Kong Reborn

by Russell Blackford

Discovering the DNA of the great ape King Kong, Jack Denham, grandson of the moviemaker who had brought Kong to New York in 1933, classhes with ruthless business tycoon Carlton Hemming as both men attempt to clone the giant ape, only to discover that the monstrous creature that results must be returned to Skull Island. Original.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure

397 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2005

About the author

Russell Blackford is an Australian writer, philosopher, and critic, based for many years in Melbourne, Victoria. He was born in Sydney, and grew up in Lake Macquarie district, near Newcastle, NSW. He moved to Melbourne in 1979, but returned to Newcastle to live and work in 2009.

Reviews

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book and how they went with it. They show of how cloning works and how society reacts to these sort of ideas. My favorite part in this book (And it is unfortunately short) is Kong's rampage through Manhatten. One of my favorite characters is Jack Denham, grandson of Carl Denham, due to him showing such care towards Kong and have an interesting story of his life.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was a fast read, overall, although it did slow down a little in the late-beginning-early-middle with all of the technical details about gene-splicing and creating a 'new' Kong followed by the subsequent lawsuit(s) and legal maneuverings to end the respective suits. The end was fairly fast, too. I did not think it would end quite the way it did, which made it almost anti-climactic for me. There was this crazy build-up and then, WHAM!!!!, it was over. The character development was pretty decent, overall. It reminded me of a cross between Crichton's Jurassic Park and the book Mammoth by John Varley. The ending is left wide open for a sequel.

I did like the concept that some blood from King Kong remained on the upper floors of the Empire State building for 70 years, just waiting to be found so that it could be used to recreate Kong of the book. I thought the author did a decent job with explaining why and how the scientists were able to accomplish what they were able to accomplish. Sure, there were some stretches, but it still seemed reasonable enough to be believable.

The book has various errors in it throughout the story; mostly mild ones. The ones that were most noticeable occurred right away in the prologue. They were “spacing errors”, where I assume the author intended for a word or group of words to be separated by dashes, but he fails to insert either the necessary spaces or a big enough dash and makes it look like the two words that are to be separated by a dash are actually ‘one word.’ I have had to reread some sentences a few times to figure out what he means, what he is saying. There were some other spacing errors, too. Such as, on page 60, he forgot to include a space between two paragraphs to imply that the scene had changed from Denham to Hemming; that one really threw me, as Denham had been talking to his attorney over the phone and then it switches to Hemming thinking about killing Denham. It was an abrupt switch that really throws off the narrative. This happened a few more times as towards the end of the book, so I could not quite decide if it was a printing error or an error on the part of the author.

At first, I could never quite decide if this story was based on the original 1930s movie or if it was based on Peter Jacksons' remake. What really made me wonder was because the author seemed to "go the ‘Peter Jackson’ route" and claim that Kong loved Ann Darrow like a big man loved a little woman (122). This, despite there being nothing in the original movie to indicate it was love as much as it might have been curiosity over something ‘new’ given to the original Kong by the villagers? I never understood this 'idea' that Kong was in love with Ann Darrow, regardless of how the movie ends (with the quote by Denham that it was beauty that killed the beast). However, I see both the book and the movie came out in 2005 (the book two months before the movie), and there is a blurb on the back cover that says the book is in no way affiliated with Universal Pictures of the estate of Marian C. Cooper, so, there you go. A fortuitous set of circumstances, I guess, where the author and the movie producer had 'similar' ideas about the original King Kong.

I did enjoy the discussion of how Skull Island came to be situated where it was in the "Southern Ocean" as well as how the indigenous life forms came to exist on the island. There was quite a mix of creatures on the island! I felt like the author had expanded upon the creatures from the initial movie and added more life forms and whatnot like the carnivorous vines or the other mammalian creatures that lived on the island, but most of what he did still worked for the story and the overall plot.

I was somewhat surprised that Jack Denham and Roxanne Blaine became a 'couple' and fell in love during the latter portion of the novel. I did not expect that or see it coming. I probably should have, the way the two started off 'hating' each other, 'despising' each other, only to slowly come to mutually respect each other before becoming friends and then potentially more than friends. They go about it in a 'weird' way, too, as Roxanne lashes out at Jack more than once over the course of their 'relationship,' and not in a good way. It was interesting how Jack starts off willing to take multiple chances and do some free-wheeling to get what he wants, but by the end of the novel, he is less inclined to take chances and prefers to 'play it safe' whereas Roxanne is more-than-willing to take chances and seize the moment, to charge in where angels and fools might both fear to tread.

About the ending - the part of the ending I could see coming was Kong coming to the rescue of Jack and Roxanne. The way the book was progressing by that point, I could easily see what was going to happen. I may not have known the exact particulars, but it was pretty obvious how things were going to go down by the time they did go down. Also, I still hated seeing so many of the team members being killed like they were; some of them I came to like, even though they were introduced 'only briefly' before the author kills them off by the denizens of the island.

