Review (Novel): The Walking Dead: Descent by Jay Bonansinga

Jay Bonansinga brings us the fifth instalment in The Walking Dead novel series, a joint literary effort by Mr. Bonansinga and Robert Kirkman, the creator of The Walking Dead.

Set in the same time-line as Robert Kirkman's graphic novel of the same name, and the Telltale video game series, the Walking Dead: Descent follows the survivors of Woodbury after the death of the Governor as they try to rebuilt and move on. Things begin to turn sour when a new group of survivors, lead by a man named Jeremiah, are welcomed into the town. It isn't long before Jeremiah's nefarious motives are revealed, and Woodbury is thrown into a short-lived civil conflict.

This book was, luckily, a short read. Although I'm not certain if it only seems that way due to me skimming the last few chapters or not. Despite its strong start, The characters, while serviceable, never reach the point of becoming compelling. The new antagonist is the typical "supposedly saintly churchgoer whom turns out to be evil" trope, and the main protagonist becomes a bland and characterless hero. The premise of the plot is never utilised to its full potential. It would have been interesting to watch somewhat of a political power struggle develop between Lilly and Jeremiah, and watch as they both manipulate other people to reach their own ends. But unfortunately, we get a ho-hum, very average conflict before the protagonist and antagonist.

It should also be highlighted that the timeline of this novel, this entire series in fact, is noticeably inconsistant. According to the graphic novels, the conflict between Woodbury and Rick Grime's group, whom had taken up residence within an abandoned prison, took place approximately seven months after the zombie apocalypse had began. However, the third and fourth novels in this series, The Fall of The Governor parts one and two, both state that the conflict takes place three years after the start of the undead apocalypse. Descent makes another blatant chronological error, taking place approximately one month after The Fall of The Governor, yet stating that only two years had past. If this series of novels was its own creative effort, and did not take place in the same chronology as The Walking Dead graphic novels and the Telltale series, this would only be a minor gripe. However, as already noted, this series takes place in a pre-established fictional setting, for which a poor chronology can make a pain to manage and become invested in; it's immersion breaking.

As for the prose, it follows the same style as that of the previous instalments in this series; splattered with purple. It's riddled with irrelvant details (the graphics on someone's shirt, the specific model of firearm, etc.), some of which are factually innacurate. Most of the writing lacks subtlety, with the reader being explicitly informed about what characters are thinking or feeling. Literature should never be written this way. Writing is based on prefering showing instead of telling, however Jay Bonansinga has blatantly disregarded this rule of literature.

It may seem, from my comments above, that I disliked this novel. In truth, I didn't. The chcarcters and plot of the novel are standard. The main reason why I have refused to elaborate on these elements is simply due to the fact that doing so would force me to delve into borderline spoiler territory.

It's a very Walking Dead story; average, mildly exciting, but ultimately squanders its potential.