Customer Reviews

Witchblade: Talons

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is always the toughest kind of novel to write, adapting a work from another media. In this case, De Chancie has to deal with *2* versions - comics and TV.

He pulls it off. With style, with humor and with a story that flows along so smoothly that once you start reading, your jaw will drop at the adventures of Det Sara Pezzini. A tough cop in the Phillip Marlow vein, she still struggles to make sense of the strangest magical icon you've ever seen.

And its the background details that make this novel work. One of my favorite scenes was at the concert. De Chancie so captured the mood, I thought I was there!

A great read, well plotted and written by a master of the Horror field!

(When's the sequel due?)

Okay, so it's *not* particularly based on the tv version of "Witchblade". It's not really a problem either. The storyline is still easy enough to follow even if the TNT show is all you've seen. It only takes a little while to adjust to the slightly different spin and then it's an entertaining read. So there's no Danny, Dante, or Gabriel and Joe's still on active duty. Ian is autonomous and Jake knows there's *something* going on with the Witchblade even if he isn't quite sure what it is. Irons and Sara are almost completely recognizable in their tv forms though, and their scenes together have some of the most amusing dialogue of the book. The paranormal aspects are interesting (although I was rather reminded of Zelazny's Merlin, who created a sentient magical computer named Ghost Wheel - If you've read both you'll see the triple connection) and the shadow world was fascinating. So it's not Pulizer material, but it's still an enjoyable, recommendable story for a casual read.

everything you'd want in a Witchblade thriller...and more!

The cover says that it's based on the Yancy Butler/TNT TV series; it's actually closer to the comic book series. The whole Order of the Raven plot is relegated to only a couple of throwaway scenes, and their main goal is to venerate Sara rather than expose her situation or kill her or anything else sinister. Reading this made me understand why Yancy Butler wanted the Witchblade to only turn into an armored gauntlet on the show, as there is a rather sensual description of the Witchblade morphing into little more than an armored monokini over Sara's Anna Nicole Smith-like figure.
I'd recommend this only if you're a fan of the comic books.

An original novel as John DeChancie takes pen to paper to write of this mysterious mystical artifact and the sexy Cop on the Beat.
A day in the life of Det.Sara Pezzini....and it's certainly not normal.
Reading this novel put me into the world of this Gritty cop, and her Witchblade.. More than a object of war but a link to the wide unseen world of magic. The fascinating fictional link of Magic, monsters and "mobs". Even other dimensions....
Certainly not a novelization of an episode nor should it be.
A great "unsung" story for the "keeper" of the Witchblade.
A book I would recommend to my friends.
But I do wonder..what her clothing expenses are...:)

I bought the book because I have read some of the author's short fiction, and was interested in something new. I started reading this book knowing little about either the comic or the TV series, and came out wanting more.

I look forward to reading his 'Castle Perilous' novels as well as any new books.

Wichtblade: Talon by John DeChance is a fantasy tie-in. It is a book adaptation of both the TV show and the comics. Yancy Butler as Sara Pezzini is on the front cover and the comic book version of Sara is on the back cover. Like any tie-in this book is subject to the author abilities and interpretations. It is not subject to budgets, network censure and actors schedules.

DeChance does a skillful job of blending elements from the TV show and the book. Jake and Siry are straight from the comic books. They are flat two-dimensional characters that further a scene. His description of Sara is a blend of both the TV version and the comic books. We get little things are Yancy and armor transformation from comics. The plot is pure fantasy. In one universe Sara is being investigated by Internal Affairs, in another someone wants her to be a goddess.

Ian makes an appearence as a concert pianist and later to help Sara out in a battle with Vlad the Impaler. Between the concert and the battle Sara deals with an Internet wizard, the Russian Mafia, dragons, hired assassins, plots to controls the world and request to become a goddess and some mayhem.

No matter which you like best the TV show or the comics Talon is a good read. I recommend it.

This starts off as a pretty much straight forward cop story, with the occasional Witchblade mention. Things start to accelerate after that, with Romanian grandmothers, a werewolf, a Mah Jong white snow dragon, and that is just in the slower middle part of the book.

There is a crazy confrontation at the end, fueled by a magic sentient computer, a Kabbalah-hacker-artiste, a dragon, a two page cameo by Dracula, for no apparent reason, who also fails to keep his head, Nottingham, the magic summoning teleportation of a police captain, a fire extinguisher, some bird alien race through the portal of a computer, a god, and some deific temptation for Sara.

She says no, and discovers that just possible the sneaky entity on her wrist was behind it.

Fairly straightforward, but madcap ending, perhaps somewhat rushed, not sure if there was a word count mandate?

Since this book is supposedly based on the TV show (or so it says on the cover) I would have to say it fails miserably. Not once could I picture Yancy Buttler as the Sara Pezzini portrayed in this book. The story was weak. The characterization was weak, and I even found a few spelling errors in the text (in the same chapter no less).

Bottom Line: Read it if your bored. Otherwise, stick to the comic book and the TV show.

The only thing Witchblade about this "novel" is the cover and the names. If you want to read GOOD stories that actually revolve around the characters, go to the fanfic web sites! I have read other books by this author and he should be ashamed of himself pawning this off as a piece of "professional" writing. The characters are NOT from the series. Nor are they from the comic! If Mr. De Chancie wanted to write about the Witchblade and it's characters he should have done at least an iota of research. Sara is a cocky snit, Jake is the epitome of every blond joke ever made, Irons is just there and if you are a Nottingham fan- DON'T READ THIS BOOK. Ugh! I consider this a major waste of .... Next time, I'll just buy a ream of copy paper and print out the stuff from the fan sites- at least most of them have beta readers. I found 8 typos in this "professionally published" novel. Subjective review- save your $ and turn on TNT.