I thought it was kind-of funny how the author totally skips the sea voyage from NYC to Skull Island, jumping immediately from NYC at the end of one chapter to dropping anchor just off-shore at the start of the next chapter. It is after this point that Jack and Roxanne begin to develop their friendship/relationship. The author TOTALLY misses the opportunity for the two to get to know each other over the course of the voyage, as well as describe how Kong handled the sea voyage (or if they had to sedate him for most of the trip). It was a completely wasted moment for the author, which could have opened up other possibilities on the island for the two teams, as well. This also made it seem like the ending was forced and anti-climactic, in my opinion.

I have to admit, a part of me really 'hated' the ending. It was so sad! So depressing! A part of me could not believe he ended it the way he did, but, then again, I have read other authors who have 'shocked' me in terms of how they chose to end a book (or kill certain characters off over the course of the narrative). I found myself almost wishing the author had written a sequel, as this one had so many loose ends in it waiting to be wrapped up. I do not know the direction of how the author would go, but it might still be an interesting read. Regardless, I am glad I took a chance and read the book.

[Keith Bowden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun, a quick read for nearly 400 pages. Cloning Kong is a nice twist for a sequel, and there are interesting concepts considered for the creation of not just our fantasy ape but any creature. Adventure kicks into high gear when the inevitable trip to Skull Island gets underway and Blackford did not disappoint. It's light adventure but very engaging, shouldn't disappoint anyone looking for more Kong.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was clearly influenced by Jurassic Park, and once the characters and situations are set up, the story is pretty predictable. Still, it's an entertaining, smart sequel to the original King Kong. While it doesn't definitively explain the existence of Skull Island and its array of weird monstrous animals, at least the characters think about it and try to come up with scientific explanations for the bizarre ecology. I enjoyed it.

[Brian Grouhel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a Good Book. Not only did it continue on the story of King Kong we all saw in the Jack Black movie, but it did so in a vastly entertaining and logical way. Filling in some gaps and carrying the story onward with the grandson of the late Carl Denham this novel rapidly becomes a page turner. If you love the story of the Great Ape, you will not be disappointed!

[02EzraS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that only nerds would read, which exactly why I read it. This book written by Russel Blackford is a real page turner. Its a book that follows the same lines of jurassic park but with a different ending. This is my review of Kong Reborn
The story mostly takes place in new york. The main character Jack Denham, grandson of Carl Denham, the original owner of "Kong". Denham happens to get a sample of blood found on the upper tiers of the empire state building. This blood sample is supposedly that of the great king kong. Denham gets the sample from a worker from a company called Cenco. This employee stole it from his employer, technically Denham got it illegally, but feels that it still belongs to him. This will cause him some legal trouble later.
Denham and hemming are both owners of big genetics company. So to keep up with the competion Denham decides to recreate kong. He has his team of scientists working very hard for a couple of months before that actually start to grow Kong. He is placed in an artificial womb where he stay and grows for almost another year. After he is born they measure him; he wieghed close to 200 pound at birth and was a little under 5 foot. He is one big baby and they soon build a little habitat at the top of the company's building that is surrounded by plexiglas. This however will not last for long.
After a couple of months in his new habitat, Kong, gets tired of only having humans to play with every know and then. Just as his father once did Kong breaks free to terroize. New york.

[Michael Fierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to read this because I was having a hard time with the whole DNA cloning idea set in modern times, seemingly cashing in on the Peter Jackson Kong as much as Jurassic Park. And. I'm ok with both prospects. The modern thing was a bit of a turn off for me. I don't want to spoil the plot for you though I'm sure many of you are saying, "...wait a minute, if they go back to Skull Island in modern times, how can that be because...blah bleh". Yeah. I get you. But this book spends the first half explaining just about everything and it can be frustrating because you can be thinking, "..just get on with it already!", so, I'm gonna say this: I give the first 2/3 of the book a 3, and the last 1/3 a 5, because it is really pretty darn exciting once you get to the island when all hell breaks loose and the shiznit hits the fan. As far as entertainment goes, I would give it a 3 1/2, but I can't, and since I'm SKULL-island-CRAZY about Kong, I'm going to have to default upwards to a 4. Read all other Kong-related stories and novelizations before you run out of material and have to read this one. As a writer, I should say, Russel Blackford, is a little rough around the edges but a promising storyteller that may give us something better down the road.

[Michael Olynyk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overall quite average. Nothing special. No unique view on genetics, or science development.
The story just ends, with nothing truly resolved with the exception of the release of Kong.

Nothing bad but also nothing good.

[Robert Minks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only have a few chapters left to read after only one day. A very good book that combines some science fiction and adventure thriller aspects.

[Lalaynya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book, from beginning to end. One of my faveorites by Russell Blackford

[Bill Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice update to the Kong story.