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Jumper #0.5
Jumper: Griffin's Story
Griffin has a secret. It's a secret that he's sworn to his parents to keep, and never tell. Griffin is a Jumper: a person who can teleport to any place he has ever been. The first time was when he was five, and his parents crossed an ocean to protect the secret. The most important time was when he was nine. That was the day that the men came to his house and murdered his parents. Griffin knows that the men were looking for him, and he must never let them find him.
Griffin grows up with only two goals: to survive, and to kill the people who want him dead. And a Jumper bent on revenge is not going to let anything stand in his way.
Jumper, based on Steven Gould's earlier novel of the same name, will be a major motion picture scheduled for release by 20th Century Fox starring Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Doug Limon. Jumper: Griffin's Story features the character played by Jamie Bell in the film.
Griffin grows up with only two goals: to survive, and to kill the people who want him dead. And a Jumper bent on revenge is not going to let anything stand in his way.
Jumper, based on Steven Gould's earlier novel of the same name, will be a major motion picture scheduled for release by 20th Century Fox starring Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Doug Limon. Jumper: Griffin's Story features the character played by Jamie Bell in the film.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
64 people are currently reading
2772 people want to read
About the author
Steven Gould
52 books1,155 followersSteven Charles Gould is an American science fiction author. His novels tend to have protagonists fighting to rid government of corrupt antagonists. The struggle against corruption is the focus, rather than the technology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
January 23, 2008
I really enjoyed the first two Jumper books by Stephen Gould and so I was a little nervous about the upcoming movie adaptation (as was Gould himself last year). I mean, a bad movie doesn't actually hurt the books, of course, but you don't want something you like dissed by a terrible adaptation. So it was interesting to discover that Gould had gone in an new "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" direction with the latest Jumper book.
The movie, as might be expected, changes some of the 'rules' of teleportation and history of the world that Gould had established in the books. In the books, Davy Rice is (probably) the first teleporter in the world and his interactions with the authorities reflect the uncertainy they have coming to grips with his unusual abilities. In the movie, teleporters have been around for centuries and there exists a secret organization dedicated to killing them. Davy is introduced to the new world by another Jumper who has already been fighting back at that organization. So the new book, Jumper: Griffin's Story, inhabits that new world entirely and is the backstory of that new character.
There's a certain degree of similarity of Davy and Griffin's stories -- I suppose partly because they're both, essentially, coming of age stories. But it was still a great read and I'm actually excited to see the movie now -- I want to see what Griffin's like after all he went through in the book!
The movie, as might be expected, changes some of the 'rules' of teleportation and history of the world that Gould had established in the books. In the books, Davy Rice is (probably) the first teleporter in the world and his interactions with the authorities reflect the uncertainy they have coming to grips with his unusual abilities. In the movie, teleporters have been around for centuries and there exists a secret organization dedicated to killing them. Davy is introduced to the new world by another Jumper who has already been fighting back at that organization. So the new book, Jumper: Griffin's Story, inhabits that new world entirely and is the backstory of that new character.
There's a certain degree of similarity of Davy and Griffin's stories -- I suppose partly because they're both, essentially, coming of age stories. But it was still a great read and I'm actually excited to see the movie now -- I want to see what Griffin's like after all he went through in the book!
March 19, 2008
Griffin is a jumper, he can teleport from one place to another. It's a handy trick, but also a dangerous one. Griffin's family is in hiding from a mysterious cohort of bad guys intent on killing him.
I picked this book up based off a recommendation on one of the YA book boards. The recommendation should have come with preface - this is NOT a stand-alone book. You see, way back in the 80's Steven Gould published a book called Jumper: A Novel. It was followed several years later by a sequel, Reflex. I haven't read either of those books. I want to read them now, but it would have been nice to have done so before diving into this book.
Griffin's Story assumes you have the background of the first two books and, unlike series such as Harry Potter, it doesn't bother to give any background or even a quick summary of what happened previously. You're just supposed to know or you don't. By the end of the book I was still very unclear on exactly WHO is chasing Griffin, WHY they want to kill jumpers, HOW jumping works and HOW someone is sensitive to a jump or not. Those are a lot of unanswered questions.
Beyond that missing background info, this is a pretty good book. It has a good pace, action and the character development is good.
One issue I do have that is strictly related to this book is that it doesn't have any sort of resolution. It feels unfinished. In a good book there is definite resolution, one or two questions may remain but the big ones are answered, the characters may step off-stage but the reader at least has a sense of how things will turn out. That's not the case here. Perhaps Gould is setting this up for a sequel but if so I haven't found anything online to suggest it. What I have found is that Griffin's Story was created specifically as a companion to a movie to be released this year. Ahh. Perhaps that answers it. Books created specifically for movies, in my experience, often fall a little short of their non-movie induced bretheren - they're more rushed, less attention is paid to plot, character and cohesiveness. Maybe Griffin's Story is suffering from that.
It's a shame too because this was a good story! It had potential - the writing is tight, the premise intrigueing and the characters interesting. The follow through just isn't there, however.
I picked this book up based off a recommendation on one of the YA book boards. The recommendation should have come with preface - this is NOT a stand-alone book. You see, way back in the 80's Steven Gould published a book called Jumper: A Novel. It was followed several years later by a sequel, Reflex. I haven't read either of those books. I want to read them now, but it would have been nice to have done so before diving into this book.
Griffin's Story assumes you have the background of the first two books and, unlike series such as Harry Potter, it doesn't bother to give any background or even a quick summary of what happened previously. You're just supposed to know or you don't. By the end of the book I was still very unclear on exactly WHO is chasing Griffin, WHY they want to kill jumpers, HOW jumping works and HOW someone is sensitive to a jump or not. Those are a lot of unanswered questions.
Beyond that missing background info, this is a pretty good book. It has a good pace, action and the character development is good.
One issue I do have that is strictly related to this book is that it doesn't have any sort of resolution. It feels unfinished. In a good book there is definite resolution, one or two questions may remain but the big ones are answered, the characters may step off-stage but the reader at least has a sense of how things will turn out. That's not the case here. Perhaps Gould is setting this up for a sequel but if so I haven't found anything online to suggest it. What I have found is that Griffin's Story was created specifically as a companion to a movie to be released this year. Ahh. Perhaps that answers it. Books created specifically for movies, in my experience, often fall a little short of their non-movie induced bretheren - they're more rushed, less attention is paid to plot, character and cohesiveness. Maybe Griffin's Story is suffering from that.
It's a shame too because this was a good story! It had potential - the writing is tight, the premise intrigueing and the characters interesting. The follow through just isn't there, however.
September 16, 2024
Este libro... no casa con la saga en la que está. Incluso la desmiente.
Luego leí que fue un intento de acercar la saga a la película que pretendía adaptarla, cerca de estrenarse por entonces, que se había ido por los cerros de Úbeda (la película y esta aproximación).
Para empezar, hasta ahora se nos había informado que ni la NSA, ni la CIA, ni otros organismos estatales gubernamentales llenos de siglas y espionajes varios, tenían conocimiento de que existieran más saltadores que los que conocemos.
