( G ) Books - Page 12

Deathstalker Legacy (Deathstalker)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Space? Check. Opera? Check. 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is unapologetic over-the-top space opera stuff. The villains are hissingly evil, the heroes are...hmm. Well, they're not chock full of virtue. Unless "butt-kicking" and "unleashing massive havoc" count as virtues. The so-called good guys are all pretty much rogues and misfits or folks that do what they do because of their own code of honor, even though they feel that society is worthless and weak. (Green tends to believe that the masses are ignorant and hateful swine.)

What I like about this entire series is that it's fast-paced and it takes pride in introducing characters with stupendous names like Kid Death, Jack Random, Valentine Wolfe, Captain Silence, Investigator Frost, and so forth. Not to mention uber-espers like the Mater Mundi and the Spider Harps and the Shatter Freak and so on. And even minor characters have spiffy backstories, like the one explorer dude who vanished, only to return years later with half his body replaced by an extradimensional force.

In any case, throughout the series there's plenty of sword-fighting, evil AIs and cyborgs, psi-freaks, Shrike-like aliens, bizarre artifacts, and sadistic empresses. In short, everything you need for a successful book (except flying ninja chimps).

This volume takes place 200 years after the first four, after the good guys of the preceding books have established a Golden Age and vanished into legend. Now, however, the rejuvenated Empire is threatened both from within by a sociopathic Paragon and from without by the Terror (which essentially seems to be the Shadows from B5's Z'ha'dum). Nineteen or so evil organizations band together in a plot to overthrow the government, betrayals abound, revelations are revealed, AIs and aliens posture cryptically, and heroes blast holes in everything that moves.

Tragically, the book is flawed in three serious respects.

Flaw the first: Green forgets his own timelines, and he'll state at one point that several key events took place within two weeks, and then later contradicts himself and says that they covered the span of a couple of months. It's hard to figure out just how slowly or rapidly things are falling apart. He seems to want to indicate that all of this stuff really did take place over 14 days, but that's ludicrously improbable and he lazily confuses the issue with conflicting depictions of the passage of time.

Flaw the second: Overnight, the state church turns to Pure Evil, and all of its millions of followers are quite content to openly slaughter any sects that have suddenly been deemed schismatic. If a major Western religious leader of our world abruptly declared that some hateful group preaching intolerance was right all along, I somehow doubt that all adherents world-wide would erupt into a killing spree against minorities, but that's pretty much what happens in this book.

Flaw the third: Green anchors the central plotline on the Arthur/Guinevere/Lancelot conceit, with King Douglas, opera diva Jessamine Flowers, and the Paragon Lewis Deathstalker filling those roles. I always hated the idea that Guinevere and Lancelot were tragic lovers, when in my opinion they were adulterous lechers who couldn't keep their pants zipped, and so I feel exactly the same here where Jessamine and Lewis decide to essentially wreak grievous harm to the Empire in the name of True Love. To heck with that.

Oh, also, Green has some problems with female characters. Most of them in this series are either psychopathic monsters who live only to kill and seem to be devoid of any human emotion (Frost, Rose Constantine), brawling and profane adventurers of dubious goodness who also live to kill (Hazel d'Arc, Ruby Journey, the Paragon Emma Steel), or twittery and uselessly decorative lightweights like Jessamine. Pretty much all of his women are either out slaying or engaging in debauchery. The only notable exception is a Plain Jane in this book who everyone ignores and who is counted on to do all the scutwork to make everyone else look good.

But while these objections seem significant, really you just kind of shrug and roll with it. I mean, it's space opera, not high literature. And when you willingly pick up a book from something called the Deathstalker Series, you really have no grounds for complaints.

Editorial Review:

A century has passed since Owen Deathstalker sacrificed himself for humanity, and a Golden Age of peace began between the many species of the galaxy.

But Owen's descendant, Lewis Deathstalker, has his work cut out for him as the king's new Champion and protector-for the Golden Age of peace is about to be brought into ruin...

