Don Bassingthwaite's Blog, page 2

Reviewers gush for novelization – is this an alternate universe?

Timed smack up against the opening of Where the Wild Things are comes The Wild Things, Dave Egger’s adaptation of the screenplay that he co-wrote. In other words, a novelization. A tie-in. Wow. Should we wait for the shunning, the calls of “hack” to begin?

Of course not. With utter predictability, mainstream reviewers are wetting themselves in their rush to talk about the book. Is it as good as they say it is? That’s not the point (and in fact some reviewers point out flaws, so it appears Eggers is human after all). If this was anyone else and probably any other movie, The Wild Things wouldn’t get the time of day. I hope they’ll remember this the next time they glance at a novelization and dismiss it out of hand.

Just one snippet from a reviewer that struck at me: “Eggers’ Wild Things expands Sendak’s story with additional depth and detail, and the depictions of the monsters and their antics are truly imaginative and have piqued my interest in the cinematic version.” Umm… yes, because that’s what ALL good tie-ins do.

Reviewers gush for novelization - is this an alternate universe?

Timed smack up against the opening of Where the Wild Things are comes The Wild Things, Dave Egger's adaptation of the screenplay that he co-wrote. In other words, a novelization. A tie-in. Wow. Should we wait for the shunning, the calls of "hack" to begin?

Of course not. With utter predictability, mainstream reviewers are wetting themselves in their rush to talk about the book. Is it as good as they say it is? That's not the point (and in fact some reviewers point out flaws, so it appears Eggers is human after all). If this was anyone else and probably any other movie, The Wild Things wouldn't get the time of day. I hope they'll remember this the next time they glance at a novelization and dismiss it out of hand.

Just one snippet from a reviewer that struck at me: "Eggers' Wild Things expands Sendak's story with additional depth and detail, and the depictions of the monsters and their antics are truly imaginative and have piqued my interest in the cinematic version." Umm… yes, because that's what ALL good tie-ins do.

Outstanding review!

A review of Word of Traitors has gone up over at the blog dungeonsmaster.com for one heck of a ringing endorsement!

"Word of Traitors is a great Eberron story and an all around great novel. If you've followed these characters through Bassingthwaite's Dragon Below trilogy and The Doom of Kings then you'll be very happy when you read this book. The story just keeps getting better and better."

You might want to be warned that there is a brief and mostly spoiler-free summary of the book included, but it's separate from the review and if you cross your eyes and blindly scroll about halfway down the page (to the word Review in bold), you should be fine.

Something else I should let people know in the context of the reference to the Dragon Below is that the trilogy is now unfortunately out of print (boo!). However, I've got a fair number of copies available so if you haven't read The Binding Stone, The Grieving Tree, or The Killing Song, I can hook you up.