Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - The Official Movie Novelization

by Greg Keyes

The official novelization of the blockbuster Godzilla x The New Empire, the latest film in the Monsterverse franchise, starring Dan Stevens, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry.A follow-up to the explosive showdown of Godzilla vs. Kong. This time the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla face a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own. The latest epic will delve further into the histories of these Titans, their origins and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humankind forever.Writer Greg Keyes returns to the Monsterverse to transport readers ever deeper into the world of Monsters. This book explores the events of the film while adding to the history and lore of the Titans, portraying existing scenes from a fresh perspective and expanding upon the film. A must-read for any Godzilla and Kong fan.

Genres: Adventure, Science Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2024

About the author

Gregory Keyes is a writer of science fiction and fantasy who has written both original and media-related novels under both the names J. Gregory Keyes and "Greg Keyes".

Greg Keyes was born in to a large, diverse, storytelling family. He received degrees in anthropology from Mississippi State and the University of Georgia before becoming a fulltime writer.
He lives in Savannah, Georgia.

Reviews

[Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very strong novelization of the film that does a good job adding detail, additional context, and fleshes out the lore of the Monsterverse considerably.

I especially love how many characters, and even some Kaiju, that we get see the point of view from and how much the word choice differs between each of them. It adds a layer of subtle characterization that improves the audience understanding of each.

While in the film I didn't care for much of the human cast, something about how it is written here made me care more even though what is happening is largely the same. I think that may be down to being in characters heads rather than just watching them, and also that the jokes in the film that don't land for me don't have an awkward pause for laugher in the novel format.

The only thing that I think isn't quite as good here is the monster fights in general, as they were clearly made with film in mind, and that's fine with me, as everything here seems very well written for what could have easily been a lazy cash grab and I appreciate it.

If you are a fan of, Godzilla, Kong, the Monsterverse, or just Kaiju in general, and aren't afraid of reading I would definitely suggest this.

[Chris Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Godzilla vs. Kong, I didn't care much for this movie. Although I'm a huge Godzilla fan, I rank both movies near the bottom of my list. But also like Godzilla vs. Kong, this novelization was considerably better than the movie. Greg Keys does a great job adding substance to a vacuous movie simply by entering the character's heads and minimizing certain characters' annoying personalities. I particularly like the way perspectives changed so noticeably from one character to another. In some cases, it changed the names of the monsters they were observing.

Kong, in particular, had a distinctly different perspective. For instance, he counts things based on fingers, such as "one hand and two fingers" meaning seven. He also changed his internal name for the small ape from Small Ape, to Child, and eventually to his name.

This was quite an upgrade from the movie. That might seem somewhat surprising for a monster movie, since the visuals are usually most of the fun. But not in this case.

[Matt Tyrrell-Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good for a novelisation of a daft film.
Stand out parts are the sort of “deleted scenes” and the chapters from the perspective of the Titans, really adds a lot more context to the action.

[TheGeeksAttic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Godzilla x Kong The New Empire, a novelization written by Greg Keyes. based on the screenplay by Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater, the story by Terry Rossi, Adam Wingard, and Simon Barrett

SUMMARY
On the surface of the earth, Godzilla is on the move! The titan is building up his strength, concerning the organization of Monarch. Something in the world is about to change!

Kong, searching far and wide in the Hollow Earth for his kind (family) stumbles on something familiar, yet different. In doing so, a new enemy rises, putting the entire world in danger of being obliterated. Kong must depend on advanced technology and an ancient culture to rise against the coming evil.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
This book was a fun read. I felt that the characters were written well enough for me to care about the human element of this monster's tale. Jia, the Iwi girl that has a special bond with Kong, which makes her an interesting character for sure. She's been adopted by Ilene Andrews who tries to give Jia the best life, but she just doesn't fit in anywhere. However, she senses "a disturbance" taking place in the world, and she must follow an internal tug to the depths of the Hollow Earth.

It's mentioned that someone had gone into Hollow Earth to hunt titans in a giant mech suit, that's a pretty cool idea! I also got a kick out of an X-Files reference when someone says, "great Mulder & Skully!"

I think the hollow earth is one of the coolest concepts in a fantasy/science fiction world. It seems like a legit conspiracy theory that doesn't seem too far fetched. Scientists only think they know what’s down below.

I wouldn't doubt that the film for this story would be cooler to experience because of the awesome visuals, but the book was absolutely a solid read. I recommend picking up this novelization, read it before Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is available to purchase, see if you can spot some differences.

RATING
I will give this novelization, a B(plus).

[Meljennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

In fairness I loved this film and read this in the gap between seeing it at the cinema and buying the DVD. It was a great read with the spirit of the film but I really liked how the characters were written adding some grounding and interesting thought processes of the characters and it was an ideal read on a summer evening.
I always assume writing a novelisation must be a rather thankless task and whilst perhaps the battle sequences were harder to imagine as described rather than just watching them for me, these were my least favourite parts of the film as, for me, I particularly enjoyed the character interactions in the film and likewise the novelisation.
In this version I thought the POVs from Kong and Godzilla etc where very well written and it was easy to tell who was speaking and whilst phrases like 'the little ones' from Kong for people made sense to me I didn't find it too hamfisted or distracting from the plotline.
Even though I have now bought the DVD of the film I will probably still buy this novelisation as I really enjoyed reading it.

[KazuChris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good. The movie did most things better so I can't give this 5 stars however Kong's first battle with Skar King was significantly better than the fight they had in the movie imo.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Godzilla may have gotten his name in the title, but this is all Kong's story. This might be because Kong is the more sympathetic character, obviously lonely and searching through the Hollow Earth for more giant apes like him. Godzilla just goes around beating up the occasional titan. But Kong has some pretty amazing adventures as he seeks out his own kind, only to run into a terrible evil and the most powerful monster yet found on earth. You know that the situation has to be truly dire when King Kong goes running to Godzilla for help.

I haven't seen the movie, but as in the last book, there are some scenes that would really work great on the big screen such as Godzilla curling up in the Colosseum in Rome to take a nap, and Kong and Godzilla battling it out in Egypt by the great pyramids. Then of course there are the fabulous Hollow Earth scenes, the discovery of the ancestor species of the human tribe that Kong had protected on Skull Island, and a lot more monster fights. The epic showdown between all the monsters in Rio would be pretty awesome too.

I'm still impressed with Keyes' ability to make a novel about titanic monsters who don't speak so interesting and exciting, but he has pulled it off again.

[Ursula Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful companion to the film. You learn more about the titans backgrounds. Particularly Tiamat and Scylla. You learn more about their history with Godzilla not mentioned in the film. It's also great to learn how the titans feel, how Godzilla can feel the changes in the planet and how lonely Kong is. This book keeps the titans front and center, though you do spend some time with the human characters. This is a great book after you have seen the film to deepen your understanding of the Monsterverse. I have enjoyed all the books of the films as they cover extended plot points cut or not fleshed out in the movies. I listened to the audiobook read by the wonderful Tim Campbell who really brought the book alive.

[Wayne Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am leaving this series behind

What a really good read from beginning to end and the extra tidbits where so amazing! However as good as this book is and the movie it's obvious what's coming next in the series as usual big brother is going to get involved and destroy Godzilla and the hollow earth and I'm sure Uncle Samantha will help. Just the hint of that coming makes me sick to my stomach! For once Winguard can the world governments just NOT always win!? Moving on

[Joe Besserfan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Keyes does a very nice job with his novelization "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire". He keeps the action exciting while while fleshing out the characters more. In the movie we don't know what Kong is thinking. In this book, we do. Keyes also manages to keep Bernie as funny as he was in the movie. I had a good time with this book. I plan on checking out some of Keyes other books.

[Ethan Warren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Definitely a movie that cries out to be read… (Listen to Authorized Novelizations wherever you get your podcasts!)

[Mr. Mustela frenata · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.77

[Peggy Ann Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesomeness

Great story very descriptive . Lots of fun to read. Follows the movie perfectly and then some. Thanks a lot.

[Constance FOWLER · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice read

Greg does not disappoint with this fifth installment of the monsterverse. I highly recommend. That you read this at least once

[Ryan Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this book so much! The finer details the film didn’t mange to convey made this book all the more impressive! Couldn’t put it down!

[Cameron Buhl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expands greatly on the movie by providing insights into the thoughts of the human and non human characters.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love the povs from kong, it's so cute haha

[Perry Van Wesel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book does what a movie novelisation should do. It tells the story of the movie and expands it on a few parts. It doesn't do anything special, but it does enough