Book #56

Green Lantern: Sleepers, Book 3, by  Christopher J. Priest.

The final book in the Sleepers trilogy focuses on the character of Hal Jordan, both in his role as a Green Lantern, but more so in his role as the Spectre, God's right hand of vengeance. Despite being a Green Lantern series, Hal Jordan as human and Hal Jordan as Spectre probably take up more pages in the book than Hal Jordan as Green Lantern. This is an interesting choice.

This book does bring closure to the storyline of the "Sinestro rings" that was the major plot in books one and two. Multiple Sinestro rings appear in this novel, bringing the action to a head, after the action followed only one ring in the prior books. And the stars of the prior books, Kyle Raynor and Alan Scott, are very involved in this novel. Even the other 2 Earth-based GLs appear, Guy Gardner and John Stewart, as do a whole host of DC heroes, many of whom turn into Sinestros. This plot point allows for many awesome fight scenes, as heroes who have not turned into Sinestros are forced into action-packed confrontations with heroes who have been turned into Sinestro.

Priest manages to capture the arrogance of Hal Jordan, both before and after his stint as the Spectre. As a heavy reader of DC comics, I think that this aspect of Jordan is often overlooked, as other characters are thought of as arrogant or jerks, but Jordan's actions often put him in this category, as well. This novel captures these flaws in Jordan, making him the unsympathetic hero that I think he is.

As always, the Graphic Audio edition of this DC book is terrific. The voice acting is solid, and the sound effects and musical cues do their job of enhancing the experience.

This review is cross-posted to the Book Guys.