Title: The Walking Dead: Rise of the GovernorAuthor: Jay Bonansinga, Robert Kirkman
Series: The Walking Dead: Novels #1
First Published: January 1, 2011
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Pages: 317
Genre: Apocalyptic, Horror, Paranormal
Format: Ebook
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Synopsis:
In the Walking Dead universe, there is no greater villain than The Governor. The despot who runs the walled-off town of Woodbury, he has his own sick sense of justice: whether it's forcing prisoners to battle zombies in an arena for the townspeople's amusement, or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. The Governor was voted "Villain of the Year" by Wizard magazine the year he debuted, and his story arc was the most controversial in the history of the Walking Dead comic book series. Now, for the first time, fans of The Walking Dead will discover how The Governor became the man he is, and what drove him to such extremes.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
Rise of the Governor unveils the history of the first true villain of The Walking Dead series, Philip Blake, otherwise known as The Governor. The story starts at the beginning of the apocalypse and follows Blake as he eventually makes his way to the town of Woodbury. As the days pass, Blake slowly descends into madness, becoming The Governor that comic and television fans of the series know so well.
This is a strong first entry into The Walking Dead novels and the book adds so much to the character of The Governor. The books make The Governor’s later appearance with Rick’s group even more unnerving. Rise of the Governor presents an interesting new cast of characters and does a wonderful job developing them in unexpected ways. Things go wrong quickly and there is a lot of action to keep the book moving. The universe Kirkman built becomes even creepier in the novelization and I love it.
One of my favorite parts of the book was the nod to the comics at the Wiltshire Estates and a particular sign that comic book fans might recognize. I love these small connections to the rest of the series that add some interesting new layers.
I found Rise of the Governor to be an enjoyable read and I was blown away by how the events played out. I read this book during the height of the The Walking Dead series and it made me an even bigger fan. Even if you had skipped out on The Walking Dead but are a fan of zombies, the novels are worth checking out.
Quote
“It ain’t the dead things you gotta be mindful of around here … it’s the living.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Jay Bonansinga
The national best-selling author of ten acclaimed books – both fiction and non-fiction — Jay Bonansinga has been called “one of the most imaginative writers of thrillers” by the Chicago Tribune.
Jay is the holder of a master’s degree in film from Columbia College Chicago, and currently resides in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife and two sons. He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University in their Creative Writing for the Media program.
About Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.
Robert Kirkman’s first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert’s first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert’s creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
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