revytwohands87's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
simonlewis17's review against another edition
3.0
+BORING!!!!! (-_-)
Give me back my CARLOS AND JILL!!!!! :)
Give me back my CARLOS AND JILL!!!!! :)
vanmeers's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
xterminal's review
3.0
S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: Underworld (Pocket, 1999)
Perry's fourth installment in the Resident Evil series is another original, rather than being a novelization of one of the video games in the series; I find myself liking the novelizations a bit more, now that I've read two of each. Maybe it's because I recognize the limitations imposed on a novelization by the underlying game, while the originals should have more room to spread out. Perry's originals refuse to do this in any way, marching in lockstep with the same basic ideas in the game; if the folks who make the Resident Evil games ever decided to do so, it would be very easy for them to code both Caliban Cove and Underworld into playable (and probably highly enjoyable) games.
In this one, the surviving team members from the first three novels have all finally found one another, and are getting ready to meet up with the comrades of theirs who have already fled to Europe (most notably Chris Redfield). When they're on the plane, however, the enigmatic Trent appears and offers them a choice: keep on going to Europe, or turn around and head for Utah, where they have the chance to take down another lab as well as get hold of a codebook that will make their lives much easier when they get to Europe. Guess what they choose.
The only character who really gets developed here is Trent, and most of what wee get about him is toward the end of the book, so this feels interchangeable with the other books; drop characters into setting and throw monsters and bad guys at them. This feeling is augmented by the fact that there are no new good guys for us to get to know, so Perry dispenses with character development altogether on our good guys; opportunities we might have had to get to know some of these characters better (or to explore the rapidly-developing relationship between Leon and Claire) are ignored. Has the same action-packed pace as the previous novels, but that's about all it has going for it. If you've come this far in the series, you're probably not going to stop now, but I'm almost not looking forward to book five. ***
Perry's fourth installment in the Resident Evil series is another original, rather than being a novelization of one of the video games in the series; I find myself liking the novelizations a bit more, now that I've read two of each. Maybe it's because I recognize the limitations imposed on a novelization by the underlying game, while the originals should have more room to spread out. Perry's originals refuse to do this in any way, marching in lockstep with the same basic ideas in the game; if the folks who make the Resident Evil games ever decided to do so, it would be very easy for them to code both Caliban Cove and Underworld into playable (and probably highly enjoyable) games.
In this one, the surviving team members from the first three novels have all finally found one another, and are getting ready to meet up with the comrades of theirs who have already fled to Europe (most notably Chris Redfield). When they're on the plane, however, the enigmatic Trent appears and offers them a choice: keep on going to Europe, or turn around and head for Utah, where they have the chance to take down another lab as well as get hold of a codebook that will make their lives much easier when they get to Europe. Guess what they choose.
The only character who really gets developed here is Trent, and most of what wee get about him is toward the end of the book, so this feels interchangeable with the other books; drop characters into setting and throw monsters and bad guys at them. This feeling is augmented by the fact that there are no new good guys for us to get to know, so Perry dispenses with character development altogether on our good guys; opportunities we might have had to get to know some of these characters better (or to explore the rapidly-developing relationship between Leon and Claire) are ignored. Has the same action-packed pace as the previous novels, but that's about all it has going for it. If you've come this far in the series, you're probably not going to stop now, but I'm almost not looking forward to book five. ***
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