One of Robert Kirkman's strengths as a comics writer is his ability to craft strong single issues that push plots forward with cliffhangers leaving reOne of Robert Kirkman's strengths as a comics writer is his ability to craft strong single issues that push plots forward with cliffhangers leaving readers salivating for next month's issue. It's one of the keys to the success of The Walking Dead. One consequence of this is how collected editions of the author's work often don't read particularly smoothly - it's the trade-off for writing to a monthly cycle rather than toward a trade.
That tendency is on display in Outcast where the six issues collected here don't end in a definitive way - Kirkman and artist Paul Azaceta are world building here in a slow way and while that might work gangbusters if you're reading month-to-month, as a collected edition it becomes a bit of a chore. I wonder if it would have been better to wait on releasing Outcast as a trade until after the book's first arc was completed?
That's not to say I didn't enjoy Outcast in many respects, just pointing out that this is not a complete story we have here. Kirkman revels in a new horror setting and has always been good at providing little details of characterization for his characters, making them endearing, understandable people for whom readers can get behind. The West Virginia setting offers great opportunity for Azaceta's artwork and he takes advantage of the depth of field to achieve a very creepy tone. The artist's linework is simple on the surface but again, has a depth to it I think works for a gothic story like this one.
I'd be interested to read Volume 2 of Outcast....more
Without reservation, that Revival is King’s best book in fifteen years. An absolutely terrifying ripper of a novel, taking deep inspirations from horrWithout reservation, that Revival is King’s best book in fifteen years. An absolutely terrifying ripper of a novel, taking deep inspirations from horror literature’s past while doing something wonderfully, creepily new. King’s everyman characterization is key to the reason this book works and while I do feel the author crutches out on that point of view quite a bit… here, it works like gangbusters.
I’ve enjoyed most of King’s recent output of novels, even while finding them some of them soft (11/22/63, Under the Dome), unchallenging (Mr. Mercedes) or unnecessary (Doctor Sleep). I’m a fan of the writer, going back to high school so I’m more ready to overlook some of the problems of his books for the other pleasures they always contain. Call that nostalgia or having blinders on, I don’t know. I do know that this is the first King novel since 2004 that I plan on rereading. Take that for what its' worth....more
There are two reasons to recommend Aliens: Hive to readers and fans of this franchise.
The first is that writer Jerry Prosser adds some interesting kiThere are two reasons to recommend Aliens: Hive to readers and fans of this franchise.
The first is that writer Jerry Prosser adds some interesting kinks to the already established Alien universe, some brand new to the comics (the idea that Xenomorph "royal" jelly is highly prized by humans) and some just a logical progression of what was already established in the films (an android Alien built to infiltrate hives). These are clever ideas that move the story along and offer new ways of looking at the property.
The other reason to recommend this comic series is the art of Kelley Jones. Jones' gothic style is a perfect match to the visual aesthetic established in the movies by H.R. Giger.
While Hive is something of a side story in these stories, it's a fairly strong one....more
Mr. Mercedes is Stephen King's attempt at a hard-boiled detective novel and it's middlingly successful. The book has several strengths, beginning withMr. Mercedes is Stephen King's attempt at a hard-boiled detective novel and it's middlingly successful. The book has several strengths, beginning with an absolutely frightening and disheartening prologue going even further to establish the heinousness of the crime that becomes the lynchpin of the story. A killer drives a Mercedes into a crowd of hopeful people waiting in line for a job fair. This section of the story fairly crackles with wit, insight, and dueling hopefulness/hopelessness that accompanies such a task. It grounds the story and is a great way to begin a book in this genre.
As often is the case, King's characterizations are also great - the author has always excelled at that blue collar point of view and he's crafted an interesting protagonist in retired detective Bill Hodges. I like that King made Hodges a washed-up retiree and doesn't forget those aspects of the character throughout the story... but that also presents a problem at the climax of the story where Hodges' participation is rendered almost unnecessary.
King also dots Mr. Mercedes with several annoying sidekick characters to aid Hodges, mainly in the use and understanding of computers. These characters are less successful, especially the introduction of Holly late in the narrative, although I'm willing to cut King a little slack here, as Mr. Mercedes is the first in a planned three book series.
