Rise Of The Governor
by Robert Kirkman, Jay Bonansinga
The Walking Dead: Novels (1), The Walking Dead (Novels — Novel 1)
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"In The Walking Dead universe, there is no greater villain than The Governor. The despot who runs the walled-off town of Woodbury, he has his own sick sense of justice: whether it's forcing prisoners to battle zombies in an arena for the townspeople's amusement, or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. The Governor was voted "Villain of the Year" by Wizard Magazine the year he debuted, and his story arc was the most controversial arc in the history of The Walking Dead comic show more book series. Now, for the first time, fans of The Walking Dead will discover how The Governor became the man he is, and what drove him to such extremes"-- show lessTags
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I am a casual fan of “The Walking Dead” television show, and I used to be a huge fan of the comics (that is, until I found that moment that just made me say ‘okay, this is far too depressing now, I’m done’). One of the most jarring, upsetting, and well thought out storylines from the comics, and probably the show too, was that of Woodbury and it’s despicable leader Philip Blake, aka The Governor. While he is an antagonist in both mediums, I would say that I probably prefer him on the show as opposed to the comics. In the comics, The Governor is supremely evil, but almost in an over the top kind of way and just there to shock and disgust you, without having any depth or dimension to him. On the show he was more complex and show more nuanced, so while he was still reprehensible in a lot of ways, he at least remained interesting. And plus, it helped that David Morrissey played him and made him super easy on the eyes. I’ve known about the prequel “Governor” trilogy for awhile, but I just decided to give it a go recently because it’s been awhile since I’ve read the comics, and I sort of wanted to see if Robert Kirkman was going to make him a bit more rounded by showing how he became the monster that he is. The first in this series is “Rise of the Governor”. Going into it I knew to expect something dark and nasty. I guess I just wasn’t prepared by how dark and nasty it was.
Kirkman achieves giving one of his most notorious villains a back story that both humanizes him and shows just how he could turn into the monster he becomes. And I mean a monster. In this book we follow Philip Blake, his brother Brian, and his daughter Penny right after the zombie infection has taken hold. So we get to see Philip turn from doting father with a sweet daughter into a blood thirsty murderer/rapist who is toting his zombified daughter around on a chain leash. How fun. But even though it’s incredibly depressing and incredibly dark, giving The Governor a back story ultimately does a service to the character. It’s not that we feel sorry for him after all of this has happened. I mean, we do, but that doesn’t excuse his actions. What it does do is show how even a normal guy like him can be so transformed and so mutated that you don’t even recognize him anymore. Philip’s relationships with his companions are all intricate and special in their own ways. Yes, he has a touching relationship with Penny (I will never, ever not be saddened by sweet innocent Penny), but I also liked the complexities and realism of the relationship he has with his older brother Brian. Brian is a very fascinating character as well, and his point of view is the other dominant one in the book. He’s a man who has always been seen as a loser and a black sheep before the world ends, outshined by and dependent on his little brother. And when he finds himself in a new world, he too starts to slowly transform from kind of a weenie, into a protector (as he is the one who cares after Penny the most), and finally into a hardened and cold person who is on a dark, dark path. The transformations of the two brothers are slow and agonizing, and I found myself aching for them both knowing what was coming. After all, The Governor has no brother to speak of in the comics, and you get attached to Brian as the voice of reason and the guy who is just trying to keep everything together. But even then, Kirkman manages to surprise his readers, as this story isn’t without it’s twists to keep us on our toes. I had an inkling that not all was as it seemed, but the fact that I could still just be gutted by the big reveal near the end (no spoilers) really goes to show how Kirkman relentlessly goes for the jugular.
