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siskubatas's review against another edition
5.0
Interstellar is one of those movies you sometimes wish you could experience again for the first time. I don't know how many times I've watched this movie already, so giving this novelization an opportunity was a no-brainer.
You won't find any extended or deleted scenes and all that you may look forward to in a movie novelization. But getting to know what's in every character's mind just as extended explanations on hard to digest topics are enough to transform the way you experience this great story, so I'm extremely grateful for that.
I'll have to choose between the movie and the novel next time I look for my periodical Interstellar fix. I guess I'll be doing both from now on.
You won't find any extended or deleted scenes and all that you may look forward to in a movie novelization. But getting to know what's in every character's mind just as extended explanations on hard to digest topics are enough to transform the way you experience this great story, so I'm extremely grateful for that.
I'll have to choose between the movie and the novel next time I look for my periodical Interstellar fix. I guess I'll be doing both from now on.
mayoroffailure's review against another edition
5.0
Go see the movie before you read this, I mean it, go see it.
Now that I have my official disclaimer out of the way lets get down to the book. If I'm being honest, I didn't even know that they still made movie novelizations. I remember quite enjoying the Star Wars novelizations when I was a kid but I hadn't even seen another until I walked past this little gem in my local target. Because it was Interstellar merchandise I had to have it and I can say with out a doubt that this was a fantastic piece of literature.
Interstellar follows a future earth where a bacteria called blight has been poisoning the earth and making it impossible to grow crops. The last remnants of NASA have found a wormhole out by Saturn and are using it to explore worlds in the distant galaxy. NASA has found three possible new worlds for humanity to live on and sends a mission out to find the best candidate.
The idea is certainly nothing new, a lot of people have speculated on interstellar travel and have written about the new worlds for humanity when the Earth tells us to leave. But Interstellar is grounded is science, the calculations on wormholes, gravity, black holes, and all sorts of sciencey stuff are taken straight from Kip Thorne. The story and it's ideas were presented excellently in the film but this novelization is just short of perfect.
I would have expected the same dialogue from the movie with minimal characterization and descriptions of events but that wasn't what I got. Instead Mr. Keyes wrote a book that not only takes the dialogue from the film but fully explains the events in detail and does an excellent job with characterization. Mr. Keyes did a fantastic job using prose to extended the characters motivations and reasons behind their decisions. We get great insights into the minds of Cooper, Brand, Murph, and even the lesser characters like Doyle and Romilly. Its all pulled off excellently well and it's fast paced enough to read in a day.
It's rather easy for an author to slack when writing a novelization, after all the dialogue is already there and chances are your readers have seen the movie so your writing only has to be good enough to make them remember the scene. However Mr. Keyes did the exact opposite, yes he did use the film's dialogue but the writing that he puts into it was absolutely fantastic, I would seriously recommend this to fans of the film and any fans of science fiction. This isn't just a good novelization, it's a good science fiction book. period.
As our earth moves closer and closer to serious environmental breakdown this idea is something that we are going to have to think about. We are sending the first humans to Mars soon but how much time do we have before mother nature kicks us out? We must face the realities of interstellar travel and we must turn our heads to the sky before its too late.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Now that I have my official disclaimer out of the way lets get down to the book. If I'm being honest, I didn't even know that they still made movie novelizations. I remember quite enjoying the Star Wars novelizations when I was a kid but I hadn't even seen another until I walked past this little gem in my local target. Because it was Interstellar merchandise I had to have it and I can say with out a doubt that this was a fantastic piece of literature.
Interstellar follows a future earth where a bacteria called blight has been poisoning the earth and making it impossible to grow crops. The last remnants of NASA have found a wormhole out by Saturn and are using it to explore worlds in the distant galaxy. NASA has found three possible new worlds for humanity to live on and sends a mission out to find the best candidate.
The idea is certainly nothing new, a lot of people have speculated on interstellar travel and have written about the new worlds for humanity when the Earth tells us to leave. But Interstellar is grounded is science, the calculations on wormholes, gravity, black holes, and all sorts of sciencey stuff are taken straight from Kip Thorne. The story and it's ideas were presented excellently in the film but this novelization is just short of perfect.
I would have expected the same dialogue from the movie with minimal characterization and descriptions of events but that wasn't what I got. Instead Mr. Keyes wrote a book that not only takes the dialogue from the film but fully explains the events in detail and does an excellent job with characterization. Mr. Keyes did a fantastic job using prose to extended the characters motivations and reasons behind their decisions. We get great insights into the minds of Cooper, Brand, Murph, and even the lesser characters like Doyle and Romilly. Its all pulled off excellently well and it's fast paced enough to read in a day.
It's rather easy for an author to slack when writing a novelization, after all the dialogue is already there and chances are your readers have seen the movie so your writing only has to be good enough to make them remember the scene. However Mr. Keyes did the exact opposite, yes he did use the film's dialogue but the writing that he puts into it was absolutely fantastic, I would seriously recommend this to fans of the film and any fans of science fiction. This isn't just a good novelization, it's a good science fiction book. period.
As our earth moves closer and closer to serious environmental breakdown this idea is something that we are going to have to think about. We are sending the first humans to Mars soon but how much time do we have before mother nature kicks us out? We must face the realities of interstellar travel and we must turn our heads to the sky before its too late.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
iharley's review against another edition
3.0
I've never read a book based on a movie before, it's always been the other way around. One downside to this is how the characters look and talk are already mapped out. Cooper can't look or sound like anyone but Matthew McConaughey. I read the book hoping for more than what the movie showed, but when the book-to-movie process is reversed that just might not be the case. All the important bits are in the movie, anything else would be extra stuff and would be like fan fiction. I will say that it did help in exploring emotions and thoughts not so easily shown in a movie, but there is no extra development or plot to be found. So in this I was disappointed, but that might be the fault of me not looking at the process correctly. As I really likes the movie I don't begrudge having read this, but I will think twice before reading another movie-to-book setup.
skaldhart's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ilsa_shafi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
estherpereiraa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
ladymink's review against another edition
4.0
Had hoped for a little more insight into the characters than in the movie, and you get a tiny but more about Cooper and his daughter, but not much else. also had hoped for a bit more to the ending, but no such luck. pretty much, it's the movie in book format.
sarahbla's review against another edition
Finally
tbh I only read it to smaller my tbr. I still don’t know if it was worth it yet. I was so excited when I got it so I didn’t want to get rid of it. But I already knew the story and I wasn’t into it as I used to be. This is why I want to smaller my tbr because otherwise I have all these books and until I come around to read them I’m not interested anymore.
tbh I only read it to smaller my tbr. I still don’t know if it was worth it yet. I was so excited when I got it so I didn’t want to get rid of it. But I already knew the story and I wasn’t into it as I used to be. This is why I want to smaller my tbr because otherwise I have all these books and until I come around to read them I’m not interested anymore.
robyotter's review against another edition
4.0
This book is good as a straight up novelization of the movie, which is all it's trying to be. I was hoping that it would go more in depth, but I suppose that's what The Science of Interstellar is for!
bengthesnowball's review against another edition
5.0
This novelisation is very good but for the first time ever I think the movie is better. This is not the fault of the book at all - it does all it can to preserve the best parts of the movie while also adding descriptive depth - but the nature of the story, the music and the visuals are far more powerful in the film than in the novelised form in my opinion.
Interstellar is so powerful as a movie and a book as it combines the best elements of sci-fi, of epic travel, with an incredibly moving family relationship that tells a riveting story of reaching for the stars while also being grounded in some of the most fundamental elements of human life.
I would recommend both the movie and book
Interstellar is so powerful as a movie and a book as it combines the best elements of sci-fi, of epic travel, with an incredibly moving family relationship that tells a riveting story of reaching for the stars while also being grounded in some of the most fundamental elements of human life.
I would recommend both the movie and book