I review Godfall for the Wall Street Journal
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The Wall Street Journal ran another one of my book reviews over the weekend. This time I took a look at veteran comic book writer Van Jensen’s debut novel Godfall. It’s about how a three-mile-long humanoid alien crash-lands outside a small town in rural Nebraska, swelling the town with thousands of new folks—scientists, journalists, grifters, even a cult that eats bits of the alien to hallucinogenic effect. Our hero Sheriff Blunt, the local lawman, is on the trail of a serial murderer who is killing people and carving them up to look like the alien. You can read the review here.
Did I like the book? On balance, yes! It’s a boffo premise. Mr. Jensen is an adept thriller writer in the plainspoken Lee Child style, and he deftly delivers the requisite brawls, twists, and capers. Sheriff Blunt is a stoic, capable lawman who is plenty likeable. I must admit, though, I was distracted that the celestial carcass remained a cipher. Our heroes never directly investigate the alien or even physically come near it. Instead, Mr. Jensen concentrates on the serial killer plot.
The following was cut from the review, so I’ll say it here: a gigantic alien falling to earth is the opportunity for something more out-of-the-way! You can explore the guts of an enormous creature, like in Daniel Kraus’ Whalefall (2023). You can do a hard-SF nail-biter about spaceborne infection, like in Michael Critchton’s The Andromeda Strain (1969). You can even wrestle with theological implications, like when the Almighty’s corpse is put on trial in James Morrow’s satirical Godhead Trilogy (1994-99). To be sure, this is the first book of a series, and Godfall is reportedly in development as a TV show by no less than Ron Howard. Hopefully these sequels and adaptations will more fully explore the extraterrestrial mystery. I’ll definitely check them out.
Anyway, I liked the book overall, and you can read my review here.
Want to read my other reviews for the Wall Street Journal? You can find them all here.