The Walking Dead: Book Two/ Robert Kirkman

The Walking Dead: Book Two by Robert Kirkman. zombies, survival horror, graphic literature, adventure. 304 pages

I am writing this blog post just minutes after I finished the second Walking Dead book, and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised with the direction that Kirkman took his zombie epic in the volumes contained within book two. I said in my post yesterday that I thought book one had placed the characters in just about every zombie genre situation imaginable and that I was worried the story would run out of steam. I can sense that this was probably an issue for Kirkman as well, because instead of the nomadic existence that the characters had in book one, almost all of book two takes place in the same place-- a high security prison that the survivors are attempting to turn into a sanctuary. The sanctuary features multiple fences that would keep the zombies out, and although there are some pretty good zombie showdowns as the characters clean out the infested prison, I would venture to say that the zombies aren't the real enemies in book two.

Book two features a real breakdown of humanity. Kirkman's second book deals less with the human vs. zombie interactions and more of the human vs. human stuff. When the survivors are all locked safely in the prison, they might be safe from the zombies, but in such contained quarters, personalities are bound to collide...and they do. Some major themes of book two are guilt, betrayal, murder, and helplessness. While no zombie story can be called "happy", I think that book one looks like sunshine and daisies compared to the dark nature of book two.

Another thing I need to comment on is that seeing death in book two was a lot harder than book one. By this point, I've started to really know the characters, and any loss is a sad loss. I'm starting to wonder if anyone is safe (even the story's protagonist, Rick Grimes, is starting to get a little too big for his britches...would Kirkman be ballsy enough to off his main character for the sake of the story?). I realize that it's a zombie story and character deaths are ALWAYS going to be present, which is something that is actually a credit to the series. In most other stories, you can pick a select few characters that you think are death proof, but I find that any character in the Walking Dead, regardless of their roles in the survivor camp or their surviving family members, has the potential to die, and this keeps the reader on their toes.

I already said that I'm a big fan of the Walking Dead's characters, and I was eager to meet some new ones in book two, but this was the only area where the book fell short. Only five new characters were introduced, and by the end of the story, only two of these characters remained (and all of the new characters with one exception, which I will praise in a second, were pretty flat...I mean, really? prison inmates? The whole story with them was SOOOO predictable). The one character that shows any promise is the mysterious, sword-toting Michonne, who not only kicks ass, but also opens up some brand new story options that Kirkman experimented with in book two. I just wish there would've been more of a debate about Michonne keeping her pet zombies!!! They didn't have any arms and were on leashes!!! I realize that Kirkman's zombies have no potential for domestication, but excuse me for dreaming that the survivors might adopt a lovable pet zombie.