Si hubiera más y se supiera, lo que le acaba de suceder al protagonista en la recién leída "Reflex" no tendría el menor sentido.
Parece del todo punto imposible creer que hubiera tal cantidad de saltadores que hubiera una poderosísima y claramente acaudalada organización, dedicada a su exterminio desde hace siglos y no sólo no lo supiera ninguna organización gubernamental ni hubiera escuchado jamás el menor rumor... en ninguna de sus instancias jamás.
Es más, el cómo el protagonista incorpora este extraño poder en su vida y cómo dichos organismos descubren su existencia y reaccionan, es prácticamente el argumento de las historias anteriores. ¿Ahora resulta que hay un montón y lo sabe todo bicho viviente menos la CIA, la NSA y algunas de las personas más poderosas del planeta (que recién se enteraron el libro pasado de que algo así fuera posible)?. ¡Anda ya!.
También aparecen ciertas personas que, sin ser capaces de "saltar" (como llaman aquí a la Teletransportación) son capaces de percibir los saltos de otros a cierta distancia y una cierta aproximación de dónde se produjo.
Claro, en la saga tal como era hasta ahora, si había alguien con esa capacidad, moriría sin saberlo, ya que con uno... o dos saltadores en el mundo, tendría muy pocas posibilidades de llegar a enterarse de que tenía esa capacidad.
En fin, que todo esto no hay manera de encajarlo en la saga, tal como venía siendo. Gould, Gould! Tendrías que saber que el estropicio que hicieron los de la película no tenía arreglo del cielo. Es su desastre. No lo conviertas en el tuyo.
Mirando la historia en sí misma, como si fuera independiente y no perteneciera a saga alguna, no sabemos por qué persiguen a los saltadores, nadie lo explica (en la película, parece ser alguna clase de fanatismo [Ay Dios, cuánto se ha usado en la ficción el fanatismo y la locura para explicar los comportamientos inexplicables!. Parece el recurso-comodín para salir de atolladeros argumentales], pero el libro no da razón alguna). También tiene un final abrupto en mitad de una acción y te deja con 2 palmos de narices. No es que sea un final abierto. Es que está sin terminar. Así que como libro independiente tampoco funcionaría.
No es que la historia de Griffin no sea tremenda, conmovedora e interesante, porque lo es. Está muy bien contada... es decir, el cacho que contaron, porque como dije, está sin acabar en sí misma y totalmente ajena al resto de la saga... y a todo.
En Jumper y Reflex vimos (al experimentar el protagonista tratando de entenderlo) cómo funcionan estos saltos que da el protagonista y aquí vemos un detalle más, que encajaría muy bien con esta descripción del proceso...y haría que en un salto precipitado o mal hecho, el saltador podría llevarse consigo cosas sin querer... esta nueva información casaría muy bien con una serie de televisión que me encantó, enmarcada en este universo (Impulse). Es casi el único dato de este libro (por otra parte muy intenso) que encaja con algo. Autores en GL Bis
Luego leí que fue un intento de acercar la saga a la película que pretendía adaptarla, cerca de estrenarse por entonces, que se había ido por los cerros de Úbeda (la película y esta aproximación).
Para empezar, hasta ahora se nos había informado que ni la NSA, ni la CIA, ni otros organismos estatales gubernamentales llenos de siglas y espionajes varios, tenían conocimiento de que existieran más saltadores que los que conocemos.
Si hubiera más y se supiera, lo que le acaba de suceder al protagonista en la recién leída "Reflex" no tendría el menor sentido.
Parece del todo punto imposible creer que hubiera tal cantidad de saltadores que hubiera una poderosísima y claramente acaudalada organización, dedicada a su exterminio desde hace siglos y no sólo no lo supiera ninguna organización gubernamental ni hubiera escuchado jamás el menor rumor... en ninguna de sus instancias jamás.
Es más, el cómo el protagonista incorpora este extraño poder en su vida y cómo dichos organismos descubren su existencia y reaccionan, es prácticamente el argumento de las historias anteriores. ¿Ahora resulta que hay un montón y lo sabe todo bicho viviente menos la CIA, la NSA y algunas de las personas más poderosas del planeta (que recién se enteraron el libro pasado de que algo así fuera posible)?. ¡Anda ya!.
También aparecen ciertas personas que, sin ser capaces de "saltar" (como llaman aquí a la Teletransportación) son capaces de percibir los saltos de otros a cierta distancia y una cierta aproximación de dónde se produjo.
Claro, en la saga tal como era hasta ahora, si había alguien con esa capacidad, moriría sin saberlo, ya que con uno... o dos saltadores en el mundo, tendría muy pocas posibilidades de llegar a enterarse de que tenía esa capacidad.
En fin, que todo esto no hay manera de encajarlo en la saga, tal como venía siendo. Gould, Gould! Tendrías que saber que el estropicio que hicieron los de la película no tenía arreglo del cielo. Es su desastre. No lo conviertas en el tuyo.
Mirando la historia en sí misma, como si fuera independiente y no perteneciera a saga alguna, no sabemos por qué persiguen a los saltadores, nadie lo explica (en la película, parece ser alguna clase de fanatismo [Ay Dios, cuánto se ha usado en la ficción el fanatismo y la locura para explicar los comportamientos inexplicables!. Parece el recurso-comodín para salir de atolladeros argumentales], pero el libro no da razón alguna). También tiene un final abrupto en mitad de una acción y te deja con 2 palmos de narices. No es que sea un final abierto. Es que está sin terminar. Así que como libro independiente tampoco funcionaría.
No es que la historia de Griffin no sea tremenda, conmovedora e interesante, porque lo es. Está muy bien contada... es decir, el cacho que contaron, porque como dije, está sin acabar en sí misma y totalmente ajena al resto de la saga... y a todo.
En Jumper y Reflex vimos (al experimentar el protagonista tratando de entenderlo) cómo funcionan estos saltos que da el protagonista y aquí vemos un detalle más, que encajaría muy bien con esta descripción del proceso...y haría que en un salto precipitado o mal hecho, el saltador podría llevarse consigo cosas sin querer... esta nueva información casaría muy bien con una serie de televisión que me encantó, enmarcada en este universo (Impulse). Es casi el único dato de este libro (por otra parte muy intenso) que encaja con algo. Autores en GL Bis
February 21, 2021
Телепортирането е занимание опасно: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/t...
Грифин е хлапе с чудатата способност да се телепортира навсякъде, където е бил преди. Неговите родители го обучават да използва прикрито своята дарба, защото едни много лоши хора по крайно непонятни и неизяснени и до края на книгата причини просто искат да го ликвидират заради нея. И всичко върви добре – до момента, в който хлапето прави грешка, използва силата си публично, за да се защити от побойник, и страшното идва.
Издателска къща БАРД
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/t...
