Customer Reviews

Taken

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

It's hard to imagine that any review, positive or negative, will have any impact on the sales of this trite print-version of the Spielberg-branded mini-series. Tsave the time of some Thomas Cook fans, I offer this:

Other reviewers have given plausible explanations for the barely one-dimensional characters and blitzkrieg pacing of the book; there is also an appalling lack intrigue or suspense: presentation of what may be a startling visual in the mini-series of a crash site is delivered without build-up or fanfare, dropped in the reader's lap like an unbuttered piece of toast.

Consistency is painfully weak: what is described as a "treacherous" descent into a gorge is, in a page or two, capable of allowing a "vast array" of investigating staff and heavy equipment to arrive "within minutes"; an object described as larger than a B-29 is, again within a page or two, being carted off by a truck.

There's no examination of any character's internal world; rather, we get bare descriptions of personal transitions: "...he couldn't accept that it was a dream no matter what she told him" is followed a paragraph later with, "He...believed that it was only a dream."

Really, transitions simply don't exist; characters move emotionally from antipathy to gratitude, physically from office to crash site, within the space of a sentence-stopping period. Rambling sentences worthy of the Bulwar Litton contest, but with poorer use of commas, give us our only serious ratiocination as we try to ferret out meaning.

If only I could give it "0 stars"...unless you simply must have the complete Spielberg brand, or the complete X-Files knock-off, or the complete repackaging of encounters library, pass.

A very quick, entertaining read. Cook said in an interview he was concerned with the pace of the novel, and pace is sure not a problem. It zips along. The problem is, it zips too quickly. In novelizing Leslie Boehm's epic teleplay, Cook adapted the equivalent of 10 TV-movies ... and rather than expanding upon the material (at least somewhat, as is the wont of most novelizations), he has streamlined -- summarized non-essential scenes, dropped tertiary characters, etc. At times the book reads like a riveting "treatment," a story expertly compacted, rather than a "real" novel. And I have a feeling that TAKEN might have benefited from allowing the story to breathe more -- not sprawl, but allow the characters to be more than essences and archetypes.

That said, I don't know that Mr. Cook is at fault. His contract may have mandated getting the final product down to a limited word count ... these novelization gigs don't come without strings, and the final drafts have to be approved by the film's honchos as well as its editor. If a distillation was, in fact, his job, he has done it well. Whatever else is true, he keeps the tale interesting and taut ... and the book is never dull. (There's no time for it to be!)

Although I did not see the series, I gather from the book jacket that Taken was based on one. Whatever the quality of the acting may have been, the quality of the written work is quite good. It's not exactly major literature, but it definitely has major entertainment value-and how many of us would actually sit down with Tolstoy for an afternoon without a grade point average hanging over us?

The characters are made multidimensional through a series of individual vignettes that carry the reader through the lives and interactions of several people in at least three families. The perspective changes in each of these vignettes, which allows the reader to take in more information than any one of the characters has, much like the diaries in Dracula do. The tale itself is not given in any great depth. There is no build up based entirely on the emotive impact of colorful imagery; the narrative is primarily responsible for giving information on the settings and that alone. The mini-chapters last mere paragraphs and the drama takes place predominantly in dialogue rather than descriptive form and are designed to engage the reader in the lives and personalities of the characters. This probably reflects the cinematic venue of the original work where The Character is everything. This makes the story a rapid read and difficult to put down; I finished it in a matter of hours despite multiple interruptions.

I wasn't quite as enamored with the ending, though. It was as if the author enjoyed tailoring his characters and telling the story of their experiences, but couldn't find as tailored an ending for the work. It just sort of stops, as though he wasn't sure what great message he was trying to convey. There doesn't seem to be any impacting moral or definitive statement to be made, no real purpose to the story that would bring the whole to a conclusion. The little girl brings all the pieces together, but that is all that is accomplished. The only surprise is that there isn't a surprise. (I wondered if the little girl wouldn't turn out to be the second coming of Christ, or something similar). I suspect that this too is a function of the story's original starting point. A series based on a collection of characters and their interactions isn't really designed to have a "point" only to entertain and keep the audience returning every week. Although there is an effort to provide continuity from week to week, the end of the series is not necessarily designed into the project from inception. One presumes the authors hope it goes on for some time. Certainly endings can be designed to meet the need when a series ends, but that usually arises when the need for it does. In fact the finale for a popular series can be a media event.

The book is a quick and satisfying read.

I have to admit I was really disappointed with this book, the series I loved and got on DVD as soon as it came out.

Fortunately for me this book was another thrift shop purchase for under two dollars or I would have seriously thought about going back to the bookstore and demanding a refund.

Considering this book is supposed to reflect a ten part series with LOADS of characters, their lives and times from the 1950s, this book does not even SCRATCH the surface, in fact it stops dead at crucial points which explain everything about why Allie was so important not only to the Aliens but to humanity too.

Another bone of contention for me is the ending in the book; it ends so abruptly, you are left looking at the last page and thinking, "Eh? Isn't there supposed to more?" We all remember how Allie had to leave earth, that she wanted to stay with her parents Lisa and Charlie but humanity was not ready for someone like her and she would be safer with her alien relatives but in the book, we don't EVEN get a taster of this, one minute she is talking to her mom, the next....well there is no next minute, that is my point!

I was so frustrated with this book, and the only reason it is getting two stars is the cover art is really nice and the blurb on the back reads quite well, shame about the rest of the book though.

This book's contents is not worth the paper it is written on, which is a real shame because it could have been a cracking good read given an author who knew what he was doing, obviously Mr Cook didn't know what he was doing and thus spoilt it all for readers across the globe and if there be any aliens out there for them too!

I was completely hooked on the SCIFI epic miniseries event, TAKEN. I received the book as a Christmas present, and I read through it in two days. It almost mirrors the series itself, although, I was disappointed to find that the book dropped several good characters and skimmed through several scenes that were in the series. I noticed that some scenes were altered. For example, in Alaska 1970, Sam Crawford, Dr. Powell, Buzz, and Sarah split up to search for the missing student Daryl in the series, in the book they searched for Wendy. The book lacked many details, but I was rather surprised that Cook managed to squeeze 20 hours of television drama into a 355 page book pretty well. The characters certainly needed to be explained more, and after I read the book I was still asking questions that I thought would be answered. I just hope there's a sequel, and maybe someone else can patch up the holes that many people have given the Taken novelization a thumbs down for. It was adequate work, but improvement was needed.

I haven't seen the series, and I can only hope it is as good as this book. The plot pulled me in and the characters came to life on the page. Although, many people are complaining about the end, but I think the end was just fine. For you people who want to know what happened to Allie at the end, take a look at the title of the book. My only problem with the book was the grey's motives. The explanation for the abductions was absurd. For anyone who isn't a hard-core, let's-all-go-to-Roswell UFO fan, I highly reccommend this book. Anyone who doesn't fit in that catagory should read something that isn't "fiction" (I've heard the Blue Book is good).

Please do not read this book. Please. Doing so would only encourage more soulless novelizations of tv shows. I've had more fun reading the back of cereal boxes. And not fun kiddie cereals either, I mean the back of a box of Grape-Nuts.

This novelization based on the miniseries is worthy of being read apart from viewing the tv version. The beginning chapters go a little too fast and don't convey quite enough information, however. The final chapters, on the other hand, bring the story to a climax and reasonable conclusion.

I managed to see large portions, but not all, of the tv miniseries a few years ago, so I thought that reading the novel through from start to finish would prepare me better when I obtain the DVD so that I can view the entire series.

All in all, this is a worthy read, although I can't say that I feel that many of the characters were truly developed in quite the depth that they could have been.

I read the book before watching the movie, and I must say that it is almost like reading the movies script. The only exception is the ending. The book ends leaving you hanging. It leaves out about the last 15 minutes of the movie.

If you like books about aliens this is for you. I thought it was well written, and I really liked the characters.

I wouldn't bother reading it though if you have seen the movie already.

I recommend for Sci-fi fans.

I've never read a book more spontaneous and jumpy in plot, than this one. I mean the plot has extreme potential, don't get me wrong. But each scene/chapter/whatever is so short, that by the time you get the picture as to what's going on, the scene ends and you fall right off the edge. I couldn't tell you who any of the characters in this book are or even what time period they're from. This book is all over the place with times, action, and sadness all mixed up together. Steven Spielberg knows how to make movies. This guy Thomas Cook, doesn't know jack about writing books. WATCH THE SERIES.