Extinct, once bound for a miniseries on NBC, was dropped due to its price in effects. As a result, this rare book in a very small market (Megaladon Thrillers) got lost in the shuffle of time and publishing.
I didn't have to look hard to learn about this book, but getting my hands on it was a pain. I would up finding a copy on a small-time used book seller's website and having it shipped to my apartment. I wondered as I opened the packaging if this would be any good.
I no longer worry that I wasted the money I had spent on it. Extinct fills a void I've had in my monster story bookcase (not kidding, I really have one case just for them. I have a $#!T-ton of books!) where the best go. And I'm saying that without even finishing it!
There are flaws, of course, and you could easily call this a B-movie if it were on film instead of paper, but I love my books with a little cheese in them from time to time, and this on feels good. It's actually a lot like Jurassic Park or Meg in its pacing and creative story telling with regards to the monster.
You get some hints very early (the cover) that a megaladon or great white is featured, and the story really does play with your head, too. The people in the book learn after the reader what is happening, and at first throw around all kinds of theories to explain the mounting body count. The book has a bit of good suspense with a bunch of boys fishing near the middle of the story, and the reader keeps getting lead on until the moment arrives, but otherwise the suspense is light and airy, like a good beach read might be.
Actually, here is where the book shines: Clues constantly disagree and the people take all sorts of avenues to the right conclusion in the end. Some people go monster crazy right off, while others are unwilling till the end to accept the truth of what is happening. but everyone in the story is haunted with a growing fear of what they can't see just below the surface. It's an interesting feeling, being pulled into the story, and yet not feel the tension that everyone else does (all though you will sometimes). I wouldn't, before reading this book, think that was a good way to write, under any circumstances. Since reading Extinct, though, I've come to see that in the hands of a skilled writer, you can get that odd sensation and the book can be better for it. If I had to summarize how that feels, I'd say it feels like you're watching a movie inside your mind. Its odd, but not problamatic in the hands of a good author.
If you're a hard-core science type, you'll feel a little peeved with this book, which is pretty dated in terms of 2000's science, but isn't all that bad, really, when you put yourself in the mindset of the day. I'm totally fine with old science, as a Jules Verne fan, so I was able to ignore the tiny foibles and follow the story. If you can too, that take this as a hardy encouragement to seek out this book for yourself and enjoy a good summer read.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
FORGOTTEN GOLD (FG For Short)
This is something new I'm going to try out. I love to peruse the Strand in New York City, Rainbow Books in Michigan, and any other forgotten used book store I can find, and sometimes I stumble on a real treasure... or not.
Either way, if I find a book that is amazingly good or lovably bad, I'll bring it up here to share it with anyone who stumbles on this blog.
Either way, if I find a book that is amazingly good or lovably bad, I'll bring it up here to share it with anyone who stumbles on this blog.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Top 10 Book-based Movies
So I read a lot. Obviously. And I also hear this line (or say it) a lot: "Sure, it was good, but the book was better."
But the question remains. what were the best movies based on books? Well, to answer that, I rotted half my brain for 23 years in front of a TV (or at least, that's my excuse), and here is my top ten list of the greatest movies based on novels:
10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Love it or hate it, Harry Potter is one of the greatest storybook characters of the modern world.
The first film flashed onto the big screen around the same time as my little sister began to get into the books, and she turned to her big brother to read the books to her (I make funny voices when needed). When the first film came out on DVD, she was given it as a birthday gift, and I was still young enough to take an active interest (since I was reading number 4 to her at the time) to watch it with her and our parents.
I thought that it was a very loyal rendition of the novel itself, cut for time, of course, and some of the elements that wouldn't work on screen as well as in writing, but otherwise very loyal to the book. So, of course, it earns a spot on this count down, and might have gotten a higher spot if it hadn't been edited for time as much as it was, losing much of the pacing of the original J.K.R. work.
9. Jurassic Park. Although this book was amazing and went far beyond the scope of the film (READ IT! You will thank me!), I would still say that some of the best features are here, and this movie can also stand almost side by side with the novel on its own merit.
8. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This one is actually the brainchild of the author, but it still gets a low spot for some of the more dramatic alterations it has, such as the inconsistent (but absolutely wonderful) opening musical number.
7. Nosferatu. We all know about this one, the 1922 silent film that mirrors (in many ways) the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
I loved the film and I loved the novel, but like the last two movies on this countdown, it earns its place here on its own merits as an adaptation over a true reflection of the novel itself.
I am, however, bothered by the grotesqueness of the figure, which, while true to the book in part, cannot allow for his undeniable handsomeness at other times in the novel, following his feedings (another thing that changed). There were some other parts, of course, that I missed, but I know that sometimes audiences are more ready to read things than see them, so I will forgive this movie a lot. Besides, I'm a Texan by birth and won't forgive them the Texan's absence from the great classic film.
6. The Hobbit, the cartoon. Every kid of my generation saw this one on a children's network at some point, and those old enough to be inspired are some of the great game designers (or D&D nerds) of today. It was a fantastic book that I feel was wonderfully portrayed in this particular film.
5. Jaws. Ah, but this is an amazing book and an awesome film. But, like many, it was plagued by the times in which it was made. N betrayal, no affairs, all the human drama is shrunk down from half the book to the sum total of a pair of scenes, one with the sheriff and his kid (how many does he have, exactly? two or three?), and one of the thee guys singing on a boat. Other than that, though, the story is very good, and the only thing I noticed that was dramatically different was that no dolphins or shark experts died in the movie.
Still a great film, and earns this spot for how much it got right, and how well it made up for what it got wrong. Plus the great cameo for the author.
4. The Dark Night. You could say I'm cheating with this one, because this is an original concept, and not based on a book,, exactly, but the characters are the best I have ever seen for recreating the spirit of the original comic creation.
The portrayal of every single comic book character in this movie is spot on to their original characters. The joker is, in fact, the exact psychotic figure he is in the comic, who would willingly kill people without offering the bat chance to save them, something that hasn't been seen up until now. And batman is much more of a martial-artist and detective in this film than he ever was in movie flops like Batman and robin.
I feel a little bad picking out such a commonly top-tened movie for the number 4 slot on MINE, but it is a truly accurate representation of literary characters who have gotten royally boned by Hollywood in the past.
3. Congo. Another by the master of modernized monsters, Michael Crichton. In this case, I have to say that film version, while a bit campy, was in many ways less tedious and more straightforward than the novel.
2. The DaVinci Code. I thought the book was good, but a bit basic, repetitive, etc. However, everything that makes it "just another" novel makes it a great film. The sweeping visuals, the interesting to look at and hear about characters, and the exciting chases. I will have to give the creators of this one props, they did one of the most accurate adaptations I have ever seen. Bravo.
1. Spider Web Castle. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. I was very very lucky to catch this on a night of insomnia playing on TCM. But it still must earn the number one spot as the greatest adaptation for film I have ever seen, as well as the best castle built by US marines!
This is a Japanese film that is actually based on a Shakespearean play. Macbeth! I wouldn't call this cheating, since the film features samurai and emperors in place of the European motif, an thus took a masterful rewrite to accomplish.
If you get the chance, I would highly recommend this actually rather haunting rendition of a tale of horror, murder and insanity. Even if only for the army of attacking trees.
And there you have it.
I wish I could have added some of the others I have seen in the past, like a wonderful rendition of The Orient Express, a great version of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, and many others, but I just can't remember enough about the films to place them on this list.
Perhaps in time I'll make a second list that covers the topic more accurately, or I'll shrink it down. I also intend to make some top tens of novels.
But the question remains. what were the best movies based on books? Well, to answer that, I rotted half my brain for 23 years in front of a TV (or at least, that's my excuse), and here is my top ten list of the greatest movies based on novels:
10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Love it or hate it, Harry Potter is one of the greatest storybook characters of the modern world.
The first film flashed onto the big screen around the same time as my little sister began to get into the books, and she turned to her big brother to read the books to her (I make funny voices when needed). When the first film came out on DVD, she was given it as a birthday gift, and I was still young enough to take an active interest (since I was reading number 4 to her at the time) to watch it with her and our parents.
