Crashing Paradise: A Novel of the Menagerie [Paperback]

Christopher Golden (Author), Thomas E. Sniegoski (Author)

Book Description

Series: Menagerie | Publication Date: August 28, 2007

The Legion of Doom is hell-bent on breaking into Eden, and they've got the perfect captive to help them: Eve, mother of all humanity-and all vampires. Only Doyle and the Menagerie can stop them from turning a blessed garden into a paradise lost.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Ace (August 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441015328
• ISBN-13: 978-0441015320
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,231,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, bestselling author of such novels as The Myth Hunters, Wildwood Road, The Boys Are Back in Town, The Ferryman, Strangewood, Of Saints and Shadows, and (with Tim Lebbon) The Map of Moments. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including Poison Ink, Soulless, and the thriller series Body of Evidence, honored by the New York Public Library and chosen as one of YALSA's Best Books for Young Readers. Upcoming teen novels include a new series of hardcover YA fantasy novels co-authored with Tim Lebbon and entitled The Secret Journeys of Jack London.

A lifelong fan of the "team-up," Golden frequently collaborates with other writers on books, comics, and scripts. In addition to his recent work with Tim Lebbon, he co-wrote the lavishly illustrated novel Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire with Mike Mignola. With Thomas E. Sniegoski, he is the co-author of the book series OutCast and The Menagerie, as well as comic book miniseries such as Talent, currently in development as a feature film. With Amber Benson, Golden co-created the online animated series Ghosts of Albion and co-wrote the book series of the same name.
As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies The New Dead and British Invasion, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, the online animated series Ghosts of Albion (with Amber Benson) and a network television pilot.

The author is also known for his many media tie-in works, including novels, comics, and video games, in the worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, Angel, and X-Men, among others.

Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crashing Paradise Crushes its Dark Fantasy Competition!, September 5, 2007

By 

Apollo Reader (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crashing Paradise: A Novel of the Menagerie (Paperback)

This latest novel in the Menagerie series is quite easily the very best of the series thus far. Authors Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski have penned the ultimate in dark fantasy adventures that rival the Award-winning Shadow Saga that marks Christopher Golden's very best writing.

Crashing Paradise clearly shows that co-author Thomas Sniegoski helps create this novel to be the perfect mixing of mythological creatures of the dark with Biblical mythos to create the ultimate hardcore Dark Fantasy adventure that will thrill fans of this genre, showing clearly that these two authors are at the top of their game.

Whether you've read the other 3 Menagerie novels or not, you can easily read this as a stand alone novel, capturing all the beauty and savagery that CRASHING PARADISE produces.

The new Legion of Doom the author's integrate in this novel are fully fleshed-out, believable monsters that are not your typical cardboard cut-out baddies. That's what makes this series - and this book especially! - stand out as the ultimate in the most evidently ever-growing and most popular and hot genre going now - Dark Urban fantasy.

From Earth to The Garden of Eden, authors Golden and Sniegoski create a solid storyline chock-full of interesting and ever-growing characters that fit inside this world-building juggernaut that will surely tittilate you into reading into the early hours of the morning. Yes, it is just that great!

The Menagerie battle their most dangerous foes to date here, from angels to demons in their myriad forms, all vying for domination in the beauty and savagery of the Garden of Eden. The beautiful Eve, the mother of all vampires, driven from Paradise by God after tasting the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, truly stands out here in this novel as she seeks to repent for her centuries of sin and destroy those vampires that she is the mother of - as well as those demons and bad angels that combine their powerful forces to enter the Gate of Eden.

And the other character that stands out here is Clay, the immortal shapeshifter that God created who is made and molded from everything the earth is made from. Extremely interesting character and love interest for Eve which captures the imagination of the readers. They are both on a quest to find and remember their origins, and how they do this is truly a masterpiece and a thrill ride to read about. Can't say enough great stuff about this.

If this is the prelude to come for the imminent and ultimate threat of the upcoming Demogorgon - then me and my husband await with bated breath! Fans of sci-fi/fantasy/dark fantasy are in for a gigantic adventure in this single novel, sure to please the masses. Utterly terrific!

if we could give this 10 stars - we would.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fourth in an Exciting Dark Fantasy Series, February 11, 2008

By 

SciFiChick "The SciFiChick" (Fishers, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Crashing Paradise: A Novel of the Menagerie (Paperback)

When demonic forces decide to storm Eden, they kidnap Eve, the one person who may be able to get them through the gate. Now the Menagerie, a team of paranormal individuals, must track them down and stop the vampires and demons from destroying paradise.

Led by sorcerer Arthur Doyle, the Menagerie are a unique cast of characters, from hobgoblins to shapeshifters. Though, the character of Eve is by far the most interesting. After her exile from Eden she also birthed the evil race of vampires. But now, Eve seeks redemption and has been trying to hunt down and destroy the evil that she helped create.

Crashing Paradise is the 4th novel in the Menagerie series, but can definitely stand alone. There was enough backstory on the characters to give a general idea of who they were, so I wasn't too confused. Containing plenty of action and violence, this was an exciting dark fantasy that intrigued me enough to want to go back and check out the rest of the series.

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad News on the Sequel front, September 27, 2011

By 

Raymond A. Barlow II (Arlington, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crashing Paradise: A Novel of the Menagerie (Paperback)

Well I have read all four books many times over now and I had gotten tired of waiting for the beat down of the demigorgon. So I decided to Email the guys. They emailed me back....Wow is right, I was surprised too. The bad news is Their idiot publisher(my words not theirs) decided to pull the plug on any further books in the series. So here we are with a wonderful story line, interesting characters, and no end in sight. Tis truly a sad day!!!!