What do you think?
Rate this book
Green Lantern: Sleepers #1
Green Lantern
Earth's powerful superhero Kyle Rayner, the Green Lantern, must somehow bring together enough heroes from the planet's past and present to stop an alien threat to the continuity of space and time, in the first volume in an epic trilogy. Reprint.
265 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2004
4 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Christopher J. Priest
1,058 books188 followersFormerly (before 1993) known as James or Jim Owsley.
Christopher James Priest is a critically acclaimed novelist and comic book writer. Priest is the first African-American writer and editor for Marvel and DC Comics. His groundbreaking Black Panther series was lauded by Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice and will serve as the basis for the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe adaption.
Besides Black Panther, Priest has written comics for Conan, Steel, Green Lantern, The Crew and edited The Amazing Spider-Man. He also co-created Quantum & Woody along with Mark Bright and co-founded Milestone Media.
After a decade long hiatus he is currently writing comic books again and recently concluded a stint writing the comic book Deathstroke (2016-2019).
In addition to being a writer, Christopher J. Priest is also a baptist minister.
Christopher James Priest is a critically acclaimed novelist and comic book writer. Priest is the first African-American writer and editor for Marvel and DC Comics. His groundbreaking Black Panther series was lauded by Entertainment Weekly and The Village Voice and will serve as the basis for the 2018 Marvel Cinematic Universe adaption.
Besides Black Panther, Priest has written comics for Conan, Steel, Green Lantern, The Crew and edited The Amazing Spider-Man. He also co-created Quantum & Woody along with Mark Bright and co-founded Milestone Media.
After a decade long hiatus he is currently writing comic books again and recently concluded a stint writing the comic book Deathstroke (2016-2019).
In addition to being a writer, Christopher J. Priest is also a baptist minister.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 21, 2009
Some people have comfort foods or comfort clothes, I have comfort books. A comfort book is one in which the characters are already familiar figures, for some reason or another, and I can pick up a book to read about old friends -- enjoying their adventure(s) with them.
This book falls into that category for me.
Green Lantern was one of my comic book favorites, and I looked forward to reading his adentures, even if without the aid of the wonderful, colorful drawings. It wasn't an outstanding adventure -- paled, compared to some of the comic book adventure that I remember, but I'm still glad to have gone on the journey. It was a nice way to get in some reading time, without having to put forth a lot of mental effort.
Not recommended to anyone not already familiar with the green unitard-clad hero.
This book falls into that category for me.
Green Lantern was one of my comic book favorites, and I looked forward to reading his adentures, even if without the aid of the wonderful, colorful drawings. It wasn't an outstanding adventure -- paled, compared to some of the comic book adventure that I remember, but I'm still glad to have gone on the journey. It was a nice way to get in some reading time, without having to put forth a lot of mental effort.
Not recommended to anyone not already familiar with the green unitard-clad hero.
March 11, 2021
This one was kind of lackluster for me. I'm a huge Green Lantern fan. I felt like the author was trying to follow established history at points, which was great, but then he'd veer off in another direction with some things that was really frustrating. Towards the end of the book I felt like they were throwing in the canon stuff just to make fans happy, but really only that. Not because they actually cared to follow it.
The other frustrating thing was the "love triangle" between Kyle, Jade, and Eddie. I felt that there was really no connection between Jade and Eddie, Jade only showed attraction to him to piss off Kyle. Which worked and made Kyle come across as a complete jealous douche. After a while I started to sympathize with him and it made me even angrier.
I also was sad at the lack of constructs that were used. I feel like that's one of the highlights of GL and the ring. It seemed all that was used were beams to shoot at people and blips for location. It was kind of a let down.
I don't want to make it seem like this book was horrible. It might be a good read for some, just not for me. I'm not usually one that has to read or watch something based on a comic and have it be totally strict to it. I can understand changes in story and character because you can't cover everything in a short book or movie. There was just a lot I couldn't get past in this. Mainly character choices. The main heroes, GL and Jade, came across as shallow and confrontational for most of the book, which made it hard to get through.
The other frustrating thing was the "love triangle" between Kyle, Jade, and Eddie. I felt that there was really no connection between Jade and Eddie, Jade only showed attraction to him to piss off Kyle. Which worked and made Kyle come across as a complete jealous douche. After a while I started to sympathize with him and it made me even angrier.
I also was sad at the lack of constructs that were used. I feel like that's one of the highlights of GL and the ring. It seemed all that was used were beams to shoot at people and blips for location. It was kind of a let down.
