Customer Reviews

Resident Evil: Genesis

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found Resident Evil: Genesis to be a very good book. Other than messing up one character's name, I don't see why the person who wrote the first review is complaining about. The book goes into so much detail about what's going on that the book is about half done before you get to where the movie begins. And I found it very interesting in how the author went into so much detail about the back grounds of characters such as Rain. I definitely recommned this book to any fans of the Resident Evil series.

Keith R.A. DeCandido makes a game effort at turning Paul W.S. Anderson's shallow script for the first Resident Evil movie (here retitled Resident Evil: Genesis) into an actual story populated with developed characters. He almost succeeds. DeCandido has done an admirable job of fleshing out not only the backstories of Alice, Matthew and Spencer, but those of the supporting characters as well. The backstory stuff does become rather repetitious after awhile, what with all the characters, save one, coming from a military and/or law enforcement background. Matthew Addison is part of a group that seeks to bring the dirty secrets of the corrupt Umbrella Corporation out into the light of day. How this group operates and keeps itself funded is kept every bit as secret as the hows and whys of the Umbrella Corporation. Because of Matthew's history in law enforcement (I guess he is a Rogue-But-Righteous-Cop-Who-Doesn't-Play-By-The-Rules type) he cannot infiltrate Umbrella, but his sister can. Okay, that is contrived - but SOMEBODY had to fill in the plot holes that Anderson's source 'story' was riddled with. Lisa, Matthew's sister, is a brilliant computer wiz who manages to get a job inside Umbrella's semi-secret research and development headquarters located beneath the streets of Raccoon City - The Hive. While Lisa manages to gather some info, she also snags the attention of the center's security chief, Alice Abernathy. Lucky for Lisa, Alice wants to bring down Umbrella as well. The two formulate a plan...and that is when things go nightmarishly wrong. It is also that point where Paul W.S. Anderson's script begins and the novel switches from DeCandido's filling in the blanks to a rather straight forward retelling of the movie in narrative form. Try as he might, DeCandido, after such a nice build up, could not really keep the smoke and mirrors from distracting this reader from the fact that there is precious little story in Anderson's script. The oddest thing about the novelization is that, after filling in countless story gaps, DeCandido leaves one empty. In the film, after dispatching the zombified Lisa, Alice and Matthew share an expository moment. An instant later they are running for their lives from zombies, the movie not bothering to tell us just how this happened. Neither does DeCandido, he covers the sloppy transition with a chapter break. Disappointing oversight. I can only recommend this novelization to die hard Resident Evil fans.

Well, first off it is nice to find that they have finaly released a book baded after the movie and not the video game. I must admit that when I first saw the movie that I was alittle/very annoyed at the fact that they took the story from Capcom themselves and made a different version of the video game that I had come to love so much. Now that "Keith R.A. DeCandido" has writen a book with more endepth information that details major scenes in the movie that normally didn't make alot of scence. Keith R.A. DeCandido did a fantastic jod at explaining the story in a different sirection and style from the way that S.D. Perry (Author of the other Resident Evil book series) went. I am proud to give this book a well deserved "5 out of 5 Stars".

Mike Steal

I used to think that the novelizations of movies where stupid, because you have movies, why read them right? Well I was wrong. The Novelization of the first Resident Evil movie gives you a ton of insight to the other characters, as well as background on the main character, Alice, who through the whole movie series has no background. I really enjoyed this book, it's a must have!

Do you ever find yourself watching a movie and going, "Why on Earth would they do that? Did I miss something?"? Resident Evil has always been one of my favorite video games as a kid. As a teenager, Resident Evil became my favorite series of movies. And now as an adult, Resident Evil: Genesis is one of my favorite books. Why? Because it's fun!

If you buy this and are looking for some wildly radical differences in story compared to the movie, you will be disappointed. If you are buying this because you liked the movie and want just the little bit of insight into why Alice zigs instead of zags at points? Then it will be one of the most entertaining purchases you will ever make.

Great teenage book! Bought for my sons who love the series!
Delivered quickly and in excellent condition.

This is def. for you if you are a resident evil fan or if you liked the movie. It is much better then the movie. It provides a more detailed background on the characters. Some of the scene from the movie are different or extended or brand new. If you have watched the movie as much as I have you can actually picture the whole movie in your head when reading this book.
Overall if your a resident evil fan or a fan of the movie series you will not be disappointed.

Being a huge fan of the movies, I was very excited to purchase this book; however, I was sorely disappointed. A lot of the most simplistic of details are wrong (ex."Bart" Kaplan?), leading me to believe that the writer did no more research beyond simply watching the movie a couple of times. The characters are boring and flat, and have been developed no further than those of the movie; the scenes are often too brief and poorly described, and the transitions between are awkward. I had hoped to see more depth than in the movie, which is what one generally expects from a novel; however, I found little to none.
However, the book does deserve two stars simply for the background information given at the beginning of the book. Though poorly described in parts, it's interesting and informative, and gives another side to the movie. It would definately be described as the better half of the book.
Overall, the book is most certainly not worth it's price. If you're an RE fan, I suggest you take it out at a library, or borrow it, or buy it used.

I gave this book four stars because even though the story itself was good there were some problems with it. Mainly some parts were repeated and there were some parts that were downright boring to me. I skipped these parts. Reading this book did give me more details than the movie it is based on did. All in all it was still a good read. I would suggest reading S.D. Perry's RE books first because they are really much better. If you have finished them like I have and want more then sure go ahead and read DeCandido's books. Try to get them at the library or go ahead and buy them they are still worth the money.

Resident evil is about the t-virus leak in the first film, which it is based on. Tremendous description and brilliant action. Highly recommended. *****

:)