The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
| The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga |
| Country |
 United States
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| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Post-apocalyptic and horror |
| Publisher | Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin's Press |
| Publication date | October 11, 2011 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 307 |
| ISBN | 0-312-54773-0 |
The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor is a post-apocalyptic horror novel written by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga. The novel is a spin-off of Kirkman's series of graphic novels and explores the back-story of one of the series' most infamous characters, The Governor. Rise of the Governor is the first in a planned trilogy of novels.[1] The novel was released on October 11, 2011 to a generally positive critical reaction.
Plot summary
I always kind of looked at it like Rick and the Governor were two sides of the same coin, and if Rick had gone down a certain path he could have ended up exactly like that guy. And so I had a story in mind of how he became that guy and what caused him to be that bad of a person.
The novel follows the story of Philip Blake, his older brother Brian, his daughter Penny and friends Bobby and Nick as they struggle to survive in a world ravaged by the zombie apocalypse.
The group of survivors are hiding in a large house within the private neighborhood of Wiltshire Estates, planning to move on to the nearby city of Atlanta, where a fabled "safe zone" is supposedly located. A walker (which Brian had previously warned was not accounted for among the remains of the house's previous inhabitants) comes out of its hiding place and infects Bobby with the undead plague, killing him. Distraught, the remaining four of the group continue on, but not before Brian leaves a sign outside the gated community stating "ALL DEAD DO NOT ENTER".
Once in Atlanta, they find it is swarming with walkers, and that the safe zone has been either overtaken or was never there in the first place. After a disastrous car accident, the group frantically flees from a large herd of undead until they hear a voice calling them to an apartment building. The voice belongs to April Chalmers, who lets them into the building that she and her father, Dave, and sister, Tara, have secured. Everything is comfortable and joyously monotonous at the apartment until an elderly David expires.
To the shock of the survivors, David turns without having been bitten and nearly kills Tara. After Philip kills the zombie that was once David, things grow tense between him and Tara. As the group attempts to move on from the incident, Philip turns a clumsy attempt at romance into rape, and he sexually assaults April. The morning afterwards, April is nowhere to be found and the group is forced by Tara, at gunpoint, to leave the building.
After several days of riding motorcycles through rural Georgia, the Blakes and Nick find a villa atop a hill and decide to stay there indefinitely. Brian's suspicions of a group following them are not taken seriously until the very group violently forces them out of the house. A firefight ensues, and as Brian flees with her in his arms, Penny is shot and killed. Penny's death pushes Philip over the edge, and when he manages to capture two shooters from the firefight, he slowly and cruelly tortures them in revenge. Nick and Brian discover the torture victims and are horrified at what Philip has done, and as an act of mercy, Nick kills the nearly-eviscerated torture victims. Brian, although horrified at Philip's actions, tries to rationalize and defend his brother, stating that the torture was motivated by intense grief and that without Philip, they wouldn't have made it so far. Reluctantly, Nick agrees with Brian but he becomes increasingly doubtful of Philip's state of mind and of the purity of his soul. Philip refuses to kill the zombie form of Penny and this causes some concern for Nick because he believes that Philip is keeping Penny's soul from moving on. However, with some convincing, Nick agrees to keep the undead Penny with the group and they all venture onwards until they stumble across the town of Woodbury.
At Woodbury, there is not much order and unity among the citizens, but the tiny populace is led by a small group of ruthless National Guardsmen. After chaining Penny in a nearby wooded area, the three men gain admission into the town. Philip manages to sneak Penny into his house during the night, much to the consternation of Brian and Nick, who are fretful over how Philip is jeopardizing their "citizenship" at Woodbury. Philip's mental instability becomes too much to bear for Nick and Brian one night, when they discover Philip possibly trying to rape a local girl in the woods. Nick kills Philip (and accidentally kills the girl as well) in an attempt to stop Philip's madness, and following this, Brian shoots Nick to death.
Mentally and emotionally exhausted, Brian leaves the bodies in the woods for the walkers, and contemplates what he will do now that he is alone.
After being herded into a "town meeting", Brian discovers that the leader of Woodbury is attempting to make all its citizens "pull their own weight" and if anyone refuses or dissents, they will be shot. A man, dismissing the decree as ludicrous, attempts to leave the town meeting and is immediately shot. Disgusted by the murder and by the cowardice he has shown his whole life, Brian feels himself undergoing a metamorphosis as he shoots the leader of Woodbury. Citizens of Woodbury begin to crowd around him and when he is asked for his name, Brian replies with "Philip Blake".
Promotion
Robert Kirkman appeared on the talk show The View to discuss zombies and The Walking Dead franchise, as well as promote Rise of the Governor. Each member of the studio audience received a free copy of the novel.[3]
Reception
Sales
As of October 30, 2011 the novel is the 308th best selling overall book on Amazon.com[4] and the 36th best selling horror novel.[5]
References
- ^ "'The Walking Dead': Check out the cover art for the 'Rise of the Governor' novel". EntertainmentWeekly.com. 2011-05-12. http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/05/12/the-walking-dead-governor-kirkma/. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
- ^ "For ‘Walking Dead’ Creator, It Takes a Novel To Explain What Spawned ‘the Governor’". The New York Times. 2011-10-14. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/for-walking-dead-creator-it-takes-a-novel-to-explain-what-spawned-the-governor/. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
- ^ [Source is on a blacklist website "Halloween zombies on The View with Robert Kirkman and Kate Gosselin"]. Examiner.com. 2011-10-31. Source is on a blacklist website. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
- ^ "The Walking Dead: Rise of The Governor [Hardcover"]. Amazon.com. No date of publication available. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312547730. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- ^ "Amazon Best Sellers: Best Horror Literature and Fiction". Amazon.com. No date of publication available. http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/49/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_b_1_4_last#2. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
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