V: The Second Generation by Kenneth Johnson
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.09 You Save: $4.90 (61%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of V: The Second Generation
Book Review: so far so good....
Summary: 5 Stars
I have just bought this book,
and it is awesome.
For anyone who is a big fan of V, V The Final Battle, V The Series, and V by AC Crispin,
BUT THIS BOOK,
I guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy it.
Book Review: Great series
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the greatest series ever to be put on tv. They continued the series in a serial novels that capture the show very well. This book is supposed to be a new movie coming out shortly I hope.Book Review: Erasing the Mistakes of the Past: The V Saga Continues
Summary: 4 Stars
The plot of V: THE SECOND GENERATION is basically this: over twenty years ago the Visitors arrived. They came in 50 gigantic motherships and said they came in peace. They said that their world was dying and that they needed the help of the citizens of Earth in manufacturing chemicals to help save their planet. In exchange, they promised a cure to all our diseases, access to their technology, and knowledge about the universe. It seemed too good to be true and it was. Those who questioned the Visitors intentions, particularly scientists, disappeared never to be seen from again. A reporter, Mike Donovan, was granted access to flag mothership above L.A. and through a bit of good old fashioned snooping discovered who the visitors really were and what their true intentions were. They were really a race of reptiles. Their world was dying, but because of their own mismanagement. They had come to Earth not to manufacture chemicals, but to take water and food, the food being humans. Donovan joined the L.A. Resistance, led by Dr. Juliette Parrish, and with the help from Martin, a Visitor who was a part of the Fifth Column (a group of Visitors who were trying to internally sabotage their Leader's plans) they won a small victory against the Visitors and sent a message into space aimed at the adversaries of the Visitors.
Since that time, a lot has happened. Much of the Resistance worldwide was eradicated during the Great Purge in 1999 by the Visitor's Commander, Diana. The Visitor's presence is accepted. Most everyone knows they are reptiles hiding under fake masks, as evidenced by the large amount of hybrid children, known as Dregs, running all over the world. An entire generation has grown up under Visitor occupation and believe the lies and propaganda that have been fed to them their entire lives. They follow the Visitor way and though the oceans and lakes of the world are fifty percent gone, they believe the Visitors are trying to help with the problem instead of actually being the cause. But not all of the new generation believes the Visitors. A growing number of them have discovered the truth and are fighting back. Not only that, but the distress call sent into space a generation ago has been answered and the enemy of the Visitors, the Zedti, an humanoid race of insects, has sent aid to the remaining Resistance in hopes of wiping out the majority of Visitors while they can. However, the Visitors came claiming to need help and wanting to help the human race, when in reality they sought to slowly destroy Earth. Are the Zedti any different?
I was a kid when the mini-series "V" first aired on television. I found it enthralling and over twenty-five years later, it still holds up very well. Therefore, I was excited to read Kenneth Johnson's sequel, V: THE SECOND GENERATION. I wasn't disappointed. The story is an exciting read. Whereas "V" tried to illustrate how fascism and Nazi-type Holocaust could happen in the U.S., V: THE SECOND GENERATION plays with the ideas of terrorism, counter-terrorism, and political indifference. Like the mini-series, there are a lot of characters to keep track of, but once the exposition is clear the book becomes a real page-turner.
The biggest complaint people have about the book is that it completely ignores the events of V: THE FINAL BATTLE as well as V: THE COMPLETE SERIES. I watched most of V: THE COMPLETE SERIES when it first aired on television and have since watched the entire series again on DVD. Personally, I had no problem ignoring the events of V: THE COMPLETE SERIES. NBC just wanted to cash in on what had been an incredibly profitable property. They kept most of the characters and actors to appease fans, but apparently didn't keep many good writers because the series just wasn't the same. I liked some of the episodes of V, but when the killed Martin off I knew things just weren't going to be good.
As for V: THE FINAL BATTLE, it was a mixed bag. I enjoyed the introduction of Ham Tyler and Chris Farber, but the entire birth of Elizabeth and her mysterious powers was almost incomprehensible. Kenneth Johnson had originally been set to direct the mini-series and had written an earlier draft, but left the project when NBC refused to give the series money for special effects and decided to go in "different direction" than Johnson's script. So, even though they aren't in V: THE SECOND GENERATION, I have a suspicion that Ham Tyler and Chris Farber were probably part of Johnson's original story and Elizabeth was not. V: THE FINAL BATTLE isn't quite as enjoyable as V, but for most people it was the concluding chapters to the V saga. I admit, it was a bit difficult for me to ignore the events of V: THE FINAL BATTLE when I first starting reading V: THE SECOND GENERATION. At first I kept thinking, "What, no Ham Tyler?", "What, no red dust?", "No star-child? (thank goodness!)." However, once I got passed that, I didn't have any major problems with the story.
Things are a bit rushed and there are some plot holes, but the story is entertaining and moves at a fairly quick pace. In fact, there are times that it almost reads like a screenplay, which might actually be how the novel started out. Kenneth Johnson has been trying to get his creation turned into a motion picture for years. He's even stated he has a sequel written. I have a feeling that V: THE SECOND GENERATION is an adaptation of that screenplay.
In terms of a sci-fi story, V: THE SECOND GENERATION is about average. For fans of V, if you can get passed the idea that the events of V: THE FINAL BATTLE didn't actually take place, you should have an enjoyable read.
Book Review: Look forward to seeing it on screen
Summary: 4 Stars
This is Kenneth Johnson's novelisation of his, as yet, unmade movie script, the sequel to his original TV miniseries - and it reads like one; you see in your mind's eye the scenes changing as they would on screen. But for me this posed no problem, because I grew up reading the novelisations of the BBC's Doctor Who series (the only way, pre-VCR, to enjoy a story you had seen following its initial broadcast and rerun).
Kenny is on record saying he left the project after the original miniseries because he didn't agree with the direction his fellow producers were taking it, and so rejected the plotlines progressed by The Final Battle miniseries and the subsequent episodic television series. So V - The Second Generation is the sequel Kenny envisioned, and as a result is at odds with events of The Final Battle.
The story concerns the SOS sent out by Julie at the climax to the miniseries. In The Second Generation, twenty years after the plea for help, another alien race, the insect like Zedti, secretly walk among the humans and reptilian "Visitors". But what is their purpose? Are they here to liberate us from the totalitarian rule of the Visitors, or do they have their own agenda?
Just as Kenny parodied the Nazi occupation of Germany with his original show, here he explores the reality of coalition armies, the mistrust they generate, and the dubious motives of outsiders who come to help.
I did find the novel confusing at times, especially when new character names were the same as old miniseries ones. For example, Ruby isn't the elderly Jewish lady from the TV show, but rather a young half-breed girl. The Shawn of The Second Generation is not Mike Donovan's son; his son is only mentioned in passing, and he's still unaccounted for.
I'm assuming that Kenny is continuing the policy of using names to honour his family and friends. We know Mike and Juliet are named after his own children (just as Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk was renamed David after his eldest son). So perhaps Ruby and Shawn are family names he didn't want to leave out?
As I understand it, Kenny's plan is to remake the TV miniseries as a big feature film, and then follow it up with The Second Generation. I do hope he can get funding for the project, because The Second Generation makes a more satisfying sequel than its television counterparts.
For fans of V and Kenneth Johnson, this book is highly recommended.
Book Review: V: The Second Chance
Summary: 4 Stars
After an almost painful start and being overly descriptive of every person and event introduced, Johnson settles down and tells a fine story.
Wisely sidestepping V The Final Battle and the ensuing television mishmash, the story takes up two decades after the original mini-series.
This book is NOT for non fans and it is most definitely NOT NOT NOT for fans who enjoyed the direction the series went without Johnson at the helm.
Mankind accepts its new rulers (This has happened time and again in history so the premise is ultimately believable that an alien superpower would be able to subjugate humans and make them like it.)and goes Nazi on anyone who would defy the saviors of Earth, even as they steal our people and our resources.
I realize that this is no masterwork. It probably won't find a huge audience. But, once you accept that it is the creator finishing a job that was denied him years ago, you can relax and enjoy a good adventure yarn. It is fluff, to be sure. But who doesn't like cotton candy?
If you must cling to the post Johnson V series, think of this as an alternate history.
The only thing wrong with this stab at the aliens is that,since he was a fictional character created after Kenneth Johnson left V, Ham Tyler is nowhere to be found. He really could have charged this one up.
We have to settle for the originals, Mike Donovan, Juliet Parish and Willy and Harmy (She was killed in V:TFB!)to get the job done.
A resistance movement would take twenty years to put a dent into the alien operation.
Nothing realistic here, which is a good thing.
The Visitors have enemies, referenced at the end of the first mini series, who take the humans side.......Or do they?
Give it a chance and make up your own mind. Johnson finally puts his finish to a story he began so long ago and he serves all the characters well.