Quatermass' Book Reading Blog...Round Two

Post Reply New Topic

Book 59, and the last Blake's 7 novelisation to be read, though probably not the last Blake's 7 book...

REVIEW: Blake's 7: Project Avalon by Trevor Hoyle

One thing that disappoints me about many TV series compared to Doctor Who is that, unlike Doctor Who, many of my favourite series do not have almost completely comprehensive novelisations. Out of the original run of Doctor Who, only four televised stories were never novelised, an impressive amount, considering. It disappoints me that Blake's 7 never got that much coverage, and now, after a sojourn to the Lifeline Bookfest, I am about to read the last Blake's 7 novelisation that I have obtained, which novelises (and abridges substantially in a few cases) the episodes Seek-Locate-Destroy, Duel, Project Avalon, Deliverance, and Orac.

Roj Blake was formerly a major rebel against the ruthless Galactic Federation, but was brainwashed into forgetting this. Now having remembered his past, and managing to hijack the technologically advanced ship now dubbed the Liberator, he, along with five other rebels (and the Liberator's computer, Zen) make up Blake's 7. However, his efforts to attack the Federation have not gone unnoticed, and Supreme Commander Servalan is under pressure to deal with Blake for good. She assigns ruthless officer Travis to seek, locate, and destroy Blake. From Centero to Amersat, from Cephlon to Aristo, Travis and Blake play a deadly game of cat and mouse that reaches from one end of the galaxy to the other...

This novelisation is of note because it novelised two of my favourite Blake's 7 episodes, Seek-Locate-Destroy and Project Avalon. These were my particular favourite episodes from the first series. The former introduces Servalan and Travis, and both episodes involve one of Travis' plans to trap Blake. I enjoyed them, and I hoped that I would enjoy this novel.

The novel is...fine, it's not bad, in fact, it would be a good introduction to the series proper. But it is far from stellar. The best parts was the novelisation of Seek-Locate-Destroy, Duel, and Project Avalon. However, it is as if Trevor Hoyle simply ran out of space. The events of Deliverance are severely abridged, and that of Orac is much shorter than the others. Some of the dialogue and character placements are changed, presumably because Hoyle was working from the original scripts, but there were a few wonderful scenes and dialogue from Duel and Project Avalon that I enjoyed that weren't in there, along with one of my favourite lines of Avon's from Orac.

Another problem is that, because Orac ends on a cliffhanger (it was the final episode of the season), the novel ends like the first season does, on a cliffhanger. However, Hoyle never bothered (or far more likely, wasn't commissioned) to write a novelisation that had the resolving episode, Redemption. And there is the puzzling change of the term 'Mutoid' to 'Android', which would be confusing, because even in the novelisation, they are not robots but cyborgs.

That being said, it succeeds in immersing the reader in the world of Blake's 7, and although it would be doubtless hard to get a hold of, I still recommend it. This is decent adult science fiction.


7.5/10

First words: The tense silence seemed to hum in their ears like static electricity.

Last words: (Not recorded, for spoilers' sake)

Book 60...

REVIEW: Hellsing Volume 9 by Kohta Hirano


To be honest, I'm not that fond of violence and horror. By horror, I mean the sort that comes from slasher flicks and monster films, filled with gore, viscera, and grotesquery. I don't mind some psychological horror (one of my all-time favourite books is a psychological horror book called House of Leaves), but on the whole, horror is not a genre I often subscribe to. One of the exceptions is the horror-action manga Hellsing which, despite its premise and blood-soaked artwork, is somehow compelling. Having followed the adventures of uber-vampire Alucard as he fought the enemies of the Hellsing Organisation, I found myself drawn nearer to the conclusion of the series. And so I come to the penultimate volume of the manga...

Thanks to his fledgling Seras Victoria, Alucard manages to triumph over the obsessive Catholic vampire hunter Alexander Anderson. But the ruins of London are far from free of fighting. A man Alucard, Seras, and their boss, Integra Hellsing, thought was their ally has turned traitor, allying himself with the neo-Nazi menace led by the Major. Walter C Dornez has sacrificed his humanity and his loyalty to Hellsing, all at a chance to murder Alucard, a monster he considers his rival. While Alucard fights Walter in a battle to the death, and beyond, Integra and Seras must confront and destroy the madman behind this destructive chain of events, the Major.