...in fact, a lot of the problems with Mr. Mercedes come late in the game when the author has to wrap things up with a big show of force from the antagonist. Mr. Mercedes himself is as messed up an antagonist as King has ever written but the book doesn't add up to much.
Having said that, I'm on the hook for the next novel in the series; there's enough to recommend here to come back for a second look at these books....more
One of the observations I made about The Drawing of the Three was that it was essentially a world-building book, prepping readers for the rest of the One of the observations I made about The Drawing of the Three was that it was essentially a world-building book, prepping readers for the rest of the Dark Tower story. This was at times an asset to that book but more often it gave The Drawing of the Three the feel of a guy setting up the table for a really great meal that will be taking place some time in the near future. The Wastelands opens up with one final world-setting piece with King explaining The Twelve Guardians of the Beam and their portals. What’s good about this is that King has already laid so much road in Three that it’s a real pleasure to dig in with the characters. The info-dump is dressed up in a truly harrowing encounter with Shardik the Cyborg-Bear-Monster and works quite well.
Of course, the big addition to the mix in The Waste Lands is brining Jake Chambers back into the fold. In general, Jake is my favorite character from the books but I’ve always wondered if bringing Jake back from the dead was in King’s original plans or was this simply an add-on brought about later. Certainly Roland sacrificing Jake pretty definitively marks the gunslinger in readers’ minds. Even if Roland regrets what he did… he did it. That’s the kind of person Roland is. Bringing Jake back might be King’s way of having his cake and eating it too. He gets to preserve the badass sacrifice of Jake that ossified Roland in the eyes of readers… but he also gets to soften Roland by showing him to care enough to save him a second time? Certainly the very end of this story in Book 7 has something to say about Roland’s nature but it’s interesting to ponder now.
As I mentioned before, I absolutely did not buy the pairing of Eddie Dean and Susannah in The Drawing of the Three - it was one of my major problems with that book. I had forgotten since my last reading of these novels that King does a decent job here in The Waste Lands of addressing some of those concerns. He has Eddie mention that one of the reasons he falls in love with Susannah so quickly is that she represents his old life, his old world… a place he dearly loves that he is sure he will never make his way back to. Sussanah loves Eddie because he was such a big part of quelling the battle between Odetta and Detta within her psyche. With his help to put those specters to rest, she came to love Eddie.
I will point out that neither of these two reasons are exactly healthy ones to build a lasting romantic relationship on, but kingdoms have been built on less and at least the issue was addressed somewhat.
This book is essentially in two parts - the first half deals with brining Jake into Mid-World. The second half concerns the decimated City of Lud and the Ka-Tet’s journey to find Blaine the Mono. I enjoy the second half more than the first, with King’s descriptions of an urban landscape gone to rot.
Surprised might be the wrong word to use here but I was a little jostled to read all of the stuff with Randall Flagg toward the end of the book. King employs Flagg under a variety of names throughout his stories but Constant Readers usually have to be a bit more eagle-eyed to spot Flagg. Here, King rubs your nose in it, even having Flagg make a reference to The Trashcan Man, a key player from The Stand. The Ka-Tet will be making a stopover in Stand-Land in the next book so it’s somewhat understandable. I know as a kid, I always sort of wished that King would do a straight-up sequel to The Stand somehow, not understanding what a vastly stupid idea that would be to undertake. At the time, I didn’t quite understand that most of King’s books bleed into one another though the Dark Tower and that there were all sorts of ties between these novels. (hide spoiler)]
I have to admit, while I sort of hate the “resolution” of The Wastelands’ cliffhanger in the next book, King does a fantastic job of building that resolution up throughout this book. The idea that Eddie’s riddles suck because they defy logic and that aspect of riddling is all but unknown on Mid-World is well laid in here and will pay off dividends in the next book. ...more
I was surprised to stumble across Alien - Out of the Shadows in my public library this week. I’m a huge fan of the Alien franchise and was an avid reaI was surprised to stumble across Alien - Out of the Shadows in my public library this week. I’m a huge fan of the Alien franchise and was an avid reader of the Alien/Predator comics and novelizations in my youth. I’ve even written about those books over the years. I was surprised I hadn’t heard that 20th Century Fox had decided to do some more mass market paperbacks with the property. As a continuation of the original 1979 Alien film, this is an interesting little experiment, using the character of Ellen Ripley in a “forgotten chapter” of the Alien franchise.