I don't want to make it seem like this book was horrible. It might be a good read for some, just not for me. I'm not usually one that has to read or watch something based on a comic and have it be totally strict to it. I can understand changes in story and character because you can't cover everything in a short book or movie. There was just a lot I couldn't get past in this. Mainly character choices. The main heroes, GL and Jade, came across as shallow and confrontational for most of the book, which made it hard to get through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2024
Very funny prose, v good read overall. I think if I came in already invested in Kyle Rayner as a character I would’ve liked this more, but as what is functionally my first real introduction to him, this is pretty solid!
An interesting decision to make Sinestro a program of the Qwardians rather than an actual person? I prefer the person a lot more because I think just making him a program is conceptually very interesting esp w the lore the author puts in this book, but I prefer Sinestro as a character. Then again, this was written in 2004 so Sinestro hasn’t really had a lot of his biggest characterization moments that I am now familiar with in the modern canon.
Very excited to read books 2 and 3
An interesting decision to make Sinestro a program of the Qwardians rather than an actual person? I prefer the person a lot more because I think just making him a program is conceptually very interesting esp w the lore the author puts in this book, but I prefer Sinestro as a character. Then again, this was written in 2004 so Sinestro hasn’t really had a lot of his biggest characterization moments that I am now familiar with in the modern canon.
Very excited to read books 2 and 3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2024
If I'm going to be honest with my thoughts I might as well start with positives. I liked the story overall. What I didn't really like was how the story seemed a bit unfocused at times. it had underutilized characters that may have required a little more knowledge of the DC universe than your average reader, and a simple but rather weak prose at times. I understand that this was a three-book series but with the first entry being so mixed it may deter others from picking up the other two. If you love Green Lantern as much as I do though, you may like this enough to see it through.
December 28, 2018
Pretty fun, though some redundancy. Intro to Jade, second major Kyle story. Both pretty immature and stereotypical. Read with the Graphic Audio version, which has really good actors and music.
October 12, 2019
Some parts were good, but the relationship problems between Kyle and Jade bogged this down a bit for me.
Read
March 22, 2020Couldn't get through it this time: But I am totally coming back to this another time!!!💚
January 14, 2021
OMG hal's characterization was so good in this book!! i love it so much. especially his proud dad relationship with kyle
December 13, 2022
I could have gone without the love tringle. Nonetheless, I enjoyed Hal Jordan's characterization. Actually the supporting cast was nice, I liked Kyle's interactions with his teammates.
January 27, 2024
Requires more background knowledge of DC Comics Superheroes than I have
March 2, 2017
Herein I believe I've found a flaw of limited, third-person narrative: if the author doesn't get enough into the POV characters' heads to give them interesting internal voices, the narrative just has no flavor. This one is mostly humorless and clunky. Likely not the authors' fault, as the POV characters are mostly 90s DC heroes, who were almost completely unlikable.
I credit the authors for creating a sympathetic villain with subtlety and depth. The villain POV scenes were enjoyable and had feeling. Sadly, he couldn't save the story from the lackluster heroes. Plastic Man was the only hero I enjoyed, and he had a very minor role.
I credit the authors for creating a sympathetic villain with subtlety and depth. The villain POV scenes were enjoyable and had feeling. Sadly, he couldn't save the story from the lackluster heroes. Plastic Man was the only hero I enjoyed, and he had a very minor role.
January 28, 2014
3 stars for the story, 4 stars for the audio production:
I don’t care for audio books because I can read much faster than a narrator can read to me, but my husband prefers them. So, I was delighted to discover GraphicAudio, which specializes in full cast productions. The few audio books I have enjoyed were full cast, and are more like listening to a radio show than “reading” a book. Both my husband and I are superhero fans, so we decided to give this Green Lantern title a go on a recent road trip.
The story started out strong. We begin in the past, during WWII, when a yellow ring is passed to a medic by a dying soldier. The story then jumps to the present where Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Black Canary and Green Arrow are driving across the US. They come across a wildfire out of control and about to decimate a small town; the heroes immediately intervene. The sequence was exciting, with sound effects to enhance the action. The voice actors were on point, and the dialog was clear. After they save the town, the heroes find themselves battling a familiar and powerful enemy. They defeat him and then the story jumps ahead in time again to a new Green Lantern named Kyle. Kyle is in love with Jade, who has powers and green skin. Most of the plot revolves around these two, with appearances by Superman, and some other familiar characters.
Unfortunately, the story went downhill from those exciting opening sequences to wallow in romantic angst. Half of Kyle’s dialog is spent whining about whether Jade loves him, why she won’t marry him, is she pregnant… For her part, she can’t decide if she’s ready to commit so she flirts with an exterminator who shows up at their apartment, who is turning into something else thanks to a certain yellow ring. Further, this angst interferes with Kyle’s ability to do his job as a Lantern – he consistently acts, or fails to act, because he’s so mired in the relationship drama. It was frustrating. The actual plot that requires the superheroes had a lot of potential. A race located in the antimatter universe wants to find a way into our universe because theirs is dying. When Kyle and Jade end up in that universe, the plot finally kick started and became more engaging. The conclusion was satisfying.
