Customer Reviews

V

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

And I mean that in a good sense! I am in the process of reading all the V novels and I will be posting the reviews here on Amazon as I finish them. Of course, I begin with the story that started it all. Now, first of all, let's give a little credit where it's due - and that would be the fact that Kenneth Johnson wrote the original mini-series for TV and this book is a novelization of that mini-series (and the follow-up 'The Final Battle' which was written by a host of other writers based upon the ideas of Mr. Johnson, himself). So, this is actually a Kenneth Johnson story although A.C. Crispin is not without merit for doing a fantastic job coveying nearly the entire ten hour event into one novelization.

In fact, the entire first half of the book was so gripping that you couldn't stop turning the pages. The intensity of the moments before the visitors showed themselves were there, the strong relationships the characters had with each other were all there. Ms. Crispin captured it all brilliantly. What was equally brilliant, and a bit of a pleasant surprise, was her taking license for a brief moment to introduce (in chapter one) a major character from 'The Final Battle' just before the first mothership roars into the skies. And no, I'm not going to tell you who it is - you'll have to get the book and find out for yourself.

The second half, which was 'The Final Battle' half, left me quite a bit disappointed. A lot was left out. Perhaps it was done for space issues, or perhaps deadlines loomed and it was decided all the unimportant stuff could be skipped, or in some cases I got the feeling that Ms. Crispin was writing from a "working script" where some of the issues hadn't been quite developed yet. . .whatever the reason, I was disappointed. In the first half of the book, every little scene was included which really built up the emotions towards the characters by the time we reached the climax. In the second half, we breeze past everything else - including Juliet's entire conversion process - just to get to the birth of Robin's baby(s), it seems. Ah well. I still loved it and it made for a great read. Highly recommended!

For the most part I love novelizations, and "V" by A.C. Crispin, is one of the best that I have read. The writer does a great job keeping the reader the book form of a great mini-series. A MUST for any fan of the "V" series.

The "V" pilot book has the same contents as the famous TV series. It follows the TV series pretty exactly, with just minor changes.

As a fan of the cult series, I can advise the lecture of this book to all other fans heartily. If you haven't seen the TV series - why, it's a good book anyway, check it out.

i loved this book for a lot of reasons, solid plot, very deep charecters ,a lot of suspense also it was very realistic.i doubt you will be able to get ahold of a copy today but if u do grab it i guarentee it will be money well spent

I'll be the first to admit that I don't watch the TV series "V". I tried a couple episodes, but the premise was a bit too witch-hunty for me, since the aliens look conveniently just like humans. Then I found a old paperback copy of V, by A.C. Crispin, the front cover lost from mysterious circumstances, and I thought that I'd try it out.
It's very witch-hunty.
The premise of V is that alien "Visitors" show up and offer us the bounties of their science and technology in return for simple amenities such as food and water. Surprisingly enough this is not their actual agenda, and soon humanity is forced into Nazi-like concentration camps, with only a few pockets of resistance fighting back.

It gets confusing though. You have humans who ally with the Visitors in return for power and wealth, and you have Visitors allying with humans out of pity. Keeping all the factions straight becomes difficult over the course of four hundred pages, especially with people jumping back and forth.

On the other hand, I suppose people would probably act like that during an alien invasion. Crispin does a good job of showing the degredation of society, from governments welcoming the Visitors to informers spying of former neighbors for the aliens. The world isn't static.

As I said, I haven't seen too much of the newer TV series, so I can't tell you how different the book and the show are. If you do watch the show and want to check out the book (which, when reading the first few pages, is apparently based itself on a much older made-for-TV movie), there are a few things to keep in mind.

The first is that the book takes place in the 80's, so no Internet or cellphones or anything. The second, and more important warning is that this book doesn't hold back. It has rape. It has murder. It has aliens eating people. Even if you let your kids watch the show, don't let them read the book unless you're confident that they can handle R-rated material.

CRISPIN DID WELL TO INCLUDE ALL THE MAIN PARTS OF "V" AND "V" THE FINAL BATTLE. IT IS DETAILED AND DESCRIPTIVE------GIVES AN INSIGHT INTO CHARACTERS' THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS THAT COULD NOT BE SHOWN ON THE SCREEN. IF YOU'RE A "V" FAN LIKE ME, THIS IS A VERY GOOD BACK-UP TO THE EXCELLENT VIDEO COLLECTION OF THE BEST MINI-SERIES EVER!