In all honesty, and I say this as a true fan of these movies, the Alien films have had a Ripley problem since the end of Aliens. I can’t question Fox’s choice to keep the franchise so closely tied to Sigourney Weaver; she’s a fantastic actress and certainly the reason why those first two films worked so spectacularly. However talented Weaver is, it’s been frustrating to watch this franchise rise and fall based in large part on her willingness to make more Alien movies. In hindsight, the better choice for the franchise as a whole might have been to move away from Ripley’s relatively happy ending after Aliens and focus more on stories about the Xenomorphs and further encounters with humans. Prometheus, a Ridley Scott-driven “prequel” from a few years back, seemed like a step in the right direction but left many fans unhappy.
Despite my opinion that the franchise does need to move away from Ripley, I thought Out of the Shadows was a good use of the Ripley character in a brand new alien fighting situation. I’d even daresay that author Tim Lebbon has gently married the older Alien films to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus quite well.
Right of the bat, the use of Ripley is kind of a cheat. Aliens established that Ripley was left floating out in space for 57 years after her encounter with the Xenomorph. Here, Lebbon draws a story from the idea that some time during those nearly 60 years, Ripley has a forgotten encounter with the Alien while working with a newly introduced cast of blue collar miners. Further, without getting too much into spoiler territory, Lebbon’s book labors mightily to make sure this story “fits” with the more well-known Alien/Aliens continuity in a manner that I found unsatisfying.
Having said that, Lebbon writes Ellen Ripley about as well as I’ve ever seen in tie-in materials. Lebbon’s Ripley is a canny protagonist and I felt his characterization was on-point… but the author is smart enough not to lean on her overly. The bulk of the narrative is carried by Chris “Hoop” Hooper, a mining engineer whose crew encounters, in short order, an alien hive and Ripley’s derelict escape pod. Again, Lebbon has strength in characterization and Hoop comes across as a likable, steady presence who immediately establishes a believable connection with Ellen Ripley that drives the narrative. In fact, I found Hoop far more interesting a character than Ripley here; the character would have been easily capable of carrying Out of the Shadows to the point where I’m not sure how useful having Ripley as a player here becomes.
Lebbon does a good job of making sure Out of the Shadows isn’t a mere rehash of Aliens. While the crew of The Marion does do battle with the alien menace, it’s nothing like the Colonial Marines of the sequel. The second half of the novel feels more like a bunch of kids knocking around a haunted house than a coordinated military attack and that’s to the novel’s benefit. The author even adds an interesting wrinkle with the introduction of an “acid gun” that seems like an idea that should have been thought of years ago. Lebbon also shades his Alien story with lots of details from Prometheus, firmly entrenching that film in the overall narrative in a way Ridley Scott and Daniel Lindelof didn’t quite bother to.
One of the things I liked early on about Out of the Shadows is how Lebbon easily dispenses the rules of the Alien to his new characters. This would be a tiring book indeed if readers had to wade through chapters of this new crew of space jockeys figuring out the growth cycle of the Alien and putting together all the things readers are already well-aware of from the films. Here, Lebben has this cast of characters figure out most of what the Alien is capable of within the first two chapters and then we’re off to the races. Lebben is also shrewd enough to think around certain aspects of the Alien that are left unexplained in the first film - Ripley has a moment where she wonders if the full-grown Alien will have acid for blood in the same way the face-hugger did.