Грифин е хлапе с чудатата способност да се телепортира навсякъде, където е бил преди. Неговите родители го обучават да използва прикрито своята дарба, защото едни много лоши хора по крайно непонятни и неизяснени и до края на книгата причини просто искат да го ликвидират заради нея. И всичко върви добре – до момента, в който хлапето прави грешка, използва силата си публично, за да се защити от побойник, и страшното идва.
Издателска къща БАРД
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/t...
July 11, 2010
Jumper Girffin’s Story
Rating: Proof that even with a good idea writer can disappoint………………………..
This is a book about a man who can teleport. A society who murders his family when he is only ten years old, He runs from them and it is cat and mouse fame they get involved wit until he decides to fight back. Yet it may sound silly, but also sounds like a fun science fiction. So I gave it a try. Here’s my review on Jumper: Griffin’s Story………………………………………….
First off let me explain something. Jumper is a novel written by Steve Gould. He also had a sequel to it called reflex, In 2007 the Bourne Identity director adapted it into a movie that made a fair amount of movie at the box office. In the movie he made up the character Griffin. He was not in the books, but Steven Gould loved this character so much from the movie, that he decided to write a novel prequel to movie focusing on Griffin. So this book is based off of a character that was made for the movie, which in turn is based off of his first book. Confusing? Yeah. A bit………………………………………….
So who is Griffin? Griffin is a British teleporter who has been fight against the palidins for years. In the movie he would grab some and drop them off of a building or teleport some into a shark tank. He throws a bus at Roland and then appears behind him with a flame thrower for god’s sake. He cares only about his self and vengeance. He has flaws and shouldn’t be likable, but he is. I guess he falls into the Jack Sparrow and Mal Reynolds character category. But I thought the back story would be great,……………………….
The book starts out with Griffin as a little kid. His family had been moving from one place to another so no one can find them. They didn’t want the palidins to find where he’s at. And Griffin is a typical kid ( who can teleport). But he teleports in public on accident one day and that night the palidins kill his family. So if course he jumps away.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
From there on the story kind of just bounces from one thing to another. It focuses on life an growing And for what is being promoted as a action novel. . It really doesn’t have much action in it. There are only two or tree encounters before the climax. There’s no real drama. Griff’s always hiding and has no friend, but the characterization is so shallow. I can’t even feel sorry for him……………………………………..
So in the last three chapter , he meets a girl. A girl he really likes and I don’t want to give much away here, but I think any one who wants to read this book should know what kind of pathetic climax it has. The palidins do some bad things to this girl and her family. And tat the end of the book, he doesn’t have a fight, or try to get revenge. He just snaps. He goes crazy………………………………………………………….
So the problems with this book. Where do I start? They stated briefly who this society was in the movie. But the book gives you nothing. You don’ have a clue of why they are doing this. Once again it’s a action book with out action. It has no emotion or depth. And it is a really weak back story. Actually there’ a total absence of story. I think Steven Gould hurt the character from the movie by writing this book. Lastly when it begins to get a little entertaining, you begin to get into you find your self on the last page of the book wit a cliff hanger.
My rating is one stay only for those who are really really curious and no one else. If you want to know Griffin’s Story, go rent the Jumper DVD. You’ll lean more there than you do in the book. For some who like the original Jumper novel, this truly is a disappointment, but then again. I have seen worse…………………………
1/2 smoothie out of four
P.S. I if you like reading then may be you should check out my book website Lelue’s Realm at http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/
Rating: Proof that even with a good idea writer can disappoint………………………..
This is a book about a man who can teleport. A society who murders his family when he is only ten years old, He runs from them and it is cat and mouse fame they get involved wit until he decides to fight back. Yet it may sound silly, but also sounds like a fun science fiction. So I gave it a try. Here’s my review on Jumper: Griffin’s Story………………………………………….
First off let me explain something. Jumper is a novel written by Steve Gould. He also had a sequel to it called reflex, In 2007 the Bourne Identity director adapted it into a movie that made a fair amount of movie at the box office. In the movie he made up the character Griffin. He was not in the books, but Steven Gould loved this character so much from the movie, that he decided to write a novel prequel to movie focusing on Griffin. So this book is based off of a character that was made for the movie, which in turn is based off of his first book. Confusing? Yeah. A bit………………………………………….
So who is Griffin? Griffin is a British teleporter who has been fight against the palidins for years. In the movie he would grab some and drop them off of a building or teleport some into a shark tank. He throws a bus at Roland and then appears behind him with a flame thrower for god’s sake. He cares only about his self and vengeance. He has flaws and shouldn’t be likable, but he is. I guess he falls into the Jack Sparrow and Mal Reynolds character category. But I thought the back story would be great,……………………….
The book starts out with Griffin as a little kid. His family had been moving from one place to another so no one can find them. They didn’t want the palidins to find where he’s at. And Griffin is a typical kid ( who can teleport). But he teleports in public on accident one day and that night the palidins kill his family. So if course he jumps away.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
From there on the story kind of just bounces from one thing to another. It focuses on life an growing And for what is being promoted as a action novel. . It really doesn’t have much action in it. There are only two or tree encounters before the climax. There’s no real drama. Griff’s always hiding and has no friend, but the characterization is so shallow. I can’t even feel sorry for him……………………………………..
So in the last three chapter , he meets a girl. A girl he really likes and I don’t want to give much away here, but I think any one who wants to read this book should know what kind of pathetic climax it has. The palidins do some bad things to this girl and her family. And tat the end of the book, he doesn’t have a fight, or try to get revenge. He just snaps. He goes crazy………………………………………………………….
So the problems with this book. Where do I start? They stated briefly who this society was in the movie. But the book gives you nothing. You don’ have a clue of why they are doing this. Once again it’s a action book with out action. It has no emotion or depth. And it is a really weak back story. Actually there’ a total absence of story. I think Steven Gould hurt the character from the movie by writing this book. Lastly when it begins to get a little entertaining, you begin to get into you find your self on the last page of the book wit a cliff hanger.
My rating is one stay only for those who are really really curious and no one else. If you want to know Griffin’s Story, go rent the Jumper DVD. You’ll lean more there than you do in the book. For some who like the original Jumper novel, this truly is a disappointment, but then again. I have seen worse…………………………
1/2 smoothie out of four
P.S. I if you like reading then may be you should check out my book website Lelue’s Realm at http://www.freewebs.com/lelue/
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2023
Well I originally intended to read Jumper, not this weird spin-off. The concept was intriguing and the introduction was gripping enough, but the entire book just felt like it was actually written by a 10-year-old. In the beginning, this could make some sense since the protagonist is young. But the continued overly simplistic writing made me feel like I was wasting my time. There are even grammatical errors (especially on tense). There wasn’t a lot happing and the ending felt incredibly rushed - overall it could have been a decent book with its idea, but the execution was awful
August 1, 2022
I really wish I wouldn't have read anything bout this book previously before reading it myself. I know I put up a wall and avoided reading it like the plague. But since Impulse was announced I'm back to being obsessed with the universe and I'll allow a little play in the Jumper universe.