That said, while I did enjoy the background given to The Governor, and while it made me want to smother myself because of the feelings, this book sort of reminded me why I gave up on these comics when I did. I was able to get through some of the darker arcs in the series, The Governor included, but there were many times that I was so disgusted and upset that I had to pace myself through the panels lest I feel sick, until I just said ‘okay, that’s enough’ and just set it down for good. And this book was a grim reminder that Kirkman pushes boundaries and doesn’t hold back. So I have to give this book a lot of trigger warnings, not the least of which being graphic depictions of rape. There are two rape scenes in this book, both of which are brutal and very hard to listen to or read, depending on your medium. Like many people, I have a hard time when it comes to rape in storylines, and I am always very conscientious to try and disseminate to what end it is being used in regards to the story. While I know that these two separate scenes are important turning points in Philip’s arc, that’s just the problem: they are all about him and never about the women that he is victimizing. That isn’t to say that it isn’t absolutely horrible; I never felt that it was exploitative or titillating. But I did feel that Kirkman used rape as a way to show how horrible Phillip is, when there were PLENTY of other reasons to think that he was horrible. I don’t know. I have a hard time. It didn’t feel totally distasteful like some portrayals in recent pop culture. But it certainly didn’t feel necessary either.
Finally I should note the format. I did listen to this on audiobook, not sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. The narrator, Fred Berman, did an excellent job. His voice was malleable enough that he could change it effortlessly. All of the characters had distinct tones and voices, and he managed to believably play Penny, which I have to give him serious props for. Not all grown men can pull off the voice of an eight year old girl and not sound at least a little ridiculous.
This book isn’t for the faint of heart, but then again, what “Walking Dead” fan is faint of heart? “The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor” is a great addition to the universe, and I think that all fans who enjoyed the Governor storyline should give it a go. Just be warned: it goes about as gruesomely as a Governor story could possibly go. show less
Kirkman achieves giving one of his most notorious villains a back story that both humanizes him and shows just how he could turn into the monster he becomes. And I mean a monster. In this book we follow Philip Blake, his brother Brian, and his daughter Penny right after the zombie infection has taken hold. So we get to see Philip turn from doting father with a sweet daughter into a blood thirsty murderer/rapist who is toting his zombified daughter around on a chain leash. How fun. But even though it’s incredibly depressing and incredibly dark, giving The Governor a back story ultimately does a service to the character. It’s not that we feel sorry for him after all of this has happened. I mean, we do, but that doesn’t excuse his actions. What it does do is show how even a normal guy like him can be so transformed and so mutated that you don’t even recognize him anymore. Philip’s relationships with his companions are all intricate and special in their own ways. Yes, he has a touching relationship with Penny (I will never, ever not be saddened by sweet innocent Penny), but I also liked the complexities and realism of the relationship he has with his older brother Brian. Brian is a very fascinating character as well, and his point of view is the other dominant one in the book. He’s a man who has always been seen as a loser and a black sheep before the world ends, outshined by and dependent on his little brother. And when he finds himself in a new world, he too starts to slowly transform from kind of a weenie, into a protector (as he is the one who cares after Penny the most), and finally into a hardened and cold person who is on a dark, dark path. The transformations of the two brothers are slow and agonizing, and I found myself aching for them both knowing what was coming. After all, The Governor has no brother to speak of in the comics, and you get attached to Brian as the voice of reason and the guy who is just trying to keep everything together. But even then, Kirkman manages to surprise his readers, as this story isn’t without it’s twists to keep us on our toes. I had an inkling that not all was as it seemed, but the fact that I could still just be gutted by the big reveal near the end (no spoilers) really goes to show how Kirkman relentlessly goes for the jugular.
That said, while I did enjoy the background given to The Governor, and while it made me want to smother myself because of the feelings, this book sort of reminded me why I gave up on these comics when I did. I was able to get through some of the darker arcs in the series, The Governor included, but there were many times that I was so disgusted and upset that I had to pace myself through the panels lest I feel sick, until I just said ‘okay, that’s enough’ and just set it down for good. And this book was a grim reminder that Kirkman pushes boundaries and doesn’t hold back. So I have to give this book a lot of trigger warnings, not the least of which being graphic depictions of rape. There are two rape scenes in this book, both of which are brutal and very hard to listen to or read, depending on your medium. Like many people, I have a hard time when it comes to rape in storylines, and I am always very conscientious to try and disseminate to what end it is being used in regards to the story. While I know that these two separate scenes are important turning points in Philip’s arc, that’s just the problem: they are all about him and never about the women that he is victimizing. That isn’t to say that it isn’t absolutely horrible; I never felt that it was exploitative or titillating. But I did feel that Kirkman used rape as a way to show how horrible Phillip is, when there were PLENTY of other reasons to think that he was horrible. I don’t know. I have a hard time. It didn’t feel totally distasteful like some portrayals in recent pop culture. But it certainly didn’t feel necessary either.