Again, although Lebbon writes a good Ripley, her presence here somewhat limited my overall enjoyment of Out of the Shadows. Having said that, it’s nice to see 20th Century Fox doing something new with the franchise and I’m interested to see some of the other novels upcoming from the series, although those will be scribed by new authors....more
I’m rereading The Dark Tower series in it’s entirety this summer. This book is not as impressively structured or focused as The Gunslinger, probably bI’m rereading The Dark Tower series in it’s entirety this summer. This book is not as impressively structured or focused as The Gunslinger, probably because it serves a lot more masters than that first part of the series.
The first half of The Drawing of the Three deals with introducing Eddie Dean to the narrative and I’m going to be honest- I’ve never much liked Eddie, with his endless stream of corny jokes and pathetic backstory. In an of themselves, these characteristics aren’t bad, and King’s used this stock character several times before (I’m thinking of Richie Tozier from It as one example but given King’s somewhat limited palate when it comes to characters, I’m sure there are others) to great effect. Eddie’s goofy, pop culture saturated point of view comes in handy several times over the course of the Dark Tower narrative but very often I find him too annoying to take seriously. This is especially true of his introduction.
Despite my misgivings about the character, King does a good job in giving Eddie the intelligence to understand that Roland, however much the “hero” of The Dark Tower he may be, is as much as a user as Eddie is. (view spoiler)[Several times, Eddie points out that Roland is a “Tower junkie” to his own, more traditional addict’s point of view. Of course Eddie who realizes Roland’s propensity for preserving his quest at all costs. “You’d use me and toss me away like a paper bag,” says Eddie at one point in The Drawing of the Three and that hits home for Constant Readers, as we have already seen Roland toss Jake Chambers away like so much trash. Eddie definitely has a redemptive streak to his goofiness.
As annoying as I sometimes find Eddie in this story, the second member of Roland’s Ka-Tet is similarly perplexing. King’s take on Odetta/Detta is problematic in a lot of ways, when he dips into awful racist language for Detta’s weird dialect. Now, that language exists in the context of the story to MAKE readers feel uncomfortable… and for me it does the job. As to why I’m supposed to be uncomfortable, well I understand that as well. Detta’s something of a horror and making her speak primarily in this pickaninny dialect is a shortcut to get us understanding her awfulness. The choice seems lazy; there are much better, more effective ways to display someone’s monstrous personality.
…and while we’re talking lazy, I’ll pile on by saying I’ve always felt the Eddie/Susannah relationship is rather hastily thrown together. They grow into pretty engaging characters in later books so I had forgotten how slapdash their “courtship” was. Basically Eddie falls in love at first sight which I know is a thing that happens to people but it does seem to be a bit like King moving the pieces together as fast as he can for effect. Eddie and Susanna have to be in love so they are.
I do like the way Stephen King world-builds slowly, and in a mundane fashion with this novel. Roland figuring out that sugar and cocaine are two different addictive things is the kind of detail that could easily be glossed over, but King gives it a few pages to breathe and it’s interesting. This approach may not be for everybody but given the scale of The Dark Tower series, these little moments help to balance the dramatics of the later stories. Again, King is grounding the fantastic in the mundane. The second half deals quite significantly with the need to replenish the Gunslinger’s dwindling supply of ammunition. It’s a necessary function to a series of this type and King lays the groundwork well… but, like the Eddie/Susannah relationship, The Drawing of the Three has the feeling of “we’re moving all these pieces into place and we’ll play a real good game… but not just yet. Soon though.”
Another aspect of King’s writing I’ve always enjoyed is the way the author often presages the ends of his stories in micro well before those endings are reached. The first instance of this I remember seeing was in The Stand, where the narrator mentions that Kojak the dog, while questing with our four heroes, manages to get back to the Boulder Free Zone and live a long life after the events unfolding in the narrative. From there, it was easy to extrapolate that the heroes’ quest to protect the Free Zone would be successful. King uses that trick here when he has his narrator point out that Odetta will be in “another world” when Alex Haley publishes his famous novel Roots. You would think having that knowledge would deflate the tension of the story, but in fact it does the opposite. It whets your appetite for what’s coming.
