Climbing Mount TBR: Cerasini Godzilla (Part 1)
Review by Ed O.
Welcome back to Climbing Mount TBR where I, your humble Book Kaiju, struggle to climb to the top of my “to read” pile one book at a time. We’re continuing to celebrate the King of the Monster’s birthday by looking at a series of novels that are near and dear to my radioactive heart: The Marc Cerasini Godzilla Pentalogy. These were originally published by Random House starting back in 1996.
That’s right, these books were published right in the middle of what I call the “Great 90’s Godzilla Drought.” During that sad time for kaiju fans in America when none of the Heisei movies were being dubbed and the Showa classics were hard to find. Thankfully, the drought ended with the release of Godzilla ’98. Not because that movie was spectacular (showing it to prisoners is actually banned by the Geneva Convention), but because Toho Studios was so upset with how us American’s handled their creation that they began their own Godzilla push here.
This push led to the Heisei movies being released and a new era of Godzilla movies to be made, which fans have dubbed the Millenium Era. Toho’s revived support for the franchise paved the way for Godzilla 2014 and the Monsterverse as a whole. That’s right, the current state of Godzilla’s popularity worldwide is all because of pettiness and spite that Godzilla ’98 inspired. So, I guess that dumb iguana was good for something after all.
But before all of that, Random House Publishing was able to get a hold of the Godzilla license. Why? Who knows! It certainly wasn’t to build up hype for the Ferris Bueller led movie (we’ll discuss that in a bit). But thank Mothra they decided to take a chance, because these books were what helped instill in me my love of reading.
Random House released two series, one written by Scott Ciencin, which was aimed at juvenile audiences. They were short chapter books, more in the vein of a Goosebumps or an Animorphs (Animorphs retrospective when, Gnome?). Marc Cerasini, author of several Star Wars books and movie novelizations that I will probably read someday, was tasked with writing the more “mature” novels. These books today would be classified as “Young Adult,” but this was really before that genre was defined by the publishing industry.
These novels are their own separate continuity. Their only connection to the movies is that the events of Godzilla (specifically the English dub entitled Godzilla, King of the Monsters) occurred in 1954. The monsters that are reused from the Toho movies have brand new unique origins that have nothing to do with their original movie incarnations.
These books were a great gateway to the wider Godzilla universe for young fans in the 90s. They were easy to read with a low bar of entry. You didn’t need to know lore or Japanese culture. These were Godzilla stories written for a specifically young American audience.
I absolutely adored them!
I am absolutely terrified to re-read them!
Okay, let’s jump in.
Godzilla Returns by Marc Cerasini
Our story begins by showing us the destruction of a nuclear submarine. No one knows what destroyed this state of the art war machine, but the sonar picked up a bestial roar. It’s probably nothing though. It’s not like this world has a history of a giant monster attacking humanity just forty years ago or anything… Wait…
We jump forward a few years to meet our protagonist, Brian Shimura. He is Japanese-American and wants to become a news reporter, specifically a sports reporter. He is the newest intern at INN’s Japanese office. Trust me, INN is totally different from CNN.
The first part of the book is mostly Brian adjusting to Japan. Sure, he’s Japanese-American, but he neither speaks the language nor knows the culture. Thankfully, his roommate, Nick Gordon, is here to help.
Nick wants to be a science correspondent. Unfortunately, he’s also the absolute worst. He’s the guy that’s pretty okay at something, thinks he’s better than he actually is, and will let everyone know he is Mothra’s gift to the news media. Basically, he’s the token white male.
Things actually get interesting when Godzilla arrives! Thanks to nepotism, Brian and Nick are able to join Brian’s Uncle Admiral on the expedition to kill Godzilla. At this point our intrepid heroes Guildenstern and Rosencratz their way through a Godzilla movie. Never really affecting the outcomes of any of the events, just there to bear witness to them.
Godzilla destroys Tokyo, until Uncle Admiral uses a bird call to lure Godzilla away. Sadly, despite everyone pointing out that there’s several ways that Uncle Admiral could escape the plane the lure is on, he insists it is a suicide mission. Nick and Brian report the news and become famous, and one day might actually become paid interns!
The story is a loose (as a 3XL shirt on a newborn) retelling of Godzilla 1985. The solution to the Godzilla problem is the same. Godzilla is a mutated dinosaur, and what’s a dinosaur but a bird? So let’s use a birdcall to drive Godzilla away.
It’s actually pretty brilliant, considering the scientific theory on the connection between dinosaurs and birds was still debated. The problem is that this presents an easy way for future Godzilla movies to end. Just… bird call Godzilla. No need for lasers or missiles. They have to handwave this easy solution away by explaining that it would only work on Godzilla sometimes (i.e., when the plot calls for it).
I found it fun that Godzilla, King of the Monsters is a movie in universe that was made about the true Godzilla attack on Tokyo. The reporter, Steve Martin (not that Steve Martin), is a real historical figure who was portrayed by the actor Raymond Burr. I love when little details like this are included.
Also, this story is way too optimistic on the power of the news media. News reporters are the pinnacle of truth! They will change the world by reporting the cold hard facts! This idealism is kinda sad in our alternative facts real world.
