Customer Reviews

The Eternal Enemy

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I LOVE this book. I think the reason people were critizing the "technical stuff" was just because they are too young to understand it. I really feel that this is an adult book trapped behind a teen book's cover. Or at least, a book that is more appropriate for more intelligent teenagers, and adults. It's extremely deep and fascinating, with many levels of meaning. It starts off as a typical teen novel ... You've got the heroine, Rela, and she has typical teenager problems: dealing with her family, a crush on a boy, friends, etc. Then she buys a VCR that can record the future, and you think "Oh boy, this looks cheesy." But soon she begins to have terrible nightmares about the cyborgs of the future, and the novel becomes a tragic vision of a future dystopia that Rela must try to prevent. It also tells the tragic story of her relationship with her grandfather, who only wanted to use technology to save humanity, and ended up destroying it. In the end, all the loose ends tie together and this novel makes more sense than you could possibly have imagined from the outset. Christopher Pike is a BRILLIANT writer.

This was one of the first CP books that I bought. Not read because I had read a few before this, but one of the first that I saw at the store when it first came out and had to buy. I thought the plot sounded incredibly intriguing.. I had figured out by then that the back covers of his novels just told the extremely watered down, skimpy version of the plot. Or plot points if you will.. So I couldn't wait to find out what was in store for me in this book.

It did not disappoint. Rela was incredibly real and easily related to. I could not wait to see what caused her to see into the future through her vcr and what she saw on the tape.. I admit at first that when it got into the robot part of the plot I was a tad iffy because I am not really big on sci-fi. But I swear you don't have to be to enjoy this book. He explains the plot in such a way that you understand it right away and you want to find out more..

I remember that the end shocked me. It still saddens me to think of it.

SPOILER

Rela was indeed brave to do what she did in the end. She gave up everything to make sure that the human race would survive and that the world would be a better place. She gave up her right to love.. I can not remember her boyfriend's name in the book. Was it Michael.. or maybe Chris even? It has been a couple years since I re-read this.. but I suprisingly remember most of this book accurately because it was that powerful and stayed with me. Anyway, Michael was the love of her life. Throughout the beginning of the book Rela talks about how all she wants in life is to be loved by him. She's not sure if he likes her as much as she likes him. Later it is revealed that he indeed does. But then it gets somewhat complicated, even more so than already... I won't go into that even for the ppl that already know..

One thing that always stays with me is when Michael watches the tape Rela left for him and he finishes it and turns the movie off and says "I'll never be like that. That will never be me." And that is how the book ends. That line has always stayed with me.. much like the plot of this novel.

I am reviewing the book "The Eternal Enemy" its about this girl that buys a VCR from the local department store so she can record a movie to show at this party's she's throwing. But instead of taping the movie she records the next nights news. It was fun at first until she finds herself in the news. I give the book 4 stars because the story is scary and great throughout the whole book.

Rela has a new VCR and it tapes future news. When she sees herself on the news and learns that she will die, she is scared. Can she change what is meant to be?

Although this was not the best book that Pike has wwritten it was good. I love his books they are so full of horror and mystery. Usually I can tell the end of the story but in this one I was stumped. I loved this book!

The twist of the story threw me off because you would never be able to guess it. They didn't even give a whole lot of clues either. I liked it and thought that it was okay. It just wans't very scary. Half the book is explaining a lot of science fiction about the future. If you want a good Pike read, then go get Chain Letter (by far his best book).

This is a great, great book. I would definitely agree with the statement that this is an adult book trapped inside a teenager's novel.

I first read it when I was in high school over 10 years ago. I re-read it recently and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it again, even after all these years. Although some aspects of the book are rather dated now (a VCR? What are those?), the themes are not necessarily so (e.g., in contrast to books like Michael Crichton's "The Terminal Man," which touches upon fears regarding computers that simply appear ridiculous in light of today's technology).