For starters it really is a good back story. (side note, a friend and I just watched the movie again - still terrible - even this book which is in the same vein is loads better. Hopefully they'll do better in 2013 when Jumper 2 comes out...) I don't want to get too much into it because once you start reading you'll know what I mean. I love how Gould weaves languages in his book - sometimes you get the gist other times you just have to understand it or look it up if it's that big of a deal to you.
I liked getting to know Griffin because he is obviously not a common thug like the movie portrays all jumpers to be. I really enjoyed the "getting acquainted with my power" bits because it already started where people knew that jumping was possible. There was someone with Griffin while he was stretching his legs.
My takeaway from the whole novel is just that, even though it's a platform for a movie that barely works, this book gets to stand by itself. It's very clear that Griffin exists in his own world and is learning about the big bad world around him but there is the ability to be able to read the book without being forced to see the movie and no harm in seeing the movie later if you so choose. I'm glad Gould wrote this though because if someone else would've tried their hand in it I would've probably wanted to punch someone in the face :P
For starters it really is a good back story. (side note, a friend and I just watched the movie again - still terrible - even this book which is in the same vein is loads better. Hopefully they'll do better in 2013 when Jumper 2 comes out...) I don't want to get too much into it because once you start reading you'll know what I mean. I love how Gould weaves languages in his book - sometimes you get the gist other times you just have to understand it or look it up if it's that big of a deal to you.
I liked getting to know Griffin because he is obviously not a common thug like the movie portrays all jumpers to be. I really enjoyed the "getting acquainted with my power" bits because it already started where people knew that jumping was possible. There was someone with Griffin while he was stretching his legs.
My takeaway from the whole novel is just that, even though it's a platform for a movie that barely works, this book gets to stand by itself. It's very clear that Griffin exists in his own world and is learning about the big bad world around him but there is the ability to be able to read the book without being forced to see the movie and no harm in seeing the movie later if you so choose. I'm glad Gould wrote this though because if someone else would've tried their hand in it I would've probably wanted to punch someone in the face :P
April 9, 2018
3.5/5, Surprisingly Good.
I have read the other Novels, I have seen Hayden Christensen butcher Davy and Steven Gould's world. I have muffled my exasperated screams, taken deep long breaths, and dived back into the world because TELEPORTATION! is one of my favorite powers ever! Childish I know but cmmon.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Though the movies gave birth to 'Griffin', I still like him. overlooking the many deviations that Gould had to make to mutate his world to fit him in. I found Griffin had more...whats the word 'Chutzpah' perhaps than Davy and the other jumpers. His past made him the rash, a bit unmoral angel of vengeance that we see in the movie, but after this novel you could hardly blame the guy. Being hunted all your life, does take a toll on a guy.
So, the writing was clever enough, the story fast paced and the main character a bit more grey than the main protagonist of the series, I liked that. But , the problem is, I have read all of the Jumper books before and after this and as such, the world of this novel is standalone and completely different. There are no 'Paladins' in the other novels, no sensitives too and though I am not averse to this Idea but still, you have to keep reminding yourself that this is a different version , and not try to compare it with the others, which is almost impossible. I still liked this much better than 'EXO' & 'IMPULSE'.
He's a good character all in all, an antihero with no aversion to killing those who kill jumpers or hunt him, now THAT is a story I could read more of. I would like to say that I want to read more of his story, maybe what happens after the film ....but that is not going to happen I think, as it hasn't yet.
Still, a good, quick, enjoyable read all in all.
I have read the other Novels, I have seen Hayden Christensen butcher Davy and Steven Gould's world. I have muffled my exasperated screams, taken deep long breaths, and dived back into the world because TELEPORTATION! is one of my favorite powers ever! Childish I know but cmmon.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Though the movies gave birth to 'Griffin', I still like him. overlooking the many deviations that Gould had to make to mutate his world to fit him in. I found Griffin had more...whats the word 'Chutzpah' perhaps than Davy and the other jumpers. His past made him the rash, a bit unmoral angel of vengeance that we see in the movie, but after this novel you could hardly blame the guy. Being hunted all your life, does take a toll on a guy.
So, the writing was clever enough, the story fast paced and the main character a bit more grey than the main protagonist of the series, I liked that. But , the problem is, I have read all of the Jumper books before and after this and as such, the world of this novel is standalone and completely different. There are no 'Paladins' in the other novels, no sensitives too and though I am not averse to this Idea but still, you have to keep reminding yourself that this is a different version , and not try to compare it with the others, which is almost impossible. I still liked this much better than 'EXO' & 'IMPULSE'.
He's a good character all in all, an antihero with no aversion to killing those who kill jumpers or hunt him, now THAT is a story I could read more of. I would like to say that I want to read more of his story, maybe what happens after the film ....but that is not going to happen I think, as it hasn't yet.
Still, a good, quick, enjoyable read all in all.
October 31, 2019
Found this book at a flea market and since I've seen the movie, decided to give it a try - I'm always curious to compare writen and visual stories.
Turns out, it is a different story about a side character that can be seen in a movie 😊
Nice, quick read and an opportunity to get to know what was going on before the main story.
Turns out, it is a different story about a side character that can be seen in a movie 😊
Nice, quick read and an opportunity to get to know what was going on before the main story.
January 31, 2015
I didn't read the first Jumper book, because I saw the Jumper movie with that talentless hack Hayden Christensen. A friend of mine recommended this book, and I decided it was worth a try. And it was, indeed.
This is the story of Griffin, of course. He's a Jumper. Someone who can teleport anywhere, by just thinking about it. No technological gadget required. Just some natural ability he has.
For some reason, this Jumping ability is seen as a threat to National Security. So, there's this secret organization who hunt Jumpers. They're called 'Paladins', for whatever reason. And they're nasty motherfuckers. They kill pretty much anyone who has anything to do with a jumper. They killed Griffin's parents. They killed his friends. And they're threatening to kill his girlfriend.
This all started when Griffin was only 10 years old, when they killed his parents. Like he's fucking Spider-Man, or something. So, he jumped away to Mexico, where some nice people found him, and fixed him up. He spent several years in Mexico, living a secret life. Until the Paladins showed up and killed his friends.
Griffin spends the rest of the book systematically hunting down the Paladins one by one. He shows up, grabs one of them, jumps them to a cliff, and shoves them off. Then he grabs the next one, and jumps them to fucking France, or some other far away place. Because, he can.
The problem with this story is, there's nothing the Paladins can do to capture Griffin. What's the fucking point in chasing him, if there's nothing you can do, once you find him. He's just gonna jump away. So, unless you have something to stop him from jumping, you're wasting your fucking time.
The Paladins seem to have an ability to sense when Griffin is jumping, which is how they end up finding him over and over. But still... It's pointless to even track him, if there's no way to stop him. This is what made the book kind of pointless to me. It's like trying to stop Superman.
Because, even if you capture Griffin, he's just going to jump away, immediately. There's nothing the Paladins can do, save shooting him in the fucking face. But they never get that chance, because Griffin is there one moment, and gone the next.
