Paperback Spotlight: "The Last Days of Krypton" by Kevin J. Anderson

Before Kal-El was born, major problems plagued his home planet of Krypton, including poor leadership, a brutal dictator and vast environmental problems that would lead to its untimely demise. Those are not spoilers, or at least they should not be for anyone familiar with the legacy of the future Superman, who was placed in a tiny spaceship by his parents, Jor-El and Lara, and sent towards Earth as Krypton was about to explode. The story of the eventual demise of that well known fictional planet is depicted in Kevin J. Anderson's The Last Days of Krypton. The book, which was originally released in 2007, is now available in paperback from It Books.

This epic sized effort is extremely detailed, verbose and features a very large cast of characters. The author provides a list of those characters and a short description of each, which is helpful to refer to while reading. However, readers only need to be completely aware of the half dozen major players; Jor-El, Lara, Zor-El, Zod, Aethyr-Ka (Zod's love interest) and Nam-Ek (Zod's loyal friend), who all play significant roles throughout the book. There are several storylines that drive the prose, including Zor-El's (Jor-El's brother) discovery of problems within the planet's core, the ineffective leadership of the leaders of Krypton, the destruction of the city of Kandor by an alien entity, the emergence of Zod, who takes control after an alien attack and rules like a savage dictator, the romance between Jor-El and Lara, and Jor-El's scientific achievements, which could possibly save the seemingly doomed planet. Yes, that is a lot of ground to cover, but the 400 plus pages allow it all to be told. 

Readers familiar with the Superman legacy will recognize several iconic references, including the origin of the "S" logo, Brainiac, the emergence of a green mineral which will become known as Kryptonite, the Phantom Zone, and an unexpected appearance by the Martian Manhunter. I was particularly interested in learning more about Zod, who is portrayed as a super villain who will go to any lengths to have his way. In addition, I could not help but think of our own world in regards to planetary changes and dangerous, out of touch leaders who take too much time in making important decisions about matters that deserve expediency.

Kevin J. Anderson should be credited with crafting such an epic story and paying close attention to detail throughout. However, I found myself becoming distracted from time to time at the endless number of characters, most of whom add nothing significant or memorable to the story. The principal players are well written and considered, but I had hoped Lara would play a larger role than she did. Zod, Jor-El and even Zor-El are featured prominently throughout, while Lara is almost relegated to supporting status, at least for a while.

The fate of Krypton is a forgone conclusion, but the various threats posed to the planet throughout the book are sometimes unexpected and add to the considerable amount of suspense that culminates in the exciting last few chapters, which offer some closure, while other outcomes are left open-ended, as they should be. Overall, The Last Days of Krypton is a worthwhile effort that fanboys will appreciate for its consistency with the Superman mythology and science fiction aficionados will appreciate for its vivid descriptions of another world and the various alien entities who visit Krypton, for better or for worse.