This book covers the first two miniseries, "V" (1983) and "V: The Final Battle" (1984). It gives more character development and description than what is given in the televised minseries. Kenneth Johnson has recently republished "V the original miniseries." However, I was disappointed to find that he had excluded "The Final Battle". Instead, he had put in a different ending. It turns out, this had been the original ending he had planned. Another book, "V: The Second Generation" follows up this alternate ending. Though the ending is more exciting, old "V" fans will probably be loyal to "The Final Battle"--particularly because it features the villainess Diana more and has the starchild. As of yet, "The Final Battle" has not been republished.

I must agree with JL Gregory concerning the fact that AC Crispin may well have been writing from a "working script" when she typed the novelization. Too many scenes from V: The Final Battle were left out for it to have been anything other than ignorance of the final drafted script. But there were scenes left out of the first part too. I will name them below.

Donavan's capture and subsequent escape from the Mother Ship is left out. Robin's capture from the rebel base is left out. Donovan's capture by the street gang is edited away. The above scenes and a few others were left out. They could have been included and would have added plenty of texture to the novel. Donavan's air battle after escaping the Mother Ship with the pursuiing sky fighters is left out along with the poignant scene where Robert Maxwell looks at his watch as he frantically drives to rescue his family from the approaching Visitors he knows are on their way in to attack the rebel camp. Maxwell was directly responsible for his wife's death. Yet he betrayed the camp only under great duress from a perfidious Visitor shock trooper. Donovan's talk with his Mom in the end of the original V was transferred to V: The Final Battle. His escape from the shock troops shown in the end of the original mini-series was not included at all (The Escape Where He Runs From The Oppressors In The Night Fog).

In V: The Final Battle, Willie's capture and Ruby's funeral were omitted. The raid and destruction of the pumping station along with Daniel Bernstein's pleading for his life with Steven is cut out. On page 361 it is said that Chris Faber was killed. This major bit of discontinuity was proved false in the very finale of The Final Battle! It is there in the end where Chris assists Ham Tyler with the mortar that spreads shrapnal and red dust upon the Visitor troops. Crispin was no doubt writing from an unfinished script. It's a shame, because the inaccuracies really kept me from giving the work a Five Star rating.

Yes, this was an exciting novel and despite the above flaws in continuity, I really liked the storyline. But it was the added dimensions of sex and language that stirred my blood- for the better! This would have been a PG-13 movie had it been made for the theatres at the time. I liked the story arcs and the personal feelings of the characters and the background information she provided for the reader. For instance, Father Andrew and Ruby's deaths were given their own POV. This added detail, along with special tid-bits like Mike Donovan's father having died before Sean Donovan was born really made the storyline enjoyably detailed for me.

I reccomend this book but I suggest you read it in conjunction with the mini series DVDs. They are available here on Amazon.

A. Nathaniel Wallace, Jr.

V by A.C. Crispin is a wonderful tie-in to one of my favourite television shows of all time. Like the miniseries upon which it is based, V follows the lives of several different characters, all of whom are brought together when alien ships suddenly appear in the skies overhead, hovering above major cities all around the world. As the press and governments scramble to maintain peace and order with the alien Visitors, some individuals begin to question the Visitors' real purpose and intentions for coming to Earth, and soon find that they have the need to band together and strike back against their potential invaders.

The miniseries was filled with awesome effects, wonderful characters, and gruesome storylines. The novelization takes all of those things and adds deeper dimensions and layers of understanding to the whole thing. V was never just a story about alien invasion...it was a study of the best and worst in humankind...taking cues from our very real and recent history...and casing it all in a sort of science fiction-y 'what-if" scenario.

Fans of the series - new and old - will find much to love about this adaptation, and if the reader is left with a somewhat uncomfortable and familiar all-this-has-happened-before kind of feeling, then creator Kenneth Johnson and author A.C. Crispin have done their jobs perfectly.

Received book quickly and it was in the condition described by the seller! Very satisfied and would buy from this seller again!!!