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A review by whitejamaica
Batman: No Man's Land by Greg Rucka
3.0
Let me start by saying that this is the best Batman novel I've ever read (probably the best out there considering the limited number of Batman novels that have been written and the general quality of said novels). Honestly, I can't explain why No Man's Land is better than other Batman novels, all I know is that, for some reason, Rucka's Batman (and Bruce Wayne) worked for me. This book is heads and tails ahead of the novels within the same class, namely because of its realism, plotting, and sheer entertainment value. I just enjoyed this book.
Why it doesn't rate higher:
This book was a potential 5-star read... up until the last 100 or so pages. One of the reasons I enjoyed No Man's Land was because of the unique story presented by Rucka (Gotham is isolated from the rest of society). Inherently, there are several supervillain appearances and cameos and several side plot lines from the main story. Herein lies the issue. After finishing this novel, I'm still not sure what the main plot was... In the last part of the book, Rucka does his best to tie ends together but it just comes off as being rushed and as if Rucka had no initial idea how he wanted to end the book. The ending was very anticlimatic, and it left me wondering what happened to several other main characters that had appeared throughout the novel. Poor job done by Rucka to finish his book.
But it still is Batman. And this book is considerably better than previous attempts to capture the Caped Crusader through text. For Rucka, a brief applause. If you are an avid Batman fan, there is no reason not to give No Man's Land a reading.
3.25/5 Stars
Why it doesn't rate higher:
This book was a potential 5-star read... up until the last 100 or so pages. One of the reasons I enjoyed No Man's Land was because of the unique story presented by Rucka (Gotham is isolated from the rest of society). Inherently, there are several supervillain appearances and cameos and several side plot lines from the main story. Herein lies the issue. After finishing this novel, I'm still not sure what the main plot was... In the last part of the book, Rucka does his best to tie ends together but it just comes off as being rushed and as if Rucka had no initial idea how he wanted to end the book. The ending was very anticlimatic, and it left me wondering what happened to several other main characters that had appeared throughout the novel. Poor job done by Rucka to finish his book.
But it still is Batman. And this book is considerably better than previous attempts to capture the Caped Crusader through text. For Rucka, a brief applause. If you are an avid Batman fan, there is no reason not to give No Man's Land a reading.
3.25/5 Stars