Finally I should note the format. I did listen to this on audiobook, not sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. The narrator, Fred Berman, did an excellent job. His voice was malleable enough that he could change it effortlessly. All of the characters had distinct tones and voices, and he managed to believably play Penny, which I have to give him serious props for. Not all grown men can pull off the voice of an eight year old girl and not sound at least a little ridiculous.
This book isn’t for the faint of heart, but then again, what “Walking Dead” fan is faint of heart? “The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor” is a great addition to the universe, and I think that all fans who enjoyed the Governor storyline should give it a go. Just be warned: it goes about as gruesomely as a Governor story could possibly go. show less
I will start off by saying that I am a big fan of both the Walking Dead graphic novels and the television show, both of which featured the character of “The Governor” so I was very interested in reading this novel which supplies his backstory. The story opens and we find ourselves following a group of characters, Philip Blake, his young daughter Penny, his brother Brian and his two friends Bobby and Nick as they struggle to survive in this new world that is ravaged by zombies.
Philip doesn’t start the book as the sadistic, hot-headed, power-hungry character that we know from the comics and the TV show, but the seeds are definitely there. He is the leader of his group and doesn’t take well to any criticism or questioning of his show more motives. As they experience the many horrors that the world now offers, including the fact that often other humans are more dangerous than the zombies, the whole group undergoes personality changes. While one becomes even more timid, another turns more to his religion, and Philip becomes quite unhinged. As the twists and turns in the story deliver a series of blows to the group, Philip emerges as the dark villain that becomes known as the Governor.
The Rise of the Governor is the first book in a series that follows this character. Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga have delivered a dark horror story with many moments of terrifying tension that take place in this nightmare world. I listened to this as an audible book as read by Fred Berman who did an excellent job with both giving each character an individual voice and in narrating the bone chilling action. If you like to read zombie stories than this is a good one. show less
Philip doesn’t start the book as the sadistic, hot-headed, power-hungry character that we know from the comics and the TV show, but the seeds are definitely there. He is the leader of his group and doesn’t take well to any criticism or questioning of his show more motives. As they experience the many horrors that the world now offers, including the fact that often other humans are more dangerous than the zombies, the whole group undergoes personality changes. While one becomes even more timid, another turns more to his religion, and Philip becomes quite unhinged. As the twists and turns in the story deliver a series of blows to the group, Philip emerges as the dark villain that becomes known as the Governor.
The Rise of the Governor is the first book in a series that follows this character. Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga have delivered a dark horror story with many moments of terrifying tension that take place in this nightmare world. I listened to this as an audible book as read by Fred Berman who did an excellent job with both giving each character an individual voice and in narrating the bone chilling action. If you like to read zombie stories than this is a good one. show less
You have less to fear from the dead than you do from the living. This is true in real life, but also strikingly true in many recent works of zombie literature. Rise of the Governor is no exception.
This book follow the trials of Phillip Blake and what’s left of his family and friends as they set out trying to make better lives for themselves in a recently zombie-plagued world. It takes place a little before the events of the Walking Dead comic series, and, being that it’s cowritten by the series writer, can safely be considered part of the series.
While Kirkman, with the comic series, relied on imagery to convey the grim reality of Frank Grimes and company, Bonansinga (who I presume did much of the actual writing, with Kirkman show more providing story and notes in a vein similar to his role as a comic writer), not having imagery to “paint a thousand words,” paints them himself, in shades of grey, and green, and red. In the end, his descriptions of the living dead are not for the squeamish, and at times, can be more unsettling than the illustrations of the living dead in the comics. Much like when they redid Psycho as a shot-for-shot remake, the introduction of color really took something away, in this book, the introduction of prose really took something away.