King has said in interviews and personal writings he believes himself to be more of a writer of his time than he wishes. I have a tendency to agree with the former, but not the latter. Something Neil Gaiman said has always struck me about King - when people 100 years from now want to know what it was like to live in the back half of the 20th century, they won’t look at the literary darlings of the age… they’ll look to King’s work. For example, a lot of Eddie Dean reeks of the mid 1980’s, when The Drawing of the Three was written and published. In a lot of instances, a supporting character drawn from the prime Miami Vice time period would be a chore to read… and yet, the very nature of time and the narrative of The Dark Tower cycle lends itself to this kind of thing. (hide spoiler)]
This is the sort of the novel that needs to exist to get readers to the next book, which brings all the the characters of the Tet together and really set them off on their road to The Dark Tower....more
The first thing I should say here is that I’m reading the “revised and expanded” edition of The Gunslinger. King occasionally goes back and tinkers wiThe first thing I should say here is that I’m reading the “revised and expanded” edition of The Gunslinger. King occasionally goes back and tinkers with his previous books - the most famous example of this is his massive retelling of The Stand. I have never read anything besides the revised version of The Stand, as I first encountered that book when I was in 7th grade, on the heels of the TV mini-series. With The Gunslinger, I had previously read the original version. While King himself says that there hasn’t been too drastic a change between the old and new versions of the first book in this series, there are enough made where it feels like I’m reading a different book entirely.
The most significant change to my eyes is the softening of Roland’s relationship with Allie the barmaid. In the original version, Allie and the citizens of the town of Tull are enchanted into becoming a trap for The Gunslinger by The Man in Black. Roland deals out grim, unforgiving justice to Tull, Allie included. Here, in King’s repurposing, it’s more than clear that Allie has been driven insane and is less to blame for her behaviors. Roland’s murder of Allie becomes a mercy-killing. As it stands, I felt this approach was far better than the original as the older version was just too harsh and uncompromising for our protagonist. Indeed, it sort of put me off Roland when I first read The Gunslinger when I was in college.
Another change I noted is having Roland distantly encounter a Taheen in the middle of the desert. He later finds out from Farmer Brown that the Taheen he encounters is searching for “Algul Siento.” To new readers, that will come across as a confusing bit of nonsense but having been through these books before, I know that Algul Siento is a rather important piece toward the journey to the Dark Tower, and it was a clever an unobtrusive nod.
Beyond that, it’s been so long since I read the original I couldn’t say what things had changed, but I’m sure they’re there for eagle-eyed readers with encyclopedic knowledge of Mid-World.
One of the things that absolutely struck me on this rereading of The Gunslinger was the methods by which King foreshadows Roland’s sacrifice of Jake Chambers. To be sure, Roland knows from almost the moment he meets Jake that the boy is a trap in the same way that The Man in Black fashioned Tull into a trap… but King lays a lot of this in subtly as well. From the death of Roland’s mule on through his retelling of Roland’s first test of manhood, King cleverly lays in the idea that the gunslinger is a man who will be remorseful about sending friends to their deaths… but suffer that regret as a means to an end without blinking. Again, some of this is colored by having read the rest of Roland’s story but there’s something so inescapably sad about this, in light of how I know this journey must come out.
I will say, I came out of The Gunslinger with a lot more appreciation for the novel than I originally had. King has a tendency toward gabbiness in his prose (indeed some of the later novels in the DT cycle will trend this way) but there’s a fierce leanness to this book, even in the flashbacks. It’s a lot more contemplative silence than the later books in this series, but that work in Book One grounds the later novels. By doing the necessary and establishing Roland and his quest, King gives himself the freedom to get a little crazier with personalities with the novels that would follow. Nothing that happens in those later books would work quite as well without the admirably drawn stoicism of The Gunslinger. (hide spoiler)]...more
The cover of the trade collecting the first five issue of Revival describes the story as a "rural noir." The use of the word "noir" is a bit of a misnThe cover of the trade collecting the first five issue of Revival describes the story as a "rural noir." The use of the word "noir" is a bit of a misnomer and I felt like it sold the story short but I quite enjoyed this title!
The dead walk in a non-zombified fashion (more or less) and the living deal with the fallout in this collection of the first five issues of the Image Comics' series. One of the things I quite liked about Revival is the sense of place that Norton and Seeley create in this central Wisconsin town. Wausau feels lived-in, with a social structure and layout that more than adequately supports the weirdness surrounding the story. I also liked how Seely allows for a wider world going on at the edges of Wausau, allowing readers to think about about wider ramifications of this event. Mike Norton's pencils are tops. I'm looking forward to reading more....more
It's safe to say that The Stand is one of my favorite novels... it's certainly the book I've read the most, starting from when I was in the 7th grade It's safe to say that The Stand is one of my favorite novels... it's certainly the book I've read the most, starting from when I was in the 7th grade and onto my adulthood, where I will occasionally pull it off the shelf to revisit Stephen King's dark germ-filled apocalypse. Marvel Comics' 2009 graphic adaptation featured a decent pedigree (Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on scripts supervised by King himself, artwork from the team of Mike Perkins and Laura Martin) and is probably as good an undertaking as something like this can be... but it's not all that great.
Aguirre-Sacasa's script suffers from an abundance of captions, working overtime to capture the nuance of King's original story but weighing down a comic version. It's tells too much without showing enough... and I'm not sure if this version trusts new readers enough to figure things out for themselves. Perkins pencils under Martin's inks are somewhat... soft and generic, but I have to concede, this is a HUGE undertaking and Perkins does a fine job with the ever-shifting settings of King's original work. I had to chuckle to see that, with this version of The Stand, Stephen King finally gets his Bruce Springsteen as Larry Underwood, as mentioned in the preface to the expanded edition of the novel.
As I said, Captain Trips is somewhat capable and perhaps someone not so enamored of the original text may enjoy the book more than I did. I do not plan on tracking down the next volume in the story...more
A very messy follow-up to both the comic series and the previous Walking Dead novel. While Rise of the Governor had a bit of gravitas lent to it by viA very messy follow-up to both the comic series and the previous Walking Dead novel. While Rise of the Governor had a bit of gravitas lent to it by virtue of the mystery surrounding the title character, the ultimate conclusion to that mystery ended up being pretty silly. It was silly but it worked because authors Kirkman and Bonansinga saved the twist toward the end. The Road to Woodbury asks you dwell quite a bit on their goofy plot twist in its' second half and doesn't work spectacularly well.
The characters introduced in this novel are thin and unimaginatively portrayed to the reader. Our protagonist's inner conflict (she's scared and worried that her fear is governing her choices outside of "run away from zombie") doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The other characters along for the ride fare no better. Also, there were some fairly glaring errors in the text that bugged the heck out of me - at a certain point, the month is specifically said to be November. Three pages later, the characters inner monologue references the cold October weather.
The book does manage to have some well-drawn action pieces interspersed throughout, those sections were rather strong... but I can't recommend The Road to Woodbury based on those scenes alone....more
I very much enjoyed enjoyed NOS4A2 and it's clear Joe Hill did as well. From the license plate title onward, this novel is full of engaging, tricky prI very much enjoyed enjoyed NOS4A2 and it's clear Joe Hill did as well. From the license plate title onward, this novel is full of engaging, tricky prose that plays like a game with the readers. Characters speaking in backward sentences, judicious use of illustrations, all these things work well in service of the overall thrust of the conflict between Victoria McQueen and the vampiric Mr. Manx. My favorite method Hill uses involves blending the action of the chapters seamlessly into the title of the chapter following whatever part of the story you're reading. It heightens the tension wonderfully and keeps the reader turing the pages. Bravo.
The middle section of NOS4A2 felt a bit flabby. There's a certain point where all the cards are on the table; the readers know it, the characters in the story know it... but it takes a bit too long for our protagonist to get her ass in gear and I did feel that hurt the momentum of the novel. I found myself getting frustrated with Vic far more as the novel progressed. Whether that was the grand design of the novel or not, I have no idea. I do know that it lessened my enjoyment of the book.
Having said that, it's a minor problem with a majorly enjoyable work. ...more
While most of the time books featuring zombies and vampires are considered “low", this is another in a recent spate of genre novels written by authorsWhile most of the time books featuring zombies and vampires are considered “low", this is another in a recent spate of genre novels written by authors who are well accepted by the literary intelligentsia. Glen Duncan’s The Last Werewolf and Justin Cronin’s The Passage are two other such novels.
I quite enjoyed Zone One and the way it pushed all the zombie stuff to the margins to focus more on tone and character but it bums me out a little to think this novel is likely to be the only exposure to zombie literature many intelligent people will ever have. Most horror novels may not win literary prizes but I think they often have just as much (if not more) to say about the state of the world than other books....more
Although the Dark Tower series ended in 2004, Stephen King has decided to go back and insert this short story between the fourth and fifth entries. ThAlthough the Dark Tower series ended in 2004, Stephen King has decided to go back and insert this short story between the fourth and fifth entries. The book is slight but enjoyable, an untold tale of Roland when he was a young man which wraps around a fairytale like story with parallels to Roland's story.
I just wanted to mention how distinctly weird this book makes me feel. It’s so strange to be revisiting these characters again, especially Roland’s ka-tet (consisting of Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy). The Dark Tower series ends those characters’ stories on a pretty definitive note and I had made my peace with not seeing them appear again. To have some new material where I get to spend a little more time in Mid-World is brilliant… but like I said, it makes feel sort of… strange.
Luckily “strange” is probably an emotion King would welcome....more
Collected here are six issues of the regular AV series, plus a four issue mini-series... all ten issues focus on vampiric happenings during World War Collected here are six issues of the regular AV series, plus a four issue mini-series... all ten issues focus on vampiric happenings during World War II. I sampled this series' first few issues and had decided it wasn't for me... but Volume 3 really turned me around.
The central conflict of the series comes to a head in a surprising way here. In a lot of comics, the plot and characters seem to go on and on indefinitely; Snyder's willingness to move the story along hooked me in. I quite enjoyed Rafael Albuquerque's pencils on the first half of the book, but was more taken with Sean Murphy's scratchy renditions of the vampires of the Third Reich in "Survival of the Fittest."
Definitely looking forward to keeping up with American Vampire from here on out....more
Does The Rise of the Governor work as a standalone novel, if readers have not read or experienced any of The Walking Dead comic series? By and large, Does The Rise of the Governor work as a standalone novel, if readers have not read or experienced any of The Walking Dead comic series? By and large, I would have to say yes it does. A prequel of sorts to the comic, giving broadening out and giving some depth to one of the comic's most sadistic villains, Rise is a so-so zombie novel.
The author(s) do a nice job of juggling the cast and the settings. The characters are a bit bland, but good work was done in fleshing out the Philip character; he does some reprehensible things, but there are places where his point of view is so thoroughly explained, his actions make a perverse kind of sense. The authors also keep switching verb tenses from present to past, a choice which, for me, set up a nicely unbalanced perspective in my reading.
Does The Rise of the Governor work as a Walking Dead novel? I thought so and I'm a monthly reader of the comic. I can see some fans being put off by the big twist toward the end of the book. I admit, it comes out of left field, but it doesn't contradict any of the world building the authors have already done....more
An apocalyptic vampire story by way of CSI, I enjoyed the first book of the series quite a bit. Although Hogan and Del Toro aren’t doing much new hereAn apocalyptic vampire story by way of CSI, I enjoyed the first book of the series quite a bit. Although Hogan and Del Toro aren’t doing much new here, at the very least the authors are cognicent of this fact and they pay homage to their influences in a fairly obvious, enjoyable way. The human protagonist’s characterization is a little thin, but they service the plot and The Strain series are page-turners.
I must confess, I had a slight problem with The Night Eternal’s scope and pacing. While the first two novels have rather successfully focused solely on Manhattan and its’ place in this vampiric outbreak, The Night Eternal broadens out from New York City in a way I felt was uneven. Considering this vampire plague was a worldwide threat, it felt strange to spend so much time in the first two thirds of this story in New York and then have the solution to mankind’s problems be located elsewhere.
Please note that “problem” is not the same thing as a “complaint” and the finale works regardless of my quibble....more
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