Kevin J. Anderson has taken on the daunting task of culling information about the lost planet Krypton from the many and conflicting sources in the D.C. Universe. By using a piece from here and another from there he has created a seamless mosaic that has brought Jor-El and Lara to life and made the tragic and beautiful planet Krypton as real as any of the places that I studied in school. I have been a fan of the man of steel most of my life and the "Last Days Of Krypton" has answered most of what I have wanted to know about Krypton, Argo City, the Phantom Zone ... I could go on and on. This is the first book I have read by Mr. Anderson, but it will not be the last. Because Kevin J. Anderson has found a new fan. Buy your copy today, you will not be disappointed.

While I normally love KJA's work, I was just put-off by the concept of this book - it didn't grip. Then I tracked down a copy. All I can say is I can't believe how wrong I was. Any Superman or KJA fan will be very happy with this.

I loved this book. I never really thought about what happened to Superman's home planet other than the obvious, it was destroyed. I loved how this book explained everything from the little things like Jor-El and his relationships with everyone he knew from his family to the Council. It showed the aspects of several individuals like Zod and Jor-El's brother, Zor-El, and not just that of Jor-El himself. It was rich with descriptions of Kryptonian architecture, and art and how often those two were combined. Every building was a work of art and so many colors. I have always been more of a fantasy fan than science fiction but after this book I am honestly looking forward to reading more from Kevin J. Anderson.

Well, after reading It's Superman! by Tom De Haven, then slogging through this, I have to say, I am a bit disappointed.

I mean, it wasn't a bad novel. I am an avid reader and a great fan of Superman, and I was enthused to read this novel. When I saw it in the store, I snapped it up, hoping for something as rewarding as It's Superman! But it just never quite felt right.

First off, I really thought that the technology of Krypton was sketched out and never really rendered in any high definition. It was crystals here and there and quite a lack of technobabble the likes of which one sometimes needs to feel sold on alien tech in a sci fi story. Cursory. I wasn't sure if he was trying to rely on our memories of Krypton from the movies or that part of sci fi writing just isn't this guy's strong suit.

Even more off-putting, I really feel that Anderson's Zod was really not the Zod of Superman II, the Movie. Bear with me. He seemed older and more stodgy and bureaucratic and irritating, and he was that for most of the book before he became any amount of dangerous and scary. Even then, he really never was the General Zod who came to Earth one day and kicked Superman's backside all over Metropolis like Terrance Stamp did back when I was a kid. This Zod really would not be capable of showing up and filling that role. Nor would his two sidekicks. Aether was not as off, but the mute fellow also seemed to me to be just the wrong age or really a different character. Now, you might say, "Hey, this guy is comparing apples to oranges; this is a novel with far more character development and plot than you got in your childhood Superman movie. He's not letting the book do it's thing; the author went a different way and he's biased." And you could be right, but how many of you out there have as the ultimate icon in your head of what Superman really is as the first half of Superman I and the battle scenes of Superman II (Donner cut) between Supes and Zod's crew? If you fall into that category, I say you're going to be disappointed. Some might say it's a wierd complaint, but I couldn't shake it as I was reading through the novel.

I did like that he obviously tried to get all the mythos in there [SPOILERS IN THIS SECTION], but for me it ended up more like he was running to each event, getting this stuff in because he had a list of stuff to hit, and it was strung together more out of necessity than out of dramatic effect or clever story arc. Kandor ends up in a bottle, there's possibly still a Kryptonian city floating out in space with a force field over it, Braniac at least showed up on Krypton to make off with the bottle city (Braniac is not merged with the Krytonian's own tech from the start like he was in the Superman animated show, btw). No mention of Supergirl's origin, but that was not necessary.

[SPOILERS ALERT OVER] The main characters were, of course, Superman's parents, and they were rendered better than the rest of the story, but I still really never became much of fan of either character here. They story was there, it was told, and I put the book down, wishing for I had spent my time on something more, frankly. I can't say that I will be reading other work from this author, I am truly sorry to say. Perhaps someone coming to the story with less baggage would find it to be a more satisfying experience, but I think my baggage related to this character's back story is not unusual.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of the Superman character. As I child, I read all the old comic books, watched the movies again and again, and dressed up as Supes himself for Halloween nearly ever October. Currently, I enjoy watching the TV series "Smallville" each week. Suffice it to say that I am a pretty hard-core fan of Superman.

However, up until reading this novel, one area of the Superman "mythos" I had not yet discovered was fan-fiction (essentially what this book is). I would be lying if I said that I didn't expect to be disappointed in some way, as the hardest part of telling contemporary Superman stories is that the character's mythology/history is so convoluted that the author tends to pick and choose, alienating certain readers. However, I was pleasantly surprised at Kevin Anderson's ability to tell an interesting Superman story and still keep the basic "heritage" of the character intact.

The first half of this novel is unarguably the most exciting, as it introduces such key characters in the Superman mythology as Jor-El, Zor-El, Lara, Zod, Aethyr, Nam-Ek, Brainiac, and Martian Manhunter. Each of those characters is given an interesting backstory filled with subtle nods to what will happen to them in the future. The plot is also quite compelling, as the events begin to fall into place that will eventually lead to the destruction of the planet Krypton.

Unfortunately, the last half-to-third of the book falls a bit flat, as way too much time is devoted to General Zod's political schemings. Basically, there is too little Superman mythology "meat" in that portion of the novel and too much insight into Zod's rise and fall as Krypton's impromptu leader.

Luckily, the book does redeem itself in the last 20-30 pages, as many plot threads from earlier on come back to tie up the storyline in a satisfying fashion.

Thus, judging purely on the written material, I would give this novel three stars out of five. However, due to the rareness of smartly-written Superman tales (just look at the last few seasons of Smallville and you'll know what I mean), I bumped up the overall rating to four stars. Unless you are the pickiest of Superman fiction readers, you will likely find the majority of this book to be very entertaining.