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King Kong #1
King Kong: The Island of the Skull
Entrepreneur, adventurer and film-maker Carl Denham is struggling to make a name for himself in the entertainment industry. A charismatic man with a natural sense of showmanship and an appetite for greatness, he is determined to succeed against all odds.
Then he has what appears to be an extraordinary stroke of good fortune. A map falls into his hands that reveals the existence of a mysterious, uncharted island—a world unknown to civilization, which may hold the key to the fame and fortune he so desperately seeks.
Then he has what appears to be an extraordinary stroke of good fortune. A map falls into his hands that reveals the existence of a mysterious, uncharted island—a world unknown to civilization, which may hold the key to the fame and fortune he so desperately seeks.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2005
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143 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 15, 2025
This is a surprisingly good (if somewhat misleading) media tie-in novel; it's copyrighted by Universal Studios. Misleading because you'd think that a book that has King Kong in the title would have, you know, a big ape or something in it, but it focuses on the characters and the times. It follows three different narratives, that of Carl Denham struggling to make it in the entertainment world, Ann Darrow (with the delicate, satin-draped frame...) leaving vaudeville behind for the promise of Atlantic City, and mostly Sam Kelly (who's not from the movies or previous books), a down-on-his-luck former Navy diver in San Francisco who accepts a job on a pearl-diving ship that's on its way to... you know... check the title. The book doesn't add anything much to the world of the films, though it does lead into the Peter Jackson reboot pretty well, but it's a good pulpy adventure novel, the kind of thing Indy would read on the way to his next big dig. Fun stuff!
November 8, 2025
This is a prequel to the Peter Jackson movie, which I loved for its artistic quality and great story. This book tracks the lives of the main characters in that film a short time before they meet and set off on that fateful voyage. Though it is obviously unnecessary background information, while the things that happen are also not of the same magnitude, the book is still quite enjoyable. It slowly builds the suspense of discovery of the island as told by a sole survivor, the only major character from this story that is not in the film. The lives of Ann Darrow the actress and Carl Denham the movie director are explored and their personalities further developed. The feel of pulp fiction from the period (1930s) permeates this book, with believable characters, dialog and settings of the time that makes it a remarkable work of historical fiction as well. As with stories like this, it would also work quite well as a comic or graphic novel I imagine.
December 19, 2013
Deals with 3 different stories. One story is awesome about a navy diver from San Fran who winds up on the island. The other stories are boring and useless. Plus there is no Kong in the book. You hear of him but not what I was expecting. It leads right into the movie which is cool but I wanted some more story behind King Kong
December 23, 2008
Matthew Costello's The Island of the Skull is billed as the "official prequel" to the storyline of the new Kong movie, so because I really liked that version of the story, I went ahead and picked this book up.
It follows three separate plot threads involving the filmmaker Carl Denham, the young actress Ann Darrow, and the ex-Navy diver Sam Kelly, who was not in the movie (or, for that matter, the original 1933 version), but who turned out to have the most interesting stuff happen to him in this plot. From my writer perspective, I was curious as to how this book would handle following all three of these characters, just because the events of the movie require that none of them ever actually meet. By and large it did jump back and forth between the characters in a fairly coherent way, though early on I did have some quibbles with the points at which the jumps happened, as well as the lengths of various chapters. Those were minor quibbles, though.
I intended to read it back to back with the novelization of the actual movie, thinking it'd be fun to plow straight through both books and get a "one big story" experience. I wound up having to read them in reverse order, which was also kind of fun just because of seeing how events that are alluded to in the movie fall together.
There was some fun stuff with Carl Denham, his film crew guys, and the crew of the Venture. (Yay, hot captain Englehorn!) Mostly, it involves telling about how the camera guy Herb lost part of his leg, and how Denham weaselled financing for his jungle picture out of his backers, and established the friendships between Carl and Englehorn as well as Carl and Jack.
If you know the events of the movie, this book gives a kind of fun sense of doom about to smack Carl and Ann upside the head. Sometimes it's in a good way, since Jack Driscoll does appear in a few scenes and both he and Ann angst about whether they'll ever fall in love; I found myself grinning at that since I did of course know what was coming with their romance. (I was vaguely disappointed, though, that we got no sign of Ann being hooked on Jack's plays yet. Seeing her discover one of those and getting goopy over his writing would have been kind of neat, since she's established as already clearly enamored of his work at the beginning of the movie.)