Hellsing is violent. Let us get that out of the way. While there is not as much actual viscera on display, the amount of blood shed could easily solve Red Cross' shortage problems, and in this issue alone, one character gets off lightly by being shot through the cheek. There is dismemberment (courtesy of razor wires), an impalement or two, immolation, and one character getting his heart, by now a mass of thorns, ripped from his chest.

Hellsing is also very shallow. Admittedly, it has some deep themes about what the nature of a monster is (indeed, there is an interesting soliloquy that the battles monsters like vampires engage in are actually an expression of the sorrow they feel at having hollow, endless lives), but really, the story is basically about how Alucard can win the next battle, and how much he can curbstomp his next opponent.

And yet, there is something compelling about it. Nazis, vampires, a werewolf, and two secret societies dedicated to destroying monsters (one Anglican, the other Catholic and under the aegis of the Vatican), Hellsing is cheesy, but it knows it. And the fights are compelling enough to make you want to read to see what happens next.

Hellsing is far from for everyone. But to those who can stomach it, it is entertaining. It is far from highbrow entertainment, but it is still compelling. Not the best, but something to pass the time.


6.5/10

First words: Master!!

Last words: Now zat's......definitely a genuine monster.

And hot on the heels of Hellsing is book 61...

REVIEW: Iron Man by Peter David, from the screenplay by Mark Fergus, Hawk Osby, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway

I'm not much of a comic book fan. About the only comic I really followed in my childhood with any degree of commitment were the ones published in Doctor Who Magazine. But actual comic serials compared to, say, graphic novels or manga are not ones that I have taken that much interest in. Most Marvel and DC Comics characters I know from the TV cartoons that they had, and now that we seem to have a glut of comic book movies, their various adaptations. I actually prefer movies, as they have the origin story built in more often than not, and thus saves having to trawl through decades of various and even contradictory continuity. Iron Man was one of my favourite comic book movies, and it is as part of this book review blog that I review the novelisation.

Tony Stark has it all, as the playboy billionaire owner of arms dealer Stark Industries. But while demonstrating his latest weapon in war-torn Afghanistan, he is kidnapped by terrorists, mortally wounded in the process. Saved by Yinsen, a doctor and engineer captured by the terrorists, Stark is coerced into building weapons for the terrorists. Thanks to the help, and sacrifice of Yinsen, Stark escapes by building a suit of powered armour, powered by the very device preventing shrapnel from entering his heart. Returning to the United States, Stark is slowly changing into something better. But he must be careful, for he might drive his closest friends away from him, while one of his oldest may be hiding a very nasty secret indeed...

I enjoyed the Iron Man movie quite a bit, and not being a full-on comic book fan, I didn't have any nitpicks about how continuity was being played around with. In reading this, I found myself comparing this book to the movie, albeit favourably. I have read Peter David's novelisations of Spider-Man and Hulk, and enjoyed them. This one was, if anything, better than them, albeit not by much, as Peter David writes well.

David brings the characters to life on the page in the same way as Jon Favreau and the other movie makers did for the screen. We even have little bits that obviously couldn't make it to the screen, such as how Pepper Potts obtained her nickname, and background on the sonic taser device used by Obadiah Stane. We have an expansion of the role of Happy Hogarth, Stark's driver.

But by the same token, there are a few disappointing ommissions. The infamous rant of Obadiah Stane ("Tony Stark built this IN A CAVE! WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!! !") is subdued here, and the climactic battle lacks punch. And after fairly descriptive parts for the first half of the novel, the rest seems a little rushed.

Despite this, this is a good novelisation. Not that it's going to make top literature lists, but it is still a good read. Beats trawling through four or five decades of comic book back-issues, anyway.


8/10

First words: Anthony Stark is bored.

Last words: With those four words, Anthony Stark knows he will never be bored again...

The Hellsing Ultimate series is good. A much closer adaptation than the earlier one. Definitely worth a look if you find the manga compelling rubbish.

I saw the first Hellsing Ultimate DVD, but the second isn't available at the library, and I would prefer to watch it in sequence.

The next book will most likely be Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation. I'm also working on The Manchurian Candidate and Hospital Station.

Book 62....

REVIEW: Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation by Ian Marter, from the television scripts by Robert Holmes


One of the first Doctor Who books I read was the novelisation of The Invasion, novelised by Ian Marter. Marter, who played companion Harry Sullivan in the series, became infamous in his novelisations of Doctor Who for increasing the violence and even including expletives that would never have made it into the TV show (he infamously used the word 'bastard' in his novelisation of The Enemy of the World, and used it again in The Invasion). Although I have read most of his novelisations, I was yet to read all the way through his adaptation of The Ribos Operation, itself based on a story by Doctor Who's master of the macabre, Robert Holmes. Although a staid story, especially by both writer's standards, this story is significant, at least, for one reason. It was the first story of the Key to Time saga...

The Doctor, while heading for a holiday, is conscripted by the White Guardian, the nearest thing to a deity in the Doctor Who universe, into hunting down the segments of the Key to Time, to stave off encroaching cosmic imbalance. With faithful K9 at his side, and saddled with aloof and arrogant Time Lady Romanadvoratrelundar (Romana for short), the Doctor goes to the primitive planet Ribos, whose inhabitants consider the existence of other planets heretical. There, they are caught up in a confidence trick between two factions of offworlders. The first is the con artist Garron and his accomplice Unstoffe. The second is the deposed Cyrrhenic prince the Graff Vynda-Ka (Ian Marter's spelling, in the actual TV story, it is the Graff Vynda-K) and his ruthless retinue. Garron intends to sell the Graff Ribos itself, conning him into believing that a valuable mineral, Jethryk, is ubiquitous there. Unfortunately, the Doctor and Romana's search for the first Segment of the Key to Time will upset this con very badly...

Like my previous reviews of Doctor Who novelisations, I am yet to actually watch The Ribos Operation. I have to say that, although Ian Marter's prose can be at times enthralling, here, it just serves to make a story unnecessarily grotesque. Ian Marter is the Quentin Tarantino of Doctor Who novelisations, and we are treated to descriptions of how, in one example, a character gets part of his torso fried off by an energy beam, or how another gets stabbed (I have seen clips of the story, and the character in question actually gets shot by a laser beam).

This is a decent story, if a bit thin. Robert Holmes' characters of the Graff Vynda-K/Ka, Garron, and Unstoffe are all pretty well executed, and Ian Marter at least brings them to life compellingly. And one of the best parts of the story involves Unstoffe showing his compassionate side when he comforts Ribos outcast Binro the Heretic, who was tortured and made to recant his belief in other worlds. I read once somewhere that the scene where Unstoffe reveals to Binro that he was correct and that one day, inhabitants of Ribos will consider Binro correct, was one of the defining moments of Doctor Who, and I agree. It's a very heartwarming moment.

I object to the way Romana acts during this story, although I don't know exactly how much of this was from the script and how much Ian Marter embellished or changed. And the Doctor is not painted in a very flattering light, at least in terms of appearance, which I think ironic, as I thought Ian Marter and Tom Baker were the best of friends.

This isn't a bad novelisation, but really, if you want a better representative of the Doctor Who novelisation, try another one. I can recommend a few.


7/10

First words: The tall loose-limbed figure, clad in voluminous shirtsleeves and baggy tweed trousers tucked into creaking leather boots, strode around the faintly humming chamber.

Last words: 'What about some tea?'

oh new avatar, Quatermass!
To be honest, I like the previous one better, cuter and hotter
I think you should try his hair style (yes, I mean black Jack), but don't bother with the colour.

...

I feel more like Avon at the moment. The character, I mean. He echoes how I see the world at this time, only I don't recall Avon ever facepalming.

So, what's next in terms of books? I dunno. I have Blake's 7: Afterlife, Cordelia's Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold, and maybe The Machurian Candidate.

ohohoh can i choose? please?

hmmm...hmmm...

Melbi says, Blake's 7: Afterlife

No, you can't choose, but as it happens, Blake's 7: Afterlife is probably the one I will finish next anyway.

Book 63...is not Blake's 7: Afterlife. But you don't have long to wait...

REVIEW: Hellsing Volume 10 by Kohta Hirano

A week ago today, I reviewed the penultimate volume of Hellsing, the ultraviolent horror action manga. Now, to kill a little time while I finish Blake's 7: Afterlife, I've decided to bite the bullet and finish Hellsing for once and for all.

As Alucard and Walter continue their battle, Seras and the werewolf Captain face off, with Seras being helped by the shade of the mercenary whose blood she drank, Pip Bernadotte. But as Integra Hellsing confronts the deranged Major behind this entire bloody war, the Major reveals that everything has gone according to plan. He intends to defeat Alucard. And he succeeds. Without Alucard to help them, can Integra and Seras defeat the madman Nazi?

I have already said what I don't like about Hellsing: its over the top violence and its thin storyline. And there's plenty of both. But we learn a little more about the rogue Nazis who decide to ignite one last war in the middle of London, like how exactly they managed to create vampires and how the Major managed to survive over half a century without aging or becoming a vampire. And the plan to defeat Alucard was an ingenious one, if a little farfetched.

