Customer Reviews

Infernal Sky (Doom) (No. 3)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The third installment of the DOOM series will unexpectantly take a sharp turn from the style of the previous two books. While the previous books were filled with suspense and action and the usual slash-and-shoot genre, the third installment takes an academic step up from the rest and focuses around the mentality of the characters. Subjects such as what the charater thinks and believes now in the after-math of the battle is focused, and you start to see the deeper side of the once before cool-as-ice Marine. Granted, the world cannot be torn apart by demons from hell and the characters be expected to have the same views as before. The novel mostly focuses now on the emotional value of the battle between good and evil. Thats not to say that Infernal Sky is not without its action sequences. But the previous readers buying this installment expecting the usual blow the hell outta anything that moves attitude are going to be surprised.

Knee-Deep in the Dead and Hell on Earth were surprisingly great reads, but Infernal Sky marks the downfall of the Doom novel series.

Taking the battle from Earth to somewhere in outer space, we discover that the 'Demon Invaders' are actually the product of an agressive alien species. A band of survivors on Earth get a transmission from an alien species claiming to be friendly, and the book steadily declines from there. The group of heroes are transported to the home of 'Sears and Roebuck'(don't ask), a pair of alien beings who seek to help the group fight off the menace.

The author just seems to lose all grip he had on the concept of Doom. The scary thing about Doom is the concept of battling Demons from Hell. Revealing them to be simple creations of an alien species really doesn't sit well with me. Everything that made the first two books good, such as tension, atmosphere and mystery, just disappears. The story becomes convoluted and ridiculous, becoming more unbeleivable as it goes(as if that were possible) and just succeeds in dulling the senses. Had I not been such a big fan of Doom back when I first read it, I would've put the book down before I was half-way finished.

I simply think the series could've been so much more. The first two books were so entertaining, but Infernal Sky and Endgame just completely ruin it. I'm sorry to say that a potentially good series was ruined before it really achieved its full potential.

Am I still reading about Doom? Is this still about the game's storyline?
Doesn't seem like it. As you progress through, the author seems to drift further and further away from what iD wanted Doom to be all about. This would be perfectly OK if the sci-fi plot was better.
If you want to remain with the story that the videogame sketched, you shouldn't read this book, you should stop at volume two. If you're curious what the author has to offer, I guess you could keep reading.
I didn't rate this book like so because it's drifting away from the original storyline, I gave it this rating because I didn't think it's that great of a scifi book, plain and simple.

it just needed more work and better peopl

This book has a big turn around. The game had almost no story line. It was like "This is what you do and then you kill bad guys." This book has opened a new light to the game. I thought the first book was going to be just the guy from the game and he's gona go to hell ,kill, and then go back to Earth. Then he blows away a bunch of bad guys on earth, then he celabrates. This was a big change. I'm glad that its not in hell. This book is also not focusing on just blowing things away. These guys have turned the simplest video game story line in history, into some of the best novels I've ever read.

Here it is, the third novel in the almighty Doom series. It is probably the worst one in the series (the others were better, but this one isn't bad by any means), but it is a good book anyways. The beginning part in Hawaii, the return to Phobos, and the scientists' naming of the enemies (they actually used the real creatures' names) made this book worth the moolah to buy it, or just to complete the series. Overall good but not the best of the four.

Well kiddies, I'm back, and I'm here to comment on the 3rd novel in the DOOM series of books. This book (INFERNAL SKY) is quite entrancing...you cannot put it down. "Fly" Taggart and Arlene Sanders now have a new travel partner, Albert the Mormon. He is an ex-Marine sniper and very handy to the mission. Oh yeah...the mission...well, to put it simply, these 3 soldiers have to save the universe from an over-aggressive alien species. In order to do this...they need to actually travel to the aliens' homeworld...but that is in the next novel, ENDGAME. I don't want to give away the ending...hehehe...I highly recommend this book and sincerely hope that Dafydd comes out with new DOOM books soon to satiate my need to kick some demons!!! --Pudge

If you are a Doom fanatic like I am, it really is worth the time reading. Part 1 for example really dealt with the original game enormously. Part 2 had some connections with the Doom games, but not too many. Part 3 however, the story takes quite a unusual change from the first two books. The story just didn't go with the Doom theme anymore and it went from corridor shooter to something like Star Trek. But if your a hardcore Doom fan like I am, then it is well worth the money. I personally enjoyed the book, but I just thought people who are interested in buying this book should know what the book is about without spoiling the story.

This is a great book. There isn't as much violence as the first two doom books, but it has it's share

I guess people have a problem with change.
One has to be a really open minded reader to really consume this whole series and like every bit of it. This book is completly different from KNEE-DEEP IN THE DEAD. It has been criticized for having nothing to do with DOOM. Like I said before, you can only stretch DOOM'S paper-thin story into so many pages before it gets repetitive. This book bridges the gap between the 2nd and 4th books. The 4th book, which I will review later, is one wild trip.

INFERNAL SKY drops a huge bombshell on the reader: Fly and Arlene must travel to the Aliens homeworld to destroy them. When they get back, however, 200 years will have passed on Earth. Wow. If you are into this series and really sympathize with these characters, this is a huge and mind-bending developement. The latter half of the book is genuine sci-fi adventure, and for readers who originally picked up the series, this is just too much to digest: it's so different from the original book.
But personally, I like it. I like it A LOT. There isn't much to say about the wit or humor in this book; it takes itself quite a bit more seriously than the originals. Again, my star review is misleading. I doubt most people enjoyed this book as much as I did, so although I am awarding it 5 stars, I only modestly recommend it. Although, if you have made it this far into the series, it would be a shame to stop. If you read book 1 and 2, and liked book 2, read this and ENDGAME. I recommend finding ENDGAME first, however.. It's torture if you can't get it to find out what happens after this one!