Walking dead update #3

 Author: Robert Kirkman

Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Horror

Publication date: 2014-2015

Book description: A group of survivors after a zombie epidemic. They have been living in a world where the dead have risen. The walking dead though is not the main threat, the other humans soon proved to be a far greater enemy. 

Thoughts:

I am getting very close to the ending now. With volume 24 I finish the third compendium and only one more left to read. This is finally the time when I finish the series. Maybe after I get to the ending I'll manage to convince myself to get back and start the tv series once more and consume the story that way as well. I am not sure how many seasons there are. 

I am going to go through the volumes and mention small bits of what is going on, it is a reminder if you have read them a while back or mild spoilers if you have not reached these specific volumes. Let's get to it.

Volume 22

Time has passed, there is peace between Hilltop, The Kingdom, The Saviors, and Alexandria. They have a system of trade among the communities and have people working towards the safety of their settlements. One of the plans is to lead a herd of the dead away from their vicinity, unfortunately, there are a group of other survivors in the path selected and the group must save them before the hundreds of dead reach their location. After a few incidents, the group is taken to Alexandria where they are welcomed and are taken in as new members of the community. 

We see people not trusting the welcome, it all seems too good to be true and they are waiting to see what kind of twisted secrets lurk behind the civility in Alexandria. Magna is the leader and she is not fully convinced of what they see is the all. 

At the same time, we see Rick carrying on as the leader of the whole, people rever him, almost worship him. Carl is not exactly having a good time trying to live up to that. The now teen is eager to grow up and become a useful member of society. The trade he wishes to learn is a blacksmith, he feels it has to be something invaluable to the community. No other choice allowed. Rick doe snot agree, why? The only blacksmith lives in Hilltop and that means Carl would be leaving them.

Magna and her group have a small part in this volume. As they are the newcomers and they get to meet Negan. He is still a prisoner. He tries to dupe them but she is to cleve for that. Initially, I thought they would have a much bigger impact on the story, so far their involvement is not all that important. Maybe they come more relevant in later volumes. 

Rick delivers Carl to Hilltop to begin his apprenticeship. Rick is not the model of a human or a parent. He is very flawed and you see it some up more in these last few volumes. He is cruel and demanding.  A small misstep of something not fully within a man's control sends him to rage and violence towards the man. It is a bit of an overrection. He behaves like this several times towards different people. He is too commanding and stubborn. Not too likable.

Hilltop people have a bit of an accident. There is an attack of some sort but the men rescued talk crazy. They give a report that does not make sense to anyone, they speak of an impossible thing about the walking dead.

Volume 23 

More scouts are sent after the men who were hurt are recovered. We see something unexpected, some people have adapted differently to the new world. The way they live is odd to me. But they have one advantage. Still, one of them is captured and brought back to Hilltop for questioning.

And of course, we have drama in the communities. People continue to be petty and selfish. I hate how even in the face of everything they have survived they are still not good towards one another. There are rivalries among children and the people want to take advantage of it, Maggie is seen as a not good enough leader. Why? For petty reasons. Gregory is not helping matters, he thinks he should be the one to lead the Hilltop and he is steering unrest, others soon join his cause. 

Carl gets incarcerated due to a fight. In his time there while Maggie investigates he gets to know the girl who was captured. He starts to trust her and makes a very stubborn case in her defense with Maggie so she can be liberated and taken in as a guest to the community and not a prisoner. Carl and Lydia get very close very soon.

The drama continues, we see some relationship dramas, people still have time to squabble about who to date, cheat, and who to actually stay with. I am not going to give details here because it's not too relevant to the plot but it gives you a bit of insight into the characters and their lives. 

Hilltop receives a group of people who come get Lydia back, Maggie is offered a trade. The scouts she sent to search the area where the attacks occurred in exchange for the girl they have. Maggie agrees, she'd rather save the lives of the men she sent than keep a possible traitor among her people. Carl opposes greatly. Lydia has confessed to him what the life of women in the other group is like and he does not wish to force her to go back to that. Lydia accepts her faith and returns with her own people. 

Carl is a stubborn bastard and runs after them to save her.

Volume 24

It starts with Rick meeting with Michonne again. She is living in the Kingdom with Ezequiel. They have their own personal issues, as it shows in the other communities now that they do not have to be scared and struggling to stay alive the personal drama returns. 

A fair is set up in Alexandria where all the communities will gather. It has been planned and it showed a bit of mention in the previous two installments as well but it is finally set up. People gather there. 

In the meeting again Maggie comes clean to Rick and tells him about Carl. Rick is extremely pissed and he starts to overreact but Maggie manages to stop his rage with a very well-placed excuse. She has her own issues in Hilltop. She shares her issues with Gregory, he tried to kill her. She is of course in no hurry to let Rick know the punishment he was administered. 

Carl is living with this other group, he is definitely not impressed but Lydia refuses to leave the group and go back with him.

A bit of an accident happens in the prison of Alexandria, someone forgets to lock Negan's cage. Rick loses his temper and is very cruel to the person in charge of that task. Odd Negan did not escape. I am curious why? Are we going to get a redemption arc from him? The point is not if he sees reason but how will Rick handle it?

Rick and a group of people go to try to rescue Carl. They are found by the same people and taken to their camp. 

This is the good part, a new war is about to start. The new group in a show of power kill people from their communities. How will Rick respond? Is he going to back down or will this infuse him to seek war again?

I am really enjoying this series and look forward to finishing it next month! Highly recommended.

That's it from me guys. If you have read it, tell me if you enjoyed it. Also if anyone has seen the show let me know how you guys feel about it, is it similar to the storyline here or are many things changed? And if they differ, does that make it better?

See you later. Stay safe!