Fantastic four: redemption of the silver surfer

Marvel Berkley/Byron Preiss Productions Prose Novels

by Michael Jan Friedman

An illustrated adventure pits the Surfer, the Invisible Woman, and the rest of the Fantastic Four against Prodigion, destroyer of worlds, and Galactus, the devourer of planets for whom the Surfer once acted as Herald. Original.

Genres: Science Fiction, Superheroes, Fiction, Comics, Marvel, Adventure, Action

343 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 16, 1997

About the author

Michael Jan Friedman is an author of more than seventy books of fiction and nonfiction, half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Eleven of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. Friedman has also written for network and cable television and radio, and scripted nearly 200 comic books, including his original DC superhero series, the Darkstars.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Silver Surfer redeems himself by helping the F.F. in the negative zone, 'cause Sue asks nicely... despite a Galactus-analog and Blastaar raising a ruckus. It's a little heavy on the angst, and I didn't think much of Prodigon, but crank your Joe Satriani, True Believer, and hang ten. Excelsior!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It probably makes sense that they hired a prolific Star Trek author for this one as it is more a high concept sci-fi vehicle for The Surfer than a FF story for me, which was fine as I have a soft spot for Norrin Radd.



Curiously enough the only other characters I found compelling with both villainous, though I won't spoil things too much by saying whom.

Audiobook note: The narrator was fine. His Ben Grimm was a little over-the-top, but that's how he's typically written anyway so who am I to quibble?

[Michael P.]

I reached the halfway point and gave up. I just don't like Friedman's habit of saying things one and a half times. Example, "He was determined not to lose again - not to Prodigion or anyone else." In context, everything behind the dash is unnecessary. If he wants to include the unnecessary information, the less cluttered "He was determined not to lose to Prodigion or anyone else" is better written and more effective. Friedman probably does this close to 100 times in the 123 pages I read before giving up on this book. Another problem, Blastaar simply is not an interesting character in the comic book or as Friedman writes him. The chapters that focus on him are cliched and tedious. Bye, bye.

[Hunter Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

if i took a shot for everytime the thing said clobbering i would be dead from alcohol poisoning

[Tony Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read just like a comic book. Moved quickly with good action

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag for me. I thought it had an interesting premise a being in the Negative Zone that is the opposite of Galactus in that "he" seeds planets with life instead of taking life by destroying planets that had a lot of promise but fell flat in the delivery. There are some fun moments of "action and adventure" as the Fantastic Four try to solve the mystery behind the story. The title is a bit misleading as well the "redemption" of Silver Surfer does not take place until 2/3rds - 3/4ths of the way through the book and lasts for maybe a chapter or two. It has some interesting alliances, some fun moments, and some snarky remarks. While the character development is so-so, it does have some good "action scenes" in the book.

Regarding character development, it is always hard to develop characters in stories who have been around for thirtysome years (as of the time the book was written). I would say that Blastaar probably has "the best development" of the story, even if only because of the ending more than anything else. I say this because Prodigion (the Negative Univere's version of Galactus, the Destroyer of Worlds) has been sighted heading towards Blastaar's empire. Knowing he cannot defeat this being alone, he captures the attention of the Fantastic Four and enlists the aid of Reed, Johnny, and Ben (Sue not being available at the moment). The trio agree to an alliance with Blastaar (which is surprising in itself) in order to determine the threat level of this being and if Blastaar is telling them the truth or not. Sue and Silver Surfer join them later, but it turns out that the threat is valid. Despite believing the Fantastic Four have betrayed him, Blastaar actually aids Reed in Reed's quest to learn about Prodigion's methods, which then encourages the FF to aid Blastaar in stopping Prodigion. At the story's end, Blastaar "saves face" by launching a brace of missiles at the departing FF in order to maintain his standing with his people; Reed surmises the missiles were an 'empty threat' and only fired because of the war-like society that Blastaar is the leader over. It is the fact that Blastaar enlists the aid of the FF, proposes an alliance, and then gives Reed a 'second chance' to stop Prodigion, that leads me to say that Blastaar had the "most" character development in the story. I do not remember him behaving in such a way in the comics, so it seemed like he developed as a character to me because he actually used his brain more than his emotions and brawn and power to try to solve a problem. He knew when he needed help and who to reach out to for assistance, which was pretty impressive.

