The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor [Hardcover]

Robert Kirkman (Author), Jay Bonansinga (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 11, 2011 | Series: The Walking Dead (Book 1)

Winner of the 2011 Diamond Gem Award for Trade Book of the Year

In the Walking Dead universe, there is no greater villain than The Governor. The despot who runs the walled-off town of Woodbury, he has his own sick sense of justice: whether it’s forcing prisoners to battle zombies in an arena for the townspeople’s amusement, or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. The Governor was voted “Villain of the Year” by Wizard magazine the year he debuted, and his story arc was the most controversial in the history of the Walking Dead comic book series. Now, for the first time, fans of The Walking Dead will discover how The Governor became the man he is, and what drove him to such extremes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; Fifth or Later Edition edition (October 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312547730
• ISBN-13: 978-0312547738
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (451 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor:

“An excellent companion to the The Walking Dead comic books. The story is enriched by the novel format, and the characterization of the series' most hated villain is something no fan will want to miss.”
—Examiner.com

“This book stands alone and is a compelling read for fans of the series or just fans of zombies. Watch out though, because once you get a taste of the particular Kirkman brand of zombie mayhem, catching up on past issues is just around the corner.”
—The Ossuary

“The story makes a great novel. You'll get sucked in and can easily visualize everything that is happening. It's simply a great read.”
—Comicvine.com

“It takes great advantage of the literary medium in a way that most tie-in books would not.”
—TVOverMind.com

“Not for the faint of heart, this book runs on pressure-cooker suspense, graphically described bloodshed, and dark acts of brutality...This riveting character study adds a new dimension to the oeuvre by fleshing out established characters and plot lines.”
—School Library Journal

About the Author

Robert Kirkman is best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics and SKYBOUND. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics and is an executive producer and writer on AMC’s critically acclaimed television series The Walking Dead.

Jay Bonansinga is a critically acclaimed horror novelist whose works include Perfect Victim, Shattered, Twisted, and Frozen. His debut novel, The Black Mariah, was a finalist for a Bram Stoker Award.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; Fifth or Later Edition edition (October 11, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312547730
• ISBN-13: 978-0312547738
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (451 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Kirkman is a New York Times bestselling author known for being the cultural zeitgeist of the comic book industry. He maintains one prerogative in every undertaking: quality. It is Kirkman's belief that good people who produce good writing and good ideas make comics people love. Kirkman was recently made partner at Image Comics, and continues to revive the industry with refreshing new characters. AMC is adapting his bestselling series, The Walking Dead, into a TV series (set to debut in October 2010), and his books are among the most popular on the iPhone and iPad's "Comics" app.

On the web:
skyboundent.com
kirkmania.com
twitter.com/RobertKirkman

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

(What's this?)

#42 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

#92 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

#42 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction

#92 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

109 of 130 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Inspired Idea About An Exceptional Character--A Engaging Read That Breaks Little New Ground August 24, 2011

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

The inevitable expansion of "The Walking Dead" universe continues, and I suppose it was only a matter of time before the series ventured into the realm of novelization. Having been a huge Dead fan since the first graphic novels, I have watched the enterprise turn into an outright phenomenon. Having reviewed every other incarnation of the franchise (all of the graphic novels, collectibles, and AMC's television production), I jumped at the chance to pick up this collaboration by series creator Robert Kirkman and tidy horror writer Jay Bonansinga. "The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor" is an inspired idea for a novel. The Governor is one of the series' most notorious and loathsome villains--and the notion of exploring his back story will undoubtedly be appealing to fans of his dark power.

Well, it turns out that the Governor may not be as different as you might imagine. In many ways, this tale is a familiar survival story. Beginning in the first days of the zombie outbreak, the narrative follows the trials and tribulations of a small band of ragged survivors (including the man who will become The Governor, his brother, lifelong friends, and a little girl). As expected, we see the collective attempt to understand the new world order. Trying to exist in a suburban community, followed by a stint in the city, followed by isolationism--the band tries various strategies to build a new life. Every time peace seems to settle, the real world comes crashing down in the form of a new undead or even human menace. At what point does someone meet their rational limit? The novel takes us on the journey of The Governor until he reaches exactly that spot and then pushes to the other side. The final two chapters, especially, bring everything together in quite momentous ways....