Deathstalker Destiny (Deathstalker)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Re-read book one and you'll appreciate the ending. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Simon R Green concludes this epic series with a prophecy he mentioned in the first book. People who didn't see it coming and are disappointed by it need to re-read the first book. Books 6 and 7 to come out soon!

deathstalker as a series may be hard to defend 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

except that it's simply loads of wierd demented entertainment and what else really needs to be said?

Wildly entertaining and full of shocking surprises 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

A part of me didn't want to read this book. Deathstalker Destiny is the fifth and final installment in the life and times of Owen Deathstalker. I've been through a lot with the main characters of this Deathstalker series. Heck, we overthrew a seemingly impervious evil Empire, liberated worlds, saved great big chunks of humanity time and time again, and overcame superhuman enemies the likes of which I had never dreamed of. Now, it's all coming to an end. It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't this really depressing prophecy hanging over Owen Deathstalker's head since early in the first novel - Owen Deathstalker, the greatest kind of hero, the only honorable aristocrat from a court of power-hungry villains, the last great hope of humanity itself predicted to die alone far from his friends without ever coming to know the love that helped drive him.

Things certainly aren't going too well as the book opens. The Empire is still mightily struggling internally to develop an effective form of government after the end of the rebellion; seemingly all of humanity's enemies are attacking almost everywhere in force- the rogue AI of Shub, the self-augmented Hadenmen, and some kind of souped-up giant insects; a far greater enemy called the Recreated is now on its way; and the worst plague in history is decimating one planet after another. Owen Deathstalker doesn't have time to think of these things, though. Hazel D'Ark, the former clonelegger and pirate who became Owen's best friend as well as the woman he loved, has been taken by the Blood Runners (who will torture her in order to learn the secrets of the powers she acquired in the alien Madness Maze on the Wolfing World), and Owen sits helplessly on the leper planet Lachrymae Christi - without a ship and without the Maze-given powers he had come to depend on.

Of course, Owen's attention eventually shifts back to the Empire's losing struggle against unstoppable alien forces. Owen has always understood duty, and he really has little choice in the matter. He does truly become humanity's last and only hope for survival. Everything comes full circle by the end, but at least Owen finally does get to hear the story behind this awful destiny he has never been able to elude. A lot of big issues are resolved over the course of this book, including some surprisingly important ones involving some of the most fascinating and unique secondary characters I've ever encountered in science fiction.

I have to say that Simon R. Green floored me several times over the course of this novel. After well over 2000 pages with this series' heroes, I thought I knew these characters pretty well. I was nothing less than shocked by a few of the events in Deathstalker Destiny. I can accept everything that happened, but I surely didn't see some of it coming. Green truly closes this series out with one bang after another, and that goes a long way toward making this the most exhilarating novel in an already exhilarating series. There is, however, one weakness that takes a little something away from the reader's enjoyment - some crucial plot points are resolved much too easily. Up until now, nothing has come easy for Owen Deathstalker and his friends, and the new challenges now facing our heroes are even more daunting and formidable than ever before. As a reader, you can't see how the characters can possibly get themselves out of all the troubles now facing them - and then, in the matter of a page or two, all is said and done and you're heading off toward the next impossible challenge on the list. When all is said and done, though, this novel (and this whole series) is just way too much fun to miss. Green sometimes goes way out on a limb in terms of the rules of his universe, but the Deathstalker series makes for amazingly entertaining reading. And I guarantee you won't forget the unique cast of characters who call this universe home.

Editorial Review:

Owen Deathstalker’s greatest love—Hazel d’Ark—has been abducted by the Blood Runners, a culture dedicated to the extremes of genetic experimentation. Stranded in a mission on Lachrymae Christi, Owen busies himself with the task of ensuring the survival of the leper colony living there, awaiting an opportunity to rescue Hazel…or avenge her death.

Dark Vengeance: A Novel of Niflheim (Niflheim 2)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

dark quest fantasy 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

In the village of Orlkettle, Orivon Firefist works day and night at the forge because it gave him pleasure to be his own boss at a place where he can see the sky and the grass. When he was six years old, he was stolen from his parents in a Nilfghar (dark elves) raid and brought to the Dark Below where he was a slave for a decade and a half to a wealthy noble family, who tortured him in an attempt to break his spirit; they never did. The daughter helped him escape her parents' cruelty.

