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Posted by Wweyland
 - Oct 17, 2018, 05:04:20 PM
Finally finished this and was not impressed.
The book is obviously a rush job full of small mistakes in editing and inconsistencies with the movie.
I think the biggest error was that the book said the Fugitive Ship location at the end of the movie was the same location where McKenna met the Fugitive at the start of the movie (Mexico).

On a positive side, it did explain some of the rushed plot points of the movie like where certain characters got vehicles, guns and moved from one location to another. Now I am interested in watching the movie again.
Posted by Huggs
 - Oct 15, 2018, 10:01:11 PM
Still haven't started this yet. Still working through the omnibus.
Posted by Wweyland
 - Oct 15, 2018, 09:19:06 PM
I am also slogging through this slowly, about 100 pages to go.
It's the same case as with the Alien: Covenant prequel/novelization, absolutely no connection between the books (and those were even from the same author!).
Is it Sean Keyes or Shawn Keyes? I think the prequel and novelization have it differently.
Posted by HuDaFuK
 - Oct 15, 2018, 08:44:10 PM
Mark Morris has confirmed in an interview what we all suspected to be the case - his involvement in the book did indeed constitute rewriting the original draft so that it matched the film's altered screenplay.

Here.
Posted by Hudson
 - Oct 06, 2018, 04:07:57 PM
Quote from: TheBATMAN on Oct 05, 2018, 12:46:07 PM
Finally finished this and it's been a while since a read a novel that has been this badly phoned-in. Both authors just seem completely bored and want to get through it as quickly as possible. Some really random character exposition on minor players like a radar operator and one of Traeger's red-shirts, yet nothing whatsoever on any of the main cast. Most of the trimmed dialogue from the trailers is reinserted here but no real new scenes of note, aside from how fugitive dies and is hanged by the Upgrade. Funny how the best comedic scenes from the movie like the shotgun scene and the painting scene are missing too.

Couldn't agree more. I've read the first 100 pages of this book. Here are some thoughts so far.

- The first sentence is just the word, "Space." Generally, the writing at the syntactic level is clunky and relies a lot on full stops to influence the pace the reader is absorbing it and to create emphasis, particularly with a heavy use of fragments. That's fine, but it happens constantly through the first few chapters. There's also a ton of lineation (case in point, pg. 14 when "A spaceship." is its own paragraph for emphasis), which is a fundamental element of poetry...not prose. There are a lot of weird parentheticals everywhere. The use of present tense for scenes in which a Predator is a focalizing character is unnecessary, and it comes through rough in chapter 9 when there are paragraphs that alternate back and forth between Rory and the Upgrade. Also, in this scene, for some reason there's inconsistency in that some of the Predator moments become italicized for no discernible reason. Then the formatting actually breaks to a new scene, which is just the same scene with Rory. There have even been a few typos, which...come on. That's not a nitpick at all; this is a professionally printed book within a licensed property, not a self-published endeavor. Editors get paid to fix this shit, so that when we pay for it we get a polished piece of writing. That's just pure laziness, and I don't really accept the excuse that this book may have been under a time crunch. We learn to proofread when we're children. After Bug Hunt, I'm not willing to cut Titan any slack in this department.

- I disagree with the choice of the two writers they've used here, Golden & Morris. I'm predicting that they're going to have a hard time conveying the humorous tone that the film asserts as I move forward with this read. When Shane Black's dialogue is unaltered in the novelization, I find the one-liner style to be a bit inconsistent with everything else that comes through somewhat flat. The comic relief feels incongruous, which I did not feel was the case for the movie.

- As mentioned, it gets the year of Predator 2 wrong as 2005 on pg. 75. There couldn't be a more simple detail to get right, to be honest. It's in giant white letters at the beginning of Predator 2.

- The narrative's outlook on Autism Spectrum Disorder is introduced on pg. 33: "Once [Rory's] mom had said she thought neuro-typical people were like cavemen, and kids like Rory were the future of humanity." Looking to see how this comes up in oncoming passages as I read more.

- Paged ahead and saw that a character was named Bruce Willis.  :laugh:

- There are an assortment of awkward, mismatched, or distracting similes in the first 3rd of the book. Here are my favorites so far:

1.
QuotePg. 12: "Seconds later, another SUV, as black and highly polished as the first, shimmered from the heat haze, as if beamed down from the USS Enterprise."

2.
QuotePg. 89: "She was relieved when Traeger's aide, Sapir, appeared, rushing up to them with a look on his face like his grandmother's ghost had just whispered sweet nothings in his ear."

3. (this one is so amazing I've been text messaging a screenshot of the page to people)
QuotePg. 2: "Sparking and hissing, the ship's been through hell and when it hits the outer limits of Earth's atmosphere there's a whump of resistance, like someone's awkward dad just did a belly flop into the swimming pool."