It was funny that Johnny turned out to be "right" after all. He was initially captured by the Outriders (Prodigion's "heralds" and "workforce") during the first battle with Prodigion's ship (forces). Despite his injuries being healed by the advanced treatment of Prodigion, he never trusted either Prodigion or his "followers"/heralds (composed entirely of beautiful women).

There was a "fun moment" between Reed and Ben (right after Johnny was captured) in which Reed told a couple of jokes, which were actually somewhat funny, as he was poking fun at himself and his reputation for having zero humor. it was a nice moment between these two old friends, and it did help make Reed seem more human than he usually comes across.

I also liked Susan Storm's interactions with the Silver Surfer. I felt those were some of the "better, more human" parts of the book, to be honest. I really think she was wasted on Reed; she deserves better than Reed, in my opinion, but even in today's world, there are plenty of "odd couples" where two people get married and stay married despite their vast differences. It just gets annoying when it seems like Reed fails to notice his wife unless he needs her powers for something or her life is in danger. Otherwise, it seems like she might as well truly be 'invisible' to him.

The whole "love story" "thing" between Tjellina (leader of the Outriders) just did not work for me. I know there are times when there is an intense mutual attraction between people the first time they meet, but I did not get that impression between these two characters. It felt forced more than it felt natural. Plus, the Surfer was not going to be staying in the Negative Zone any longer than he had to, so it felt like a "wasted relationship" as well, like it was just created to try and generate sympathy for the Surfer's solitary life. It did not work. I don't know if it has to do with the idea that the only way for "character development" to occur is for "somebody's heart to be broken" or what, but it really fell flat with the Surfer.

Also, I think Silver Surfer is hard to capture as a character, to get his character "right" in a prose format. In the comics, he tends to be "philosophical" in nature, a bit "out-of-touch" with reality or something; like the physical world no longer holds any meaning to him. More "cosmically aware" as to temporally concerned, maybe? He is always saying how much the physical world does not matter to him because of how Galactus changed him when Norrin Radd was transformed into the first herald. I don't know how to explain it, but he tends to be portrayed . . . "differently" than how he was portrayed in this book. It was almost like he was portrayed as "too human" rather than the "distant, inhuman alien" that he tends to be portrayed as.

It was funny how long it took for the book to reach the point of its title: the "redemption of Silver Surfer." When he discovers that Prodigion seeds planets with "life" instead of destroying planets by absorbing "their life force," he sees this as an opportunity to make up for his crimes as the first herald of Galactus and dooming the populations of planets to a horrible death. He assumes that Prodigion seeds planets capable of supporting life; to his horror, he discovers (through Reed Richards) that Prodigion seeds planets already teeming with life with an aggressive form of invasive life that will apparently take over said planet; I am not sure what good this does Prodigion in the long run, as it is never explained.

This "drive" of Prodigion's is also one of the weakest parts of the book. He is 'driven' to 'seed planets with life.' Why? Why does he do this? Also, why do the Outriders force him to destroy a planet's already-living ecosystem with his invasive "life" that he plants. What, exactly, does he plant? It is said to be "alien" to the planet upon which the seeds are planted, but we are never told exactly how. The one planet that is discussed in the book is said to have gone from famine to feast to being overrun with some invasive life form, but we never see what form or shape this invasive "life" takes. Is it some kind of "evolutionary accelerator" that speeds up evolution to the point that life runs amok? What exactly does he "plant" that causes an alien form of life to run amok? Also, why not just plant these seeds on planets that do not have life on them? Why not seed barren planets? Planets that are just outside the range of supporting life? It seems like his "seeds" should be able to overcome pretty much any hazardous environment, considering how aggressive they are.

Which leads me to my other question: why do the Outriders force Prodigion to dump his seeds on inhabited planets? Why do they not dump his seeds on uninhabited planets? What is the difference? It would have been nice if that had been explained, if the author had expanded his idea further and given it better support or something, more of a "backstory" that made sense. As it is, Prodigion and his "Outriders" are pretty weak as characters and as villains because we do not know why they are motivated to behave the way they do. Just because Prodigion is an "elemental force" in the Negative Universe is not enough; especially in light of his being described as having the mental/emotional maturity of a three-year-old child. What is up with that?