So the problem is, there's no real conflict. Because you know that Griffin is going to win. He's always going to get away. So I'm not sitting on the edge of my seat wondering, oh my God, they're going to catch him! What happens if they catch him? Holy shit, they might torture him and shit. Cool.
There's none of that wondering, because he's just going to jump away. There's just no suspense at all. The ending is pretty goddamn simple. In fact, the last sentence of the novel is 'I jumped'.
This is the story of Griffin, of course. He's a Jumper. Someone who can teleport anywhere, by just thinking about it. No technological gadget required. Just some natural ability he has.
For some reason, this Jumping ability is seen as a threat to National Security. So, there's this secret organization who hunt Jumpers. They're called 'Paladins', for whatever reason. And they're nasty motherfuckers. They kill pretty much anyone who has anything to do with a jumper. They killed Griffin's parents. They killed his friends. And they're threatening to kill his girlfriend.
This all started when Griffin was only 10 years old, when they killed his parents. Like he's fucking Spider-Man, or something. So, he jumped away to Mexico, where some nice people found him, and fixed him up. He spent several years in Mexico, living a secret life. Until the Paladins showed up and killed his friends.
Griffin spends the rest of the book systematically hunting down the Paladins one by one. He shows up, grabs one of them, jumps them to a cliff, and shoves them off. Then he grabs the next one, and jumps them to fucking France, or some other far away place. Because, he can.
The problem with this story is, there's nothing the Paladins can do to capture Griffin. What's the fucking point in chasing him, if there's nothing you can do, once you find him. He's just gonna jump away. So, unless you have something to stop him from jumping, you're wasting your fucking time.
The Paladins seem to have an ability to sense when Griffin is jumping, which is how they end up finding him over and over. But still... It's pointless to even track him, if there's no way to stop him. This is what made the book kind of pointless to me. It's like trying to stop Superman.
Because, even if you capture Griffin, he's just going to jump away, immediately. There's nothing the Paladins can do, save shooting him in the fucking face. But they never get that chance, because Griffin is there one moment, and gone the next.
So the problem is, there's no real conflict. Because you know that Griffin is going to win. He's always going to get away. So I'm not sitting on the edge of my seat wondering, oh my God, they're going to catch him! What happens if they catch him? Holy shit, they might torture him and shit. Cool.
There's none of that wondering, because he's just going to jump away. There's just no suspense at all. The ending is pretty goddamn simple. In fact, the last sentence of the novel is 'I jumped'.
August 20, 2017
*a bit spoilery*
This book was shit. I wouldn't say it was boring (hence the 2nd star), but in terms of plot, it was quite poorly written.
The main character, Griffin, is not the very rational sort, he seems to realise far too late that his presence puts those he cares for in great danger. In this respect, he is a very selfish and quite stupid character. If I were the main character, I would pick off the 'Paladins' one by one, put them in an exit-less hole full of lighter fluid and light the match. Not to sound too morbid but it is what they deserve and it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to do. Problem solved, and you could have saved countless lives of your loved ones and other children/jumpers. But no, Griffin skirts around them waiting for them to hurt everyone he loves then he kills like one guy (?-by this point I was too furious to read straight). How many deaths does it take you to realise you are putting people in danger by sharing your secrets with them.
The enemies are emotionless drones who have no motive whatsoever. I was waiting for their motive to be revealed yet this never occurred, leaving me very much unsatisfied. Who funds them? What threat are the Jumpers to them or society? Are they a global operation? Who knows.
The side characters were incredibly forgettable and uninteresting.
Due to me reading some great books recently, it leaves me to see a great contrast in quality with this novel. There was nothing special or memorable about it. This novel shouldn't really have been written. It seems like a shameless cash grab to benefit off the film.
Why did I read this? Like I mentioned it was slightly enjoyable. I have read books worse than this in which I am either too furious or too bored to read on yet this novel didn't happen to evoke those emotions in me while reading (apart from the end). I did want to read on to find out what would happen and happened to read it in only a couple days (which is very quick for a slow reader like myself). Initially I saw the 3.63 Goodreads rating and brushed it off because I enjoyed the original Jumper series Gould had written, but maybe I should have had more trust in the reviews.
This book was shit. I wouldn't say it was boring (hence the 2nd star), but in terms of plot, it was quite poorly written.
The main character, Griffin, is not the very rational sort, he seems to realise far too late that his presence puts those he cares for in great danger. In this respect, he is a very selfish and quite stupid character. If I were the main character, I would pick off the 'Paladins' one by one, put them in an exit-less hole full of lighter fluid and light the match. Not to sound too morbid but it is what they deserve and it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to do. Problem solved, and you could have saved countless lives of your loved ones and other children/jumpers. But no, Griffin skirts around them waiting for them to hurt everyone he loves then he kills like one guy (?-by this point I was too furious to read straight). How many deaths does it take you to realise you are putting people in danger by sharing your secrets with them.
The enemies are emotionless drones who have no motive whatsoever. I was waiting for their motive to be revealed yet this never occurred, leaving me very much unsatisfied. Who funds them? What threat are the Jumpers to them or society? Are they a global operation? Who knows.
The side characters were incredibly forgettable and uninteresting.
Due to me reading some great books recently, it leaves me to see a great contrast in quality with this novel. There was nothing special or memorable about it. This novel shouldn't really have been written. It seems like a shameless cash grab to benefit off the film.
Why did I read this? Like I mentioned it was slightly enjoyable. I have read books worse than this in which I am either too furious or too bored to read on yet this novel didn't happen to evoke those emotions in me while reading (apart from the end). I did want to read on to find out what would happen and happened to read it in only a couple days (which is very quick for a slow reader like myself). Initially I saw the 3.63 Goodreads rating and brushed it off because I enjoyed the original Jumper series Gould had written, but maybe I should have had more trust in the reviews.
August 6, 2010
[This review also appears on FingerFlow.com, a site for review and discussion of creative works.]
Having read the first two Jumper books by Steven Gould, I was interested in seeing if this book would fit into the continuity of the books or the movie adaptation (which departed from the books significantly). Apparently, it's the latter, much to the detriment of the book. It's quite unfortunate actually, that this book and the movie seem to overwrite the events of the first two books with a completely different story.
Personally, I preferred the world of the first two books, where jumpers were extremely rare, jumping didn't damage the environment around the jumper and bring debris from one location to the next, and most importantly, jumping could not be sensed by "sensitives." On this last point, the book focused a lot of time talking about how jumps could be sensed by Paladins, whereas the movie seemed to completely ignore this ability. Why waste so much time on an issue the movie doesn't even use? The Paladins aren't a bad idea, but they were ineffectual in the book (actually, you find out nothing about who they are and why they do what they do until the movie). The villains of Reflex (Jumper 2) were much more cool and fun.
The main thing missing from Griffin's Story is the sense of wonder, introspection and investigation into the nature of jumping that David Rice had in the first two books. Like David, Griffin uses his powers to help himself, but unlike David, he doesn't eventually decide to use his powers to help people (except the ones he has led into trouble himself).
