Book: Those who walk in Darkness

[Carnifex]

By John Ridley. Gritty superhero book (not unlike WildCards), the after a villian smoked San Fran, all metahumnas were deported. If any are found, MTacs (as I recall Metahuman Tactical teams) are sent after them.

The main character is kind of an anti-hero. I liked the combats, them the point of view of normal people up against people with super powers. Also a good demonstratioon of how normals can come to resent and fear metas, even the good ones.

[Sunhound]

I visited Amazon after reading your post, Carnifex. They had a few sample pages up and the story seems exciting and filled with action. I'll be getting that book this weekend! Thanks for the heads-up.

[DocObvious]

Sounds very much in the same vein as DC's "Kingdom Come" which I thought was terrific - thanks for the tip.

[Kid Vorpal]

Having nothing better to do after dinner, I strolled over to the bookstore and picked this one up (after having scanned the sample pages at Amazon.com).

I'm two-thirds into the book now and I have to say: good call on the heads-up, because this book kicks much a$$.

Thanks again for the lead, Carnifex.

[Carnifex]

thanks. I honestly can't remember where I heard about it, so I can't thank them; I guess I just paid forward.

Haven't heard of Kingcom Come, I'll have to look for it.

[Malakim]

Yes, I believe I will have to pick up a copy too.

Don't know if any of you saw this, but on Amazon.com I was "suggested" the DVD version of this story. That's right, there is a DVD movie (animated) of the book.

Just do a "Those Who Walk in Darkness " search and choose "All Products" or DVD from the category list.

Do I take a chance and get both? hhhhmmm.....

[MusicFreq2002]

hmmm... the DVD looks a little sketchy. poorly animated at least. here is a RealMedia clip of the trailer.

http://www.twbookmark.com//media/realau ... /85369.ram

-musicfreq2002

[Malakim]

Yeah, I saw a trailer of it after I posted my message. Good thing I _DIDN'T_ order it from Amazon. I think I'll be happy with just the novel for now!

[Novac]

Just finished the book. Picked it up at 10am, went to work and finished it by midnight. Good book, lots of neat ideas, suck ending. All in all, I give it a 7 out of 10.

[palehorse]

musicfreq2002 said:

hmmm... the DVD looks a little sketchy. poorly animated at least.

Oi, you weren't kidding.

People should have to take a test or something before they're entrusted with Flash.

[AaronUnicorn]

Just finished the book. I have to say that I dug everything about the book but the ending. Ultimately, Soledad had no character growth. She could've learned from the experience, and grown. But instead, she just became more of what she was at the beginning.

Grrrr.

[Carnifex]

Yeah, she was kind of an anti-hero.

[Novac]

Yeah, she was kind of an anti-hero.

Not to mention anti-climatic

[Zhure]

Picked the book up today based on the recommendations here and I got halfway through it while getting my oil changed. So far so good.

At about the halfway point-
I find the storyline interesting if a little implausible. (Implausible meaning the legal aspects and political machinations not the existence of super-powered beings.)

I dislike the writing style's excessive use of sentence fragments and the too frequent use of street lingo to which I am not familiar. The 'hood' language wouldn't bother me as much if it were coming from a character, but it's from the narrator's POV, which means either it's Soledad 'talking' and it's unclear or I'm so completely out of touch with modern language changes that the slange has to be 'translated' slowly in my head which takes away some of my enjoyment of the book.

Some of the character names that the super-powered community took were too ethnic. I found it disharmonious to try to imagine someone adopting the nom de guerre of Nubian Princess, or Social Worker. On the other hand, a lot of the names were quite clever and very in genre. Nightshift and Bludlust being two strong examples. I suppose in a minor way it reflects my feelings that all the good names are taken. After over sixty years of men in spandex in the print media, a lot of the clever handles are already under copyright. (One experiences much the same trouble with a new screen name on AOL.)

Based on what I've read so far, I recommend buying the book. I normally only purchase softbacks, but was glad I made the exception in this case. Those Who Walk in Darkness has been the most interesting book I've read this year.
Greg

[Nightshyft]

Nightshift! Please, please tell me what "powers" Nightshift has...please

[Zhure]

So far Nightshift is only dealt with obliquely, references in passing. Let me speed read and see if I can find a specific mention...

Nightshift was the first to manifest super-powers, appearing in San Francisco. Nothing else mentioned so far specifically, sorry.

[Jianghujoe]

Oh I really disagree. It's not a matter of Soledad's growth it's about her anger and her inability to have a normal relationship due to her self-imposed guilt and truama. Now I also think she was probably the most disagreeable protagonist I have read in years! Damn she's mean and frustrating. However I thought it was brilliant to be able to pull off this novel with someone like Soledad at it's center. The four color world portrayed through modern life as we know it was handled pretty efficiently to me. It made sense. It fit.
Also Ridley's commentary on racicism is masterfuly expressed through Soledad's red lined rage along with her own treatment within the force yet done subtley. Ridley is a smart writer of thrillers, and screenplays. He's written Three Kings and Undercover Brother for film and has been on NPR a few times talking about comics so he's got the credentials...I really can't recommend this novel highly enough. Think X-Men when Storm lost her powers. Think Powers. Think Watchmen.