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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9781595820334
ISBN number: 1595820337
Label: Dark Horse
Manufacturer: Dark Horse
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 276
Printing Date: September 20, 2006
Publishing house: Dark Horse
Sale Popularity Level: 689139
Studio: Dark Horse
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Product Description:
In 1954, an expedition found what seemed to be a missing link in the evolutionary chain: an ancient, immensely powerful amphibian creature. Scientists tried to tame it, break its will, and even change its very being with surgery and torture, but the beast rebelled, killing nearly all in its way. But was the creature truly a throwback, a freak survivor of some prehistoric era-or was it something more? Six decades later, one scientist attempts to find out, using a time machine to journey into the past. What he finds not only shatters his vision of what the Creature might be, but could change the history of the human race forever. Paul Di Filippo reinvents the Creature with a tale of time travel, horror, and mystery that blends Cold War science fiction with today's cutting edge cyberpunk.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I heard about this book. And let me tell you...its a piece of junk!! The Gill-Man is a prehistoric anthropoid monster that emerged from nature 200-150 million years ago!! Not an alien species from another planet!!!
This is what I mean by a bunch of bull****! The Gill-Man is of this earth, not of another planet! This book insults us true creature fans to the limit! Save your money, don't buy this book. The only reason to buy it is the incredible cover and that's about it.
If your a creature fan then don't check this out. But if you are curious, then look into it. But it isn't worth the time. But do as you wish. :)
Rated by buyers 
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Let me start by saying the Creature is my favorite of the classic Universal monsters...
The premise of the book sounded interesting...time-travelling back to the prehistoric period to learn about the Gill Man in his natural habitat. But once you meet the monsters, so to speak, it removes the mystery of the Creature seen in the films. It's like being in Disney and seeing Mickey behind the castle with his head off smoking a cigarette.
The ending very much reminded me of a classic monster movie where there's an epic world-threatening crisis that is very quickly resolved to finish the story up all nice and tidy so the credits can roll.
Rated by buyers -
So, you hear that the author of The Steampunk Trilogy, which is one of the most fantastic books I've ever read, is writing this book, and you think, WOW, I can't wait. And then you read it, and you wish you'd never heard of it. That's exactly what this book is like.
First of all, I'm no prude, but, um, wow is there an enormous, unneccesary amount of non-plot-furthering sex in this book.
Second of all, the book takes place in the future, but the attempts to sound futuristic are anachronistically clunky and possibly trademark infringing, as well as flat-out offensive. To wit - a guy born in 1985 muses that his childhood was like Huck Finn with added postmodern technology like "computers, Walkmen, VCRs." Um, this book was published in 2006 - did any teenagers in 2006 really wax nostalgic about Walkmen and VCRs? Or were they thinking, "Oh, you mean my Tivo and DVD player?" (And how could he miss the obvious CELL PHONE reference there, a device that this wildly ubiquitous among teenagers?). Likewise, in this future, MicroSoft will have a successful iPod competitor - called the View Master? There's already a View Master - I recall them from my childhood - and they're a lot more reliable than anything Windows makes. Most irritating was the snarky comment about topless women cavorting as a collateral consequence of "President Clinton's" "sweeping lactivist legislation." This smacks of anti-feminism. I WAS a breastfeeding mom, and this kind of legislation sounds like heaven to me, not something to grouse about. Maybe I wouldn't be irritated if the rest of the book was consistently puritanical and didn't feature the above-mentioned constant graituitous sex.
Oh, and can we talk for a moment about how wildly improbable all of this is? I mean, they decided to use an iPod in an aquatic enviroment? That's like putting a screen door on a submarine, literally. (And apparently they aren't waterproof in the future, either - they spend half the book panicking that it will get wet.) And never mind the fact that humans couldn't, you know, breathe Devonian air...
All of this weakens any plot the book might actually have. I just couldn't get this stuff out of my brain to enjoy the book.
Smart women read sci-fi and horror, people. Humour us, please. The Steampunk Trilogy did a brilliant job playing on the sexism and racism of the Victorian Era in a way that was thought- and squeam- provoking. But this is not The Steampunk Trilogy. It's not even an enjoyable pulp, as if that was some kind of excuse for bad books. It's just disappointing. If you must read it, please read his better work FIRST because you'd be crazy to miss out on it. And then go look for my copy of this book at the used book store, because that's where it's headed and you don't want to pay full price.
Rated by buyers -
You'd think time travel through use of an iPod would be FUN, right? Nope. I was excited when I saw this book listed at Amazon. One look at the AMAZING cover, and I just had to have it. I'm a huge fan of the Universal Monsters, with the Gill-Man being my fave. Unfortunately, I was not thrilled by the execution of this tale. First of all this book is NOT FOR CHILDREN AT ALL! I was absolutely stunned, shocked and dismayed to see the profanity that proliferates throughout. 'F bombs' fly at will and are completely unnecessary. I don't mind such coarse dialogue in the proper venue... but in a book featuring one of the Universal Monsters? Yikes! It is pretty cringe worthy. I must also note that there is quite a bit of casual religious blasphemy as well. If you are sensitive about that, then this book isn't for you. (And to think I had thought of blind buying this for my nieces! Sheesh!)
The liberal usage of 'four letter words' is not the only clue to the authors personal politics. Here is a quote concerning topless students of both sexes: "The repercussions of sweeping lactivist legislation passed in 2013 and signed by President Clinton during her second term were still being sorted out..."
His take on 'Conservative minded' folks: "The Gill-People were more conservative in their thinking, more group-minded and more eternal. This very lack of adaptability had no doubt contributed to their general extinction." Now, I'm all for political discourse (or in this case disCOARSE) but, is this really the proper venue for this? Not at all. Totally inappropriate. This type of book should whisk you away into a fantasy setting for the purposes of good, 'old fashioned' FUN.
As a FUN book, this is a failure that will hopefully be lost in the eddies of time's lagoon. I just hope it hasn't damaged my love of the Gill-Man forever. If you are looking for a great FUN novel featuring a Universal Monster, hunt down a copy of Jeff Rovin's AMAZING Return oftThe Wolf Man If you need to have a Gill-Man fix, check out Arthur Adams incredible artwork that retells the very first film: Universal Monsters: Creature from the Black Lagoon
Rated by buyers 
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It's 2015, and seeking a way to adapt humans to the new environment caused by global warming, two marine scientists go back in time to find and study the Gill-man.
The book respects and pays homage to the original 1950s films, while bringing the concerns and themes right up to date in the 21st century. There are just so many good ideas in here: beginning with the fact that time travel is possible - but the earliest you can go is 300 millions ago (no trips to yesterday), and the idea that the time machine is controlled by an iPod (shades of a Delorean - "If you're gonna go, go in style.") To say any more is to risk spoilers, but over the course of the book we find out what really happened in the 1950s and the unexpected origin of the Gill-man (make that Gill-people). Even if you are not a big Creature fan, I still recommend this book. All the backstory is filled in (which can make the very first few chapters a little slow if you've seen the films a dozen times), and just on its merits as a time travel book it's worth reading.
Oh, and the climax -- the last 60 pages -- simply will not let you go. I know the odds are slim, but I'd love to see these images on the big screen.
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