The other stuff about Ann wasn't quite as coherent. We see her going down to Atlantic City for a job on the boardwalk there, doing--of all things--riding on the back of a horse diving into the ocean as part of an act to draw the crowds. There's a genuinely touching bit at the end regarding the fate of the horse, who takes well to her. And there's a mildly interesting side plot involving Ann having a brush with gangsters, but it didn't get nearly as interesting as it should have. Mostly, reading her parts of the book, I read just closely enough to mark what was going on and hastened on to the next bits involving Sam Kelly, and what happened to him on Skull Island--definitely the most interesting part of the story.
Sam and his young friend Tommy sign on to a pearl diving boat that travels into the Indian Ocean, and in the waters off Skull Island, once Tommy is killed, things go to hell. The ship is attacked by a water-going dino, and they have to land on the island to look for wood to repair breaches to the hull. Where, of course, things continue to go to hell. We never see Kong, but we do hear him roaring. And the men of Sam's ship do find out about him in passing, thanks to a native girl who also proves an interesting character--who stands out as one of the intended sacrifices to Kong, who decides "fuck this" and greases up her arms to get out of the ropes when her people tried to give her to the ape. She runs like hell into the jungle, and eventually runs into the men from Sam's ship. She and Sam barely have enough time to establish a rapport, though, before everybody except Sam is killed. Sniff!
Sam winds up becoming the creator of the map we see in Denham's possession, though, in the movie--and the castaway mentioned in passing as picked up by a Norwegian captain, who then dies a few hours after he's found. Again, sniff. But this brings the sense of impending doom back around to Denham, because we do see him getting hold of the map, and the first gleams of his obsession start taking hold as at the same time Ann makes her way back up to New York to join the vaudeville show we see her in at the beginning of the film.
The one jarring note was a couple of scenes about a German scientist coming to America, towards the very end of the book. This guy is apparently in there only to convey the idea that he's discovered a specimen from Skull Island and he's going to try to alert the U.S. government about it--but he's told that the U.S. government is not exactly in the mood to be interested, what with the Depression going on and all. So he winds up being there mostly to pose the question to the reader of whether this place of modern-day dinosaurs will in fact ever be discovered. We do of course know that it will be. But those scenes felt unnecessary, because that point got made quite clearly by the three main plotlines all coming together.
All in all, not bad for what it is, a media tie-in novel. And it was an enjoyable addendum to the movie storyline. Recommended if you're in the mood for something lightweight to rip through!
It follows three separate plot threads involving the filmmaker Carl Denham, the young actress Ann Darrow, and the ex-Navy diver Sam Kelly, who was not in the movie (or, for that matter, the original 1933 version), but who turned out to have the most interesting stuff happen to him in this plot. From my writer perspective, I was curious as to how this book would handle following all three of these characters, just because the events of the movie require that none of them ever actually meet. By and large it did jump back and forth between the characters in a fairly coherent way, though early on I did have some quibbles with the points at which the jumps happened, as well as the lengths of various chapters. Those were minor quibbles, though.
I intended to read it back to back with the novelization of the actual movie, thinking it'd be fun to plow straight through both books and get a "one big story" experience. I wound up having to read them in reverse order, which was also kind of fun just because of seeing how events that are alluded to in the movie fall together.
There was some fun stuff with Carl Denham, his film crew guys, and the crew of the Venture. (Yay, hot captain Englehorn!) Mostly, it involves telling about how the camera guy Herb lost part of his leg, and how Denham weaselled financing for his jungle picture out of his backers, and established the friendships between Carl and Englehorn as well as Carl and Jack.
If you know the events of the movie, this book gives a kind of fun sense of doom about to smack Carl and Ann upside the head. Sometimes it's in a good way, since Jack Driscoll does appear in a few scenes and both he and Ann angst about whether they'll ever fall in love; I found myself grinning at that since I did of course know what was coming with their romance. (I was vaguely disappointed, though, that we got no sign of Ann being hooked on Jack's plays yet. Seeing her discover one of those and getting goopy over his writing would have been kind of neat, since she's established as already clearly enamored of his work at the beginning of the movie.)
The other stuff about Ann wasn't quite as coherent. We see her going down to Atlantic City for a job on the boardwalk there, doing--of all things--riding on the back of a horse diving into the ocean as part of an act to draw the crowds. There's a genuinely touching bit at the end regarding the fate of the horse, who takes well to her. And there's a mildly interesting side plot involving Ann having a brush with gangsters, but it didn't get nearly as interesting as it should have. Mostly, reading her parts of the book, I read just closely enough to mark what was going on and hastened on to the next bits involving Sam Kelly, and what happened to him on Skull Island--definitely the most interesting part of the story.
