Moving From Penguin to Predator
I’ve been fascinated to see the reaction to the Predator novel thus far. Especially on Amazon, where reaction has been all over the place. I’m gratified to see this one (below the cut), though, because it seems like they saw what I saw when writing it. Still, taking Amazon reviews as anything other than a random sample is dangerous. Just glad for the diversity. (Also, have done an interview on this AvP site, and will be answering questions in their forum as well.)
OMG! Dark Horse has found a writer that took the Predator franchise into the stratosphere. After reading this fantastic novel, it is clear why Predator newcomer writer, Jeff VanderMeer has awards for his writing. This is more epic and better than the original! VanderMeer’s cast of human characters are so hardcore that they kinda made Arnold Schwarzeneggar and his band of soldiers look like nusery school kids. Great and epic stuff, this! And this predator too is the baddest of the bad, making previous Predators also seem like pre-adolescent Preds. Fantastic!! Riveting, harrowing, dark and bloody, Predator: South China Sea will surely please REAL Predator fans to its extreme limits. If only Hollywood could produce gold products like this… – Michael and Angela Godwin
December 15, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Great review! I’ve read through a few die hard Predator/AVP forums and it seems that people are really digging South China Sea. It’s just that some fans are so protective of the Predator mythos that it’s hard to please each and every one of them.
That Amazon City of Saints “scat” review still bewilders me….
December 15, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Yeah–that one bewilders me, too. I also wish Blue Tyson would stop posting those long-ass dissections on Amazon that have virtually no meat to them. Just from a format point of view they tend to push everything else too far down.
But I’m happy most of the fans are happy. That was my first rule for myself when writing it.
Jeff
December 15, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I’m not far enough into the novel to have an opinion on the plot yet, but the characters so far are well drawn, and the prose is excellent. Nice and tight, keeps things moving, draws you in right away. What strikes me is that you now have your chops developed to such a point that you can pretty much do whatever you want with them, like a jazz pianist who’s put in so many hours practicing and performing that he can just sit down wherever and with whomever and just cook. The true test, I’d say, is that the Predator fans appear to be receiving it well.
I’m not in a position to disagree or agree with R. Howell helixkahn’s plot- and character-related critiques except to say that so far I’m getting what I’d expect from a Predator story. It certainly is a tricky matter to deal with character in a Predator novel. Who is the “main character”? It’s almost like a police procedural in that what you are there for is not so much the character but the context–in this case, a hunting monster who fucks people up. I watch Law and Order because I enjoy the solving of a crime and feeling superior to the fictional people who commit crimes and get caught, not because I’m rooting for Lennie Briscoe. I was just thinking while reading South China Sea last night that it makes sense to be meeting so many low life characters, because isn’t half the fun enjoying the Predator kill people you don’t like very much?
Dan
December 15, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Yeah, Dan–that’s something I thought about, too. And about how much character background works and how much drags. Which is why I spread out little stories about the main characters throughout the narrative. So it moves forward and then after awhile you get some more background and then you get back to the action. Anyway, glad you’re enjoying it thus far!
December 16, 2008 at 11:28 am
The book doesn’t seem so scary, contrasted as it is with Proust and Ruskin. Especially Ruskin.