Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones: Film Junior Novelizations #1

by Ryder Windham

The world's greatest adventurer is back!

Follow Indy on the quest that started it all, as he races from the Himalayan Mountains to the Egyptian desert in a high-stakes chase to track down the Ark of the Covenant. He must recover it before the Nazis do--or whole world could be in danger.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy, Childrens, Media Tie In, Anthropology, Historical Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Ryder Windham is an American sci-fi author who has written over sixty Star Wars books, including novels, comics, reference books, and so on. He has also written junior novelizations for Indiana Jones movies. Since 1993, he has been working on Star Wars projects either by himself or with other authors. His reference book Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide had been on the New York Times Best Seller list for three weeks in 2005. Although he has written lots of books, accepted interviews, and appeared at several fan-conventions, little is known about his personal life.

Reviews

[Max]

- Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, by Ryder Windham

- There are 4 main characters in this book, Indiana Jones, Marion Ravenwood, René Belloq, and Major Toht.


- Indiana Jones is an archaeologist as well as a Professor of Archaeology at the fictional Marshall College in Bedford, Connecticut. Indiana is the main protagonist of the story. Indiana is constantly on the run from those who wish to sabotage his archaeological plans and discoveries or from those who wish to end his life. During his various ventures across the globe, Indy reconciles with old friends, makes new friends, and finds new enemies.

- Marion Ravenwood is a tough, self-reliant woman who is unintimidated by men and is able to take care of herself when the situation demands it. Surprised to see Indiana Jones years after he abandoned her and their relationship, she is unwillingly forced to tag along on Indiana’s quests after a bar she owned in rural Asia was burned by Nazi treasure hunters.

- René Belloq was a French archaeologist who rivaled Indiana Jones. René is one of the antagonists of the story. He constantly made efforts to sabotage Indiana’s findings and was successful in stealing Indiana’s treasures many times. He was hired as a mercenary by Nazi treasure hunters and he worked for the Nazis to look for the same artifact that Indiana Jones sought.

- Major Toht was a Gestapo agent part of the Nazi treasure hunting team. He was a sadistic psychopath and was extremely loyal to Adolf Hitler. Toht was the main antagonist of the story. He was a quiet man, rarely speaking unless he was torturing another character or intimidating another character.

- The story is set in 1936, a few years before the start of World War II. A team of Nazi treasure hunters led by Major Toht watch over Indiana Jones when he reconciles with an old friend by the name of Marion Ravenwood. The Nazis had evidence that Ravenwood possessed a headpiece capable of pinpointing the location of the Ark of the Covenant, a biblical artifact supposedly used by the ancient Hebrews to carry the Ten Commandments on their march to their Promised Land. If Indiana could locate the Ark using Marion’s headpiece and give it to the U.S. government for extensive examination, all may go well, but if the Nazis find the Ark of the Covenant first, they could harness its power to gain a massive advantage in the ensuing World War.

- The main conflict of the story was about Indiana, Marion, and the rest of his friends beating Major Toht’s team of hunters to the Ark of the Covenant. Despite the fact that the Nazis acquired the Ark, the mysterious spirits that were emitted from the Ark upon opening had the ability to send anyone into the afterlife if the people happen to look at the spirits. Not knowing this serious fact, this put the Nazis’ lives in grave danger.

- I enjoyed this book as I had knowledge about the stories of Indiana Jones. Since this book was written after the Indiana Jones film of the same name, it was easy for me to follow along the story as I had previously watched the movie when I was much younger. Adapting an adventure movie to a book has many advantages, and one was the fact that the author could further explain key plot points or give the characters in the story more development. Reading the book always kept me remembering about the parts that came next in the story, and it was a great feeling because it reminded me of my first time watching Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually almost worthy of four stars. For a novelisation, let alone one intended for "younger" audiences (though it was certainly violent enough), the writing is quite brilliant. Windham really manages to capture and even expand on the lore and atmosphere of this action classic. Personally, I've always found Raiders to be the weakest of the original three Indy films. It may not be insignificant to state that it was the last one I saw as a child, after already falling in love with The Last Crusade and The Temple of Doom, even though the latter properly traumatised me for many years - the infernal temple of Kali, hearts being ripped out of live chests, crocodiles (or were they alligators or caimans?) ripping people apart; it was brutal for a PG-13 movie.

As often seems to be the case, I just feel like this book started excellently, but by the second half, it largely just became a word-for-word translation of the movie. Plus, the action scenes go on a bit too long.

[Charlie Easterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a YA novelization so, is it a paragon of English literature? No. But it’s one of the better YA novelizations out there. It’s accurate, the tone and characters ring true, and the humor and intensity remains largely genuine. A good recommend to any YA readers either already fans of or looking to get into Indiana Jones.