While this wasn't quite “a movie in your mind,” owing to an excessive use of the narrator, it was a very good production. We won’t listen to any further volumes of Sleepers, but I will definitely be buying more titles from Graphic Audio. The prices are very reasonable for an audio book, but especially ones with a full cast. Recommended.
I don’t care for audio books because I can read much faster than a narrator can read to me, but my husband prefers them. So, I was delighted to discover GraphicAudio, which specializes in full cast productions. The few audio books I have enjoyed were full cast, and are more like listening to a radio show than “reading” a book. Both my husband and I are superhero fans, so we decided to give this Green Lantern title a go on a recent road trip.
The story started out strong. We begin in the past, during WWII, when a yellow ring is passed to a medic by a dying soldier. The story then jumps to the present where Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Black Canary and Green Arrow are driving across the US. They come across a wildfire out of control and about to decimate a small town; the heroes immediately intervene. The sequence was exciting, with sound effects to enhance the action. The voice actors were on point, and the dialog was clear. After they save the town, the heroes find themselves battling a familiar and powerful enemy. They defeat him and then the story jumps ahead in time again to a new Green Lantern named Kyle. Kyle is in love with Jade, who has powers and green skin. Most of the plot revolves around these two, with appearances by Superman, and some other familiar characters.
Unfortunately, the story went downhill from those exciting opening sequences to wallow in romantic angst. Half of Kyle’s dialog is spent whining about whether Jade loves him, why she won’t marry him, is she pregnant… For her part, she can’t decide if she’s ready to commit so she flirts with an exterminator who shows up at their apartment, who is turning into something else thanks to a certain yellow ring. Further, this angst interferes with Kyle’s ability to do his job as a Lantern – he consistently acts, or fails to act, because he’s so mired in the relationship drama. It was frustrating. The actual plot that requires the superheroes had a lot of potential. A race located in the antimatter universe wants to find a way into our universe because theirs is dying. When Kyle and Jade end up in that universe, the plot finally kick started and became more engaging. The conclusion was satisfying.
While this wasn't quite “a movie in your mind,” owing to an excessive use of the narrator, it was a very good production. We won’t listen to any further volumes of Sleepers, but I will definitely be buying more titles from Graphic Audio. The prices are very reasonable for an audio book, but especially ones with a full cast. Recommended.
September 1, 2014
Oh books staring comic characters...you are my guilty pleasure...
When I read a book like this, I feel like I'm ten years old again reading a comic book by flashlight. I cant help it. I like super heroes...
I really enjoyed the story in this book. Yes you have to suspend some of your belief in physics, but whatever. The only part I didn't like was the beginning because it seemed to pick up in the middle of a story. That being said, perhaps I should get all the way through book 3 to pass judgment. I'm guessing the story may come full circle. The story really has everything; action, outer space, intense action sequences, and even a love subplot. Any fan of the DC universe would like this book.
When I read a book like this, I feel like I'm ten years old again reading a comic book by flashlight. I cant help it. I like super heroes...
I really enjoyed the story in this book. Yes you have to suspend some of your belief in physics, but whatever. The only part I didn't like was the beginning because it seemed to pick up in the middle of a story. That being said, perhaps I should get all the way through book 3 to pass judgment. I'm guessing the story may come full circle. The story really has everything; action, outer space, intense action sequences, and even a love subplot. Any fan of the DC universe would like this book.
October 22, 2015
Un interesante inicio de trilogía el que presenta este libro sobre Green Lantern; cada historia está protagonizada por un lantern en particular (la primera por Kyle Rayner, la segunda por Alan Scott y la tercera por Hal Jordan) y tienen un arco argumental común. Aquí los protagonistas son Kyle y Jade, aunque Hal (como el Espectro) y Alan salen también en momentos concretos. La historia sobre la creación de un nuevo Sinestro por parte de los Qwardianos está bastante bien hilada aunque a veces el autor se pierda un poco entre tanta descripción cósmica. En definitiva, me leeré (escucharé, más bien) los otros. El trabajo de Graphic Audio como siempre es excelente, nada que objetar.
August 21, 2013
I am apparently unfamiliar with the time frame that this story took place in and much of its basis seems to have thankfully been changed after infinite crisis. I'm guessing that's where the changes take place as the book makes a point of telling you that it occurs before those events. The production quality is good as is usually the case with graphic audio though the voice of Hal does not seem to ring true. There were also a couple of incidents where the narrator seemed to mention the wrong character which is something i don't recall coming across in previous Graphic Audio productions.
February 22, 2012
3 1/2 stars. Good adventure, delivered well. Longer review here: http://eyesandearsblog.blogspot.com/2...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews