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A review by mayoroffailure
Interstellar: The Official Movie Novelization by Greg Keyes
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.