Fantastic Voyage (Asimov)

Fantastic Voyage, by Isaac Asimov (1966)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Note: the book is a novelization of a science-fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. The novel was printed first, but Asimov didn't create the story behind it. He just made some "smart writing" out of it.

As the pandemic was just gearing up and teachers were required to report to school, even as the children were not, I found myself in an Englsih/Language Arts classroom. The teacher had left some books "to be taken". Yes, they were meant for kids, but I left all the ones that kids would read. I don't believe that Fantastic Voyage would have been taken by anyone other than an adult of similar age to my own. A hardcover book, it still has the label from the school library shelves.

I've never seen the movie, though I remember parts of it on TV when I was younger -- my older brothers might've been watching it, and clips might've appeared on shows about movies and special effects. I remember picking up a copy of the paperback a long time ago as well. Probably in high school. I didn't get very far into it. Perhaps had I seen the movie, I might've done better.

The same is true now: I would've gotten through it faster had I seen the movie and been more familiar with the story. As it was, the first few pages were a little tedious introducing the characters mostly through dialogue. After that, it sailed pretty well. The pun wasn't intended, but what they hell, I'll own it.

The story is set in a backdrop of the Cold War, but no enemy is mentioned. Just "them" or "the other side". A defecting scientist is attacked en route to a secret base and suffers a brain clot. It's inoperable and he's going to die if something drastic isn't done. The problem is that not only does no one know his secret, but they don't know if the "other side" knows it.

Pioneering research has been done in miniaturization, with a semi-reasonable explanation for where the extra mass goes. Now the limit is being pushed to shrink a team to the size of a bacteria, but it can only be sustained for an hour. After that, it will undo itself automatically. The team has that one hour to save Bendes' life and make their way to safety.

Actually, it's fairly routine, and the mission could be completed in under ten minutes without complications. But, of course, there are complications. Those complications could be accidents, or they could be the work of a saboteur working for the "other side".

The team consists of Capt. Owens who controls the sub; Dr. Michaels, who is mentioned as a pilot but is basically the navigator; Dr. Peter Duval, who is going to operate on the blood clot with a laser; Miss Cora Peterson, Duval's assistant; and agent Charles Grant, a soldier who is put in charge of the mission

Michaels scanned as much of the circulatory system as time allowed, and he navigates the sub through its journey. Miss Peterson -- I went back to double-check this -- is only a year out of graduate school with her Masters degree, so she isn't a "doctor" or anything, but she is Duval's assistant, and he won't procede without her.

Grant is put in charge to make final decisions after getting input from all concerned because any one of the crew -- even Grant himself, but he knows he's okay -- could be working for the "other side" to make the mission a failure, so that the patient dies. There are many times when the doctors think they fail have failed and should call to extracted, but Grant doesn't abort a mission until he sure that every avenue for sucess has been tried. Grant also serves as the non-scientist (like many of the readers) who has things explained to him.

At 180 pages, it was a quick read. It gave a brief tour of the circulatory system without being bogged down in technical terms. There was a sample chapter of Forward the Foundation which I didn't bother reading. (I listened to Prelude to Foundation and remember little of it.)

This was my "pool read", the book I took to read in the pool in the yard, not worried if it got wet.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Cusick)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Richio Cusick, based on story by Joss Whedon, 1992

Total movie fluff. Not a good novelization. Too bad Joss didn't do it, but as I understand it, the movie doesn't bear much resemblance to what he originally wanted (aka the TV show).

I don't think I've ever actually seen the film. Maybe parts of the ending in the school gym. I caught up with most of the episodes of the TV program, which I didn't start watching until sometime after she had been in college.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Kahn)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, James Kahn, 1984

Not as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark, but then the movie wasn't as good either. It was better than the typical movie-to-book treatment, but just below the Raiders benchmark. Fun to read, but some parts didn't translate well.

Batman (Gardner)

Batman, Craig Shaw Gardner, 1989

A promising prologue, but then it fell apart. Little more than what passed the screen hit the pages. Harvey Dent got a few mentions, but no more action or appearances. The narrative was uneven -- at times, dark and cynical; others, too sarcastic. And not just when the Joker was in the scene. The narrator's voice blended with the characters' thoughts too freely. Could've been so much better. Quick read. (Day and a half, maybe)

Harold R. Foster's Prince Valiant

Harold R. Foster's Prince Valiant, Martin Delrio, 1998
screenplay by michael Frost Becker, Anthony Hickox, Corsten Lorenz

I was warned that the movie (which I hadn't known existed) was bad. This book only confirms it. Not a very good story on its own, and not very well-written for an adaptation, the story goes on to decimate the storyline from the comic. Major characters die. The Singing Sword is lost. And Valiant doesn't even meet Areta. The story is that Excalibur is stolen (and Sir Tristan is killed along the way). The sword is brought to Thule, where almost comedically it is dropped into the stone floor, where it becomes stuck. And the rest of the movie concerns getting the sword back and getting it out of the ground. Stooooo-pid. Quick read. Didn't like it.

Just plain awful. Avoid.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (Black)

Raiders of the Lost Ark, by Campbell Black, based on a screenplay by Lawrence Kasden, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman, 1981

This is what a movie adaptation should be. Lots of background and descriptions, not a scene for scene, shot for shot regurgitation. There are a few differences from the film, probably last-minute production changes made after the script was sent off for novelization. In fact, it has some changes in it that I remember being "wrong" when reading the comic book many years ago. Quick read. Excellent.

This book is the Gold Standard for movie adaptations, along with Star Trek II: the Wrath of Khan.

The X-Files: Fight the Future (Carter, Spotnitz, Hood)

The X-Files: Fight the Future, Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz (story), adapted by Elizabeth Hood

A Highlander-type adaptation, only much faster to read since I saw the movie. One day on the train, I read 150 pages (a lot more than I usually read). Good story, could have been a much better read.

Independence Day (Devlin, Emmerich, Molstad)

Independence Day, 1996

Much better than the Higlander adaptation. And possibly improves upon the movie. It gives better background and doesn't belabor the onscreen action and dialogue. Great read. Explains a few things that the movie leaves you guessing at. (If you hated the movie, or had problems with it, you'll hate the book, too.) I enjoyed it and might pass it on. I have the sequel to read.

Highlander (Kilworth)

Highlander, adapted by Garry Kilworth, Harper Books, 1986

Never saw the movie. Didn't even remember it when Highlander 2 came out. Clumsily written at first and annoyingly so at the end. It reads like a direct adaptation of the script with very little added. Worse, some of the visual gags seemed to be painfully drawn out. No quick takes in writing. So to get into, but I knocked off the last 200 pages this past weekend. I recycled it back to the bookstore. I don't think it has anything of interest to anyone who saw the movie.

This book ranks as a prime example of what a movie novelization should NOT be.
You don't know what a character is thinking on screen, so you have to read facial expressions and body language. You do know what they are thinking in books. So tell me what they are thinking. Do NOT describe their facial expressions and body language instead!

The Bridges of Madison County (Waller)

The Bridges of Madison County, Robert James Waller, 1992

True story of an Italian immigrant housewife, who is nothing like Meryl Streep, who has an affair with a traveling photographer for National Geographic, who rides into Iowa from the Pacific Northwest in a pickup truck named Henry. He stops for directions and is sleeping with her within two days while her family is at a state fair with a prize cattle. The children find out about it when they're grown after she dies. "Literary" work turned into a movie that miscasts both roles. Quick read. Not bad.

I guess I wanted to know what all the hubbub was about, so I read it. Kids find out that Mom had had an affair. So they write the "true" story (which no one really knows) and publicize it to the world. That's the way to remember mama.