Now the dark elves have raided Orlkettle and kidnapped four children. Orivon knows first hand the fate that awaits these innocents and vows to rescue them or die trying. However, he is entering a world that has radically changed beyond recognition. The realm of Talonnorn that was the rival of Ouvahlor is in rapid decline from without and within; as nobles fight their peers and the Consecrated fight each other. As Orivon makes his way to Talonnorn he fights and kills beasts and dark elves, determined to free the city as he searches for the children.

DARK VENGEANCE is a dark quest fantasy that focuses on a culture that lives below the ground with its own peculiar values and customs (mindful of the Time Machine's Morlocks) different from humans who live in the Blinding Light. The hero knows torture first hand having lived through the brutal abuse almost daily for years; yet overall he is a well balanced person though he has some issues sleeping and prefers light to night. He loathes killing, but will do so to save the kids from what he faced. Obviously readers know but will not care that Orivon is out of his league as he is not a warrior. That is the beauty of Ed Greenwood's tale as he makes the blacksmith's never again obsession the impetus to turn an ordinary person into a superhero "willing to march into hell for that heavenly cause".

Harriet Klausner

Editorial Review:

Orivon Firefist was captured as a six-year-old child by the Nilfghar—the dark elves—who attacked his village by night on one of their surface raids. Fifteen years later, he was a moon-pale, scarred, muscular giant of a man, who  spent his days at forgework for a dark elf family. He had been trained (and flogged and ordered about) by the beautiful Tsarnarra, a lash-wielding matron who is icily cruel, but proud of the slaves that she has trained.   Through all of this, Orivon's spirit had never been broken and he rose up and opposed his underworld tyrants.  He has successfully returned to the surface world home that he thought only existed in his most distant dreams.   But the score is far from settled. Years of oppression and new revelations of the dark deeds of his former captors only fuel his forge of rage. And the fact that their evil still permeates the underworld only intensifies his desire for a dark vengeance.

Dark Prince

David Gemmell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The chaos spirit had chosen the child Alexander to be its human host. But Parmenion, most powerful warrior of ancient Greece, had won a small victory over the darkness that sought to rule through Alexander. The boy's soul had not been destroyed by evil, but instead had merged with it -- and now Parmenion aided Alexander in the battle between light and dark that constantly raged within him.
But there was another world, where the creatures of Greece's legends still flourished. There, the chaos spirit already ruled, through a demon king. In this Greece, there was a prophecy that a child of great power, the legendary golden child, would come and restore the fading magic of the land to the creatures of myth. The demon king believed also that devouring the heart of this fabled child would give him immortality. He believed Alexander, with the power of the chaos spirit within him, to be that child. And so he called Alexander into his world . . .
Only Parmenion, guided by the seeress Derae, his lost love from another life, could hope to save Alexander from the demon king. But who could save the young prince from the chaos spirit that threatened to conquer his soul?


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Elminster in Hell (Forgotten Realms: The Elminster Series, Book 4)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Unfortunate death of trees 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Elminster in Hell is nearly as bad as Hand of Fire when it comes to rambling writing, plotlessness, and dire need for an editor with a firm hand (or a publisher that refuses to publish!).

Verdict: A waste of paper.

boring! 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

with the elminster series you expect a good book not here. id give more of a review but it doesnt deserve the time

Not his best work 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book was torture. It was extreamly hard to keep interested and it jumped around so much I never connected with anything going on. I would recomend most everyone skipping this one.

Editorial Review:

The top-selling book by the creator of the Forgotten Realms universe is now in paperback! One of the most prominent characters of the Forgotten Realms is plunged into what might be the most dangerous and lethal predicament he has ever faced. This epic-level struggle between the powerful sage and an archdevil explores aspects of Elminsters powers and past that have never been revealed before. ED GREENWOOD has written numerous articles, game products, columns, short stories, and novels. Among his most recent novels are Death of the Dragon (with Troy Denning) and Elminster in Hell. Greenwood resides in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Deathstalker Return (Deathstalker)

