Customer Reviews

After the Dark (Dark Angel, Book 3)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This final book in the Dark Angel trilogy is very true to the characters on the show. Max Allan Collins did a GREAT job in capturing each character's personality and humor. Very impressive; like another reviewer said, you can almost see the characters doing/thinking/feeling what you're reading on the page.

The "however," however, is that the conclusion is a little weak. The entire second season was building up to a season 3 all about the runes, snake cult, and Max being the "one." The book's conclusion to that plotline is VERY anticlimactic. What helps me overlook this flaw is that everything else concludes nicely (stuff that's not related to Ames White and his cult; mainly, a certain virus, among other things). If you listen to the commentary on "Freak Nation" in the second season DVD's, the writers tell you everything. Collins pretty much followed that idea, EXCEPT at the end, which was, as I already explained, anticlimactic and made me feel as though the snake cult story was a waste. That's too bad, because this whole book works around the snake cult thing. Throughout the book, though, the witty dialogue, cool fight scenes, and flashbacks kept me busy enjoying it. Weak ending, but still really fun to read. It's definitely worth it. Every DA fan has to read this book. After all, it is the last DA "episode" us die-hard fans have to hold on to.

Oh, BTW I agree - very cool "twist" at the end. We'll need at least another book to address it though. So Max Allan Collins, what're you waiting for? Get working.

First, it is certainly well written. Max Collins, as an outsider to the world of Dark Angel, did a splendid job of staying true to the world of dark angel and its characters. The book reads like an episode. Everything is just right, from Max's witty, sarcastic humor, to the lovable, tender and yet naive Joshua.

Unfortunately, as talented as Max Collins is, he was biting off more than he could chew. The two book series (Skin Game and After the Dark) aims to finish off the loose end to the series and bring everything to a satisfying conclusion. As any DA follower would know, the series was way too involved and way too deep to conclude in two episodes, or even four for that matter. Indeed to do true justice to the series, another season, in the least, would be needed.

In trying to conclude the series too quickly, Mr. Collins ends up trivializing many aspects of Dark Angel that made the show so special. The books trivialized the tantalizing struggles of Max and Logan to be together against incredible odds. At the end of Season 2, Max, in an effort to protect Logan intentionally distanced herself. Logan did much the same, thinking only of Max's best interests. This struggle was played down in the two books. By the end of the first, Max and Logan were well on their way to being back together again.

And what of the struggle of the transgenics for acceptance? Again, a storyline quickly and superficially resolved by the first book. The conclusion to the Ames White/Snake Cult saga was even more unbelievable. Without giving away the ending, the conclusion was a total cop out.

In the end, the story failed to really bring colsure to Dark Angel. However, despite the shortcomings, I would reiterate the books are worth a read. Just don't expect anything mind blowing.

As a Dark Angel fan, I'm rating "Skin Game" and "After the Dawn", at the least from the perspective that both books tie up the loose ends of the series, giving a good sense of finality that "Freak Nation" didn't.

Where "Skin Game" tied up the Terminal City/anti-transgenic issue, "After the Dawn" ties up the breeding cult, Ames White, the Coming, and the question of what Max was designed to be. A fan should not pass up getting these issues resolved.

On the negative side, the author is incorrect on a few minor points, but I simply overlooked them and enjoyed the story. Firstly, at the conclusion of "Freak Nation", it had been established that Logan had the use of his legs (after the transfusion from Joshua) and was using the exoskeleton for a fighting edge (as shown well during the siege at Jam Pony). The books both indicated that he was still paralysed. Secondly, that they all hated Lydecker. When Lydecker disappeared mid-season-2, they were all on good-working-together terms. But as I said, I didn't hold this against the books. I just felt like doing some creative editing on the book...

In all, I am glad I finally bought these books, and have a sense of closure a sadly prematurely terminated series didn't leave me with.

I've already listed my review for the book before this one, Skin Game. The review for this book is pretty much the same.

Because I needed a Dark Angel fix, I crossed my fingers, hoped for the best and bought the two books. I was very, very disappointed. I felt as though this book (and the other) were nothing more than authorized fan-fiction rather than a professionally written story involving my beloved characters.

And again the author either overlooked or completely ignored the fact that Logan did not require the exo-suit. He regained the use of his legs thanks to Joshua's infusion and still used the exo-skeleton to enhance his ability as Phil did.

I found the explanation of the cure flimsy and could have been resolved more believably. Again, the descriptions and back-story were too overt, jarring you from the flow of the story.

The story was somewhat interesting but like the first it lacked depth and since the show's episodes were deep and rich with side stories and info, again you would think that a book would have that and more.

Again I say, if you're looking for the last two episodes of the series to give closure, don't spend your money. Either borrow this book from your local library or read fan-fic from a fan-fiction site. This way the disappointment won't be followed by resentment for spending money on it!

I have to admit to having high hopes for the last episode of the second series. I knew it was the last ever episode and hoped they would tie it up nicely, I was bitterly disappointed (apparently Fox can't see a good thing if it hit them between the eyes).

Thankfully 'skin game' and 'after the dark' have tied things up, while leaving things open for more. Collins is an excellent writer, and captures the feel and humour of the series with ease.

The author works well with Joshua, giving us a less niave more mature transgenic.