In any case, my recommendation is to skip Griffin's Story and the movie and just read the first two books.
Having read the first two Jumper books by Steven Gould, I was interested in seeing if this book would fit into the continuity of the books or the movie adaptation (which departed from the books significantly). Apparently, it's the latter, much to the detriment of the book. It's quite unfortunate actually, that this book and the movie seem to overwrite the events of the first two books with a completely different story.
Personally, I preferred the world of the first two books, where jumpers were extremely rare, jumping didn't damage the environment around the jumper and bring debris from one location to the next, and most importantly, jumping could not be sensed by "sensitives." On this last point, the book focused a lot of time talking about how jumps could be sensed by Paladins, whereas the movie seemed to completely ignore this ability. Why waste so much time on an issue the movie doesn't even use? The Paladins aren't a bad idea, but they were ineffectual in the book (actually, you find out nothing about who they are and why they do what they do until the movie). The villains of Reflex (Jumper 2) were much more cool and fun.
The main thing missing from Griffin's Story is the sense of wonder, introspection and investigation into the nature of jumping that David Rice had in the first two books. Like David, Griffin uses his powers to help himself, but unlike David, he doesn't eventually decide to use his powers to help people (except the ones he has led into trouble himself).
In any case, my recommendation is to skip Griffin's Story and the movie and just read the first two books.
November 10, 2015
Read this review and more on my blog.
Jumper: Griffin's Story if meant to reconcile the differences in the book, Jumper, with the movie adaptation. It explains how Griffin became the seemly uncaring person he is portrayed as in the movie.
Griffin doesn't have the best start to life, he first accidentally 'jumps' when he is 5 and his parents have kept him on the run ever since. They home-schooled him, so he is very bright, and does karate.
Griffin has to struggle through his adolescent life without his parents, but he does find family in people that you wouldn't expect. He has to suppress his ability to 'jump' as the Padalin's have individuals who can sense when he 'jumps' within a 1-5 mile radius of where they are.
Jumper: Griffin's Story is extremely action packed, with hardly a page without any excitement happening. I unfortunately did keep forgetting throughout the book that Griffin is quite young (he is 9 when the book starts) as heaps of events occur that he reacts to in an adult way. This may be from his homeschooling, but it wasn't entirely convincing.
I enjoyed Jumper: Griffin's Story very much. It helped me get a better understanding of the movie, which i also thoroughly enjoyed, as-well as explaining that 'Jumpers' have been hunted for a long time.
I would definitely recommend Jumper: Griffin's Story for anyone to read!
Jumper: Griffin's Story if meant to reconcile the differences in the book, Jumper, with the movie adaptation. It explains how Griffin became the seemly uncaring person he is portrayed as in the movie.
Griffin doesn't have the best start to life, he first accidentally 'jumps' when he is 5 and his parents have kept him on the run ever since. They home-schooled him, so he is very bright, and does karate.
Griffin has to struggle through his adolescent life without his parents, but he does find family in people that you wouldn't expect. He has to suppress his ability to 'jump' as the Padalin's have individuals who can sense when he 'jumps' within a 1-5 mile radius of where they are.
Jumper: Griffin's Story is extremely action packed, with hardly a page without any excitement happening. I unfortunately did keep forgetting throughout the book that Griffin is quite young (he is 9 when the book starts) as heaps of events occur that he reacts to in an adult way. This may be from his homeschooling, but it wasn't entirely convincing.
I enjoyed Jumper: Griffin's Story very much. It helped me get a better understanding of the movie, which i also thoroughly enjoyed, as-well as explaining that 'Jumpers' have been hunted for a long time.
I would definitely recommend Jumper: Griffin's Story for anyone to read!
January 1, 2017
I was quite excited to see that Gould had written a book about the early life of the truly interesting character Griffin from the Jumper movie.
Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations at all and suffers from the same faults the first Jumper book did: the author is simply unable to write compelling characters, a story arch or master the writing skills necessary for writing with any emotional resonance. Most of the book is robotic telling of things that happen without evoking any feelings of empathy in the reader.
At one point eight sentences in a row start with 'I'. After only two pages I could not wait for the protagonist's parents to die - the most tragic thing that happens to Griffin! There are countless untranslated Spanish and French dialogues in the book. Griffin who is only a child at the beginning sounds and thinks like an adult throughout the entire book. The story overall develops in a boring and unsatisfactory way and suddenly ends just when things are actually getting interesting.
I won't be reading any other books by Steven Gould.
Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations at all and suffers from the same faults the first Jumper book did: the author is simply unable to write compelling characters, a story arch or master the writing skills necessary for writing with any emotional resonance. Most of the book is robotic telling of things that happen without evoking any feelings of empathy in the reader.
At one point eight sentences in a row start with 'I'. After only two pages I could not wait for the protagonist's parents to die - the most tragic thing that happens to Griffin! There are countless untranslated Spanish and French dialogues in the book. Griffin who is only a child at the beginning sounds and thinks like an adult throughout the entire book. The story overall develops in a boring and unsatisfactory way and suddenly ends just when things are actually getting interesting.
I won't be reading any other books by Steven Gould.
August 12, 2008
Fun book. I was tempted to turn my back on this since it altered the world of Jumper & Reflex to match the movie, but figured - rightly - that SJG would make it a fun story no matter what. Which he did.
There's a little been of a feel of been-there from Jumper, what with Griffin in this story also making his own little secret getaway spot, but it elaborates on it somewhat. Some interesting tidbits and elaborations are in there that I can only assume people pointed out to SJG after Jumper.
The biggest problem with this book is the choice of title; I didn't pay it any attention for the longest time since I assumed it was either a novelization of the movie or a rejiggering of the original novel.
There's a little been of a feel of been-there from Jumper, what with Griffin in this story also making his own little secret getaway spot, but it elaborates on it somewhat. Some interesting tidbits and elaborations are in there that I can only assume people pointed out to SJG after Jumper.
The biggest problem with this book is the choice of title; I didn't pay it any attention for the longest time since I assumed it was either a novelization of the movie or a rejiggering of the original novel.
October 9, 2007
An odd extension of the theme of Jumper and Reflex; this one is also about a troubled kid who can teleport and gets into lots of trouble, but it's not set in the same fictional world as the other two. Apparently they've been working to make Jumper into a movie, and made so many changes that Gould decided to write a new novel that fits the movie framework better.
November 15, 2020
I quite like this book. I know, it doesn't exactly fit into the original Jumper series, but it's a nice variation. The writing is excellent, fast paced and to the point. Story is well written and bittersweet. Characters...highly realistic, and I enjoyed them a lot. All in all....another great book by one of my favourite authors :)
November 12, 2017
Jumper: Griffin’s Story takes the topic of teleportation, which has potential as a science fiction story, and creates a repetitive plot that can become predictable and boring at points.
