tomwright's review
3.0
I haven't read the comic yet, but I think it will work better as a comic than a book. So many characters, without a satisfying conclusion to their arcs.
apageinthestacks's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5. This was surprisingly really, really good. I’m not really a fan of novel adaptations in general (films, games, comics, etc), as I always find it incredibly hard to, for lack of a better word, “believe” in the world through prose. Reading about a guy dressed up as a Bat jumping over rooftops just reads as really dumb, at least to me. But watching that in a couple panels when done well in a comic, or in a scene in a film? Awesomeness. And I really don’t know why.
This, though, didn’t have too many of those moments. A couple times I sorta skimmed some description, but for the most part I was actually fully invested in the stories and characters. Two Face and Joker and Batman and all the other characters didn’t sound dumb, like they usually do for me in prose.
That alone earns it high marks. It also helps that I’ve never actually read the No Man’s Land story before, and it was a great story. Looking forward to reading the comic version sometime.
This, though, didn’t have too many of those moments. A couple times I sorta skimmed some description, but for the most part I was actually fully invested in the stories and characters. Two Face and Joker and Batman and all the other characters didn’t sound dumb, like they usually do for me in prose.
That alone earns it high marks. It also helps that I’ve never actually read the No Man’s Land story before, and it was a great story. Looking forward to reading the comic version sometime.
blacksentai's review
4.0
This book does a decent job of trying to be non-comic fan friendly, but the story it pulls from is completely unfriendly to new comers. That said, I really really enjoy this book. It was a blast to revisit and remains my favorite of Batman's Storylines. The pacing of the plot is excellent. I don't like some of the characterization of a few characters (namely Oracle and her absurd hatred of Huntress), but overall it gets a lot of things right. I don't think Rucka could've done a better job of getting the whole of no man's land condensed into one decent sized novel. In some ways it's better than the source material because it strips away a good deal of the extraneous stuff.
gothicgunslinger's review
4.0
Good, although a bit slow at times... but the last 20 pages or so made up for that in the form of pure awesome. I wish it had stuck more with Joker and Harley throughout, so it could have built up a tension with him as the main villain and not just someone coming out of left field at the end... but I'm pretty biased when it comes to Joker. Still, very good.
elvenavari's review
3.0
There were certain things about this book that urked me. One was explained and I could get away with ignoring it after that, the other I'm calling a typo but I honestly don't know. Overall this was a well written book, though to be honest dystopian books bore me. There were parts I enjoyed sure, and others that I couldn't stand. I figure that's just about how any book goes though. Point I hate the most is that I have unanswered questions. I hate that.
jakewritesbooks's review
4.0
(3.5) I had heard that Rucka's adaptation of his excellent graphic novel series was good and this one did not disappoint. Although I wished it had focused a little more on Gotham (it does in the beginning then just kind of waffles), it's still a well-written tale with great usage of Batman's rogues gallery.
13alyssa's review
5.0
Honestly, one of the best books I’ve ever read. So much fun. I wasn’t even a huge fan of Batman before I read this, now I love the world.
ladydewinter's review
4.0
Judging from a glance at other reviews of this book, my reaction was similar to that of a lot of other people: I did't think I'd like this book as much as I did.
To be honest, I had many doubts regarding the novelization of a comic book. I've been reading Batman comics for over a year now (and what I lack in terms of time I surely made up in volume), and I admit I doubted that could translate into the novel format. If it hadn't been for the recommendation of a friend, I wouldn't have picked it up, but I'm very glad I did.
Greg Rucka does a great job of telling the most important stories that happened in the comic books. Like in the comics, there are several points of view, some more effective than others. Oracle's POV, for example, was immediately convincing, as was the GCPD's. Two-Face, too, was captured very well. And Cassandra! I had my problems with the Joker, but I admit I have no idea how to do it better - I think because of his utter irrationality, it's hard to write from his perspective - in comics, you can focus on pictures and dialogues to convey this, but in this format it's not easy. Still, it wasn't unconvincing, either; and his actions were very Joker-esque and chilling and horrifying as always.
What surprised me most was Batman. Considering it's a Batman book it does take him a long time to show up (it's the same in the comics, though, and the man does have his reasons), but when he does - now, the thing is I love Batman. As in love love love. And I always get this - well, there are always moments in every Batman story where my heart just *hurts* for him, because of who and how and what he is. It was even worse here, because even though it's still just glimpses into his soul, it was different reading about it in this format. It touched me deeply, and there were some aspects revealed that I hadn't thought about before. So that was great.
So, yes, I can recommend reading this. It should be okay to read even if you don't know much about the comics
and I think it'd be a good enough introduction to the world of Batman for people who don't like comics. (I know such a person.)
To be honest, I had many doubts regarding the novelization of a comic book. I've been reading Batman comics for over a year now (and what I lack in terms of time I surely made up in volume), and I admit I doubted that could translate into the novel format. If it hadn't been for the recommendation of a friend, I wouldn't have picked it up, but I'm very glad I did.
Greg Rucka does a great job of telling the most important stories that happened in the comic books. Like in the comics, there are several points of view, some more effective than others. Oracle's POV, for example, was immediately convincing, as was the GCPD's. Two-Face, too, was captured very well. And Cassandra! I had my problems with the Joker, but I admit I have no idea how to do it better - I think because of his utter irrationality, it's hard to write from his perspective - in comics, you can focus on pictures and dialogues to convey this, but in this format it's not easy. Still, it wasn't unconvincing, either; and his actions were very Joker-esque and chilling and horrifying as always.
What surprised me most was Batman. Considering it's a Batman book it does take him a long time to show up (it's the same in the comics, though, and the man does have his reasons), but when he does - now, the thing is I love Batman. As in love love love. And I always get this - well, there are always moments in every Batman story where my heart just *hurts* for him, because of who and how and what he is. It was even worse here, because even though it's still just glimpses into his soul, it was different reading about it in this format. It touched me deeply, and there were some aspects revealed that I hadn't thought about before. So that was great.
So, yes, I can recommend reading this. It should be okay to read even if you don't know much about the comics
and I think it'd be a good enough introduction to the world of Batman for people who don't like comics. (I know such a person.)
daringpeg's review
5.0
This book is a wonderfully written narrative. The decision of the author to write the majority of the book as journal entries was pure genius. Any who love Batman will love this book.