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The much-anticipated return of Owen Deathstalker 4 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Two hundred years have passed since Owen Deathstalker and his companions overthrew a corrupt Empire and saved humanity from the seemingly insurmountable threat of the Recreated. Owen Deathstalker, Hazel D'Ark, Jack Random, Ruby Journey - they are just legends now, the details of their exploits removed from the historical record because the new king and queen thought that the people would be more inspired by legend than a history that revealed their human weaknesses. Thanks to Owen, the Empire did indeed enter into a Golden Age, the enemies of Humanity either defeated or incorporated as newly established allies. Now that great era of peace and interspecies cooperation is falling apart, eaten away from within by a power-hungry former enforcer of justice and threatened from without by the prophesied arrival of the Terror. Owen Deathstalker warned of the coming danger in his final message, and now everyone in the Empire looks to him to return and save the day once again, for legend decrees that he alone can defeat the apocalyptic menace of the Terror.

Owen Deathstalker's story was told over the course of five incredibly exciting novels. Deathstalker Legacy took up the story two hundred years later, introducing us to a new Deathstalker in Lewis, a noble Paragon who was named King Douglas' Champion and then branded a traitor when he ran off with the king's intended bride Jesamine Flowers. Outlawed just like his famous predecessor, Lewis eventually teamed up with a most unusual team of individuals and set off to find - he hoped - the blessed Owen Deathstalker. The new gang of heroes does not even begin to compare with the legendary heroes of the past. Lewis is yet to prove himself a true Deathstalker in my eyes; his great love Jesamine Flowers is a spoiled and shallow diva who goes on and on about the comforts she has given up for her love of Lewis; Brett Random, who claims to be descended from both Jack Random and Ruby Journey (although no one believes it but him) is an insult to the very name of Random, a sniveling con man and complainer who deals with every danger by running away from it; Rose Constantine is a bloodthirsty killer from the Arenas who keeps trying to be human - usually failing miserably at it; and Saturday is a giant reptiloid alien who comes along just to kill as many people as possible.

Then there's the traitorous, power-hungry villain, Finn Durandal. Empress Lionstone was a worthy opponent, the kind of evil dictator you could at least respect for her calculating inhumanity. Durandal is just a closet sociopath who betrayed everything he used to be as a noble Paragon in order to scheme his way to power, triggered mainly by the jealousy he felt when Lewis Deathstalker was chosen over him as King Douglas' Champion. Durandal is a great schemer, a far-thinking man who manages to exploit both friends and enemies for his own purposes, but he's really just an extremely petty man whose path to power is just ridiculously easy given all of the infamous deeds he goes about doing.

Deathstalker Return is in some ways a return trip down memory lane. Lewis Deathstalker and his ill-sorted allies retrace much of the path followed by the legendary Owen himself, stopping off on Lachrymose Christi and Shandrakor before proceeding to Haden, the home of the Madness Maze which gave Owen Deathstalker and his companions the superhuman powers that helped them become the venerated saviors of humanity. The trip to Haden isn't always that enjoyable; the constant bickering back and forth between our new heroes falls far short of recapturing the sort of give and take that made earlier Deathstalker novels so entertaining. Everything that worked so well for Simon R. Green in the past really rings hollow now. Green seemingly needs Owen Deathstalker to return just as badly as the crumbling Empire does - in Owen mode, Green's story immediately transforms itself into the captivating space opera that made me such a huge Deathstalker fan to begin with.

One thing Green never fails to deliver is a litany of shocking surprises. You have to wait a little longer than usual this time around, but Deathstalker Return has a host of monkey wrenches to throw into the inner workings of the ongoing Deathstalker saga, including a final revelation that will have fans waiting with baited breath for the next installment in this incredible series.

You don't necessarily need to read the first five volumes of the life and times of Owen Deathstalker (Deathstalker, Deathstalker Rebellion, Deathstalker War, Deathstalker Honor, and Deathstalker Destiny) in order to enjoy this novel (although you will miss out on a lot without the background those novels provide), but you will certainly want to read Deathstalker Legacy before immersing yourself in the complex plot of Deathstalker Return. There is just too much going on here for you to jump in unprepared.