[H Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Autumn Slaght]

I read this book as a teenager and remember just falling in love with it. I've always been a girl who loves adventure and the writing style of this one was one of the most incredible ones that ever captured me as a young adult. Here recently, I've been reading a lot more YA fiction and revisiting some of my favorite books as a teenager.

Indiana Jones and the novelizations were some of my favorites as a teen, and though I've recently moved upward to books that are deeper storylines and more adult (in the clean sense of the word, books that appeal to adults,) I enjoyed the little adventure this tale took me. It was an adventure back to my youth, reminding me how captivated I was by Ryder Windham's writing style...and I have to say, I still love the writing style. (A few less "he saids," and a little more leaning on the action for dialogues would be my only complaint, not that it's a large one!) It was so, so refreshing to read a book with no cussing, nothing dirty and even the parts in the movie that had hints of something off-color or a curse word or two, the novel changed it for a younger audience and I love how they didn't leave the cussing or otherwise in there. It was so refreshing!
The novel is a retelling of the movie, scene by scene, but I love that because it got us into the characters' heads. Ryder Windham has a way of blending humor with action, and he does it so well.

I didn't rate this book because of the direct dealings with the Ark of the Covenant, and that was an Indiana Jones thing. As a young adult, I hadn't really stopped to think about it much, but the more I've studied in Scripture and the holiness of God, the more I felt that the ending scene - "wiped clean by the Wrath of God" - was a little too Hollywood. If it was supposed to be the wrath of God...I just don't picture it happening like that. I felt like the story took too many liberties that were more like a possessed, haunted house than sticking to the more Holy nature of God and the things He ordained, but that was just me and my thoughts.

It was so much fun to revisit the blast from the past. It reminded me of when I was a youth, and caught up in reading the story. The writing style sucked me right in, and they couldn't have chosen a better author to novelize the movie. The third one is my favorite, so I'll be reading that one next.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indiana Jones by Ryder Windham was a great book. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars because it had a lot of great things. The 3 reasons this book was 4 stars was it had good character development, it was a fast paced book that kept me on the edge of my seat, and described each event like I was there.
The 1st reason this book was good was that the characters developed throughout the story. Indy needed help to get a treasure that was stolen from him and the only person was his ex-girlfriend. Indy learned how work with her and later on in the book they start to get that fired they once had. Marion hated his guts for what he did and started to like him as they work together. Also Indy's partner Sallah turned on him in the very beginning of the story and worked for Indy's arch nemesis.
The next reason I gave this book a 4 was that it had a great pace. During the book it kept a good consistent pace, and had me wanting to read more. The book kept jumping from event to event leaving me wondering what was going to happen next. Windham did a great job of leaving me in suspense during the whole book. When one entertaining event got done another started on the same page.
The final reason this book was good was that it gave good descriptions of the events that took place. During the event that were taking place I really felt that I was in the book when I was reading. I could picture what clothes they were wearing, where they were at, and how they were doing it. When Indy and Marion were in the market in Nepal I could picture what every single person was wearing. I could also see how he fought the big plane worker and how he got his head sliced off my a plane propeller.
As you can see the reasons here provide good information on why I gave the book a 4 out of 5. I would recommend this book to adventurous people that like these types of books. I am excited to read the remaining books in this series to find out what happens.

[Michael Castorena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid Jr. adaptation of the source material. Obviously the film is still better but it’s still a fun way to get younger readers into the world of Indiana Jones.

Last Crusade is still the definitive Indy Adventure though.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for the lost ark is a great adventure, if you haven't read it, pick it up. How many people, I wonder, wanted to be archaeologists after meeting professor Indiana Jones,

[Faith High School · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by Will Lutz
The Raiders of the Lost Ark again has the famous Indiana Jones on another one of his adventures. It is a very easy read. I would also recommend it to someone.

[Layne Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these.

[Owen Bass (Captain Handsome) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great action/adventure book. Literally the outline for the movie, but still an awesome book. I highly recommend it.

[Dylan]

good book

[Galen Hanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a good book that had an adventure that felt like you were there.

[Brooke Grimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very historical.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book from when I was like 8

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The action parts tend to really drag, but this is the best of the Indian Jones novelizations I've come across.

[Mike Shen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically the same as the namesake movie.

[Bryan Besso · Rating 1 out of 5]

Word for word with movie.. boring

[Tabitha Goodrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like the movie! Ready to read the next one 🙂

[Rachael Kelleher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but a little disappointing. I'd expected more expansion beyond the scope of the film. If I wanted an almost exact copy, I'd just watch the movie.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved that Indiana was referenced to as "Scruffy looking"

[Ash smells · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly just spent the whole time reading this hallucinating the movie

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy reading a book to Vincent each night, and I bought him a set of junior novelizations of the Indiana Jones movies (excluding Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at a book fair at his preschool a few years ago. After we finished up Mr. Popper’s Penguins, I needed something with some kick so we started reading this.

