The Last Days of Krypton

August 13, 2007
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.

November 26, 2007
Leading up to Superman being jettisoned in a capsule to Earth, Anderson reveals the political and private world of Krypton as it descends into chaos and eventual destruction. Superman's father, Jor-El, strives to restore stability to the decaying planet while also dealing with the power-hungry Zod, who has seized power. Though expertly interlacing the various threads of Krypton's mythology, Anderson's novel as a whole feels more like a poor apocalyptic warning to our society mirrored by events such as a tsunami, a world leader with a propaganda machine and a pre-emptive doctrine, and a foreign assault on a Krypton cultural center. Yet Dufris makes the listening very enjoyable. His steady and nuanced narration really shines in his vocal characterizations. He embodies Jor-El in a way that matches the story's mood and reveals the inner turmoil facing the esteemed scientist thrust into the world of politics. He also deftly delivers the character of Zod, eliciting the arrogance and avarice of the aspiring dictator. Simultaneous release with Harper Entertainment hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 13).