Sunday, September 07, 2008

The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson: A Guest Review

The Last Days of Krypton by Kevin J. Anderson
Copyright 2007
Harper Fiction/Sci-Fi
467 pages

Guest review by my youngest son, William, who is like Pac Man with books (munch, munch, munch). He often reads 3 times as many books as I do, in a year.

What led you to pick up this book? My mother ordered it on me. [Bookfool's note: I thought William would like it, so when an offer to review arrived, I requested a copy for him to read.]

Summarize the plot but don't give away the ending. The Last Days of Krypton is the prelude to Kal-El's (Superman) leaving Krypton because of the planet exploding and the story of his father's life.

What did you like most about the book? The foreshadowing -- subtle but any true fan can see the foreshadowing and knows what they're talking about. Like Yar-El telling Jor-El not to be afraid to have children.

What did you think of the characters? You can tell from the beginning of being introduced to them whether they're going to be good guys, bad guys or just plain fools that'll destroy the world. They sounded about right.

In general: There are some differences from the movie version. I've never read the complete original comic versions about what happens before Superman comes to earth, so I can't say whether they follow the storyline as set by the creators.

Recommended? Yes. Those that enjoy comic books will find this a good read. Those who like science fiction/fan fiction will probably find it enjoyable.

Cover thoughts: The cover hurt my eyes, but it's a very interesting one. It gives you the unique presentation of what happens at the end, as the planet is going boom. [Bookfool's note: The cover is holographic].

Many thanks to William for reading and guest reviewing The Last Days of Krypton and to Harper for offering the opportunity to review the book!!

Coming up, next: A review of The Words of War by Donagh Bracken. Yes!! I finished it! I had such fun, but I was totally bummed when General McPherson was killed. I could really get into studying the Civil War.

7 comments:

  1. Great review, William. I especially like how you talked about the foreshadowing. I probably would not have picked this book off the shelf, but after your review I just might.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Booklogged,

    I read your comment to William (he just bopped into the room and back out) and he asked me to tell you "Thanks!" :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous10:56 PM

    Fabulous review, William! If only we could always tell who the plain fools that'll destroy the world are.

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  4. Great job William. :) I am not a big super man fan but this might be one my hubby would like. :)

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  5. William says "thank you", Carrie and Krista. He's a teenager of few words. LOL I'm sure he'll have a comment about the plain fools that'll destroy the world, if I can ever get him to stand still long enough to get beyond, "You got two comments and if you'd stop for a sec--." I'm getting: "Tell them thanks. Gotta go!"

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  6. Anonymous10:57 PM

    I don't normally read books like this, but it does look soooo good!

    ReplyDelete
  7. J.Kaye,

    In the midst of this book Kiddo said, "Hey, that book you got me is really good!" I don't know if he made that clear, but he really enjoyed it. :)

    ~~Bookfool, aka William's Mom

    ReplyDelete

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