Resident Evil: City of the Dead is based on the events of the second video game. It loosely follows the plot of both the Leon and Claire stories. We also get a few POVs from other characters, which is a nice touch.
Perry did a nice job of working with the two separate stories and integrating the side characters. There are still some video game moments, because there has to be. We also get a little from the character she created, Trent.
Some of the events from the first and second books are explained here. It seems like Umbrella was able to cover up what happened in the second book. Since that was an original story, Perry was able to work that in quite well. We learn about Chris, Jill, Barry, and Rebecca, and how they’re still on the run.
Aside from Trent, I don’t think any new characters are introduced in this book. These characters still need to be developed, and Perry does a good job of working with the source material. This book, in particular, made me wonder how much access Perry had to the story or how much of Resident Evil’s story had been laid out at this point.
Plot Summary
The most notable part of this for me was the POV of Jill at the beginning of the book. It explains why they aren’t in the book, but it doesn’t really explain the events of the third game. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
This book mashes the two stories together. We’ll be alternating between Leon and Claire, while mixing in a few other characters. Here is a list of the POVs:
- Jill – One Chapter
- Leon – Rookie Cop
- Claire – Chris Redfield’s Sister
- Ada Wong – It is explained that Trent hired her to get the G-Virus
- Sherry Birkin – William’s daughter
- Annette Birkin – William’s wife
- Irons – The corrupt police chief
There is also the reporter that Ada is looking for. He isn’t given a POV, but does have some lines of dialogue. Bertolucci talks when Leon and Ada find him, but he ends up dying before he does anything important.
There is more character development here, and more time spent in the city, outside of the police station. Other parts of the game’s plot felt rushed, but can be explained as needed to get things moving. There are two big bads in this book in the form of Mr. X and William Birkin.
This part of the story is handled quite well, and Perry does a good job of jumping between them. It ends with our heroes getting out on a train and then being picked up by the group that went to Caliban Cove.
Secondary Characters
This is where the book really shines. Perry does a great job of building up characters like Irons, Ada, and Sherry. These three are either in the game or mentioned in it. They add a lot to this story by cutting down on the amount that the two main characters have to do.
Irons was probably the creepiest. His character was built up a little in the first two novels, so I was excited to get some insight into his mind here. I don’t remember if he appears in Resident Evil 2, but if he does, that didn’t leave an impression on me. In other forms of media, the character is expanded on.
Sherry Birkin adds to Claire’s story and helps to cut down on what she has to do. She doesn’t do much in the book. Things happen around her, and she has some of the G-Virus, which causes Mr. X to chase after them.
Ada has a lot more to say in this book than she did in the game. Perry did a lot of character building with this. Out of all the secondary characters, Ada has the most development in this story. Her fate seems to be up in the air as far as the books go. This might change later on as I read the other books.
Seeing which minor characters get spotlighted in these books has been fun so far. With the video game’s story split between two characters, having these secondary characters fill in the gaps is fun to see. I can’t wait to read what happens next.
Epilogue
The book’s epilogue brings the team from Caliban Cove back into the story. This fills in the gaps for the reader and sets up what happens in the fourth book. We don’t know exactly what happened in the aftermath of that book just yet.
It isn’t as good as what we got at the end of the other two books. I like that it brings the events of the second book back into the story that Perry is telling. These are just short sections, so don’t expect too much. Since I’ve already started reading the fourth book, I like that they were brought back.
Trent isn’t as involved with this story. We hear about him from Ada, but Claire and Leon don’t know him. Those two wouldn’t know who Trent is at this point in the story. I would’ve liked to know what happened to Ada, but I guess that Perry wasn’t told about Capcom’s plans for the character, or she didn’t have anything for her to do.
Wrap Up and Questions going forward
This was a great reinterpretation of the events of the second game. I like the way that Perry worked in the two sides of this story, and cut down on a few of the “video game” moments. We don’t have one character doing everything, and they work together at times. The two boss characters are handled quite well.
I would like to know how much creative freedom Perry had while she was writing this. It would also be nice to know if she played the game or if she just had access to the story. I’m not sure how much access she had, or if Capcom shared their long-term plans for characters with her.
Trent is an interesting creation. There was obviously a plan for these novels and for some original stories. I wonder how this story was going to end, and how much of what she wanted to do got derailed.
Her handling of the Ada character is very interesting. As I read more of these books, I’ll be interested to see how she changes or if she gets dropped. It is one of the many reasons why I want to keep reading these books.
If you liked this post, check out what I said about the First and Second books in this series.