Editorial Review:

Branded an outlaw and hunted by agents of the Empire, Lewis Deathstalker must stop the encroaching Terror that threatens all of humanity. But he can succeed only with the help of Owen Deathstalker, who supposedly died more than 200 years ago.

Deathstalker

Simon R. Green

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The thrilling beginning of a monumental space opera epic 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

If you like your science fiction short and sweet, Simon R. Green's Deathstalker series is not for you. This is space opera in the grand tradition, filled with sweeping turns and possibilities extending across an Empire of worlds and centuries, featuring a cast of human aristocrats, clones, espers (mutants with varying ESP capabilities), monstrous aliens, augmented men, genetically-enhanced creatures, legends and heroes from the past, and outlaws. The newest outlaw is none other than Owen Deathstalker, de facto leader of the Deathstalker clan ever since the imperial murder of his father. All Owen wanted was to be left alone to pursue his history studies, but destiny has a way of finding its chosen victims wherever they may be. Queen Lionstone XIV declares Owen an outlaw, and in an instant he is running for his life. Thus are sown the seeds of a rebellion that will change the Empire forever. Of course, that story only begins to be told in this first volume of the exploits of Owen Deathstalker.

Deathstalker first escapes - barely - to Mistworld, a cold stink-hole of a planet that serves as the one and only refuge of outlaws all across the Empire. In the company of fellow outlaw Hazel D'Ark, to whom he literally owes his life, Owen seeks out the Empire's most legendary rebel, Jack Random, to join his nascent little rebellion. Throw in a sassy female bounty hunter and one of the Hadenmen (augmented men who once sought to wipe out the inferior human race), and you've got quite an eclectic bunch of revolutionaries. Things only get weirder from here, as upcoming destinations for Owen include Shandrakor, the legendary planet where the founder of the Deathstalker clan reportedly lies in stasis, and - deep within the confines of the Dark Rim - the Wolfling World, home of the Tomb of the Hadenmen, the Madness Maze, and the Darkvoid Device, destroyer of worlds.

Strangely enough, however, especially given all of the action Owen Deathstalker and his allies see - and, brother, they see all kinds of fierce, bloody action - at least half of this novel takes place back on the home world of the Empire. Here we see just how big a mess the Empire is really in. Besides the Queen's constantly dastardly plans, we see an aristocracy run amuck with intrigues, secret deals, betrayals, murderous vendettas, and all kinds of juicy stuff that truly reeks of decadence. No one is really who they seem, especially the likes of Valentine Wolfe, the Empire's most famous drug addict, and Finlay Campbell, a comical little fop whose secret identity as the Empire's greatest fighter is unknown to everyone but the woman he loves, a woman who just so happens to be a clone - but that is only one of many other secrets that slowly reveal themselves as this epic novel proceeds. Several personal roads lead us deep into the underground, where a secret alliance of clones, espers, and humans plan their own revolution against the Iron Throne. I found this aspect of the novel even more fascinating than Owen Deathstalker's remarkable story, and the rebel assault on the esper prison known as Wormboy Hell proves even more exciting than the novel's closing engagement on the Wolfling World.

Brimming with intrigue, harboring a number of significant and genuinely shocking surprises along the way, and filled with fascinating characters of all sorts, Deathstalker is quite an exhilarating read. It's a rather long read, as well, and you should keep in mind that it is really just the beginning. This is a story that will play out over literally thousands of pages, and Deathstalker represents only an initial plunge into the vast ocean of Simon R. Green's creative genius. The book has a few shortcomings in terms of specific plot events, and it can be disconcerting to see how much of the novel does not involve the main character, but this is awe-inspiring science fiction played out on an epic scale. Only a select few writers can realistically give life to such a large and complex world, but Green proves himself to be a master juggler of words and ideas - best of all, he seems to have a full bag of startling surprises and plot twists at his disposal that promises to make the Deathstalker series something really special and vastly entertaining.

Editorial Review:

Owen Deathstalker never wanted to be head of his clan. But when his father is murdered and he himself is outlawed by the order of the Empress, Owen must face the fact that destiny has other plans for him...

