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A review by wheems01
Star Trek Into Darkness by Alan Dean Foster
3.0
Summary:
Based on the 2013 Star Trek Into Darkness movie, this book stays very close to the movie. The novel takes place in the same timeline as the one created in the 2009 Star Trek movie. A young Captain Kirk and his crew return to earth hoping to be sent out on a five year mission, little does Kirk know that a report of an incident by Spock would leave him demoted to commander. Before that can fully take place, star fleet headquarters is attacked and Kirk’s mentor Christopher Pike is killed in the terrorist attack. After being reinstated as captain of the Enterprise, Kirk and his crew head off to catch the terrorist, only to discover that there is more to the mission than even he has been told.
Review:
Let me start out by saying I am a Trekkie. I love all things Star Trek and I adored the new movie when it came out in 2009. I eagerly anticipated this second movie, and couldn’t wait to see it. After watching the movie I decided to listen to this audiobook because I wanted more.
I have read a number of movie novelizations in the past with mixed results. Sometimes I like them because they add detail to the story that was missing from the movie, sometimes I hate them because they stray too far from the movie or worse rewrite portions, and sometimes they come out like this one did; without really adding anything that I didn’t already know and just being mediocre. I saw the movie, and let me tell you up front, if you have seen the movie you don’t need to read the book—you already know everything.
If you like novelizations that stick close to the movie without adding any extra this is for you. I know the author tried to express what the characters were thinking or feeling with limited success. And maybe it is a credit to the actors that most scenes were much more successful on screen than they were in the book—the whole Uhura/Kirk conversation in the turbolift for example. The book had the added effect of making Kirk sound like a petulant child. Now I suppose it could be argued that he acted that way in the film to, but for some reason the book seemed to emphasize the point. He wasn’t the Kirk I knew and loved—he was for lack of a better word whiny.
I know I have read Foster’s work in the past, and I don’t remember having as much trouble with it as I did this one. Maybe it was the book, maybe it was the movie. Either way this book failed to excite me. I think much of the problem with this novel is that it told, it didn’t show and as a result the writing and the novel itself fell flat.
Audiobook Review:
The audiobook version of this novel is produced by Simon & Schuster Audio. Alice Eve performs this book. Perhaps it was my own mistake listening to this title when I am such a fan of the movies. I know how Chris Pine sounds as he plays Captain Kirk and I remember the tone and inflection of the memorable conversations of the movie. Eve’s narration didn’t cut it for me. First of all I was rather surprised that this book would be narrated by a female—I think the content would have been more suited to a male voice. (I’m really not trying to sound sexist here—I have heard great performances from women, this just wasn’t one of them.) I also didn’t like how she interpreted Kirk’s voice—it always seemed so flat and/or whiny at times. She did a great job narrating Carol Marcus, and her other male voices were okay, but they were not what I was expecting. Also her slight British accent seemed a bit out of place. She is a good narrator and I would happily listen to something else that she narrates to see how I like that, but it just didn’t seem like a good fit for this particular novel. Again, this fault could very well lie with me and my own personal expectations of this audiobook.
Overall:
I had high expectations of this book and perhaps they were too high. This is a good novelization if you want something that will just tell you what happened in the movie. If you are looking for more, you might be disappointed.
FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book on CD from Simon & Schuster Audio for review through Audiobook Jukebox. This is my honest review.
Based on the 2013 Star Trek Into Darkness movie, this book stays very close to the movie. The novel takes place in the same timeline as the one created in the 2009 Star Trek movie. A young Captain Kirk and his crew return to earth hoping to be sent out on a five year mission, little does Kirk know that a report of an incident by Spock would leave him demoted to commander. Before that can fully take place, star fleet headquarters is attacked and Kirk’s mentor Christopher Pike is killed in the terrorist attack. After being reinstated as captain of the Enterprise, Kirk and his crew head off to catch the terrorist, only to discover that there is more to the mission than even he has been told.
Review:
Let me start out by saying I am a Trekkie. I love all things Star Trek and I adored the new movie when it came out in 2009. I eagerly anticipated this second movie, and couldn’t wait to see it. After watching the movie I decided to listen to this audiobook because I wanted more.
I have read a number of movie novelizations in the past with mixed results. Sometimes I like them because they add detail to the story that was missing from the movie, sometimes I hate them because they stray too far from the movie or worse rewrite portions, and sometimes they come out like this one did; without really adding anything that I didn’t already know and just being mediocre. I saw the movie, and let me tell you up front, if you have seen the movie you don’t need to read the book—you already know everything.
If you like novelizations that stick close to the movie without adding any extra this is for you. I know the author tried to express what the characters were thinking or feeling with limited success. And maybe it is a credit to the actors that most scenes were much more successful on screen than they were in the book—the whole Uhura/Kirk conversation in the turbolift for example. The book had the added effect of making Kirk sound like a petulant child. Now I suppose it could be argued that he acted that way in the film to, but for some reason the book seemed to emphasize the point. He wasn’t the Kirk I knew and loved—he was for lack of a better word whiny.
I know I have read Foster’s work in the past, and I don’t remember having as much trouble with it as I did this one. Maybe it was the book, maybe it was the movie. Either way this book failed to excite me. I think much of the problem with this novel is that it told, it didn’t show and as a result the writing and the novel itself fell flat.
Audiobook Review:
The audiobook version of this novel is produced by Simon & Schuster Audio. Alice Eve performs this book. Perhaps it was my own mistake listening to this title when I am such a fan of the movies. I know how Chris Pine sounds as he plays Captain Kirk and I remember the tone and inflection of the memorable conversations of the movie. Eve’s narration didn’t cut it for me. First of all I was rather surprised that this book would be narrated by a female—I think the content would have been more suited to a male voice. (I’m really not trying to sound sexist here—I have heard great performances from women, this just wasn’t one of them.) I also didn’t like how she interpreted Kirk’s voice—it always seemed so flat and/or whiny at times. She did a great job narrating Carol Marcus, and her other male voices were okay, but they were not what I was expecting. Also her slight British accent seemed a bit out of place. She is a good narrator and I would happily listen to something else that she narrates to see how I like that, but it just didn’t seem like a good fit for this particular novel. Again, this fault could very well lie with me and my own personal expectations of this audiobook.
Overall:
I had high expectations of this book and perhaps they were too high. This is a good novelization if you want something that will just tell you what happened in the movie. If you are looking for more, you might be disappointed.
FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book on CD from Simon & Schuster Audio for review through Audiobook Jukebox. This is my honest review.