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The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor and The Road to Woodbury
Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga's thrilling New York Times bestsellers – Rise of the Governor and The Road to Woodbury – are combined to reveal the origin of the most ruthless villain in The Walking Dead Universe!
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 whether it's forcing prisoners to battle in a zombie-infested arena for the townspeople's amusement or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. But where did he come from? 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.
While the zombie plague unleashes its horrors on the suburbs of Atlanta without warning, pitting the living against the dead, Lilly Caul struggles to survive in a series of ragtag encampments and improvised shelters. But the Walkers are multiplying. Dogged by their feral hunger for flesh and crippled by fear, Lilly relies on the protection of good Samaritans by seeking refuge in a walled-in town once known as Woodbury, Georgia.
At first, Woodbury seems like a perfect sanctuary. Squatters barter services for food, people have roofs over their heads, and the barricade expands, growing stronger every day. Best of all, a mysterious self-proclaimed leader called The Governor keeps the citizens in line. But Lilly begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. . . . The Governor has disturbing ideas about law and order.
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 whether it's forcing prisoners to battle in a zombie-infested arena for the townspeople's amusement or chopping off the appendages of those who cross him. But where did he come from? 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.
While the zombie plague unleashes its horrors on the suburbs of Atlanta without warning, pitting the living against the dead, Lilly Caul struggles to survive in a series of ragtag encampments and improvised shelters. But the Walkers are multiplying. Dogged by their feral hunger for flesh and crippled by fear, Lilly relies on the protection of good Samaritans by seeking refuge in a walled-in town once known as Woodbury, Georgia.
At first, Woodbury seems like a perfect sanctuary. Squatters barter services for food, people have roofs over their heads, and the barricade expands, growing stronger every day. Best of all, a mysterious self-proclaimed leader called The Governor keeps the citizens in line. But Lilly begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. . . . The Governor has disturbing ideas about law and order.
624 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 2014
21 people are currently reading
269 people want to read
About the author
Robert Kirkman
2,741 books6,939 followersRobert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 3, 2017
This was an eye opener, especially, in view of its characters, you never know what is going to happen next. There are a lot of Ah ha moments here with sinister surprises. It causes, at least this reader's, sense of, they just did not go there and wtf! I would recommend this book for anyone who watches the show, giving one more information into who the Governor actually was before meeting up with Rick and the gang at the prison. However, Governor goes on the basis of the character in the graphic novel not the version of the character on the show. I look forward to reading the next book, "The Road to Woodbury". You just can't put this one down.
March 31, 2023
DNF, 1/5 stars. I’ve never even DNFd a book before this one.
I’d rather experience the zombie apocalypse than continue reading this book.
The writing is horrendous. I couldn’t bear to look at the book, let alone pick it up and read it. The third person narration is painfully awful. How you can use so many adjectives and descriptors and still not do it well astounds me. I couldn’t even make it to the end of Rise of the Governor.
I did read a summary of the ending and, boy, am I grateful I didn’t continue reading. The “twist” is awful idc. I wish I could scrub this book from my memory, but I can’t. Whether you enjoy the comics or the show, don’t read this. It’s not worth it.
I’d rather experience the zombie apocalypse than continue reading this book.
The writing is horrendous. I couldn’t bear to look at the book, let alone pick it up and read it. The third person narration is painfully awful. How you can use so many adjectives and descriptors and still not do it well astounds me. I couldn’t even make it to the end of Rise of the Governor.
I did read a summary of the ending and, boy, am I grateful I didn’t continue reading. The “twist” is awful idc. I wish I could scrub this book from my memory, but I can’t. Whether you enjoy the comics or the show, don’t read this. It’s not worth it.
October 25, 2018
The writing is done very poorly but the story is great obviously.
Read
August 11, 2020realized the show took liberties I keep trying to match the characters some names changed but could follow it goes into to more detail in the book of course.
January 26, 2015
This review covers Rise of the Governor and The Road to Woodbury: I love the show The Walking Dead and I really loved the character The Governor. I was hoping that this book would tell more about his background and what was going on at the time that everyone "turned" but it was set at about two weeks out and didn't give any more past details of who he really was, and in case you haven't read it (SPOILER) he wasn't even who he really was, but pretending to be his own brother. So the whole character seemed a little weak and not someone you would even halfway hope to lead people, even as a bad guy. The character of The Governor was much more believable than the character in the book.
The scenes or events that occur in the book (SPOILER) are not at all what was in the show, which I guess was one thing that made me even want to finish it to see what would happen. Also, the rest of the characters, with the exception of maybe three or so, don't even have the same names.
I didn't like the way in which the Governor was killed in the book. I thought it lacked imagination and was easy and also made him look weak. Much less glorified death than on the show.
I know that when I read a horror novel, there is going to be killing, possibly torture of some sort, language, and other atrocities. The show The Walking Dead is really not that bad, because it is censored for television. The book on the other hand is not censored. I would not recommend anyone that is under 18 reading. There is overkill on the language, and the sexual situations. The killing, of both living and non-living, I expected. So, I mainly read the book because I'm a fan of the show, but had there not been a show, the book would not stand alone for me. I would've put it down after the first chapter.
If I could say anything positive, it had enough action and description of the "walkers" and the characters fighting off the walkers to keep your attention. It had a small amount of emotion in it to make you "feel" something, whether it was fear, sadness, anger etc at what was going on. I thought one of the best described characters in the book was Penny and the way the Governor looked after her and got some of the other characters to take care of her. I thought the way she was described, as the book progressed, showed the breakdown of the walkers as they themselves deteriorate, as well as their clothing. I thought the emotions of the Governor with her were close to what the show had as well and seemed in fact the only real thing in the book. I really wanted to enjoy it more, but it just didn't happen.