It might be a bit misleading calling this "The Rise of the Governor" (a more apt title might have been The Birth of the Governor). The book ends where you might expect if you are a fan of the series (with a few familiar characters)--but it is really only the starting point of a new chapter. In truth, this version of The Walking Dead saga doesn't break any new ground dramatically or thematically. Reliant on action set pieces, the book feels eminently cinematic. In reading the adventure, you can almost visualize the action as it takes place. It's solidly constructed, easy to read, and fast paced. I read the book in one day which is something that I almost never do. Ultimately, though, I had hoped for something a little less expected and unique to such a colorful character. The book is easy to like. I just wanted to be blown away by a fresh and original story and I feel that I've traveled these roads many times in other zombie lore. There is a bit of fun paralleling the locales and challenges of the Governor's crew with the original protagonists of the graphic novels. But you don't have to be a fervent fan to enjoy this solid novel. This can definitely work as a stand alone piece but it has more impact, however, if you actually know who the Governor is! A good and fun effort that, ultimately, doesn't add a huge new dimension to the ongoing saga. KGHarris, 8/11 Read more ›

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre Story, Terrible Writing March 1, 2013

By Matt Benecke

Format:Paperback

The Walking Dead universe has been around for a decade but many fans have only just recently begun their exploration. With the advent of The Walking Dead television show on AMC, hordes of new devotees have joined the legions of comic book fans worldwide in enjoying Robert Kirkman's thrilling zombie saga. I, like many folks, began watching the show first and then came to the comics afterwards. I realized early on that there are some stark differences between the two worlds--ones that almost render the two story archs as completely separate.

As anyone who has read the comics will tell you, the Governor is established almost immediately as being a very, very bad guy. On the show, however, the depths of his evil have yet to be seen. In either case, though, little is known about the back story of the super villain. I was thrilled when I received The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor for Christmas because I figured it would be a great read and would shed some light onto the motivation behind the character's heinous acts and twisted identity. Much to my disappointment, this book has fallen far short of my expectations and, in my opinion, is wholly undeserving both of the label at the top of the cover page and the lofty review score here on Amazon.

Now, the last thing that most people seem to care about when it comes to what they enjoy reading is the quality of the writing itself. It's part of the reason why so many terrible novels enjoy meteoric, seemingly overnight success. It's also the only reason I can think of that this book--one that is rife not simply with an inexcusable quantity of typographical errors, poor form, a surfeit of unnecessary detail, and a ridiculous amount of repetition--could have earned a New York Times Bestseller title.... The only thing that makes sense to me is that fans of the show (and possibly the comics) saw the novel and jumped at it simply because of the title and the man behind the material.

With that said, I'm sure many people will roll their eyes at the aforementioned laundry list of complaints about the writing. The point of this review though isn't simply to bash this novel for its terrible technical issues. Instead, it's meant to elucidate and enumerate some specific things that make the writing SO bad that the story becomes a secondary aspect. To date, I've never read a book that is THIS bad at telling what is at its heart a simple if not redundant story. The biggest problem is that the worst aspects of the novel repeat themselves numerous times. One thing that annoyed me repeatedly was the authors' use of extensive, unnecessary lists. Case(s) in point:

p. 19 "The kitchen is a cornucopia, brimming with upper-class provisions and luxuries: gourmet coffees, immersion blenders, crystal goblets, wine racks, handmade pastas, fancy jams and jellies, condiments of every variety, expensive liqueurs, and cooking gadgets of every description. The giant Viking range is spotless, and the massive Sub-Zero refrigerator is packed with expensive meats and fruits and spreads and dairy products and little white Chinese carryout boxes full of still-fresh leftovers."

I feel like the authors sat down and said to themselves, "Hmm...let's think of everything a rich people keep in their kitchens," jotted it all down, and put it into the book.

p. 33 "Their moods improve slightly the next morning after a huge breakfast of scrambled eggs and slab bacon and grits and ham and griddlecakes and fresh peaches and sweet tea. The fragrant mélange fills with [sic] entire house with the welcoming odors of coffee and cinnamon and smoked meats sizzling."

A sixth grader wouldn't use the word "and" that many times in a single sentence.

Later, on the same page: "They find a treasure trove of supplies and building materials: woodpiles for fireplaces, extra planking under decks, more food in the neighbors' refrigerators, cans of gas in the garages, winter coats and boots, boxes of nails, liquor, blowtorches, bottled water, a short-wave radio, a laptop, a generator, stacks of DVDs, and a gun rack in one of the basements with several hunting rifles and boxes of shells."

As an English teacher, I've seen writing like this before. More often than not, it's the sign of a writer who has no idea what to say but who needs simply to fill the page. It would be one thing if the items listed played a critical role in the plot of the story but they don't.

Another sign of an unconfident writer (or at least an unimaginative one) is the repetition of an adjective. The protagonist is referred to as "ropy" or as having "ropy musculature" almost a dozen times but the most annoying descriptors, hands down, are the ones used to describe another overweight character. In the span of only a few pages, he is referred to as fat, obese, big, giant, massive, and plump, as if the authors were afraid that we'd forget about his size and how critical it is to the story (spoiler alert: it isn't).

Worse still is the children's horror story-type stabs at building suspense and the atrocious attempts at evoking an emotional response from the reader. One prime example of the latter occurs when a character (who will remain nameless to avoid a spoiler moment) is dying:

"It's over," _____ manages in a feeble whisper, and his eyes roll back for a moment. Then he sees the nail gun in ___'s hand. With his big bloody sausage fingers, ___ reaches for the muzzle."

