Batman: Inferno Mass Market Paperback – 31 Oct. 2006

As a big fan of Batman, I was looking forward to reading this novel. I bought it alongside two other novels about Batman, all released at the same time, namely 'Dead White' and 'Fear Itself' (both of which are very good). But, unfortunately, this book is so poorly written ... it adopts an ever-present tense, which is simply awkward to read. So, for example, it's not "Batman got up and went outside" - it's "Batman gets up and goes outside".There's simply no need to write in this style. I tried - on several occasions - to get immersed in the story, but the writing style put me off. It appeared that the underlying plot was quite interesting, but I failed to get into it.It's about the Joker breaking out of Arkham and going on a rampage ... he discovers the Batcave ... and sets about destroying Gotham in an inferno (using Batman's equipment).Sadly, I can't recommend this. But if you're a big fan, you'll probably give it a try.

The first Batman novel I bought and read was 'Fear Itself', featuring Dr. Jonathan Crane (better known by his alias 'Scarecrow') as the central antagonist. That was a very good novel, which could be read fairly easily and had plenty of little twists and turns.Inferno, however, failed to live up to my high expectations. Of course, featuring 'The Joker' as a primary villain, it's bound to set big standards. However, the way the novel is written just didn't work for me. It is written in, I believe, second person, and in present tense in a sort of weird way. It is very different to anything I have previously read, in the way it is set out.The plot is fairly good - an criminal, or more specifically an arsonist, going by the title 'Enfer' is making fires all over Gotham. Meanwhile, a fire at Arkham Asylum results in countless criminals perishing and, by coincidence, Enfer's "idol" The Joker being set free. Enfer then wishes for The Joker to meet him so they can join forces, but I'll stop there with the plot in fear of spoiling it for everybody.The conclusion is slightly predictable, too. The artwork on the front cover is good, too, but I just can't help but wonder how The Joker still has green hair even though he's been in prison for a fair while.In conclusion, I'd reccomend this novel to any die-hard Batman fans out there. If you're a fan of The Joker, then it might be a good buy for you, too. But if you're looking for a strong novel, not particularly just because it's about the Batman, then I'd go for 'Fear Itself' if I were you.

I've read a few batman books novels now and I found this the hardest to read. There are a couple of reviews online available and many comment on how he author has made the book hard to read due the tense the author writes in and how it changes. To be honest I didn't really notice this as an issue. I did find it hard to read though but for different reasons, the book focuses much of it's time on the joker and a character called enfer and to be fair little on batman. This caused me frustration for a few reasons, mainly because the enemies aren't all that interesting. Enfer isn't that needed in the story apart from one major event which I won't explain and then the rest of the story I spent wondering what he was going to do and ultimately he did nothing all that much. Too much reading time was on the thoughts and motives of this character which is great when it goes somewhere but it didn't.Another concern for me was I felt the book didn't balance the two enemies well and consequently took up too much reading time, so reading about batman himself was minimal.Without being too bad on the book though there were some good bits, especially earlier on with the emergence of enfer and him making his mark. Also the early impacts of the story on batman are interesting but the frustration come from wondering why batman would ever leave some the things happening to go on for as long as they did.It's unlikely that this will be the best batman novel you'll ever read but that's not to say avoid it. I suppose my frustrations were it started well but never fulfilled what it could have been. It's sits in the storyline after 'dead white' and before 'fear itself' from what I have read online so I'll read 'fear itself' next. So if your reading that line of books I would recommend you read it so you don't miss a chunk of the timeline.

Apart from the novelisation of Knightfall, I have yet you find a Batman novel of any worth. Inferno is a humdrum affair with a poorly written Joker, who offers no real surprise, menace or, dare I say it, reason for being... simply another “criminal escapes Arkham” plot with a predictable finale. I commend the effort these writers put in for create truly unique mediums of Batman, especially in a world of Bat-fanatic scripts and comic book making the rounds online, unfortunately, there’s just not enough writing talent around. I’m still waiting for a truly exemplary, groundbreaking Batman story that isn’t written by Johns, Morrison, Miller, Snyder or Loeb.