This book, being a prequel, falls into the spoiler paradox. If you read it beforehand, you get spoilers for the comic, but if you read it afterwards, you get spoilers for the book. In this book, though Kirkman and Bonansinga really, really try to zing the reader by throwing a curve ball in the last chapter. While I understand this was to prevent the spoiler paradox from taking full effect, at the same time, it really felt like a cop-out, and didn’t jive well with the actual comic series. While it was an interesting turn of events, I felt that it was out of place in this book.
In the end, if you’re a die-hard (and hopefully you are if the zombies ever plague us) fan of The Walking Dead, you may find that you need this in your collection, but I myself found that this history behind one of comic-kind’s top 100 villains probably would have been better as a standalone comic. It was all right, but not my cup of tea (or anything else I’d want to put in a cup, for that matter). show less
This book follow the trials of Phillip Blake and what’s left of his family and friends as they set out trying to make better lives for themselves in a recently zombie-plagued world. It takes place a little before the events of the Walking Dead comic series, and, being that it’s cowritten by the series writer, can safely be considered part of the series.
While Kirkman, with the comic series, relied on imagery to convey the grim reality of Frank Grimes and company, Bonansinga (who I presume did much of the actual writing, with Kirkman show more providing story and notes in a vein similar to his role as a comic writer), not having imagery to “paint a thousand words,” paints them himself, in shades of grey, and green, and red. In the end, his descriptions of the living dead are not for the squeamish, and at times, can be more unsettling than the illustrations of the living dead in the comics. Much like when they redid Psycho as a shot-for-shot remake, the introduction of color really took something away, in this book, the introduction of prose really took something away.
This book, being a prequel, falls into the spoiler paradox. If you read it beforehand, you get spoilers for the comic, but if you read it afterwards, you get spoilers for the book. In this book, though Kirkman and Bonansinga really, really try to zing the reader by throwing a curve ball in the last chapter. While I understand this was to prevent the spoiler paradox from taking full effect, at the same time, it really felt like a cop-out, and didn’t jive well with the actual comic series. While it was an interesting turn of events, I felt that it was out of place in this book.
In the end, if you’re a die-hard (and hopefully you are if the zombies ever plague us) fan of The Walking Dead, you may find that you need this in your collection, but I myself found that this history behind one of comic-kind’s top 100 villains probably would have been better as a standalone comic. It was all right, but not my cup of tea (or anything else I’d want to put in a cup, for that matter). show less
Ha! I kind of want to mark this as "History" since it could be seen as canon for the Walking Dead series. Regardless, it wasn't what I was expecting.
I was really blown away by the Governor in the graphic novel series and a friend of mine suggested that I read this novel to get a deeper understanding of the character, which I was really looking forward to. I found the start of this novel to be slow ... and I was really disappointed by the number of idiotic things that Philip did and how everyone continued to follow him anyhow. I think the Governor that we have come to love/loath starts to come out in the 3rd part of the book, towards the end :-) Now I'm interested in reading the others ... whereas before I was just, like, "This guy is show more batshit crazy!"
Well he's still batshit crazy but now he's Governor crazy :-)
Adrianne show less
I was really blown away by the Governor in the graphic novel series and a friend of mine suggested that I read this novel to get a deeper understanding of the character, which I was really looking forward to. I found the start of this novel to be slow ... and I was really disappointed by the number of idiotic things that Philip did and how everyone continued to follow him anyhow. I think the Governor that we have come to love/loath starts to come out in the 3rd part of the book, towards the end :-) Now I'm interested in reading the others ... whereas before I was just, like, "This guy is show more batshit crazy!"
Well he's still batshit crazy but now he's Governor crazy :-)
Adrianne show less
We meet Philip Blake, his seven year-old daughter Penny, his two high school buddies Nick and Bobby, and Philip's older brother Brian, just days into what appears to be the Apocalypse. The majority of the population have died and come back as cannibals, walking the streets looking for the last of the living to devour.
Philip is a 32 year old widower who will do anything to keep his daughter safe. He's big, smart, tough and quickly becomes the leader of his little group. His older brother Brian is small and fearful, Nick turns to God and Bobby only looks to Philip to tell him how to stay alive. In their search for a safe place in Atlanta, the group meets other survivors, like Tara and her family, a band of junkie bikers, and the barely show more protected community of Woodbury.
This is an excellent read, not just for fans of The Walking Dead, but I'm sure someone who watched seasons 3 &4 of the show will get more out of the ending, which has a real surprise. And fans won't be able to stop picturing actor David Morrisey as Philip.
As I read, I was thinking this was a solid 4.5, because I didn't want to put it down, but the last 20 pages or so turned it into a 5 stars for me. show less
Philip is a 32 year old widower who will do anything to keep his daughter safe. He's big, smart, tough and quickly becomes the leader of his little group. His older brother Brian is small and fearful, Nick turns to God and Bobby only looks to Philip to tell him how to stay alive. In their search for a safe place in Atlanta, the group meets other survivors, like Tara and her family, a band of junkie bikers, and the barely show more protected community of Woodbury.
This is an excellent read, not just for fans of The Walking Dead, but I'm sure someone who watched seasons 3 &4 of the show will get more out of the ending, which has a real surprise. And fans won't be able to stop picturing actor David Morrisey as Philip.
As I read, I was thinking this was a solid 4.5, because I didn't want to put it down, but the last 20 pages or so turned it into a 5 stars for me. show less
This was a great easy read. I enjoyed seeing the governor from the beginning and getting more of a background story on him. But Jesus the twists that are in this I did not see coming. The fact that the whole time it was Brian that was going to become governor not Phillip. Threw me for a loop for sure.
For the love of god, who was this written for? The story was boring, which I can excuse - hey, it happens - but I refuse to accept the unimaginable amount of flowery prose. If someone removed all the extra "fancy talkin'" from the novel, it'd probably be a good 50 pages shorter.
This is not the Walking Dead universe I'm familiar with. There weren't extra descriptors for nearly everything in the comics, and they sure aren't wasting words on the show, so why now? To show you can write a novel? I signed on for a Kirkman story, not a novel that seems to have been written by someone learning how to use metaphors and similes.
These characters are supposed to be normal people put into horrible circumstances ... it's not gritty enough, not show more "everyday people" enough.
More than once I stopped reading and asked out loud, "Who is he writing for?!" The writers missed the mark, the editors let it slide. Riding the name of a successful series just isn't enough. show less
This is not the Walking Dead universe I'm familiar with. There weren't extra descriptors for nearly everything in the comics, and they sure aren't wasting words on the show, so why now? To show you can write a novel? I signed on for a Kirkman story, not a novel that seems to have been written by someone learning how to use metaphors and similes.
These characters are supposed to be normal people put into horrible circumstances ... it's not gritty enough, not show more "everyday people" enough.
More than once I stopped reading and asked out loud, "Who is he writing for?!" The writers missed the mark, the editors let it slide. Riding the name of a successful series just isn't enough. show less
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1,192+ Works 54,238 Members
Robert Kirkman is a New York Times bestselling author best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies. (Bowker Author Biography)
42+ Works 3,824 Members
Jay Bonansinga is a visiting professor at Northwestern University.
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- Canonical title
- Rise Of The Governor
- Original title
- The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
- Original publication date
- 2011-10-11
- Epigraph
- There’s nothing glorious in dying.
Anyone can do it.
—Johnny Rotten
He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself; and if you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you.
—Nietzsche
No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks.
—Mary Wollstonecraft - Dedication
- To Jeanie-B, Joey, and Bill … the loves of my life.
—Jay
For Sonia, Peter, and Collette … I promise I’ll work less as soon as college is paid for.
—Robert - First words
- It occurs to Brian Blake as he huddles in the musty darkness, the terror constricting his chest, the pain throbbing in his kneess: If only he possessed a second pair of hands, he could cover his own ears, and maybe block out ... (show all)the noise of human heads being demolished.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)With a firm grip, the two men clasp hands, and in that single gesture a new order begins to take shape.
- Original language*
- English US
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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