Summary

Summary:

From Publishers Weekly

As seen on film and TV, the Phantom Zone where Superman's enemies are exiled is insubstantial and two-dimensional, much like this chronicle of the death of the cape-clad hero's home planet. Best known for sweeping space opera (the Seven Suns series; Sandworms of Dune), Anderson briskly and blandly narrates these events as if voicing a news documentary, completely removing the tension from otherwise dramatic turns of fate. After young artist Lara rescues gifted scientist Jor-El from the Zone, their courtship is lost among a host of fragmentary subplots and minor characters with names pulled straight from the acknowledgments page. Would-be dictator Zod, who twirls his mustache in mostly solitary musings for nearly half the book, disconcertingly insists on conducting the wedding before descending into tiresome megalomania. Frustrated Superman fans will wish that Anderson had instead expanded on Lara's brief private account of Zod's ascendance and Krypton's destruction. (Oct.)
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Product Description

Everyone knows how Kal-El—Superman—was sent to Earth just before his planet exploded. But what led to such a disaster? Now, in The Last Days of Krypton, Kevin J. Anderson presents a sweeping tale of the pomp and grandeur, the intrigue and passion, and the politics and betrayals of a doomed world filled with brave heroes and cruel traitors.

Against the spectacular backdrop of Krypton's waning halcyon days, there is the courtship and marriage of Kal-El's parents, the brilliant scientist Jor-El and his historian wife, Lara. Together they fight to convince a stagnant, disbelieving society that their world is about to end. Jor-El's brother, Zor-El, leader of the fabled Argo City, joins the struggle not only to save the planet but also to fight against the menace of the ruthless and cunning General Zod.

The diabolical Zod, future archenemy of Superman, avails himself of a golden opportunity to seize power when the android Brainiac captures the capital city of Kandor. As Zod's grip on the populace tightens and his power grows, he too is blind to all the signs that point to the death of the very civilization he is trying to rule.

Through all of this, Jor-El and Lara's love for each other, their history, and their son allows for Krypton to live on even as the planet is torn apart around them. For in the escape of their baby lies Krypton's greatest gift—and Earth's greatest hero.

The Last Days of Krypton is a timeless, ground-breaking exploration of a world that has never been fully defined, and reveals the extraordinary origins of a legend that has never ceased to amaze and astound generation after generation.