Sam and his young friend Tommy sign on to a pearl diving boat that travels into the Indian Ocean, and in the waters off Skull Island, once Tommy is killed, things go to hell. The ship is attacked by a water-going dino, and they have to land on the island to look for wood to repair breaches to the hull. Where, of course, things continue to go to hell. We never see Kong, but we do hear him roaring. And the men of Sam's ship do find out about him in passing, thanks to a native girl who also proves an interesting character--who stands out as one of the intended sacrifices to Kong, who decides "fuck this" and greases up her arms to get out of the ropes when her people tried to give her to the ape. She runs like hell into the jungle, and eventually runs into the men from Sam's ship. She and Sam barely have enough time to establish a rapport, though, before everybody except Sam is killed. Sniff!
Sam winds up becoming the creator of the map we see in Denham's possession, though, in the movie--and the castaway mentioned in passing as picked up by a Norwegian captain, who then dies a few hours after he's found. Again, sniff. But this brings the sense of impending doom back around to Denham, because we do see him getting hold of the map, and the first gleams of his obsession start taking hold as at the same time Ann makes her way back up to New York to join the vaudeville show we see her in at the beginning of the film.
The one jarring note was a couple of scenes about a German scientist coming to America, towards the very end of the book. This guy is apparently in there only to convey the idea that he's discovered a specimen from Skull Island and he's going to try to alert the U.S. government about it--but he's told that the U.S. government is not exactly in the mood to be interested, what with the Depression going on and all. So he winds up being there mostly to pose the question to the reader of whether this place of modern-day dinosaurs will in fact ever be discovered. We do of course know that it will be. But those scenes felt unnecessary, because that point got made quite clearly by the three main plotlines all coming together.
All in all, not bad for what it is, a media tie-in novel. And it was an enjoyable addendum to the movie storyline. Recommended if you're in the mood for something lightweight to rip through!
March 12, 2017
I was disappointed in this book. I thought we would at least get a little more background on Skull Island, but, no such luck. We get a little background on the director and the actress, but much of the book deals with a character who doesn't appear in the movie at all. However, ultimately he is the reason Carl Denham knows about Skull Island for filming his movie. Fortunately it was a fast read, so I didn't waste a lot of time on it.
January 15, 2018
This book was a *lot* of fun. Surprisingly so. I picked it up because I had credit at a bookstore and my daughter likes King Kong. I figured if nothing else I could hold onto it until she was older. And then I read the first sentence. And I was hooked. From the very first sentence, I was hooked. It was a thrilling adventure. *Note: this book is a prequel to the early 2000s movie, not the 2017 movie*
I'm usually not big on movie/tv continuations or prequels in book form, but this was a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half.
I'm usually not big on movie/tv continuations or prequels in book form, but this was a wonderful way to spend an hour and a half.
March 3, 2021
Not sure this was needed, but it's fun prequel to Peter Jackson's version of King Kong. That's an important distinction to keep in mind, as the characters do not act like you'd expect from the original characters from the 1933 movie.
The story follows Ann Darrow, an out of work stage performer looking for work at Atlantic City, Carl Denham, struggling to finance his next feature after a serious accident on his earlier film, and Sam Kelly, a former Navy diver working on a pearl-diving ship that ends up on the shores of Skull Island.
It's a fun read, moving at a good pace and sets up the backstory that starts up the opening of Jackson's film. We get more detail into Denham's shady dealing to get to the island, how he knows Driscoll and why he's in such a rush to get his expedition started. We also get to see more of Ann and gain a sense of how she was able to survive her initial meeting with Kong.
The new character, Kelly, has the most interesting story as the novel hits the mid-mark, as he encounters giant creatures while diving for pearls off the shore of Skull Island. It's an exciting sequence, but makes you wonder why they haven't taken off for the deep ocean and ended up near other islands. And once the ship ends up on the island, the scenes really fit the tone of Jackson's film.
But it doesn't add anything to the film and, while well written, is little more than an attempt to cash in an the expected blockbuster movie. If you can find it at a good price at an used bookstore, and enjoy a good Kong story (he does appear in the novel), pick it up.
The story follows Ann Darrow, an out of work stage performer looking for work at Atlantic City, Carl Denham, struggling to finance his next feature after a serious accident on his earlier film, and Sam Kelly, a former Navy diver working on a pearl-diving ship that ends up on the shores of Skull Island.
