posted
Consider me recruited... picked up issue #90 the other today... got HC Book #1 at the library today... taking it away with me this weekend... hoping to have more dreams about being chased by zombies...
-------------------- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
From: The waters off eastern Long Island | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Lard Lad: btw, I've got the prose novel "Rise of the Governor" on order from Amazon. It'll ship with LSH's "The Curse"! Looking forward to both!
Totally need a review on this once read!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by SharkLad: Consider me recruited... picked up issue #90 the other today... got HC Book #1 at the library today... taking it away with me this weekend... hoping to have more dreams about being chased by zombies...
I CANNOT WAIT for you to get hooked and update us ok your progress! It'll be awesome to watch you get consumed with enthusiasm and zombie bloodlust!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by SharkLad: Consider me recruited... picked up issue #90 the other today... got HC Book #1 at the library today... taking it away with me this weekend... hoping to have more dreams about being chased by zombies...
I CANNOT WAIT for you to get hooked and update us ok your progress! It'll be awesome to watch you get consumed with enthusiasm and zombie bloodlust!
Hooked? Yeah, I guess you could say I've gotten hooked... or maybe better said OBSESSED... never in a million years did I think I'd be as into this book as I am... usually I just go for the books with super-heroics, but I'm like a 14 year old girl with Bieber-fever for this book... I've read the first 36 issues... I won't go into any real detail here since I'm such a late-comer and you've all heard it before, but Michonne getting her revenge on the Governor... Damn that was awesome... Rick going back to shoot Shane... Carol slowly unraveling... Glenn getting the girl... all great stuff... Wish I'd picked this book sooner...
-------------------- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
From: The waters off eastern Long Island | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Very little action and lots of character development in issue #91. Glenn and Maggie are getting some overdue attention. Andrea shows that on some levels she is maintaining her sanity better than Rick. Carl again steals the show with his angry and pointed outburst. He delivers some heartfelt and disturbing dialogue. As always, a very intense read.
-------------------- No regrets, Coyote.
From: Missouri | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
Last week, I finally read the prose novel that had been released in October, The Rise of the Governor. Co-written by Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga, the book chronicles the journey of Philip Blake, his brother and daughter and a pair of friends as they travel from a small town in Georgia toward Atlanta and eventually to the place where the Governor will truly be born: Woodbury. readers of the series will be interested to see the similarities and differences of the Governor's survival experiences to the ones readers of TWD have seen for so long with Rick and his crew. Unsurprisingly, their road was a very harsh one, especially as readers of TWD know what became of the Governor's daughter.
I found it to be a pretty engaging story, though not exactly the one I expected. It turns out, for example, that we don't really see very much of the titular "Rise" that i was expecting. We don't get to Woodbury until well over two-thirds (possibly three-quarters, really) into its 300 pages. I thought this would be all about him getting Woodbury under his thumb, but by the end, we really only see him taking the first step. Maybe that is all we need, but I thought there would be more.
What we do get is some insights into the character, and, yes, he comes across very sympathetically for a good part of the book until events start to shape him into the character we all hated so much. However, there's a big, unexpected twist near the end that you'll probably either love or hate. Me, I'm not sure where I fit in this spectrum. In a way it detracts from what you've read before and after. However, it is well set-up in hindsight. If any of you read it, I'd be curious about your reactions.
Basically, the book is a kind of travelogue as our group runs into tight zombie situation after tight zombie situation and then into tenuous situations with other survivors. Some of it gets repetitive after a while, but it's always suspenseful and keeps you wanting to read more.
As far as TWD universe connections, there are no encounters with Rick and crew, which makes sense given the book's timeline. I'd guess the book ends several months before Rick, Glen and Michonne ever went to Woodbury. However, there's a pretty neat easter egg in the book's first sequence as we see Blake's crew in a familiar setting and learn the origin of a certain set piece. The long sequence in Atlanta is also really good and goes deeper than Rick and Glen ever did.
It's clearly meant for the comic readers as anyone who only knows the TV show will get absolutely no explanation in the book as to why Philip is even called "the Governor" in the book's title. Perhaps, this is intended to be given a sequel with more of the goings-on in Woodbury? I know there are more novels planned, but I've never heard that they are to continue the Governor's story. If so, this book might work better in that context.