Expedition to Undermountain (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Adventure)

Eric L. Boyd, Ed Greenwood, Christopher Lindsay, Sean K. Reynolds

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Weak product. 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The editor should be hung by the thumbs, that said: This is a truly pathetic product which does not at all capture the flavor of Undermountain. This product was rushed to the shelves without any care for D&D players and DM's whatsoever. The flow is cumbersome, the story lines weak, the writing poor, and no one with an education above 7th grade checked this product before mass producing it. Way to go wotc.

Editorial Review:

Faerun's deadliest dungeon beckons!

Expedition to Undermountain is a Dugeons & Dragons super-adventure that revisits the greatest dungeon in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. Located beneath the city of Waterdeep, Undermountain has lured countless heroes to their doom.

Like other adventures in the "Expedition" series, this product takes a classic D&D location, updates it for D&D v.3.5, and features many new surprises. Rich with source material for players and a new combat encounter format designed to make the Dungeon Master's job easier, as well as information to help Dungeon Masters adapt the adventure to serve their home campaigns.

Violent Cases

Neil Gaiman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Inimitable experience 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.

This is the second book that I've read by Neil Gaiman. The artwork blows you away. This is what graphic novels should look and feel like. Violent Cases just captures the awe and fear of the unknown from a child's perspective. It seemed like I could smell the narrator's cigarette smoke and was transported back to the 80s (when this was written) to listen to his story. What is even better about the artwork is that it varies from page to page. Not that every spread is different but to capture the story best, each scene is different. From line drawings to paintings, this book is remarkable. Definite must read.

Editorial Review:

An exploration of the trappings of violence and the failings of memory, Violent Cases marks the beginning of the astonishing and award-winning collaboration between author Neil Gaiman and the artist Dave McKean, offered in its first Dark Horse edition, in softcover format with cover flaps. Set only in the memory of its author, this brillant short story meanders through levels of recollection surrounding a childhood injury. After dislocating his arm, a young boy is taken to see a doctor - an aged osteopath who was once the doctor of legendary gangster Al Capone. Through studied observations and painstaking attempts at truthful recall, the author reconstructs his tattered memories of the events surrounding his meeting with the doctor, and delves into the psychological complexities that emerged from the doctor's bizarre tales of Capone's life of crime. Gorgeously illustrated in mixed media by Dave McKean, Violent Cases is a sensuous and thought-provoking meditation on our memories.

Black Orchid

Neil Gaiman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Kind of a disappointment . . . 2 out of 5 stars.
5 of 12 people found this review helpful.

This book, published originally in three installments, is regarded as a turning point in graphic fiction, like DARK KNIGHT and WATCHMEN, but I just don't see it. Generally speaking, I like Gaiman's story lines, but this time it's all just confusing. The title character, a crime fighter superhero trying to infiltrate a mob, is killed in the first few pages -- but there's more of her back in the greenhouse so all is not lost. Or something. A newly hatched flower-woman, who seems to share some of the dead one's memories, sets out to uncover her identity. I think. The mob is run by Lex Luthor (why?), who wants to capture her and/or her little sister (or whatever) for dissection. But Carl, just out of prison, who used to work for Luthor and who previously murdered his wife, upon whom the orchids were based, can't get his job back and wants to get even with everyone. This guy is a loser and screw-up -- but suddenly, in the last installment, the action having relocated to the Amazon Basin, he becomes a very talented and successful jungle killer. (How?) Other people from the back-story weave in and out of the plot, including one who became the Swamp Thing, but none of what they say or do makes much sense. And why does Batman get a cameo? (Not to mentioned assorted bad guys from Gotham?) McKean's artwork is interesting for its own sake, owing more to oil painting than the usual sort of airbrush work, but all in all, I have to give this a shrug.

Editorial Review:

From one of the most highly recognised and award winning comic writers on the scene today, Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Death, Violent Cases), and his sometime collaborator, innovative artist Dave McKean (Arkham Asylum, Cages, Violent Cases) comes a haunting and stylish exploration of birth, death and renewal. Both human and flower the heroine, Black Orchid, undertakes a hazardous journey to uncover her true origins, providing a moving ecological parable for our times. This work by Gaiman and Mckean is an early showcase for the talent we know today.