Battlestar Galactica by Jeffrey A. Carver Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Battlestar Galactica
Book Review: POWERFUL, APPEALING NARRATION
Summary: 5 Stars
For sci-fi fans Battlestar Galactica is iconic. Making its first appearance in 1978 as a television series, it became the drama to which other sci-fi episodes were compared. Today, it has reappeared on the SCI FI channel after a hiatus of over 20 years. Written by Ronald Moore, (think Star Trek), it has won a new generation of followers.
Now, audiobook aficionados can enjoy Battlestar as narrated by the clear, powerfully appealing voice of Jonathan Davis. He's a mimic among the best, and has developed character voices which bring stunning impact to his reading.
This story is based on Jeffrey Carver's novelization of the miniseries which, as he notes, was both a pleasure and a challenge for him. "Turning a story on screen into a novel is not a simple matter of transcription.....," he said. "When you're writing the novel, you have to flesh out things that go by quickly onscreen."
Thus it fell to him to sometimes write original material to bridge gaps or explain quick scene changes that are easily handled on film but need to be described with the written word. This must be done while staying true to the original intention.
All of this is by way of saying that with this audio book we now have one more way to enjoy Battlestar Galactica. It's a must for seasoned sci-fi fans, while others will be thrilled when they are introduced to it for the first time.
- Gail Cooke
Book Review: Author comment
Summary: 5 Stars
Um, yes...actually the author did view the show, many times, and is well aware of the polytheistic nature of the Colonists' religion. If indeed the spellings are as reported by the previous reviewer, then that would indicate typos introduced into the text following my last proof check. (Not impossible.)
In truth, I would love to have gone into more detail about the differing religious viewpoints and what it meant to the characters. But as that was still under development in the minds of the show's creative team, it was an opportunity I never really had. Like viewers everywhere, I had to wait and see what was going to unfold with the characters. So yes--the scope of this novel is a rather sharply focused retelling of the miniseries, with gaps filled in and characters brought into clearer relief--but not too much expansion beyond the original.
What I tried to do was to retell the story in as fast-moving, plausible, and entertaining a fashion as possible--and I hope I succeeded. (You must of course take my star rating with a grain of salt.)
If you'd like to read more about the process of writing this book, there are some entries about it in my blog, at http://starrigger.blogspot.com.
Book Review: Less than the original
Summary: 2 Stars
When I read this book, I thought I would gain insight into the minds and hearts of the characters that could not be expressed on film... this book did not give that. It's more a printed version of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series/pilot and nothing more.
Another thing that disappointed me was that I personally enjoy the differing viewpoints of religion in the show and in this book it is so inconsistent that it's almost jarring when I find it. When most of the Colonials say "Gods" it's spelled as "God's". I have to wonder if Jeffrey Carver actually saw the show to know that the Colonials' religion was polytheistic while the Cylons' were monotheistic.
The 2 stars I gave were pretty much for its association with Battlestar Galactica.