- In terms of differences from the film, I haven't noticed much, but regarding the character of Shawn Keyes:
Spoiler
There is dialogue that explicitly indicates he is the son of someone who had been part of a contact team, but Peter Keyes isn't named (although Casey looks at a photo and describes their strong familial resemblance). Also, Shawn Keyes gets decapitated by the Predator, and a nameless tech takes his place from the movie where he says to Casey that 'it can't get away' as she makes her escape.
[close]
Posted by Frosty Venom
 - Oct 05, 2018, 03:41:06 PM
Quote from: HuDaFuK on Oct 05, 2018, 02:50:09 PM
Quote from: Frosty Venom on Oct 05, 2018, 02:07:26 PMWell shit I only recently ordered these at the local sci fi book store. Guess I'm still gonna have to read them.

If "them" also refers to the prequel novel, fear not - that was a decent read.

Yes, that one I'm quite keen on.

But still gotta support the franchise I love so I'll be getting both and will give them both a chance.
Posted by HuDaFuK
 - Oct 05, 2018, 02:50:09 PM
Quote from: Frosty Venom on Oct 05, 2018, 02:07:26 PMWell shit I only recently ordered these at the local sci fi book store. Guess I'm still gonna have to read them.

If "them" also refers to the prequel novel, fear not - that was a decent read.
Posted by Frosty Venom
 - Oct 05, 2018, 02:07:26 PM
Well shit I only recently ordered these at the local sci fi book store. Guess I'm still gonna have to read them.
Posted by The Old One
 - Oct 05, 2018, 01:24:42 PM
A dead horse now.

Not worth your time folks.
Posted by TheBATMAN
 - Oct 05, 2018, 12:46:07 PM
Finally finished this and it's been a while since a read a novel that has been this badly phoned-in. Both authors just seem completely bored and want to get through it as quickly as possible. Some really random character exposition on minor players like a radar operator and one of Traeger's red-shirts, yet nothing whatsoever on any of the main cast. Most of the trimmed dialogue from the trailers is reinserted here but no real new scenes of note, aside from how fugitive dies and is hanged by the Upgrade. Funny how the best comedic scenes from the movie like the shotgun scene and the painting scene are missing too.

The saddest thing is that is just has no cohesion with the prequel novel. I get that this would not even be on Shane Black's radar but man Traeger was a completely different character between the two books.
Posted by Trevelyan
 - Oct 01, 2018, 06:24:43 AM
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Sep 27, 2018, 08:00:40 AM
Quote from: Xiggz456 on Sep 25, 2018, 05:09:03 PM
Quote from: Trevelyan on Sep 24, 2018, 08:36:49 PM
Was anyone else bothered that the whole motivation for the fugitive and upgrade wasn't explained in the novel?

Spoiler
Ya it almost seemed more coincidental that the fugitive crashed on Earth. It seemed to frame it as the fugitive was being experimented on, escaped custody, stole a ship and crashed here. And the Upgrade was sent to retrieve it all and whilst tracking, gained an interest/appreciation for Rory's intellect and decided he'd be a good specimen to take.
[close]
That's kind of how I interpreted what was happening.

That's definitely the impression I'm getting so far too. Might not have been such a bad take on it.


They make you reach for this rationale, but hey I'm digging it much more than the film's "gift"!
Posted by Xiggz456
 - Sep 27, 2018, 09:54:12 PM
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Sep 27, 2018, 08:00:40 AM
Quote from: Xiggz456 on Sep 25, 2018, 05:09:03 PM
Quote from: Trevelyan on Sep 24, 2018, 08:36:49 PM
Was anyone else bothered that the whole motivation for the fugitive and upgrade wasn't explained in the novel?

Spoiler
Ya it almost seemed more coincidental that the fugitive crashed on Earth. It seemed to frame it as the fugitive was being experimented on, escaped custody, stole a ship and crashed here. And the Upgrade was sent to retrieve it all and whilst tracking, gained an interest/appreciation for Rory's intellect and decided he'd be a good specimen to take.
[close]
That's kind of how I interpreted what was happening.

That's definitely the impression I'm getting so far too. Might not have been such a bad take on it.

Ya I prefer it to fugitive coming to earth to leave a "gift for humanity". But now I think "the gift" was more of a f**k You to the upgrade pred's clan (something akin to setting off a wrist nuke) and fugitive stole it in the first place in order to stand a chance against the Upgrade. Maybe I'm grasping at straws but the novelization made me consider that.
Posted by Corporal Hicks
 - Sep 27, 2018, 08:00:40 AM
Quote from: Xiggz456 on Sep 25, 2018, 05:09:03 PM
Quote from: Trevelyan on Sep 24, 2018, 08:36:49 PM
Was anyone else bothered that the whole motivation for the fugitive and upgrade wasn't explained in the novel?

Spoiler
Ya it almost seemed more coincidental that the fugitive crashed on Earth. It seemed to frame it as the fugitive was being experimented on, escaped custody, stole a ship and crashed here. And the Upgrade was sent to retrieve it all and whilst tracking, gained an interest/appreciation for Rory's intellect and decided he'd be a good specimen to take.
[close]
That's kind of how I interpreted what was happening.

That's definitely the impression I'm getting so far too. Might not have been such a bad take on it.
Posted by Huggs
 - Sep 26, 2018, 11:51:52 PM
I need to finally get around to reading this. I've had it for a week, but I still haven't opener it up yet.
Posted by Stitch
 - Sep 26, 2018, 01:47:09 PM
I finished it last night. It's slightly better than the movie. Slightly.
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