I thought that it was a very loyal rendition of the novel itself, cut for time, of course, and some of the elements that wouldn't work on screen as well as in writing, but otherwise very loyal to the book. So, of course, it earns a spot on this count down, and might have gotten a higher spot if it hadn't been edited for time as much as it was, losing much of the pacing of the original J.K.R. work.
9. Jurassic Park. Although this book was amazing and went far beyond the scope of the film (READ IT! You will thank me!), I would still say that some of the best features are here, and this movie can also stand almost side by side with the novel on its own merit.
8. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. This one is actually the brainchild of the author, but it still gets a low spot for some of the more dramatic alterations it has, such as the inconsistent (but absolutely wonderful) opening musical number.
7. Nosferatu. We all know about this one, the 1922 silent film that mirrors (in many ways) the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
I loved the film and I loved the novel, but like the last two movies on this countdown, it earns its place here on its own merits as an adaptation over a true reflection of the novel itself.
I am, however, bothered by the grotesqueness of the figure, which, while true to the book in part, cannot allow for his undeniable handsomeness at other times in the novel, following his feedings (another thing that changed). There were some other parts, of course, that I missed, but I know that sometimes audiences are more ready to read things than see them, so I will forgive this movie a lot. Besides, I'm a Texan by birth and won't forgive them the Texan's absence from the great classic film.
6. The Hobbit, the cartoon. Every kid of my generation saw this one on a children's network at some point, and those old enough to be inspired are some of the great game designers (or D&D nerds) of today. It was a fantastic book that I feel was wonderfully portrayed in this particular film.
5. Jaws. Ah, but this is an amazing book and an awesome film. But, like many, it was plagued by the times in which it was made. N betrayal, no affairs, all the human drama is shrunk down from half the book to the sum total of a pair of scenes, one with the sheriff and his kid (how many does he have, exactly? two or three?), and one of the thee guys singing on a boat. Other than that, though, the story is very good, and the only thing I noticed that was dramatically different was that no dolphins or shark experts died in the movie.
Still a great film, and earns this spot for how much it got right, and how well it made up for what it got wrong. Plus the great cameo for the author.
4. The Dark Night. You could say I'm cheating with this one, because this is an original concept, and not based on a book,, exactly, but the characters are the best I have ever seen for recreating the spirit of the original comic creation.
The portrayal of every single comic book character in this movie is spot on to their original characters. The joker is, in fact, the exact psychotic figure he is in the comic, who would willingly kill people without offering the bat chance to save them, something that hasn't been seen up until now. And batman is much more of a martial-artist and detective in this film than he ever was in movie flops like Batman and robin.
I feel a little bad picking out such a commonly top-tened movie for the number 4 slot on MINE, but it is a truly accurate representation of literary characters who have gotten royally boned by Hollywood in the past.
3. Congo. Another by the master of modernized monsters, Michael Crichton. In this case, I have to say that film version, while a bit campy, was in many ways less tedious and more straightforward than the novel.
2. The DaVinci Code. I thought the book was good, but a bit basic, repetitive, etc. However, everything that makes it "just another" novel makes it a great film. The sweeping visuals, the interesting to look at and hear about characters, and the exciting chases. I will have to give the creators of this one props, they did one of the most accurate adaptations I have ever seen. Bravo.
1. Spider Web Castle. Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. I was very very lucky to catch this on a night of insomnia playing on TCM. But it still must earn the number one spot as the greatest adaptation for film I have ever seen, as well as the best castle built by US marines!
This is a Japanese film that is actually based on a Shakespearean play. Macbeth! I wouldn't call this cheating, since the film features samurai and emperors in place of the European motif, an thus took a masterful rewrite to accomplish.
If you get the chance, I would highly recommend this actually rather haunting rendition of a tale of horror, murder and insanity. Even if only for the army of attacking trees.
And there you have it.
