The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor
Encyclopedia
The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor is a post-apocalyptic horror
novel written by Robert Kirkman
and Jay Bonansinga. The novel is a spin-off
of Kirkman's series of graphic novels
and explores the back-story of one of the series's most infamous characters, The Governor. Rise of the Governor is the first in a planned trilogy of novels. The novel was released on October 11, 2011 to a generally positive critical reaction.
.
The group of survivors are hiding in a large house within the private neighborhood of Wiltshire Estates, planning to move on to the nearby city of Atlanta, where a fabled "safe zone" is supposedly located. A zombie (which Brian had previously warned was not accounted for among the remains of the house's previous inhabitants) comes out of its hiding place and infects Bobby with the undead plague, killing him. Distraught, the remaining four of the group nonetheless continue on.
Once in Atlanta they find it is swarming with zombies, the safe zone has been either over taken or never was there in the first place. After a disastrous car accident the group frantically flees from a large herd of undead until they hear a voice calling them to an apartment building. The voice belongs to April Chalmers, who lets them into the building that she and her father, Dave, and sister, Tara, have secured. Everything is comfortable and joyously monotonous at the apartment until an elderly David expires.
To the shock of the survivors, David turns without having been bitten and nearly kills Tara. After Philip kills the zombie things grow tense between him and Tara. As the group attempts to move on from the incident, Philip turns a clumsy attempt at romance into rape, sexually assaulting April. The morning afterwards April is nowhere to be found and the group is forced by Tara, at gunpoint, to leave the building.
After several days of riding motorcycles through rural Georgia, the Blakes and Nick find a villa
atop a hill and decide to stay there indefinitely. Brian's suspicions of a group following them are not taken seriously until the very group violently forces them out of the house. A firefight ensues, and as Brian flees with her in her arms Penny is shot and killed. Driven by grief, Philip refuses to kill the zombie form of Penny, and she comes along with the group as they venture onwards until they stumble across the town of Woodbury
.
At Woodbury there is not much order and unity among the citizens, although they are unenthusiastically led by a group of ruthless National Guardsmen. One night, Nick and Brian find Philip dragging a local girl into the woods. Nick kills Philip and accidentally the girl as well in an attempt to stop Philip, and following this Brian shoots Nick to death.
Brian is revealed to be The Governor, having taken his deceased brother's name, killed the National Guardsmen and taken the role of leader of Woodbury.
The View to discuss zombies and The Walking Dead franchise, as well as promote Rise of the Governor. Each member of the studio audience received a free copy of the novel.
and the 36th best selling horror novel.
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
novel written by Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...
and Jay Bonansinga. The novel is a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of Kirkman's series of graphic novels
The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is a monthly black-and-white US comic book series published by Image Comics beginning in 2003. The comic was created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, who was replaced by Charlie Adlard from issue #7 onward, although Moore continued to do the covers through issue...
and explores the back-story of one of the series's most infamous characters, The Governor. Rise of the Governor is the first in a planned trilogy of novels. The novel was released on October 11, 2011 to a generally positive critical reaction.
Plot summary
The novel follows the story of Philip Blake, his older brother Brian, his daughter Penny and friends Bobby and Nick as they struggle to survive in a world ravaged by the zombie apocalypseZombie apocalypse
A zombie apocalypse is a particular scenario of apocalyptic literature that customarily has a science fiction/horror rationale. In a zombie apocalypse, a widespread rise of zombies hostile to human life engages in a general assault on civilization....
.
The group of survivors are hiding in a large house within the private neighborhood of Wiltshire Estates, planning to move on to the nearby city of Atlanta, where a fabled "safe zone" is supposedly located. A zombie (which Brian had previously warned was not accounted for among the remains of the house's previous inhabitants) comes out of its hiding place and infects Bobby with the undead plague, killing him. Distraught, the remaining four of the group nonetheless continue on.
Once in Atlanta they find it is swarming with zombies, the safe zone has been either over taken or never was there in the first place. After a disastrous car accident the group frantically flees from a large herd of undead until they hear a voice calling them to an apartment building. The voice belongs to April Chalmers, who lets them into the building that she and her father, Dave, and sister, Tara, have secured. Everything is comfortable and joyously monotonous at the apartment until an elderly David expires.
To the shock of the survivors, David turns without having been bitten and nearly kills Tara. After Philip kills the zombie things grow tense between him and Tara. As the group attempts to move on from the incident, Philip turns a clumsy attempt at romance into rape, sexually assaulting April. The morning afterwards April is nowhere to be found and the group is forced by Tara, at gunpoint, to leave the building.
After several days of riding motorcycles through rural Georgia, the Blakes and Nick find a villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
atop a hill and decide to stay there indefinitely. Brian's suspicions of a group following them are not taken seriously until the very group violently forces them out of the house. A firefight ensues, and as Brian flees with her in her arms Penny is shot and killed. Driven by grief, Philip refuses to kill the zombie form of Penny, and she comes along with the group as they venture onwards until they stumble across the town of Woodbury
Woodbury, Georgia
Woodbury is a city in Meriwether County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,184 at the 2000 census.- History :Woodbury is one of the oldest towns in Meriwether County. It grew up about ten miles southeast of Greenville in the late 1820s. It was first named Sandtown for the white sand that...
.
At Woodbury there is not much order and unity among the citizens, although they are unenthusiastically led by a group of ruthless National Guardsmen. One night, Nick and Brian find Philip dragging a local girl into the woods. Nick kills Philip and accidentally the girl as well in an attempt to stop Philip, and following this Brian shoots Nick to death.
Brian is revealed to be The Governor, having taken his deceased brother's name, killed the National Guardsmen and taken the role of leader of Woodbury.
Promotion
Robert Kirkman appeared on the talk showTalk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
The View to discuss zombies and The Walking Dead franchise, as well as promote Rise of the Governor. Each member of the studio audience received a free copy of the novel.
Sales
As of October 30th, 2011 the novel is the 308th best selling overall book on Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
and the 36th best selling horror novel.