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newnumber6Finished: The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
Started: Tales of Sector General, by James White
More discussion (including comments on the Dead Zone TV show, and adaptions of novels in general) below the cut.
Okay.. Dead Zone was enjoyable, overall. A lot of differences from the TV series, which I encountered first, but the changes don't bother me. In fact, I'd hazard to say I like the TV series more than the book... I wonder if that's merely because I saw the TV show first, or if it's genuinely better. Now, that's not to say the changes would be better in all adaptions; a movie, probably would be better to stick to the book. But for an ongoing series, making Johnny's Ex-Girlfriend into a recurring character, and collapsing the role of her husband into the Sheriff he helps out has created some excellent drama.
Although they've made major changes to some of the characters, a lot of the spirit seems to be intact, which is important. And of course, some elements and scenes in the series are lifted directly from the book.
To my surprise, Gene Perdy from the TV show wasn't in the book at all. The TV show also avoids some of the more over-the-top elements of the book, for example in not making Greg Stillson a fool you'd find it hard to believe anyone could elect, or by removing the ultra-religious-wackjobs from the main plot (Gene Perdy is very religious, of course, but it's in a relatively sane way). Some of the changes also make it formulaic, but hey, I look forward to the series, which is more than I can say about most.
Now I start on Tales of Sector General, which contains 3 of the latter Sector General stories. I talked about the setting (a multi-species hospital in space) before and my general thoughts on it, so I won't repeat them. After I finish this, there will only be one Sector General story I don't have. Kind of a pity, since I enjoy it.
Started: Tales of Sector General, by James White
More discussion (including comments on the Dead Zone TV show, and adaptions of novels in general) below the cut.
Okay.. Dead Zone was enjoyable, overall. A lot of differences from the TV series, which I encountered first, but the changes don't bother me. In fact, I'd hazard to say I like the TV series more than the book... I wonder if that's merely because I saw the TV show first, or if it's genuinely better. Now, that's not to say the changes would be better in all adaptions; a movie, probably would be better to stick to the book. But for an ongoing series, making Johnny's Ex-Girlfriend into a recurring character, and collapsing the role of her husband into the Sheriff he helps out has created some excellent drama.
Although they've made major changes to some of the characters, a lot of the spirit seems to be intact, which is important. And of course, some elements and scenes in the series are lifted directly from the book.
To my surprise, Gene Perdy from the TV show wasn't in the book at all. The TV show also avoids some of the more over-the-top elements of the book, for example in not making Greg Stillson a fool you'd find it hard to believe anyone could elect, or by removing the ultra-religious-wackjobs from the main plot (Gene Perdy is very religious, of course, but it's in a relatively sane way). Some of the changes also make it formulaic, but hey, I look forward to the series, which is more than I can say about most.
Now I start on Tales of Sector General, which contains 3 of the latter Sector General stories. I talked about the setting (a multi-species hospital in space) before and my general thoughts on it, so I won't repeat them. After I finish this, there will only be one Sector General story I don't have. Kind of a pity, since I enjoy it.