Plus, it seems weird that Prodigion is "dumping his seed" willy-nilly on planets, that his "seed-spores" are being forcefully expelled from the bottom of his ship to impact deeply into the target planet's surface. It's just . . . weird. I really don't think the author thought it through very well when he came up with his "anti-Galactus" being to inhabit the Negative Universe. It is an interesting concept that was neither well-thought out or well-developed.

It was a weird story; I enjoyed it but was frustrated by it. I felt like the author captured the interactions between the Four (as well as their interactions with Silver Surfer) almost perfectly. It did not feel like they were ever "out-of-character" to me while reading the book. I also enjoyed the illustrations before each chapter; some were definitely better than others, but usually is the case for any artwork in a comic or an illustrated novel. I liked the idea of the Negative Zone having its own version of Galactus, but it was not developed as well as it could have been. When the "villain" of the piece is finally encountered, it left me with more questions than answers, which was especially frustrating. It was a relatively fast read for me, though, so I almost felt like it could have been another fifty-to-one hundred pages to give the story more meat to hang on its bones (as it was, it almost felt like two different stories meshed together into one story, or that maybe the author had forgotten the direction in which he was going and tried to circle back around by the end).

I would probably rate it somewhere between 2 and 3 stars; maybe 2.4 - 2.6 stars? As it is, I will probably rate it 2 stars because of how frustrated and disappointed I was with the ending it was so beyond anticlimactic that it was almost depressing, and not in a good way. In any case, I am glad that I gave it another chance and reread it. It had enough "good moments" for that much, at least.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good Fantastic Four adventure. It was written in a way that even if you didn't know about the Fantastic Four you could actually read it. The author explained the basics and if you do you the Fantastic Four it's even better. The chapter art was done by comic artist George Pérez. A great book and great illustrations!

[Derrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm enjoying learning about the Silver Surfer because of Marvel Snap, but this story was not like the other ones I've read with him. He seemed 'dumb'. Oh well. OK story, but pretty standard comic story.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel (did not read the comic book). The reader did not voice Reed Richards’s well, though, or the writing for Reed was bad; I don’t know which.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Occassionally I like to read something quick and easy -- something in which I don't have to spend a lot of time learning about the characters -- perhaps this is why I enjoy reading books set in the StarTrek universe and/or the comic book universe -- the characters have already been defined.

However, I have to admit to a bias -- I've never enjoyed the stories of the Fantastic Four (comic book heroes) which take place in outer-space (or other worlds). I can't quite define it. And I know it seems strange, considering my propensity toward sci-fi stories, but the stories in outer-space never appealed to me. They always seem contrived, and this novel was no exception.

The extra-dimensional foe here, seemed a novelty for no reason. The foe was in no danger of attacking Earth, so the FF involvement was totally unnecessary. The Silver Surfer's appearance seemed fine, but his "falling in love" with the new protagonist seemed out of character, and yet a major plot point.

I just didn't but into this story. Not recommended.

[Chuck White · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a comic book and Fantastic Four fan, I enjoyed this book. An interesting premise has the fabulous four, along with the Silver Surfer, joining forces with Blastaar to combat a Galactus-like menace that is threatening the Negative Zone.

The story is well-written and the personalities and actions of the characters remains in line with their comic book roots, while allowing for the natural expansion that a prose work permits. The action is well-described, leaving no ambiguity as to what is occurring in any given scene. It's like a well-written script for a comic book epic.

My only real complaint is the lack of depth and background in the story of the Galactus-type character.

Overall, a recommended read for fans of the Fantastic Four.

[Christopher Obert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the Silver Surfer. By far he is my favorite super-hero, so I was very interested in reading this Marvel Universe novel. I was however a little bit disappointed with the way the Surfer was portrayed in this tale. I feel that it did not match my take on the Sky Rider of the Spaceways. I also did not like the character Prodion; I feel that Friedman missed a great chance to create a truly remarkable entity. Still the story was worth reading, with the Fantastic Four, Blastaar and the Surfer in the Negative Zone; you know interesting things will develop. The super villain Blastaar was perfectly written.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Silver Surfer is a lonely fellow. No place to call home, no friends, no Silver Surferette to rub his feet. It's no wonder he's so moody. Redemption takes him to the Negative Zone, but even there he can't catch a break. No matter where he goes, there he must go alone!

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my review here: http://trebro.livejournal.com/224428....

[Jacqueline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extra 1/2 star.