I wish I could have added some of the others I have seen in the past, like a wonderful rendition of The Orient Express, a great version of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, and many others, but I just can't remember enough about the films to place them on this list.
Perhaps in time I'll make a second list that covers the topic more accurately, or I'll shrink it down. I also intend to make some top tens of novels.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, PART 2
Sorry for the delay, I was busy with a move (literal, not computer lingo for changing some website server or something, I'm really hauling my $#!+ across the country to *DUH DUH DUUUUH!* New Jersey, home of the shark attack.
Texas to Jersey is a bit of a press on the nerves, so please excuse my absence. Finally, it is time to write up part two.
Chemistry does not work that way. Physics does not work that way, and all of SCIENCE does not work that way! E(=mc^2 all times gamma and friends) gads! ... give it a minute, you'll get it, and think I'm really dumb for making that joke... This is like hearing about how a subatomic particle could make a black hole (see below), it is the worst kind of bad science.
*sigh* okay. So I'm going overboard maybe? maybe not.
My copy of the book is still in shipping to my new home, so bear with me. As I recall, after doing as much tampering as possible with crime scenes (no wonders Interpol is happy to go after the man in Davinci Code! He's already been an international criminal!), the wheel chair guy, who is done up like a super villain by the author in a manner so obvious that you know right from the start that it would be too cliche for him to be a villain, brings Langdon down to the underground lab of a scientist-cum-priest. The stiff they met in the Eureka-esque place in part one of this review.
Oh, and on the way (or was it afterwards? I forget, and don't have my copy in front of me... [yes, I did buy it. I don't think it is fair to judge a book I didn't buy. The author deserves the money for getting published, I will still grant that that is a major feat {and yes, I stack brackets.}]) the dead guy's daughter, another scientist, is shown. She has all the hallmarks of the token hottie.
So they get to the basement-cum-accelerator, there is a short bit of dialogue that shows that somehow, Langdon is a genius in like 20 fields of literature, history and culture, and yet never learned the first thing about science. Apparently he didn't take his required science classes in High School of Undergrad. Then comes the worst part:
SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED THAT OUT ALREADY.
Antimatter.
Really? The big breakthrough is antimatter?
I mean, sure, there is a hell of a lot in the containers (which have an amazing power system that allows their batteries to last EXACTLY 24 hours), for subatomic matter, but still. It seems rather scifi-inspired. Then again, Star Trek used "red matter" so I will support the book first and scifi second for now.
...More to come...
....Black holes used to be called black stars. If you watch the original Star Trek, they actually call them that. this is because that is exactly what they are, stars. They just happen to be giant balls of fire heavy enough to suck in photon emissions. They are not the kind of quantum singularity thought up for media hype in loosely circular equations every time they turn a supercollider on. That is all media bull. No legitimate physicist gives such things credence. The equations don't go to infinity and zero for a quantum singularity, they do that because they are ignoring one or more rules of physics needed to keep our equations on the right track.
"...in a quantum finish" - race results announcement
"No Fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Proffessor H. J. Farnsworth
Texas to Jersey is a bit of a press on the nerves, so please excuse my absence. Finally, it is time to write up part two.
Chemistry does not work that way. Physics does not work that way, and all of SCIENCE does not work that way! E(=mc^2 all times gamma and friends) gads! ... give it a minute, you'll get it, and think I'm really dumb for making that joke... This is like hearing about how a subatomic particle could make a black hole (see below), it is the worst kind of bad science.
*sigh* okay. So I'm going overboard maybe? maybe not.
My copy of the book is still in shipping to my new home, so bear with me. As I recall, after doing as much tampering as possible with crime scenes (no wonders Interpol is happy to go after the man in Davinci Code! He's already been an international criminal!), the wheel chair guy, who is done up like a super villain by the author in a manner so obvious that you know right from the start that it would be too cliche for him to be a villain, brings Langdon down to the underground lab of a scientist-cum-priest. The stiff they met in the Eureka-esque place in part one of this review.