The story starts off very promising with a relatable character named Griffin O’Conner, or Griff, for short. With this book being recent (2007), I was glad that it included references that were well known, even a decade later. For example, there are mentions of paintball, Gatorade, Safeway, etc. I found these to be somewhat current references that I could relate to, compared with older novels.
Within the first chapter, the story explains Griffin’s ability to teleport, or jump (as it is referred to in the novel) anywhere that he has been to before or can clearly remember. There are rules that he has to follow, but after he breaks them and lies to his parents, there are consequences, that leave Griffin changed for life. This action-packed first chapter pulls the reader into the story and makes him/her want to continue reading. I was sucked into the story and breezed through the first few chapters to see what was going to happen.
However, while reading these first few chapters, something else confusing happened. The characters began to switch between using English, Spanish, and later French. While I do not think these words or phrases were a major part to story, it definitely did not make the story any easier to understand. Gould does do a good job of occasionally repeating in English what the characters said in a foreign language, which the reader can benefit from.
The story continues by Griffin having people help him avoid the people tracking him, but after he gets found the second time by the people following him, the story became slightly less enjoyable. The rest of the book from that point on seemed like a cat and mouse game of people chasing Griff and him trying to evade or trick them, which made me less interested in the novel.
Another aspect of the novel that I found a little unbelievable was Griffin’s ability. After experiencing a tragedy in the first chapter, I found it difficult to believe how Griffin is able to create a home in a cave by himself and know how to keep himself alive, even though he is a kid. Also, after that same event at the beginning of the novel, I was surprised at how Griffin is able to handle himself in social situations and eventually make friends.
When I finally reached the end of the novel, I realized that Gould made it a cliffhanger that makes it seem like Griffin will continue his jump and evade tactics. This book is a tie-in to a movie that was made and according to online sources, the novel occurs months before the movie does. If this is true, I suggest you jump away to a different theater and skip the movie and book.
The story starts off very promising with a relatable character named Griffin O’Conner, or Griff, for short. With this book being recent (2007), I was glad that it included references that were well known, even a decade later. For example, there are mentions of paintball, Gatorade, Safeway, etc. I found these to be somewhat current references that I could relate to, compared with older novels.
Within the first chapter, the story explains Griffin’s ability to teleport, or jump (as it is referred to in the novel) anywhere that he has been to before or can clearly remember. There are rules that he has to follow, but after he breaks them and lies to his parents, there are consequences, that leave Griffin changed for life. This action-packed first chapter pulls the reader into the story and makes him/her want to continue reading. I was sucked into the story and breezed through the first few chapters to see what was going to happen.
However, while reading these first few chapters, something else confusing happened. The characters began to switch between using English, Spanish, and later French. While I do not think these words or phrases were a major part to story, it definitely did not make the story any easier to understand. Gould does do a good job of occasionally repeating in English what the characters said in a foreign language, which the reader can benefit from.
The story continues by Griffin having people help him avoid the people tracking him, but after he gets found the second time by the people following him, the story became slightly less enjoyable. The rest of the book from that point on seemed like a cat and mouse game of people chasing Griff and him trying to evade or trick them, which made me less interested in the novel.
Another aspect of the novel that I found a little unbelievable was Griffin’s ability. After experiencing a tragedy in the first chapter, I found it difficult to believe how Griffin is able to create a home in a cave by himself and know how to keep himself alive, even though he is a kid. Also, after that same event at the beginning of the novel, I was surprised at how Griffin is able to handle himself in social situations and eventually make friends.
When I finally reached the end of the novel, I realized that Gould made it a cliffhanger that makes it seem like Griffin will continue his jump and evade tactics. This book is a tie-in to a movie that was made and according to online sources, the novel occurs months before the movie does. If this is true, I suggest you jump away to a different theater and skip the movie and book.
July 16, 2023
For all the movies faults, Griffin was one thing that the movie was able to bring to the book that genuinely improved it. I was really happy to see Steven explore the alternate reality of the jumper series that involved jumpscars, and jumprot and paladins. The basis of that is actually a pretty compelling universe. Id love to see a sequel to this minus movie davy (booooooo, he's so lame compared to book davy) where we see more applications of this different jumper power.
Maybe we'd see some applications of being able to jump more violently as to explode outward like a bomb in a group of paladins. or using jumpscars to set traps for paladins. I'd also love to explore the paladins as a group/ideology/religious sect. In my headcanon they are a deeply hidden sect of the catholic church, a dark remnant of the inquisition days. Maybe an offshoot of the malleus maleficarum types.
Griffin is just such a breath of fresh air especially in comparison with movie davy, I like the way he fights and I fuck with his mission heavy.
pls bring us a sequel to griffin where we get more lore in this alternate universe
Maybe we'd see some applications of being able to jump more violently as to explode outward like a bomb in a group of paladins. or using jumpscars to set traps for paladins. I'd also love to explore the paladins as a group/ideology/religious sect. In my headcanon they are a deeply hidden sect of the catholic church, a dark remnant of the inquisition days. Maybe an offshoot of the malleus maleficarum types.
Griffin is just such a breath of fresh air especially in comparison with movie davy, I like the way he fights and I fuck with his mission heavy.
pls bring us a sequel to griffin where we get more lore in this alternate universe
March 2, 2019
Griffin can choose to be anywhere he wants so long as he has seen it before. He just pictures it and he can jump right there. However, the first time he did that at the age of 5, his parents found out that someone is determined to take Griffin away. Imagine the possibilities.
Griffin and his parents move and go into hiding, even to home schooling Griffin. Griffin has promised never to jump when others can see him and never to jump near home. But Griffin makes a mistake and then doesn't tell his parents. There is a great tragedy and Griffin is on the run again.
But man (or boy) is a social creature and he soon finds himself with friends who get used against him.
I found the idea of a jumper great. However, I did find that Griffin at the age of 9 -11 is way too experienced in keeping life and limb together to be that believable. However, I did find the adventure enjoyable.
Griffin and his parents move and go into hiding, even to home schooling Griffin. Griffin has promised never to jump when others can see him and never to jump near home. But Griffin makes a mistake and then doesn't tell his parents. There is a great tragedy and Griffin is on the run again.
But man (or boy) is a social creature and he soon finds himself with friends who get used against him.
I found the idea of a jumper great. However, I did find that Griffin at the age of 9 -11 is way too experienced in keeping life and limb together to be that believable. However, I did find the adventure enjoyable.
November 13, 2020
Huh, can hardly believe I did not review this at the time I read it...that was after reading Exo, wasn't it...?
Anyways, fair book. Griff could have been smarter though.
And that person that had sex and enjoyed it after their parent was killed right in front of them? Yeah, that was unrealistic.
EDIT[November 13th, 2020]: found my original review in my cloud storage, LOL. I knew I HAD written a review immediately after finishing the book that time...
(At page 165 out of 286, I realised that, though I had so far enjoyed knowing Griff, there really wasn't much happening to push the story forward. Don't get me wrong, his life is interesting, his people are awesome (Sam, Alejandra, Henry), but, this is Jumper, y'know? Teleportation adventures and all that?