Overall, fairly enjoyable. Nothing new to a Godzilla fan, but it’s entertaining. The big guy gets plenty of epic moments. Thanks to being in the head of the characters on the ground, you get a feel for how terrifying a giant monster attack would be. A solid beginning with plenty of room to grow and improve.
Godzilla 2000 by Marc Cerasini
Kip Daniels’ life is pretty rough. His home life is a mess. His school is filled with bullies and gangs. The only bright spot is the arcade game Battlecopter 2000. After reaching a high score Kip discovers a secret final boss, Godzilla. Just after losing his final life, he is abducted by secret agents and is inducted into a secret military program, G-Force!
Wait… This is just the plot of The Last Starfighter!
Kip and his teenage comrades are trained to fly the greatest anti-kaiju weapons ever created: Raptor-1 and Raptor-2. What are these super secret weapons? Giant robots? State of the art laser guns?
They’re helicopters. Fancy ones, but still helicopters.
During Kips training the world is shocked by the discovery of asteroids heading to Earth. These space rocks will most likely destroy all life on the planet unless they can blow them up. Somehow this existential crisis is met with a shrug by the general populace who just goes about their days.
All I’m saying is if I knew there was a good chance the world was going to end in a few months, I wouldn’t be going to work on Monday.
Now enough with the Armageddon rip-off, let’s get to the good stuff. A meteor in Kansas mutates a praying mantis to create a bunch of giant bugs called Kamacuras. This entire subplot is basically Them! but with a cooler insect.
Rodan comes down from the North Pole after being predicted by a Native American shaman. This mutated pterodactyl does nothing to affect the plot, she’s just happy to be here. The big bird just lays an egg on Mount Rushmore and flies off back north.
Meanwhile, south of the border, Varan attacks Mexican resort towns. What, you don’t remember Varan the Unbelievable? The giant lizard that floats in the air because “science”? Well, his side story of being chased by an intern reporter with delusions of grandeur is all set up to show the unstoppable power of a chopper manned by teenagers with attitudes.
People around the world are having visions of an angel butterfly thing called Mothra. Others are having visions of a golden three headed dragon called King Ghidorah. Somehow only a few doomsday cults form up around these figures. Once again, if I knew the world was going to end, I’d join a cult if it was the fun kind.
Soon Godzilla has to make his appearance, but this Tokyo does not have to go. Instead, he lands in San Francisco with flowers in his spines. He begins his stomp across the US hitting such highlights as Colorado and Gary, Indiana (this barely cracks the “Top 5 Worst Things to Happen to Gary”). Where is he going? New York City, obviously.
The Armeggedon plot almost resolves itself by nuking the asteroids. Unfortunately one of those space rocks was hollow, releasing King Ghidorah from his, according to the math provided by the prologue, 130 million years nap! What an amateur! He lands on earth and destroys Paris.
Soon the big battle happens in downtown Manhattan. Godzilla, King Ghidorah, the battle copters, and a surprise appearance of Mothra who does what Mothra does best (nothing and dies). Kip Daniels and G-Force team up with Godzilla to kill King Ghidorah. Kip blows off King Ghidorah’s middle head and Godzilla drops the World Trade Center on him.
Yeah… This book was written pre-9/11 so it’s a little disturbing to see Godzilla just destroy the Twin Towers. Big Yikes.
And with King Ghidorah defeated the book ends with a Animal House “where are they now ending” of all the minor characters I didn’t mention, because ain’t nobody got time for that.
Godzilla 2000 begins a different style of storytelling that Cerasini uses: vignettes. Kip Daniels is nominally the human protagonist, but the pages with his POV are few and far between. Instead, we jump to “random computer store owner” or “random anthropology grad student” who bear witness to the monsters and the world around them. While I miss the more cohesive narrative, I do appreciate the novel style of telling the story. It makes the world of kaiju feel more alive as we see how everyday people react.
Speaking of kaiju, this is the book that introduced me to the word. Cerasini adopts kaiju as the in-universe name for giant monsters and those that study them are called kaijuologists. It’s a fun detail of world-building and it’s interesting to see “science” evolve and grow as scientists are struggling to understand giant monsters.
Overall, I enjoyed this one more than Godzilla Returns. There’s more of a sense of gravitas to it all. Yes, the plot lines don’t always cross in a satisfying way, but they all build to this cathartic, climatic battle in New York. Cerasini has a way of writing giant monsters that make them feel real and lets the reader feel the magnitude of just how big these things are.
Plus, this book actually has my favorite scene in all of Godzilla media. There’s a moment where Godzilla is traveling through the Midwest when a funnel cloud descends from the sky. Not a monster or anything, just a regular tornado. And Godzilla fights that tornado! He breathes fire into it and it knocks him down. The event is recorded in-universe and serves as a moment when the American public begins to view Godzilla less as a monster and more of a natural disaster akin to wildfire or earthquake. It’s a really cool visual and rather epic moment. I highly recommend any Godzilla fans just read those few pages. It’s totally worth it.
With Godzilla 2000 done, we’re almost halfway through the Cerasini-verse! Just like Godzilla, this series is too big to contain in one article! Let’s end this on a cliffhanger! Join me on Monday as we wrap up this pentalogy! See you then!