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1st out of 76 books
—
44 voters
The Abyss
Far beneath the blue Caribbean sea lies Deepcore, the world's most advanced high-technology drilling station. When a mysterious force sends the submarine USS Montana spinning out of control, Deepcore is commandeered as the base for a naval rescue operation.
Lindsay Brigman, designer of Deepcore, insists on joining the team. When the operation gets underway, she witnesses so...more
Lindsay Brigman, designer of Deepcore, insists on joining the team. When the operation gets underway, she witnesses so...more
Paperback, 363 pages
Published
October 5th 1989
by Legend
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This book was an incredible work of science fiction. I read it as a teenager the same summer that the movie came out. A friend and I were big fans of James Cameron's "The Terminator" and "Aliens," so when we heard he had a new movie coming out, we were pretty excited. Then my mom brought home this book by Orson Scott Card, and I knew it would be great.
Once again, you can understand my bias on things. The protagonist in "The Abyss" is a female aeronautical engineer. I really admired her and saw a...more
Once again, you can understand my bias on things. The protagonist in "The Abyss" is a female aeronautical engineer. I really admired her and saw a...more
While I am used to books being different than their cinamatic counterparts, this one surprised me with the amount of differences. From character' names to the state of politics, everything seemed different.
Perhaps the greatest difference was that instead of a hurricane as the catastrophy up on the ocean's crest, it was more about politics. Then, I did a little reading and was amazed to find that the book was not the inspiration for the movie, but in fact, the movie inspire Orson Scott Card to w...more
Perhaps the greatest difference was that instead of a hurricane as the catastrophy up on the ocean's crest, it was more about politics. Then, I did a little reading and was amazed to find that the book was not the inspiration for the movie, but in fact, the movie inspire Orson Scott Card to w...more
Jan 09, 2008
Sarah Rains
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who loved the movie
Recommended to Sarah by:
my grandfather
This was a really great book. If you liked the movie you'll LOVE the book. So many times in science fiction there isn't a lot of characterization.........not with this book. You know these characters and you can relate to them in some way.
I can watch the movie again and again, and can read the novella again and again. It is spectacular, and contains more background than the movie did. One of my favorites, actually.
Eh. This book was okay in some ways, and occasionally you could see a glimmer of OSC genius poking through, but there were two major flaws for me: A) it was a bit cliche, which I guess isn't really OSC's fault since the novel is based on a screenplay by James Cameron, who is talented in some ways but not even on the same level creatively as OSC, but... really? Aliens down at the very bottom of the sea who are human enough to have eyes and hands and who give a crap about humans? Who have somethin...more
"Hey, this was alright, considering that its a novelization of The Abyss and all." Surely this is backhanded praise, but Card, who I've yet to get into ("Ender's Game" is a perennial favorite among people who don't ordinarily like science fiction, but...), invests effort beyond the call of duty for a meager paycheck such as this and still maintains a sort of dignity, unlike, say, my old punching bag Alan Dean Foster.
The novel based on the film of the same name. Card draws upon the screenplay and the completed film and expands on them a bit. The motivations and thoughts of the main characters are more clearly drawn out, which makes them all a little more human. Best read with the film running in parallel. Rated M for some violence, coarse language and adult themes. 3/5
May 14, 2008
Sackinger
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
every man, woman, and teen on the planet.
Shelves:
all-time-favorites
If I said, "A tour de force" would you hit me? I saw the movie, "The Abyss" and consider it to be excellent. Better by far than any other scifi/adventure movie made after 1930.
When I heard that Orson Scott Card had made a novel based off the movie, I was sorely disappointed. No novel from show ever works. Movies should be made from nothing larger than a novelette in my opinion. So why was Card making substandard work?
Then I read it.
I apologize most sincerely, Mr. Card, for ever having doubted y...more
When I heard that Orson Scott Card had made a novel based off the movie, I was sorely disappointed. No novel from show ever works. Movies should be made from nothing larger than a novelette in my opinion. So why was Card making substandard work?
Then I read it.