All in all, a very decent read, though slightly disappointing in some ways. A lot of that will depend on what you expect to get out of it and how you feel about the twist at the end. I'd recommend that you either wait for the softcover or perhaps borrow it from a friend or from the library. Don't pay the cover price of $25--it's definitely not worth that at just over 300 pages and with the issues I mention. (I paid around $12-13 on Amazon.)
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Lardy, I really appreciate the in depth review of 'Rise'! I suspect many others are like me, in that they are super-curious about it but VERY hesistant to give it a try. After your review, I'm not quite sure I want to venture forth into the TWD novels. I'm an avid reader of books and novels but I've been known to drop books midway through if I don't find them to be great; in that way, I have a lot less patience than I do for comics.
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the twist in the latest issue and am curious as to what's in store. The idea of other communities being out there, trading with one another and establishing a bit of a dawn of civilization pre-history is one I find fascinating. In a way, there is potential here in it mirroring the foundations of early ancient cities, and all the subsequent benefits and horrors that accompanied it. (Since you know a war will eventually happen).
Kirkman nails a quintessential element of early pre-history: the caution one city/town/community might have when another offers to begin trading because, why haven't they just tried to take everything? It implies that there has to be a certain level of trust in larger forces than just trusting a few people to do the right thing.
If this is a hint of some of what's to come, then I'm actually really enthusiastic about it!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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I just wrote a LOOOONNGG like 10 long paragraph review/complaint about the latest TPB of The Walking Dead (#15 covering issue #s 85-90) and then I somehow lost it all just before I went to press "Add Reply". HATE it when that happens!
Well here was my reaction to the TPB in a nutshell -
ZZZzZzzzzzzzzZzzzzzZZZzzzzzZZzzzzzzzzzzz...
Easily the worst 6 issues of TWD I've ever read. My hatred of that sanctimonious hypocritical prick Rick has reached new heights and I'm now wondering if Kirkman actually wants us readers to hate him?
His eye-roll worthy speech at gun-point to a group of people who've spent the last however many years LIVING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE about how he's finally worked out the best way for them to survive and that's... BY LIVING TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE, was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. His hypocricy is so over-the-top I just want him killed off so bad now.
Ironically, when I sat down to read this TPB I thought to myself "This book has so many years left in it. I want to see it go on and on." But for the first time I'm beginning to wonder if Kirkman is starting to lose it. None of the primary conversations in this TPB felt like anything I hadn't heard before in this book and with so little else going on, it just felt like one long, repetitive, navel-gazing dirge.
I've disliked almost as many things about TWD as I've liked in past TPBs but I've always found the story exciting and addictive enough to keep me coming back for more. But this was the first time that this book has actively BORED me to the point that I had to struggle to get through pages.
I hope this was just a bad blip on TWD timeline for Kirkman because one more book as disappointing as this one was and I will be forced to drop the last comic I buy.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
P.S. I'm really curious about this twist in 'The Rise of the Governor' you mention, Lard Lad.
Is it something that's just confined to the Governor book or does it spoil other stuff within TWD universe?
I probably won't be reading the book so if it's the former, maybe you wouldn't mind spoiler boxing it for us here?
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Blacula: P.S. I'm really curious about this twist in 'The Rise of the Governor' you mention, Lard Lad.
Is it something that's just confined to the Governor book or does it spoil other stuff within TWD universe?
I probably won't be reading the book so if it's the former, maybe you wouldn't mind spoiler boxing it for us here?
I'm reluctant to spoiler-box it here because, from experience, I find it's hard to resist them even when you don't want to be spoiled. If you want, I'll PM you the twist. I will say that the twist IS self-contained and doesn't necessarily affect anything that happened in the series. It's basically a bait-and-switch type of thing.
Let me know if you want it spoiled, Blacula, and I'll PM it to you.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Hmm. Now I'm intrigued enough to not want it spoiled. I think I might just flick through the book in a shop and then if I think it's not something I'll wanna spend time on, I'll just read the end. Thanks LL.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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