It is also a rather short book, especially in contrast to other science-oriented novels like Michael Crichton's, for instance. Despite the brevity, I was impressed at how Pike still managed to address the scientific and ethical themes in a reasonably thorough manner. It is enough to intrigue the reader in the space provided, while not being too bogged down with scientific jargon. Because of the brevity, Pike does skirt some scientific quandaries (e.g., it did not strike me as plausible that Rela, who appeared to not have any medical training in her previous life, could so easily discover Nemprin as a solution to cyborg memory, and manage to conceal this from the super-intelligent cyborgs), but I think that's appropriate with his books given the audience (in contrast to, e.g., Michael Crichton, who targets an adult audience).

As far as character development, Pike does a pretty good job, and does an excellent job with the grandfather, and Rela's astute perception of him. This incredibly intelligent and gifted scientist is faulted with one very serious, rather simple shortcoming - he is fearful, afraid of pain. Rela's quiet observation of how this simple emotion spawned his astounding discoveries, and why it is unfounded, is very sharp.

Oh, one final thing. Some aspects of the book are simply implausible. For instance, booking a flight with a fake name? I hardly imagine that was impossible, even when this book was written. And saving the window washer but managing to evade any type of law enforcement? Highly doubtful. So the book was laced with many implausible incidents, but because I feel they were tangential to the novel's overall message, which was superb, I don't think it's a big deal.

Synopsis: Rela is just a normal teenager who loves movies, popcorn, cookies and a boy named Christopher Perry. Rela buys a new VCR to watch some of her favorite movies, and programs it to record a monster movie for her at night. As soon as she gets the VCR, she starts having nightmares about laboratories and operations. Rela cannot figure out her dreams and decides to ignore them and focuses on throwing a party to invite Chris to get her to notice him. At the party, Rela puts in the tape that she had timed the VCR to record the monster movie in, but is disappointed to see only the news recorded. She immediately stops the tape and plays another movie. After the party is over, Rela puts in the tape of the news, and is shocked to see that it is actually the news of the following day. Rela notes down the scores of the game to test if the news is accurate, and it is.

At first, Rela has fun seeing the future before it actually happens, and times the VCR to record the news before going to sleep, even though her nightmares continue. However, things take a turn for the worse when she sees someone die a tragic death in the news. She wonders if she can change the course of the future by saving the person's life in time, but soon realizes that the change is not what she expected, and in attempting to do so, she soon sees herself murdered in the news. Can Rela stop the news from becoming true, by figuring out who is trying to kill her and why?

Review: I thought this was a very interesting book to read, but it did have its ups and downs. When I first started reading it, I thought it was going to be a supernatural thriller of some sort. Keeping this in mind, I initially found the book to be a real page turner to find out how Rela's dreams correlated with the actions of the VCR, and what it all had to do with a strange person who was trying to end Rela's life. But then, the book suddenly took a turn from being a teenage supernatural thriller to a science-fiction story of man against machine. Even though I found hard to adjust to the sudden change in the story's setting, I still kept reading because I wanted to find out how the story ended. I am glad I did, because once the past story had been told and we came back to Rela's confrontation with the stranger, the climax was really exciting. I also felt that the story ended well, and it made me think of `what if' scenarios if Rela had done something different in her actions.

I also felt that Christopher Pike was paying homage to the Terminator movies, as the plot and the main character of the story became very similar to that of the Terminator movies. If I remember correctly, Rela also quotes from the Terminator movie at one point when she is talking with Chris, which I thought was cute.

For the most part, I enjoyed reading this book, except for some pages where it became too technical and science-fiction like for my taste. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching science-fiction movies and reading books in that genre, but I felt that the book suddenly just skipped pace rather than easing the reader into it. However, I did start enjoying the science fiction aspect once I got used to it, and overall, I found the book to be a very good read, and definitely another Christopher Pike story that I will not forget soon.

I thought that this was a REALLY good book. Rela's nobility and dedication literally made me tear up. The technical stuff got a tiny bit confusing, and was very unexpected, but I still liked it. However, I AM Catholic, so what Christopher was saying about people having no souls and the beginning of the world was ignored by me. I'm not kidding, I was bawling for Rela,

This book is just amazing. I literally cried, it was so touching (Rela's nobility and bravery). Though it is a lot to swallow, its worth it. You see people in a different light, and it makes you question technology. Read it, and you'll see what I mean. This book is friggin' awesome tho!