OVERALL: 3 - A Direct Written Copy of the Movie
This was a fun story to read with my five year-old son, and he really got into some parts of it (particularly what happens to the Nazis at the end) even though he already knew what happened from watching the movie (or at least covering his eyes during that scene).

It’s a very faithful recreation of the movie. There are no added scenes and nothing cut. Some educational injections are humorous but work in their own way, color inserts of movie stills add to the flavor, and I have to say that I think it’s a book I would have loved to own and read when I was younger.

RATINGS BY CATEGORY
Characters: 3
Despite being almost a straight re-telling of the exact story in the movie, the author does add in some character flourishes, usually just to put in some educational material (see below). Indiana Jones apparently follows the Olympics, Marion’s motivations have some more detail, etc. It works.

Pace: 2
I am probably biased because I know the story so well, but the second half of this book really dragged. I was eager for it to end.

Story: 3
The story follows the movie exactly, so there’s not really any credit to the writer here. It’s a great story, it’s just not something Mr. Windham (Mrs.?) deserves. They might be a very good writer in their own right, but it’s impossible to tell here (I would normally give Raiders a 5).

Dialogue: 3
I don’t think there is a single phrase of dialogue that isn’t just copied from the movie. That’s what this book is supposed to do, so again, I’ll just give it an average since the dialogue in the movie is pretty good.

Style/Technical: 4
I have to give the writer credit, despite copying a story, dialogue, and characters that I was already familiar with, the writing is clear and well done. I think I even learned some new words.

Perhaps the most humorous aspect of this junior novelization is the addition of some educational notes in the text. Near the beginning, Indiana Jones let’s his mind wander to the 1936 Olympics and the victories of Jesse Owens there. There are some other snippets (none quite so bold), but the educational passages actually kind of work in the story (think about it, Indiana has to make a long jump of his own during his escape from the Native American temple).

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

My love of reading started when i was young, and it gives me immense pleasure to provide books to Spread the Word Nevada, an organization that passes them on to children in the community. They are a terrific organization supporting an important cause. If your local I encourage you to check them out. For those living further a field, look in your own community, their may already be a similar program in place. And if not, you can always help start one.

http://spreadthewordnevada.org/

Myself, I go out on the weekends and
shop thrift store and bulk book lots to rescue books and donate them. Sometimes I'll find a book I remember reading when I was young and will read it again before passing it on.

I don't rate these books using my normal scale, instead I give most of them three stars. This isn't a Criticism of the book, simply my way of rating them as good for children.

[Mitchelll Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I am an Indiana Jones fan for life , I loved reading the series of books. Indiana Jones is an archaeology professor at Marshall College . He is like a superhero after his day job , he retrieves property for the college / museum . In the beginning , Indiana Jones goes to South America to retrieve a golden idol for the museum filled with bobby traps . He successfully head backs to the museum and interviewed by two Army intelligent agents . They end up telling them that the Nazis want to use the secret power of the Ark of The Covenant . Many enemies are in Indiana's way but he'll try to stop them , you'll have to read it !

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic Plot: Indiana Jones battles Nazis and hunts for the Old Testament relic, the Ark of the Covenant.

This book was actually part of the curriculum of a class I taught my first year of teaching. It was a fun read, nothing particularly stellar. It didn't seem to add much to the movie, just a little bit of background description that I found interesting, but wasn't vital to the story. If you love all things Indiana Jones, by all means, you'll like it. Will it go down in history as anything spectacular? No way.

[Jonathan Davison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is based on the first Indiana Jones film. He travels to Nepal to look for a round gold object with a crystal in the centre of it.
He then goes to Cairo to find a the Ark of the Covennant. Indy is not alone, Nazies want for their own needs. He and his friends put a holt to their evil deeds. If you like the films then this book would grab your attention.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really like the movie.I liked the movie better.Some parts were different.But if you have seen the movie than you know what happens.After about the 15th Chapter I just read the dialog cause the description was just to long for me.Can't wait to read the others though.It was one of those things that the book was made after the movie and the movie was a lot better.I wouldn't waste my money on this...even though I did already :P

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a very literal write up of the movie, which had its benefits and negatives. It was easier to picture each scene of the movie as you read along, which was a good alternative considering I no longer own the movie.
The writing was extremely simple due to its target audience, and the plot hardly deviated from the movie, although it did present a few details I hadn't noticed or hadn't understand from the film. It was a quick read, too.

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically it was a scene by scene re-telling of the movie, not really any backstories or anything. Since we've seen the movie many times, the book wasn't too suspenseful, but my teen son and I didn't remember all the details so it did hold our interest, and even laughed or got surprised a couple times. We enjoyed the re-telling and the writing was competent, although the author repeated "bespectacled German" a few too many times.