Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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86 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Living in the land of the Lost, November 17, 2005
Until I see the name Umberto Eco on the spine of a novel based on the TV series "Lost", I am going to have low expectations. I knew going in that "Lost: Endangered Species" was going to be pretty dreadful. But I love the show, I crave the show, and I had to own and read the book. It's thin and it's low cost, so it wasn't too much of a strain to pick it up.
I agree that it's odd to have a book that's not about any of the "Lost" characters we know on TV. Maybe if you think about it, that 1 1/2 seasons of the show stretches through only seven weeks of real time, then you'll realize there's not a lot of room to tell original stories about these people. This book is about a different Flight 815 survivor, never seen on TV, and alternates chapters about her experiences on the island with chapters about how she came to be there. The TV characters are only seen in between scenes from the two-hour pilot episode. Faith is an annoying, naive character, who passively gets led by the nose throughout the book, until really bad things happen. Another novel-only character harrasses her on the island until she is predictably forced to save his life.
There's no hatch here, no Dharma Initiative, no Others, no sharks with logos on their tail fins. There are no sci-fi elements to this novel, and no real sense of danger anywhere in the island scenes. The title "Endangered Species" leads you to believe that there could be a Dharma Initiative tie-in to the "paradise parrot" seen throughout the book, but it isn't there.
Maybe later "Lost" books, if there are any, will delve deeper into the TV series mythology. Then again, if you read the copyright page, you see that Touchstone owns copyright and pays a flat fee to the writers; these books are quickies not meant to be the cutting edge of TV tie-in fiction. If you just want to read low-impact stories about the island on "Lost", help yourself. I will probably read the second book in the series, but doubt I will ever have to invest the same emotional energy that I reserve for the actual show.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Take for what it is worth, December 29, 2005
"Endangered Species" by Cathy Hapka is okay book but you have to take it for what it is. It's a 200 page book for 5.99 that is trying to cash in on the "Lost Craze." Yes, you see some of the main characters, but the focus on the book character that was made up the writer. It was okay, but some true Lost fans should pass and hope that we will see better books in the future.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Predictable, but a Different Perspective, January 8, 2006
Take the book for what it is - an attempt to capitalize on the huge success of the TV show. The plot centers around Faith, a crash survivor who had been a PHD candidate in biology (particularly snakes). Chapters alternate between her backstory, which contain the same elements as the main characters, and her first few days on the island. She has minor interactions with the main cast, as the survivors struggle through the first few days.
People who wish to read the book should understand a few things. First, the story and backstory of the main characters are pretty much reserved for the TV show. No new information about them will be revealed. Second, Faith has the same kind of flaws as the main cast, which ties into the main story. Third, the plot of Faith's backstory is predictable.
What the book does provide is a look at the show's first few days from a different perspective. Faith does useful things, such as recover luggage, and has her own encounters with the wildlife on the island. This was the most interesting part of the book.
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