A review by canada_matt
The Bourne Sanction by Eric Van Lustbader
2.0
We are now so far away from the original Bourne series, I can hardly recognise the main character, his underlings, or even the connection that Bourne/Webb has with the man who opened Ludlum’s series years ago. Even taking the Bourne part out of it, this story fell far short of what I expected or even wanted to read, and it pains me that I have to see this drivel associated with what Ludlum built up over time. Where is the mentally calculating man? Where is the passion for justice and the king of espionage that Ludlum presented to us? Lustbader has taken this illustrious character and series and tossed it into the refuse bin, in hopes of making money off the name, and the Hollywood version of the fames spy.
I feel the books are just racing further and further away from the great books that laid the foundation for this series. While I found some of the earlier books more complex than I am used to reading, the challenge was worth it. Perhaps, had I no context, I could put up with these books, but since I know where this all came from and worry about where it is headed, I cannot sit back and pretend all is copasetic. While I like a good action movie and did find those Damon films to be full of action, I am not impressed with Lustbader’s attempt to ride piggyback on them to lure fans to the Bourne series. I cannot see many people who love the movies diving into the series from the beginning and being as enthralled. I guess I suppose Lustbader wants people to read ‘his interpretation’ and hope they toss out Ludlum’s previous attempts.
Those who have followed the reviews previously will know I am reading the entire series (what did I get myself into?). I am by no means impressed and worry they will get worse.
I feel the books are just racing further and further away from the great books that laid the foundation for this series. While I found some of the earlier books more complex than I am used to reading, the challenge was worth it. Perhaps, had I no context, I could put up with these books, but since I know where this all came from and worry about where it is headed, I cannot sit back and pretend all is copasetic. While I like a good action movie and did find those Damon films to be full of action, I am not impressed with Lustbader’s attempt to ride piggyback on them to lure fans to the Bourne series. I cannot see many people who love the movies diving into the series from the beginning and being as enthralled. I guess I suppose Lustbader wants people to read ‘his interpretation’ and hope they toss out Ludlum’s previous attempts.
Those who have followed the reviews previously will know I am reading the entire series (what did I get myself into?). I am by no means impressed and worry they will get worse.