undertones than that.

It's not difficult at all to draw comparisons between the misguided morality, political shenanigans, and outright unabashed bigoted actions portrayed in this book with what's been increasingly in the public eye over the past few years. In fact, the scariest, tensest scenes in this book have nothing to do with shambler attacks and everything to do with how terribly cruel power-hungry humans can be.

I love the characters Justina Ireland has created here. Jane is snarky and strong, but never fell into the cliched "quirky talent always saves the day" role. She is definitely flawed, and does not escape her mistakes comeuppance-free. The supporting characters are mostly all very well fleshed out and believable. A couple of characters do, at times, seem a bit like caricatures, but that was very minor, and it's possible it was exacerbated by the narration.

Speaking of the narrator, now I get the Bahni Turpin love (I should never have doubted you, Erica!). Sign me up, I'm sold, and I'm diving into some other books she's narrated in the very near future.

I strongly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a rough-and-tumble action book with a snarky MC. I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel!

Helpful

Adrian Blackwolf

absolutely brilliant

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 25, 2020

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expected something camp; a quick, fun read. didn't expect to be absolutely blown away by the worldbuilding and loveable cast. it's set after the american civil war and there were many times i cringed or got angry at the blatant racism or the slurs used. but that was the point, i think. this book is written by a black woman and features a black woman as the mc. own voice. (i mention it here bc i had to look it up due to the use of the n-word, as was the terminology at the time; i just didn't feel comfortable seeing it used until verified that it was written by an african-american). i think the anger was worse bc i knew that was a reality many people had to live through. still live through. this and worse. but the book doesn't get preachy in any way. it is a fun, compelling, intriguing, occasionally angering (for a good cause) read. i was hoping for some wlw, but was happy to see aro-ace representation. in any case, excellent book. going to buy the sequel.

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Franca Ogbonnaya

Absolutely brilliant!!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on August 10, 2018

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When I saw this book I was blown away by the cover. Then I read the summary and clicked buy ASAP! This was amazing steampunk version with zombies and the aftermath of the American Civil War. With a black girl as lead! The book held me fast and I kept reading until early in the morning. It was so believable that it gave me chills, especially when she described how former slaves or those of minority were used as canon fodder to fight zombies. It was heart breaking and I still loved the book. I really, really need a part two if this awesome heroine, Jane McKeene.

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Fred McLymont

Great read. Lovely adventure

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 3, 2021

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Jane’s story had me engaged from start to finish. It is great adventure that compels you making you want more. Currently on Deathless Divide

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nrussell

Please ma'am may I have some more?

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 9, 2018

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The freshest take on the undead historicals to date - I couldn't put this one down, and I daresay, given the circumstances and choices made, one of the most timely bits of fiction one could hasten to read. This is the first work of Ireland's I have experienced, and I hope far from the last. Jane McKeen's sharp turn of phrase and the rapidly unfolding apocalypse will pull you through a broken mirror reconstruction at breakneck speed, and as hungry for the next taste as a zombie is for brains.

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Amazon Customer

Amazing Read

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 5, 2019

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I started Dread Nation earlier today and wasn’t able to put it down. The characters are intriguing, and the setting is terrifying, fascinating, and clearly exhaustively researched. Highly recommended for any SFF reader.

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Jane Is My Hero

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 1, 2021

I bought this series on a whim, since I don't typically seek out post-Civil War America or Western books, but the premise and cover intrigued me. Now it has officially one of my favorite zombie books ever. The story is not only fun and filled with great characters, but it explores important themes that will stick with the reader long after they finish the book.

Jane is fantastic. There's no other way to say it. She's funny, strong, smart, takes no BS from anyone, and is ferocious in combat. She is definitely no saint and is a little judgmental about some of her fellow combatants, yet over time she grows and discovers more about herself, as well as those she keeps company with.

I also really grew to love Kate. Her entire character arc is both an emotional challenge and makes her both unique and in some aspects, tragic. So it's all the more inspiring when she uses different skills and her own wit to overcome circumstances.

The plot is kept relatively simple and straightforward--survive in a town full of cruel, incompetent men--though there are enough added mysteries and twists to keep it exciting. The action scenes can get really intense, though the last one seemed to move a little too quickly for me.

I had a great time reading this book. Ireland has incredible talent, completely falling into the perspective of Jane and making her characters seem like real people in terrible situations. This book hadn't really been on my radar before, but I absolutely recommend it to lovers of fantasy, the Old West, strong female characters, complex themes and friendships, and exceptional writing. This is a must have!

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Top reviews from other countries

S. Naomi Scott

A superbly written tale that will stay with you.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 2, 2019

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When the dead start to rise at the battle of Gettysburg, the American Civil War comes to a sudden end with both sides agreeing to join forces against this new shambling threat. Some years later, Jane McKeene is a student at Miss Preston's School of Combat, a place where young women of colour are trained to fight the dead and protect the white folks from being turned into zombies. As you can probably imagine from that very brief introduction, this book really doesn't hold back on showing the true face of racial inequality in the not-so United States of the nineteenth century.