Nothing tears at the heartstrings more than reading about a dying man's big bloody sausage fingers!

Finally, one of the most obnoxious, distracting things that recurs throughout the novel is the overuse of unnecessary details. There's a sliding scale of egregiousness that ranges from an insane quantity of brand names to details that are both unnecessary AND factually inaccurate (p. 101 "At approximately 10:22 A.M. Central Standard Time..." Really? You're going to say approximately and then give an exact time in the WRONG TIME ZONE!?) to things like THIS--almost an ENTIRE PAGE of useless information:

p. 107 "Very few production cars on the road--in the U.S., at least--are capable of attaining any kind of speed in reverse. First of all, there's the gear problem. Most cars, vans, pickups, and sport-utility vehicles that come off the line have five or six forward gears but only one for reverse. Second of all, most vehicles have front suspensions designed to go forward and not backward. This prevents drivers from getting up a head of steam in reverse. Third of all, in reverse you're usually steering by looking over your shoulder, and pushing cars to top speeds in this fashion usually terminates in spectacular spinouts.

On the other hand, the vehicle...is a 2011 Platinum Cadillac Escalade with all-wheel drive and tricked-out torsion bars for any off-road applications that ace mechanic Calvin R. Donlevy of Greencove Lane might have endeavored to undertake in the backwaters of Central Georgia (in happier times). The vehicle weighs in at nearly four tons, and is close to seventeen feet long, with a StabiliTrak electronic stability control system (standard on all Platinum models). Best of all, it's equipped with a rearview camera that displays on a generous seven-inch navigation screen built into the dash."

I'll let that sink in for a moment.

First of all, the first paragraph reads more like a grade-schooler's report about cars that go vroom than something out of a New York Times Best--oh, wait.

Second of all, the second paragraph might as well be a Cadillac advertisement.

Third of all, how does ANY of that information enhance the story about the Governor!?

In short, it doesn't and it's not the only page that's like that. Truth be told, if you're a fan of either the comics or the television show, you'd be better served avoiding this nonsense "novel" and devise your own history for the Governor. The odds are that it would be better than what Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga created in this hot mess AND it would save you from having to read through endless sentences that talk about what rich people have and what cars are like and how many things everyone had for breakfast and how fat one character is and how big and strong the other character is and how many different brands there are to mention and how many different street names there are and what time it is halfway across the country even though the story takes place in Georgia and that gravitational forces make people go boom when the accelerator pedal is pressed and that those same gravitational forces make people go boom the other way when the brake pedal is pressed and...

...I hope you get the picture. Read more ›

59 of 77 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Great concept, poor execution... September 22, 2012

By Warren Peace

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I enjoy the Walking Dead franchise and have enjoyed other zombie apocalypse novels so I thought this has to be no-brainer for me to read. Instead it turned out to be a no-brainer... period. Even being a fan of WD I found this book painful. I can generally overlook a few mistakes assuming I can get into and follow an interesting plot line. But the mistakes were so many that I just couldn't get past them.

Firstly, the writing was awkward. It used a third-person, present tense that was difficult to read. The kind of tense that a middle-school student might use in their first attempt at fiction. The author, presumably an established horror writer, seemed to get stuck using the same expressions over and over. "Thunderstruck" was something that every character seemed to be at some point. How many times did the characters feel "gravitational forces suck" them back or forward in the car. Really? It's called inertia, even if you are trying to be poetic how many times can you use the same expression? The over-use of metaphor and simile were more than a little annoying, again reminding me of a juvenile author's first attempts.

Secondly, the characters were two-dimensional. I couldn't empathize with a single one of them. The humanity of the characters (at least the human ones) in the WD series is what makes it so compelling and enjoyable. It's not just about monsters, it's how people interact and deal with the cards they have been dealt. This story missed the mark. I understand this was supposed about the characters losing their humanity but they should have first started with some.

Finally, the facts, or lack thereof, were impossible to overlook. I will not get into all the problems in the story, the "Ford S-10" has already been mentioned in other reviews.... As has the "high powered rifle/20 gauge shotgun" and the .22 caliber pistol that blows heads clean off. And using a radiator hose to siphon gas? Has the author ever tried this? I am willing to guess the answer is no. And I have boxes of cereal that have been in my pantry for longer than 6 weeks and they aren't crawling with worms quite yet.

Overall, I have to say that I was "thunderstuck" by the poor job on this one. It seemed as if it might have been rushed to press to capitalize on the Walking Dead franchise as quickly as possible. With little attention given to quality. It's as if the publisher was saying.. "it won't matter, people will love it anyway, lets just churn something out and grab the cash". Sadly, perhaps they were correct given the number of 5 star reviews. One reviewer wrote "I haven't read it yet but I am giving it 5 stars!" ????

I give it one star out of respect to Bob Kirkman (and because that's the minimum)... but please don't don't make this kind of writing the new status-quo. And please hire a good editor for the next installment. Read more ›