I'm a huge fan of the show and picked up the book on a whim. Like many fans I was disappointed by the rather large unanswered questions in the finale and thought that the book would tie them up. Instead it was so god awful I could barely get through reading it. The explanations for the virus, the cult etc. are treated as an afterthought. It's as if the author looked back and thought wait, maybe I should add a paragraph explaining how the virus problem was resolved. Then after that paragraph was finished there was no mention of it again. Not to mention the utterly unscientific basis the author used to explain EVERYTHING. Dark Angel was always a show based on a foreseeable reality, on science, to explain away things based upon magic (not kidding, actual word used) is to Miss. The. Point. There was little to no plot in the slightly over 100 page story and what plot there was, was obstructed by the "trendy" dialog used on the show. Here is a sentence from the book, "Hey! Cut da man some slack, my sistah--gotta at least let Mm pretend he's still a jerk." Seriously? This sounds like a middle aged man trying to sound like a 20 year old girl. It's embarassing. I don't read fan fiction, but after reading this book I feel the need to start, I have no doubt that it would be better.

Well, I was hungry for more, the story can't just end there with the last episode, so I bought this one and read it this year. What can I say, it didn't fill the void. I felt the ending was anti-climatic, but all in all, I just can't get enough of the story. I probably wouldn't get a bar code tattoo, but if I was still in high school... Well, it was a good read but it's an episode, not a novel.

The book read like an episode of the series-I could almost hear the characters speak as I read. However, the author relies on his other two books for themes and situations, instead of the series (which I guess you might expect from the third book in his trilogy), but he gives enough background so that the reader isn't lost by not having read his other two books. All-in-all, the book gives at least some closure to the abrupt end of the series--[...].

Speaking of closure, the book left wanting more. Other reviews have called the ending "lame". Maybe the author was setting us up for another book. But seeing that his contract was for only three books, I doubt it. Since no other books are likely in the works, the author needed to add an epilog to explain the ending. Who knows, maybe someday he will.

[...]

This book was pretty cool. Max Allan Collins was commissioned to write three books initially so this will be his last one, and probably the series last one if it doesn't sell well. Unlike 'Skin Game', it wraps up most of the loose ends from the show. What the snake cult is after? What part Max plays? It still leaves a couple of items open and even throws an unexpected curve at the end. Overall, not a bad addition to the Dark Angel collection, but it probably isn't Collins best work as he cut it short (about 260 pages, he was probably trying to get the contract over with) and it occasionally shows that he's not a big Dark Angel fan or 'true believer' as Stan Lee would say. Worth buying for hardcore fans.

It is my opinion that "Dark Angel: After the dark" does fill the needs of fans that just want closure. It closes most of the loose ends left by the sudden ending of the series. However, it makes some critical continuity errors that true fans won't miss. It is these errors along with some out of character actions that makes it fall short.
THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS! The book reads like a single episode. This is where the problems start. Dark Angel was too complex a show to be closed out with only one episode. This made all the "Answers" to the open questions very simple. For some of the answers I liked: The end to the siege & the answer to "What to do with these mutants". Without spoiling too much, the fact that having income generated by transgenic art is a direct idea from the series. Joshua had sold paintings for crate loads of cash in the past and this book runs with this idea of a way to generate income for the new town of "Terminal city". Having Max & her brood chase down one of their own builds the creditability that was need to get "Most" of the normal's out of their hair. The way they removed the virus from Max & Logan's way was inventive and unexpected. I think the whole "Logan's deep dark secret" was an unneeded distraction from the storyline only to keep them from "Getting Busy" since the virus was no longer in there way. They could have just as easily not cured them so early in the book and that whole story line could have been left out. The impending doom the Snake cult is waiting for turns out to be an end of the world plague brought on by a meteor. Since they were praying to a meteor shower in the series, I can buy this direction however; it still seems like a "Simple" answer.
Now for the problems. The biggest is Max and how they reduced her being humanity's savior to an antibody she's carrying. I don't buy this at all. There were numerous times when she had blood work done without indecent. It wasn't until Mantacore ran her DNA that they found out she was "The One". Also; during a conversation in "Freak Nation" between Max & Logan about her tattoo's, she said "Why didn't farther give me something I can use like x-ray vision" & Logan's response is "How do you know he didn't? Maybe it just hasn't manifested itself yet?" This statement alone gives insight into what Max was destine to become. There is further proof during the siege on Jam Pony. Just before Agent White's "Phalanx Warriors" attacked Max knew they were coming. Either by newly acquired advanced hearing or a sixth sense because none of the other transgenic's knew they were in danger.
In the book, Max is always annoyed when "Mole" had a firearm. The fact that Max herself didn't do guns is well known but she never voiced opposition to any of her Brothers. As a matter of fact: Zach practically had guns taped to his arms he used them so much without Max having a problem. Max also kills in this story. She broke so many people's necks I thought it was the episode of "Drawn Together" when Capt. Hero says "Maybe a little neck snapping will make you talk".
Logan's character was so wrong I don't know if the writers actually watched the show. First he had money, lots of it. Enough to buy buildings & set himself up a sweet pad in his new building next to Terminal city. Second he was crippled and needed the exoskeleton to allow him to walk. Even before Logan lost his fortune in the show, he never owned complete buildings, only his apartment. After his transfusion with Joshua to stave off the virus infection, he got use of his legs again. He only wore the exoskeleton because with it not burdened by paralyzed limbs, he had power as evident with him kicking his "Phalanx Warrior" out & saving Alex by kicking his opponent thru several walls.
Being a hardcore fan of the series, these facts made it hard to enjoy their interpretation of what would have happened. For a casual fan, the book offers closer so I give it 2 ½ stars.