I really enjoyed this book and fell in love with Jane's voice right from word one. It starts with the protagonist telling us how the midwife tried to murder her on her first day of life and from there the narrative just keeps ramping up the pace. We're quickly introduced to the other main characters and given a brief but informative history of the years since Gettysburg alongside some well-paced action sequences, before gradually being drawn into a mystery surrounding the sudden and unexplainable disappearance of a local farming family. Suffice to say it isn't long before Jane, her co-student Katherine (don't call her Kate), and one-time beau, Red Jack, find themselves stumbling headfirst into a mite more trouble than they expected.

While it is possible to read this book as nothing more than a popcorn-fuelled historical fantasy zombiefest, I really do believe doing so would be an injustice. Justina Ireland paints a vivid, almost shockingly sober account of what life was like for people of colour, and especially women of colour, during the post-bellum years in the States. Take away the zombies and the combat training, and Jane could just as easily be any young woman of colour from that period, and her experiences wouldn't have been all that different. I couldn't help but draw comparisons between this and Octavia E. Butler's Kindred, and while the approach taken by each book may be very different the end result is still a harsh indictment of the way most white people treated anyone who wasn't white.

This is a book that will, if you let it, make you think quite deeply about what's going on in the background. It's superbly written, and the character of Jane is one who will stay with you long after you've turned the final page. I'm giving it a solid four stars and waiting eagerly for the next book in the series.

2 people found this helpful

N Harvey

Loved this book, so different and refreshing!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 13, 2021

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This is a terrific mash-up of sci-fi and an old-western, I wasn’t sure how it would work, but it’s terrific! On top of that, the story is undoubtedly centred on women, black women to be precise, and it’s so refreshing to read from their point of view as main characters. Some people may think the protagonists sex or colour isn’t important in a sci-fi/fantasy book, but it’s crucial, as these aspects shape our whole perspective on life and our experience of it, in essence that shape our stories. Although this is fiction, it undoubtedly includes and casts light onto issues of racism and sexism that are unfortunately still rife today, but does this through the power of story. This is a true piece of feminist writing and I greatly enjoyed it. The main characters are brilliant, well rounded, funny, grumpy and endearing (as well as annoying when called for!). It’s not predictable at all, and is quite a ride. Read it!

One person found this helpful

amysreading_nook

A bit too much world-building

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 10, 2020

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I hadn't actually heard of this series before but I was sent the second book by the publisher and so thought I should probably read the first one first.

This was actually a really interesting and unique read and although i've only rated it three stars, which seems low, I did enjoy this book overall. There were just some issues in it for me that made me feel unable to rate it five stars.

This is a very character driven book; it almost feels like a filler book because it is so centered on the characters and barely the plot. There's almost no tension in this book and virtually no action; yes there are a couple of bits of them fighting the hordes but other than that it's almost a period drama. I did enjoy it, but it felt largely unnecessary at times. The plot is interesting, but not really developed on throughout the book which makes this feel very much like it was intended to be a middle book but somehow got shunted to the front.

This book has some really good representation; LQBTQ with Jane being bisexual (I think - it's never explicitly stated buy she mentions relationships with males and females) and Katherine being asexual (again not stated but she discuses having no sexual attraction to anyone). Although it is mostly about zombies, it's a really important historical read and I would highly recommend it. There are also some real discussions about feminism and typical femininity with Katherine; the MC Jane and Katherine are both extremely different women and are probably polar opposites for the main part. They don't just get over things but actually work through their differences and issues as they arise. This doesn't mean that they don't still have their issues, because they definitely do and it is delightful to watch.

Overall I liked this read and will be keeping it on my bookshelves for now, but I wasn't hooked by it.

Amazon Customer

Zombie western

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 9, 2020

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I’m not usually into zombie books/ shows, but this duology is the exception.
In 1800s America, a zombie plague has risen up from the civil war and black people are forced to go to combat schools where they learn how to fight and kill zombies for the protection of white people.
Enter Jane McKeene, a Brave, strong-willed student at Miss Preston’s combat school.

What I love about this book is that it’s more of western that just happens to have zombies in it. You’ve got bandits, bounty hunters, lawmen (woman), but from the perspective not often told in historical-like (especially Westerns) novels, black People.

I also love that the main character are all strong women and they get to do all the fighting. The book also has great lgbtq representation.

Emma

Wonderfully well written and super diverse!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 13, 2018

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Dread Nation is a zombie book set in the American Civil War era. It follows Jane McKeene, a black girl who was taken from her family and trained as an Attendant, an expert in the art of killing zombies who is expected to go into service protecting a middle class white woman from the unquiet dead. But Jane plans to use the education that her school has provided her with to go back to the Kentucky plantation she was born in, and hopefully reunite with the mother she was taken from.

From the blurb, I expecting the story to remain in Miss Preston’s School of Combat where it begins, but the story went in such a wonderfully unexpected direction that I found myself constantly surprised.

The heroine is witty and her voice is full of dry humour. The action scenes are also really well written and I loved reading how the fights unfolded, which is something I don't normally enjoy in the books I read.

Highlights:

- Very diverse cast of loveable characters - the main characters are our black bisexual mc and her black aro-ace sidekick, both women
- Sinister setting and very gripping plot
- The change in historical period, in terms of how people understand diseases and science, adds a fun and unique twist to how people understand and deal with a zombie apocalypse
- Lots of wonderful, cathartic moments of badassery from our protagonist Jane

3 people found this helpful

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