Some of the best lines come during the admittedly anticlimactic confrontation between the Major and Integra. With Alucard out of the picture, it's down to a single gunfight between a young woman with glasses and a giggling rotund man with glasses. Although by this time, the outcome is pretty moot, the lines in this sequence are good, where the Major, despite appearances, claims not to be a monster but a human being, while Integra has a very short, sharp, and appropriate rebuttal.

Overall, Hellsing volume 10 is an appropriate end to a series which, while bloody and thin on plot, has its own strangely compelling charm. Not all questions are answered, but the ones that matter are.


7/10

First words: I can't stand up to this...

Last words: (Not recorded, due to spoilers)

Book 64....

REVIEW: Blake's 7: Afterlife by Tony Attwood

Before I begin the review proper, I know what you're going to say. No, this isn't Dr Tony Attwood. He didn't write Blake's 7: Afterlife. Rather, a different man by the same name, a British writer who also wrote the Doctor Who spin-off novel Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma and academic, wrote this continuation of Blake's 7. Look up 'Tony Attwood' on Wikipedia, I'll wait. You'll find that there are two articles, although you'll be directed to 'our' Dr Attwood first.

In any case, given my interest in Blake's 7, I was curious to find out that there was actually two original novels based on the series. The first, and most famous (or rather, infamous) was Blake's 7: Afterlife, set after the end of the TV series, while the second, Avon: A Terrible Aspect, was a prequel written by Avon's actor, Paul Darrow. Afterlife itself has, reputedly, come in for a lot of flack from the fans, but even though I myself am a fan, I decided to approach Afterlife with an open mind. After reading, however, I have to conclude that, although not a really terrible book, the fans do have a point about Afterlife. Warning, there are spoilers for the end of Blake's 7.

Roj Blake is dead. Kerr Avon should know, he blew a hole in Blake's stomach with a blaster. But although apparently gunned down along with the rest of his comrades, in reality, Avon was left to rot in a prison on Gauda Prime, only to be rescued by cowardly thief Vila (who hit the deck when the firing really started) and the enigmatic woman Korell. After a confrontation with Servalan and the theft of ORAC, Avon, Vila, and Korell escape Gauda Prime, making preparations for a plan Avon refuses to let his erstwhile comrades in on. From Skat to Ghammar, Avon's obsession will lead them back to the planet Terminal, where his plans, those of the Federation's, of Servalan's, and that of an enemy (or ally?) who they don't even know the existence of yet, will come to fruition, with potentially dire consequences for the galaxy...

I'm sorry, Tony Attwood, but your novel is pretty hard to read and understand. It's hard to see where the plot points of your novel come together, and even after all the revelatory stuff at the end, it is still hard, in retrospect, to understand everything.

I think that the story has a tendency to pull new things, plot-points, and characters out of its derriere. Even though the ending is foreshadowed, there are certain elements of it that confuse me, or just annoy me. Blake's extremism in the latter half of the second season is exaggerated, and the state he and Avon are in on Gauda Prime have fairly mundane explanations compared to the sinister conspiracy brought in.

That being said, Attwood has captured the feel of many of the characters, especially Avon and Vila, the two surviving members of the original Blake's 7, and he does succeed in making some elements of the day-to-day life of the Federation come to life. And Vila's attempts at trying to find out what goes on helps resolve some of the character derailment he underwent in some stories, and succeeds in capturing the soul of a man caught between a rock and a hard place.

Blake's 7: Afterlife is far from terrible, but it is not as good as I would have liked. It is passable, but, as far as I am concerned, non-canonical. I personally reckon I could write better continuations of Blake's 7, and perhaps one day, I will do so.


6.5/10

First words: In the beginning there were six men and women.

Last words: Slowly but inevitably it was turning into a long hard laugh.

What next? I have no idea...

BTW, I have now done 64 books in 20 weeks. That is, on average, 3.2 books a week.

by Tony Attwood????????????

Read the review, it's not the one we know. Settle down. However, the one who wrote Blake's 7: Afterlife is an authority for dyscalculia and ADHD.

I read it already.
thought you were being ironic or sarcasitc or something LOL

what a coincident!! !'

by the way, I'm finding Avon hotter now as I look at him more....
but still think black Jack is better

Well, I think you should make yourself look like Avon if you like him so much
personally I think black jack has cooler hairstyle