It's a fun read, moving at a good pace and sets up the backstory that starts up the opening of Jackson's film. We get more detail into Denham's shady dealing to get to the island, how he knows Driscoll and why he's in such a rush to get his expedition started. We also get to see more of Ann and gain a sense of how she was able to survive her initial meeting with Kong.
The new character, Kelly, has the most interesting story as the novel hits the mid-mark, as he encounters giant creatures while diving for pearls off the shore of Skull Island. It's an exciting sequence, but makes you wonder why they haven't taken off for the deep ocean and ended up near other islands. And once the ship ends up on the island, the scenes really fit the tone of Jackson's film.
But it doesn't add anything to the film and, while well written, is little more than an attempt to cash in an the expected blockbuster movie. If you can find it at a good price at an used bookstore, and enjoy a good Kong story (he does appear in the novel), pick it up.
April 25, 2022
(Scroll down for English).
[SV]: Vet inte hur nödvändig den här boken känns. Men visst är det intressant att få veta hur Denham kom över kartan till Skull Island och äventyret som hör till. Förhållandevis lättläst bok med både intressanta och ointressanta delar. För även om jag uppskattar att Ann Darrow inkluderades för att ge boken en kvinnlig karaktär så fyller den inget syfte utöver det för storyn.
[EN]: I'm not sure how necessary this book feels. But it is an interesting to get to know how the map over Skull Island fell into the hands of Denham. It's an pretty easy read with both interesting and uninteresting parts. Because even if I appreciate that Ann Darrow was included to give the book an female character she don't really have an function outside it for the story.
[SV]: Vet inte hur nödvändig den här boken känns. Men visst är det intressant att få veta hur Denham kom över kartan till Skull Island och äventyret som hör till. Förhållandevis lättläst bok med både intressanta och ointressanta delar. För även om jag uppskattar att Ann Darrow inkluderades för att ge boken en kvinnlig karaktär så fyller den inget syfte utöver det för storyn.
[EN]: I'm not sure how necessary this book feels. But it is an interesting to get to know how the map over Skull Island fell into the hands of Denham. It's an pretty easy read with both interesting and uninteresting parts. Because even if I appreciate that Ann Darrow was included to give the book an female character she don't really have an function outside it for the story.
September 1, 2016
This book was fan-frikkin tastic! King Kong only made a brief appearance in this book, but it was still awesome. I can't wait to read more by this author. This book got mixed reviews. Probably because old man Kong only showed up for a moment at the end.
August 7, 2014
I bought this during the Peter Jackson King Kong resurgence craze in 2005 and picked it up before it even hit the shelf. I had heard that Matthew Costello was a good author and since I'm crazy about all things King Kong I couldn't wait to read it. As far as adventures go, it's a pretty decent book. BUT! Where the hell was Kong in this story!?!?!? It's advertised as "King Kong: The Island of the Skull"! - so I ask where's the beef...eh..I mean Kong!? I guess the producers & Kong franchise, due to ownership rights or some such, must've wanted to create suspense for the new arrival of Kong and held him out to the last. Yeah, it was suspenseful, but more like suspendsful, as in I felt like I was in suspended animation. There were other creatures in the book but they were few and far between. I don't want to discredit Matt Costello, though. His writing is fine. I just don't think they let him create the kind of story he is capable of. Especially if they would've let him have free reign connecting this story with the movie version the way he wanted to do it. As it is, it is only a worthy addition if you are a King Kong aficionado, like me, and have to have all story versions of our favorite giant ape. I was really hoping the movie would've been a 5 star classic, which would've escalated the interest in King Kong fiction to a level I was praying to someday see, like The Lord Of The Rings movies did for not only it's own franchise, but to fantasy fiction overall. Unfortunately, because of the change in character focus, the stoopid vaudeville angle with Ann Darrow juggling for Kong, the King Kong Disney On Ice sequence, the Three Stooges car chase, the Flinstones Yabba Dabba Do run through the Brontosaurus' legs, etc., and miscasting Jack Black as Carl Denham, created a movie that I own, but is a mess overall. I know there are some great Fan Edits of the movie for free out there and I mean to find the perfect one someday because I know it'll improve the movie, but the version they released at the theater killed not only Kong but his chances for the mass production of King Kong fiction I was hoping for.
August 24, 2014
Quit at about the half way mark. The book starts by following three characters living three separate lives and so far as I can tell they will never meet and none of them will have anything to do with King Kong or Skull Island.
The first half is amazingly boring, I'd advise you to skip this one.
The first half is amazingly boring, I'd advise you to skip this one.
March 23, 2012
It's a quick read. Nothing spectacular!
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