The scenes or events that occur in the book (SPOILER) are not at all what was in the show, which I guess was one thing that made me even want to finish it to see what would happen. Also, the rest of the characters, with the exception of maybe three or so, don't even have the same names.
I didn't like the way in which the Governor was killed in the book. I thought it lacked imagination and was easy and also made him look weak. Much less glorified death than on the show.
I know that when I read a horror novel, there is going to be killing, possibly torture of some sort, language, and other atrocities. The show The Walking Dead is really not that bad, because it is censored for television. The book on the other hand is not censored. I would not recommend anyone that is under 18 reading. There is overkill on the language, and the sexual situations. The killing, of both living and non-living, I expected. So, I mainly read the book because I'm a fan of the show, but had there not been a show, the book would not stand alone for me. I would've put it down after the first chapter.
If I could say anything positive, it had enough action and description of the "walkers" and the characters fighting off the walkers to keep your attention. It had a small amount of emotion in it to make you "feel" something, whether it was fear, sadness, anger etc at what was going on. I thought one of the best described characters in the book was Penny and the way the Governor looked after her and got some of the other characters to take care of her. I thought the way she was described, as the book progressed, showed the breakdown of the walkers as they themselves deteriorate, as well as their clothing. I thought the emotions of the Governor with her were close to what the show had as well and seemed in fact the only real thing in the book. I really wanted to enjoy it more, but it just didn't happen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2015
As a disclaimer, I won a copy of this book via a giveaway on Tor.com.
With that out of the way, this was AWESOME! I've read a lot of books about zombies. To further clarify that, I've read a lot of bad books about zombies. The most common failings are usual tied to the nature of zombies. What are these creatures? Where did they come from? What do they want? Oh lets try to figure that out while the former kindly woman from next door eats her cats. But wait... she couldn't possibly be a zombie... zombies aren't real! Bleh! "Rise of the Governor" and "The Road to Woodbury" avoid this by skipping straight to the world's gone to hell, civilization is crumbling around us, and not everyone is going to get out of this alive. Characters are not only faced with an onslaught of creatures that consider them food... that's standard fair for any story about zombies... but the choices they have to make as morality becomes relative to their new reality.
Highly recommended!
With that out of the way, this was AWESOME! I've read a lot of books about zombies. To further clarify that, I've read a lot of bad books about zombies. The most common failings are usual tied to the nature of zombies. What are these creatures? Where did they come from? What do they want? Oh lets try to figure that out while the former kindly woman from next door eats her cats. But wait... she couldn't possibly be a zombie... zombies aren't real! Bleh! "Rise of the Governor" and "The Road to Woodbury" avoid this by skipping straight to the world's gone to hell, civilization is crumbling around us, and not everyone is going to get out of this alive. Characters are not only faced with an onslaught of creatures that consider them food... that's standard fair for any story about zombies... but the choices they have to make as morality becomes relative to their new reality.
Highly recommended!
December 27, 2014
I started reading the walking dead graphic novels and fell in love with them. I devour them and read them so very fast. I love how they are written and the art work. This book may not have had the art work but it was still a 5 star book!
January 5, 2015
A good and solid adaptation to go with the TV series - I enjoyed it and look forward to the rest of the books.
February 5, 2015
Nice diversion while waiting for The Walking Dead to resume.
July 29, 2015
Rise of the Governor was my favorite of the two; I loved getting "the Governor's" background and how that story unfurled.
June 5, 2017
I thought the slow pacing was just in the TV series, it's not. It's in the novels too. Too bad the novels couldn't match the pace of the graphic books.
April 21, 2017
This feels more like a 3.5, but I can't give it a 4, because there was no real arc here. I loved the action and the backstory was appreciated for a WD fan like myself, but it didn't provide either a character study or typical plot flow. The story instead followed a band of people, who encountered and withstood copious zombie attacks, losing friends and family in the process, which shaped the character that would become the Governor. Fun popcorn story for WD fans craving a bit more than the graphic novels have to offer.
September 18, 2017
"The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor" was a wonderful read. The authors pulled me in from the beginning and held my attention throughout the story. The ending took a beautiful haunting twist that opened my eyes to how "The Governor" became the cruel monster he was known for in the television and comic series.
"The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury" was a tad bit slower as you learned the story of Lilly Caul and her "gang". I loved that it created a love story amid the terrible reality of the zombie world. The authors were able to hold my attention on this one as well. This book was filled with raw emotion due to loss and highlights the real struggles emotionally the characters had to suffer with in the apocalypse. Kirkman and Bonansinga did a wonderful job tying together Lilly Caul's world and The Governor's. Exceptional read. I'm excited to move onto the next book in the series, "The Fall of the Governor: Part One".
"The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury" was a tad bit slower as you learned the story of Lilly Caul and her "gang". I loved that it created a love story amid the terrible reality of the zombie world. The authors were able to hold my attention on this one as well. This book was filled with raw emotion due to loss and highlights the real struggles emotionally the characters had to suffer with in the apocalypse. Kirkman and Bonansinga did a wonderful job tying together Lilly Caul's world and The Governor's. Exceptional read. I'm excited to move onto the next book in the series, "The Fall of the Governor: Part One".
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews