The Last Days Of Krypton

...as a general rule, I give a book one hundred pages to pull me in. My thought is that if I cannot be affected in some way by that point, the rest of the journey is not worth resolving. I could be missing out on something truly exceptional. I could also be avoiding another two hundred pages of similar drek that I finally slogged through. If one looks at a book of fiction as a three-act set-up, the first one hundred pages is more than enough to establish the universe of the story.

I wanted to read Kevin J. Anderson's The Last Days Of Krypton since I first knew that it existed. I thoroughly enjoyed his Batman / Superman 1950's team-up novel Enemies & Allies and was very intrigued by a pre-Superman tale of his lineage on their alien planet. I skimmed through several rounds of user reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, etc. Surprisingly, a good percentage of readers had harsh words for The Last Days Of Krypton. Opinions ranged as to why readers did not like this book, but the negativity was higher than I anticipated.

Deciding to ignore, I plunged into The Last Days Of Krypton. While I never questioned the writing, the first one hundred pages felt like a slow build with an occasional plot point that would lure me by the nose. With each chapter, I could hear a voice in the back of my head saying "Told ya.". One hundred and fifty pages and each interesting aspect felt like it was buttressed by something that felt dry and unnecessary. I could not decide if the writing was what was keeping this story from soaring or if a Superman-less tale about Superman was just not worth investing time in.

I began reading The Last Days Of Krypton in early January of this year. Over the past five months, I would sometimes go weeks without reading it. When I had picked up at yet again less than a week ago, I had left behind the first 256 pages. With a little more than 150 to go, I was caught in between wanting to finish as well as wanting to walk away altogether. As a mere reader, moving on was becoming attractive. As a Superman fan, I wanted to see it through. I chose the latter and truthfully, I am glad that I did.

From the point that I picked it back up, the story picked up a head of steam and then some. It was at this point that then-Commissioner Zod begins to fast track his schemes to seize power in a dictatorial manner to become General Zod. As the man-who-would-be-king, his already palpable mistrust of others crescendos into mania. For him, it is complete surrender or else. As Zod is creating and dealing with internal political threats, the real world threat of a giant comet on a collision course with Krypton looms above. As time winds down towards doomsday, Zod is preparing doomsday-style weaponry for a full scale world war. As it turns out that just as I was considering putting this book to bed for good was when it began to get really good.

Once it reached its somewhat slow climb to this apex, it remained for the rest of the story. While even the most disinterested person already knows the basics of Kal-El's origin, the author does a superb job of filling in the backstory of how Lara and Jor-El came to decide to see the infant sent to Earth. Some details alteration aside, the third act pulls the first two into a tightly wound package that results in a truly great story with a good amount of cinematic potential.

Any Superman fan of any level will find this story worth the investment of patience. As I said, it is a slow burn as it spends a lot of the early portion delving into the political structure of Kryptonian society. For someone seeking an entire race of persons with laser eyes and super strength, that someone will be disappointed. With back room dealings and ineffective committees, Krypton mirrors American politics. However, the patient person is rewarded with a science-fiction thriller in a familiar, yet unknown world.

From there, it is difficult to tell if a reader who is disinterested in Superman or comics would find anything to enjoy. A science-fiction fan...maybe. This book is written with a Superman reader in mind, first and foremost. Whereas a Batman novel may find crossover with readers of detective stories or murder mysteries, The Last Days Of Krypton felt like it has a more concentrated audience. So somewhat luke warm user reviews notwithstanding, I can attest that The Last Days Of Krypton is a solid read.