Why do some people on the forum dislike the road to woodbury novel?

edited August 2013 in The Walking Dead
I read the book and I quite enjoyed it. It was the first novel that I ever read from beginning to end and in large chunks. It felt very much like the walking dead. It was sad and emotional, it made my eyes well up a bit. Considering there aren't any pictures I thought that was powerful writing. I found the characters very believable and well fleshed out. I don't understand some of the hate. To me, I felt that it was like the comics but in novel form.

I like all mediums of the walking dead and would definitely recommend it to those that haven't read it because they were upset that it didn't have the same Lilly from the game.

The characterisation is consistent with the comics, I was happy with it.

Comments

  • edited August 2013
    loop hole wrote: »
    because they were upset that it didn't have the same Lilly from the game.

    You kind of answered your own question there, but I'll tell you how I understand it. Lilly in the game WAS supposed to be the one from the comics, so for Kirkman to go out of his way to rewrite the Lilly character after letting telltale put her in the game is annoying and mildly confusing to say the least.

    I won't speak for the whole forum, but I think the consensus is largely that the book is just okay, and would be much more interesting for fans of the game if he hadn't changed her character.
  • edited August 2013
    Just as Dildor said, old forum members played episodes 1-3 and were content on the idea that as soon as Lilly shot Doug/Carley, she would eventually go continue her storyline in the comics. After all, game Lilly WAS written with the intent that she was comic Lilly. In the comics, she
    shoots the Governor in the head
    , and many forum members thought that was her perfect redeeming moment.

    Then Kirkman writes a sub-par novel about comic Lilly, thus voiding the two Lillys non-canon. Earlier when asked about the Woodbury survivors and Lilly, he exclaims, "The prison is dead to me." THEN he goes off and writes not one, but two novels expressing the Woodbury survivors. :confused:

    Imo at the time, I don't think Kirkman wanted the game interfering with his established canon. Which is why I now want comic and TV show characters to stay in their own mediums so that a situation like this is avoided in the future.
  • edited August 2013
    I agree, the book's writing is not the problem, it's the part about ARE Lilly being Lilly Caul, that is where the hate comes from, and it's true most of us are not a fan of the book.
  • edited August 2013
    Because it retconned something that didn't need to be retconned.
  • edited August 2013
    To this day I will never understand why he did what he did, he was unneeded, it was pointless, it just made things worse, was he even aware at the time how much people loved the game? Well because of that some of us now want Lilly back, and we do not trust any cross overs anymore, and it is on HIS fault.
  • edited August 2013
    He did it for the $$$$s :p

    ;)
  • edited August 2013
    Well I know that was the main reason, but the logic is stunning, I thought he said that the story matters to him, well he really showed off how much he 'cared' about his story after that stunt.
  • edited August 2013
    Never read it.


    Lilly's an asshole
  • edited August 2013
    Because it shitted on the game Lily and tried to put a new one in her place but as far as I am concerned game Lily is Comic Book Lily and one book is not going to change that!
  • edited August 2013
    Crixus wrote: »
    Because it shitted on the game Lily and tried to put a new one in her place but as far as I am concerned game Lily is Comic Book Lily and one book is not going to change that!

    Amen.
  • edited August 2013
    Well I know that was the main reason, but the logic is stunning, I thought he said that the story matters to him, well he really showed off how much he 'cared' about his story after that stunt.

    Exactly - It$ not the main rea$on, it'$ the only rea$on. ;)
  • edited August 2013
    Zeruis wrote: »
    Imo at the time, I don't think Kirkman wanted the game interfering with his established canon. Which is why I now want comic and TV show characters to stay in their own mediums so that a situation like this is avoided in the future.

    Seconded. The story restraints, the plot armor, the unnecessary foreknowledge of character fate's, etc. Trying to clash the separate plot-lines together isn't really necessary in my opinion.
    Though to be honest I'm not that huge of a fan of the comics in the first place, so the idea of more cameos was never a huge appeal for me.
  • edited August 2013
    Dildor wrote: »
    You kind of answered your own question there, but I'll tell you how I understand it. Lilly in the game WAS supposed to be the one from the comics, so for Kirkman to go out of his way to rewrite the Lilly character after letting telltale put her in the game is annoying and mildly confusing to say the least.

    I won't speak for the whole forum, but I think the consensus is largely that the book is just okay, and would be much more interesting for fans of the game if he hadn't changed her character.
    I read the book with the understanding that it was not the Lilly from the game but the Lilly from the comics since I read it after Kirkman confirmed that the 2 Lilly's were different.

    I am a fan of the game but I didn't let the news sway my opinion of a book without reading it. When I read it I saw no inconsistences with the Lilly from the comic since she wasn't fleshed out at all in the comics and was ambiguous. To be honest when I read the comic's prison arc before the game came out I never saw Lilly as a villainous or bitchy character as portrayed in the game. I saw her as a normal Woodbury resident deceived into doing the Governor's bidding. I never saw her as someone that worked for the Governor like Gabe or his other hench men so I never understood why she was characterised as cold and bitchy in the video game. I preferred the Lilly in the comic/novel to the one in the game and felt relieved that they were confirmed as being different people.
  • edited August 2013
    Well I believe that puts you in the minority sir... As for me, Lilly from the game will always be Lilly from the comics UNLESS she shows up alive or dead in season 2... Then and ONLY then will I except that they are 2 different people...
  • edited August 2013
    Well I believe that puts you in the minority sir... As for me, Lilly from the game will always be Lilly from the comics UNLESS she shows up alive or dead in season 2... Then and ONLY then will I except that they are 2 different people...

    You are going to turn down the word of the creator? That is stupid.
  • edited August 2013
    Robert Kirkman knows alot of people hate that he changed the canon of Lilly from the game being the one in the comics... He pissed alot of fans off doing so and the book should never have been written... Robert Kirkman isn't perfect, I mean just look at the Walking dead: Survival Instincts... Not everything he makes is gold...
  • edited August 2013
    Robert Kirkman knows alot of people hate that he changed the canon of Lilly from the game being the one in the comics... He pissed alot of fans off doing so and the book should never have been written... Robert Kirkman isn't perfect, I mean just look at the Walking dead: Survival Instincts... Not everything he makes is gold...

    He didn't make Survival Instinct. xD AMC did.
  • edited August 2013
    He does mess up sometimes, but even he did not like the idea behind Survival Instincts, and he was right it sucked.
  • edited August 2013
    Whether he made survival instincts or not, he approved it regardless and Activision turned it into a greedy cash grab... If Kirkman had just kept Lilly's background the same one from the game, I think the road to woodbury would've been great...
  • edited August 2013
    Harpadarpa wrote: »
    You are going to turn down the word of the creator? That is stupid.

    If you think the creator is always in the right I got two words for you friend..... GEORGE LUCAS.
  • edited August 2013
    The smart thing for Kirkmen to have done would have been to have the Road to Woodbury Novel Continue from where Lily Left off in Episode 3 and lead up to when Lily finds Woodbury. Simple.
  • edited August 2013
    It would have been smart to it start off on a deserted road, which would mean both are choices could have happen, instead they screwed us.
  • edited August 2013
    It would have been smart to it start off on a deserted road, which would mean both are choices could have happen, instead they screwed us.

    Yeah Either way Lily ends up walking, the RV will only get her a few miles before she starts walking anyways.
  • edited August 2013
    That is how it should have gone down, she finds a group and stuff happens people die and she becomes Lilly Caul, that is how it should have gone down.
This discussion has been closed.