I apologize most sincerely, Mr. Card, for ever having doubted y...more
One of best novelizations you will ever read. But to call it a novelization would be a dis-service. It is a brilliant epic science fiction novel by a master writer in top form. It pulls off the seemingly impossible and manages to take the vision of one of the most gifted cinematic storytellers of all time and translate it to the novel form.
I read this book at an impressionable age, and for better or worse it strongly influenced my ideas of romantic love and sacrificial love. Yes, it's just that good. Sure, the movie is about ocean dwelling aliens and the threat of nuclear war, but it's also about love lost and found again, which Card brings out in his novelization.
Always loved the movie, but the book added so much more depth to it. The book was written while the movie was being filmed, so when you're reading it, you can picture every scene almost perfectly, but what Orson Scott Card did was add so much depth to the characters that you've now got additional into their motivations.
Not a bad book.. I read the book after I saw the movie.. I was needed some further explanation as to why events occurred the way they did that the original movie left out.. The book presented the reasoning quite well.. I would not have read the book if I had not seen the movie; I am glad I did..
This book was written after the movie, so even that makes it feel a bit different. I loved the movie, and the book takes the movie and just goes much much deeper (sorry for the pun) into the characters and the cool aliens.
I have read this book 3 times. Super entertaining and really fun.
I have read this book 3 times. Super entertaining and really fun.
While this experiment from the late 80s is an improvement on the earlier experiment of "2001, A Space Odyssey" they share a similar weekness. For me, the movie (in both cases) does not stand on its own. The book expains a lot. In both cases I wanted to like them more than I did.
I gave this a 2.8. I was pretty disappointed in it overall because I'm a huge Orson Scott Card fan. Perhaps I am just used to him writing in Ender style, but this book seemed a little juvenile in its language usage. Far too many references to male private parts. Not something I would have expected out of this particular set of characters.
This is the best science fiction novel I've read thus-far. If your looking for something to read that has action, romance, suspense, drama, great characters and story. This book is for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. So put on your scuba gear and enjoy the adventure.
Sep 20, 2012
Arow
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sci-fi,
fall-challenge-2012
I really enjoyed this novel. I think I would have provided it a higher rating had it not been a book based upon a movie. There was just something missing from the book that I feel would have been there otherwise.
I have never seen the movie but it will now be on my to watch list.
I have never seen the movie but it will now be on my to watch list.
A "noveliization" that surpasses the film it was based on. Card wrote the book on set, watching the dailies as they came in, and collaborated with James Cameron on the character background. It worked. It worked well.
I usually don't read books based on movies, it just seems like a bad idea in general; however, I really enjoyed this one. Granted, I read it when I was really young, so that may have something to do with it.
The book and movie screenplay were written at the same time, which is rare, so there isn't the usual discrepancy, though there are things in the book (espec. character background) that aren't in the film.
For what it is, a novel based on a movie, he did a great job. Expanded on the storyline, gave you more insight into the characters and made it all much more interesting than the movie.
the movie was made first and this is an adaptation of the film, but Orson Scott Card is a literary legend, so I had to read it. One of my favorite films, and a pretty good book.
An excellent adaptation of a screenplay to novel, in fact probably the best I've read. Everything Orson added for depth fits like a glove, like it was always his story to tell.
It is my understanding that Card took an attempted screen play and rewrote it so they could make a movie. Great job! Love the movie also.
Better than the movie in my opinion, although very true to the plot. Maybe I just love a good novel more than a good movie.
This book is a good read. As I remember, it was not violent and didn't have profanity.
It was a page turner.
It was a page turner.
...wonderful back story to the movie. Well worth it the time if you can find it...currenty out of print.
A good underwater adventure read. It's been a while since I've read it, but I enjoyed it.
My mom took me to get his autograph waaaaay back when... and I had him sign this book :)
I love this story. It is one of my favorite movies and now it is one of my favorite novels.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| What was wrong? | 4 | 35 | Apr 29, 2009 05:21pm |
Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more
More about Orson Scott Card...
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more
363 pages(only Stephen King would call that a novella lol)
Aug 19, 2012 10:02am