Oh, and on the way (or was it afterwards? I forget, and don't have my copy in front of me... [yes, I did buy it. I don't think it is fair to judge a book I didn't buy. The author deserves the money for getting published, I will still grant that that is a major feat {and yes, I stack brackets.}]) the dead guy's daughter, another scientist, is shown. She has all the hallmarks of the token hottie.
So they get to the basement-cum-accelerator, there is a short bit of dialogue that shows that somehow, Langdon is a genius in like 20 fields of literature, history and culture, and yet never learned the first thing about science. Apparently he didn't take his required science classes in High School of Undergrad. Then comes the worst part:
SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED THAT OUT ALREADY.
Antimatter.
Really? The big breakthrough is antimatter?
I mean, sure, there is a hell of a lot in the containers (which have an amazing power system that allows their batteries to last EXACTLY 24 hours), for subatomic matter, but still. It seems rather scifi-inspired. Then again, Star Trek used "red matter" so I will support the book first and scifi second for now.
...More to come...
....Black holes used to be called black stars. If you watch the original Star Trek, they actually call them that. this is because that is exactly what they are, stars. They just happen to be giant balls of fire heavy enough to suck in photon emissions. They are not the kind of quantum singularity thought up for media hype in loosely circular equations every time they turn a supercollider on. That is all media bull. No legitimate physicist gives such things credence. The equations don't go to infinity and zero for a quantum singularity, they do that because they are ignoring one or more rules of physics needed to keep our equations on the right track.
"...in a quantum finish" - race results announcement
"No Fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!" - Proffessor H. J. Farnsworth
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. PART 1
Alright, the guy is a good writer, I admit that. In fact, for the most part, I loved this book's action, and am also a fan of a few of his other books.
However, and this is a big however, there is a lot wrong with this book.
It starts out with Robert Langdon, our would-be hero who spends most of this book... um... sort of following people around and learning things, who is dreaming. In his dream, he is in Giza, the place with the pyramids, and is actually trying to climb one! At the top is a beautiful woman, who turns into a cadaver or something, screams at him and cue the cliche wake-up-in-a-cold-sweat scene. Foreshadowing!? ...well, no. This is never brought up again, and has very little, if anything, to do with the plot.
So he gets a call from an amazing science institute that, although I, as an astrophysics degree-holder, have never heard of it, apparently holds like 90% of the world's scientists. This place may exist, since there are supercollider facilities all over europe, but somehow I doubt they are secretly creating ever invention on earth other than the Honda robot.
I digress. They send out a plane to get him, because he has to see something (anyone want to bet it's the body of guy with something cryptic written on or around him in blood? I'll bet $100 it is, since that seems to be the Langdon special.)
Naturally, it is. But before we get to that, let me just point out that there is absolutely no organization, private or government, that can afford to use a sub-orbital shuttle to transport people. I'm sorry, nothing short of nuclear holocaust would inspire anyone to fly a single person halfway around the planet in a spacecraft without any profit.
So, the guy who meets our skill-less hero is basically Cheney-In-His-Wheelchair. He shows Langdon the requisite cryptic corpse, and does what any good novel character does: EVERYTHING WRONG!
He froze the location with science, which I'll accept given the setting, but certainly a scientist knows that freezing a corpse causes it and all the organic material around it to rupture at a cellular level. In other words, he destroyed evidence such as hair and skin. Then, although the freeze might have destroyed skin oil marks anyways, he and Langdon take some time to touch everything and disturb as much of the scene as possible, including the victim.
Now, through all of this, remember that the point of freezing the chamber is to preserve the scene. (To this end, I'll accept that he may have kept the room just above the rupture point, but I won't accept that either man would not realize that fiddling with all sorts of things with their bare hands and even moving and adjusting things is NOT good preservation procedure.)
Corpse disturbing done with, they go to the man's lab. You see, this corpse, of course, is a religious figure, but is also a quantum physicist.
Here is where I nearly screamed...
However, and this is a big however, there is a lot wrong with this book.
It starts out with Robert Langdon, our would-be hero who spends most of this book... um... sort of following people around and learning things, who is dreaming. In his dream, he is in Giza, the place with the pyramids, and is actually trying to climb one! At the top is a beautiful woman, who turns into a cadaver or something, screams at him and cue the cliche wake-up-in-a-cold-sweat scene. Foreshadowing!? ...well, no. This is never brought up again, and has very little, if anything, to do with the plot.
So he gets a call from an amazing science institute that, although I, as an astrophysics degree-holder, have never heard of it, apparently holds like 90% of the world's scientists. This place may exist, since there are supercollider facilities all over europe, but somehow I doubt they are secretly creating ever invention on earth other than the Honda robot.
I digress. They send out a plane to get him, because he has to see something (anyone want to bet it's the body of guy with something cryptic written on or around him in blood? I'll bet $100 it is, since that seems to be the Langdon special.)
Naturally, it is. But before we get to that, let me just point out that there is absolutely no organization, private or government, that can afford to use a sub-orbital shuttle to transport people. I'm sorry, nothing short of nuclear holocaust would inspire anyone to fly a single person halfway around the planet in a spacecraft without any profit.
So, the guy who meets our skill-less hero is basically Cheney-In-His-Wheelchair. He shows Langdon the requisite cryptic corpse, and does what any good novel character does: EVERYTHING WRONG!
He froze the location with science, which I'll accept given the setting, but certainly a scientist knows that freezing a corpse causes it and all the organic material around it to rupture at a cellular level. In other words, he destroyed evidence such as hair and skin. Then, although the freeze might have destroyed skin oil marks anyways, he and Langdon take some time to touch everything and disturb as much of the scene as possible, including the victim.
Now, through all of this, remember that the point of freezing the chamber is to preserve the scene. (To this end, I'll accept that he may have kept the room just above the rupture point, but I won't accept that either man would not realize that fiddling with all sorts of things with their bare hands and even moving and adjusting things is NOT good preservation procedure.)
Corpse disturbing done with, they go to the man's lab. You see, this corpse, of course, is a religious figure, but is also a quantum physicist.
Here is where I nearly screamed...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Angels and Demons
I will be adding a full review to this post when I get up in the morning for my glorious day off, but as I am in a mood to point out the flaws of this book right now, let me say this, for now: PHYSICS DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY! SCIENCE DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY! AND DESTROYING UNIQUE. ANCIENT, AND UTTERLY PRICELESS WORKS BY GREAT PHYSICISTS IS NOT SOMETHING A HISTORY PROFESSOR WOULD EVER DO!
Curious? well, stay tuned. I'll explain all in a few hours.
Curious? well, stay tuned. I'll explain all in a few hours.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Rogue Warrior: Designation Gold by R. Macinko and J. Weisman. PART 2
Holy Crap! Part 1 just got deleted!? wtf?
okay, lets sumarize: the cover is wierd, with an odd choice of imagery involving a pair of grainy photos photo-shopped together.
The author reads his book like a robot until he starts getting into it, but most of what he says is just daydreaming about the glory days or preening with phrases like "...pipe almost as thick... and long... as my dick."
Since part one of this review didn't publish because of an internet flicker, I'm mad and am not going to finish reviewing this extremely dull audio tape right now. I'll try to come back to it later.
Instead, just keep an eye out for my Angels and Demons (the book) review.
--Ro'Tor
Rogue Warrior: Designation Gold was written by Richard Marcinko and John Weisman, and was read on Simon Schuster Audioworks tapes by Richard Marcinko.
okay, lets sumarize: the cover is wierd, with an odd choice of imagery involving a pair of grainy photos photo-shopped together.
The author reads his book like a robot until he starts getting into it, but most of what he says is just daydreaming about the glory days or preening with phrases like "...pipe almost as thick... and long... as my dick."
Since part one of this review didn't publish because of an internet flicker, I'm mad and am not going to finish reviewing this extremely dull audio tape right now. I'll try to come back to it later.
Instead, just keep an eye out for my Angels and Demons (the book) review.
--Ro'Tor
Rogue Warrior: Designation Gold was written by Richard Marcinko and John Weisman, and was read on Simon Schuster Audioworks tapes by Richard Marcinko.
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