When it finally sped up, boy, did it speed up.
It's nice to finally understand Griff's viciousness in the movie. He had been stupid for so long, payback is almost literally the only way to go.
Good book.)
Anyways, fair book. Griff could have been smarter though.
And that person that had sex and enjoyed it after their parent was killed right in front of them? Yeah, that was unrealistic.
EDIT[November 13th, 2020]: found my original review in my cloud storage, LOL. I knew I HAD written a review immediately after finishing the book that time...
(At page 165 out of 286, I realised that, though I had so far enjoyed knowing Griff, there really wasn't much happening to push the story forward. Don't get me wrong, his life is interesting, his people are awesome (Sam, Alejandra, Henry), but, this is Jumper, y'know? Teleportation adventures and all that?
When it finally sped up, boy, did it speed up.
It's nice to finally understand Griff's viciousness in the movie. He had been stupid for so long, payback is almost literally the only way to go.
Good book.)
June 5, 2025
I read this one last because obviously I knew it was set in the movie universe and it wouldn't be quite the same continuation of the story. And look because the main character was not the normal main characters, and the setting different, it does suffer just a little bit, but the writing underneath is good, the problem solving about the evil pursuers WHILE FIGURING OUT MIDDLE SCHOOL ROMANCES is still the same, and I thought it was really interesting to view the Jumper world through a different lens for a while - and in a different time too, where there weren't even really the mobile phones or internet cafes that Davy was able to use, and the main character had to do his detective work using old timey sketch drawings of evil baddies! All in all, not as hard hitting but still a really interesting new perspective on the other 4.5 novels in this universe.
September 10, 2025
3/5
por donde empezar, tengo emociones encontradas, sin duda esperaba más acción pensando en que estaba basado en la pelicula, me agrada Gryffin desde ña película se la roba, pero aqui no se siente Gryffin y precisamente creo que es lo correcto ya que lo dice en los últimos diálogos, yo era bueno y me convirtieron en esto, entonces se entiende el porque se comporta asi en la película, me agrada el libro aunque parece un davy 2.0, pero es compresible debido al estilo de la pelicula, solo puedo pensar en lo triste que es ser buscado por todos y no por buenas razones, cuando Gryffin dice espero nunca tengas que mentir sobre quien eres. Es simplemente poderoso, ojalá jumper hubiera seguido, tenia mucho futuro este universo.
por donde empezar, tengo emociones encontradas, sin duda esperaba más acción pensando en que estaba basado en la pelicula, me agrada Gryffin desde ña película se la roba, pero aqui no se siente Gryffin y precisamente creo que es lo correcto ya que lo dice en los últimos diálogos, yo era bueno y me convirtieron en esto, entonces se entiende el porque se comporta asi en la película, me agrada el libro aunque parece un davy 2.0, pero es compresible debido al estilo de la pelicula, solo puedo pensar en lo triste que es ser buscado por todos y no por buenas razones, cuando Gryffin dice espero nunca tengas que mentir sobre quien eres. Es simplemente poderoso, ojalá jumper hubiera seguido, tenia mucho futuro este universo.
August 15, 2017
Pleasantly surprised! When I saw it was only 7 hours on audio, I thought it wouldn't have much heft to it. This was well fleshed out, as told from the point of view from a young boy. It's not written like a GRRM book, skipping several years at a time in some points. However, the story is well done, skimming the bits that can't be explained, since the main character just doesn't know the answers. I like the premise, and the characters. The narrator on this, MacLeod Andrews, did an excellent job of creating accents and gender without being patronizing.
July 2, 2018
The Author's Note at the end of this book tells the reader belatedly that Griffin's world is different from Davy's, to fit better with the movie's script. I liked the movie, I may have to watch it again now.
I read this as either an alternate book-reality, or as the ultimate bad-guy reaction to failure in Reflex. Griffin's ability is sudden and public, and his parents do their best to teach him how to hide it -- but it's not enough. His mistakes are very bad. Hard as he tries, he can't live entirely as he needs to, until he has no choice. It's how most of us would be (if we lived long enough). In many ways, Griffin's the most sympathetic jumper, the most average, mistakes and all.
I read this as either an alternate book-reality, or as the ultimate bad-guy reaction to failure in Reflex. Griffin's ability is sudden and public, and his parents do their best to teach him how to hide it -- but it's not enough. His mistakes are very bad. Hard as he tries, he can't live entirely as he needs to, until he has no choice. It's how most of us would be (if we lived long enough). In many ways, Griffin's the most sympathetic jumper, the most average, mistakes and all.
January 10, 2026
My disappointment with this book is partly on me - this was an impulse buy I did sometime between 2008-09, thinking it was the novel on which the movie was based. Cut to 2024 when I *finally* get to reading it after my reading hiatus (LOL) and I realize this is actually a prequel novel to the story seen in the movie, focused on Jamie Bell's character, Griffin. So that was Disappointment #1.
Disappointment #2 was that half of the book was geography and directions, and quarter of it was in Spanish/French.
Disappointment #2 was that half of the book was geography and directions, and quarter of it was in Spanish/French.
August 5, 2018
I really liked this, even though it was a spin-off of the movie and not the other books.
I liked the movie as well, though not quite as much as the books.
But a really frustrating part is the book contradicted the movie almost right away, and some other times throughout it, and this book was written specifically as the story of Griggin from the move.
In the movie Griffin said his parents were killed when he was five, the book tells it otherwise.
Overall a good read.
I liked the movie as well, though not quite as much as the books.
But a really frustrating part is the book contradicted the movie almost right away, and some other times throughout it, and this book was written specifically as the story of Griggin from the move.
In the movie Griffin said his parents were killed when he was five, the book tells it otherwise.
Overall a good read.
February 3, 2019
This was an interesting view on Griffin's life prior to how we see him in Jumper. It was nice to see him change from a nice boy who just wanted to be loved to a hardened person from all the tragic issues that he had to deal with.
I would love more story because it interesting. I would have give it a full 5 stars but I hated all the different languages without translation, different places without context to make it seem cooler idk
I would love more story because it interesting. I would have give it a full 5 stars but I hated all the different languages without translation, different places without context to make it seem cooler idk
April 12, 2020
L'ho trovato noioso, così scontato da farmi sentire palesemente fuori target (e un po' lo sono, ma alcuni Young Adult li ho trovati godibilissimi lo stesso).
Il protagonista non ha nulla di particolarmente interessante che lo distingua dalle migliaia di bambini-super-speciali di saghe analoghe. Ci viene presentato come più resiliente della media, ma compie errori così palesemente stupidi che ti metteresti le mani nei capelli. La prima volta me lo faccio andare bene, perché è giovane e sprovveduto, poi ci ricasca (di solito ha appena finito di dire "non permetterò più che succeda") e qualche dubbio sulla sua intelligenza mi viene.
Qualche perplessità sulla trama, come la società supersegreta che non ho capito quanto voglia restare supersegreta .
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Letto per le sfide
1. Trim your TBR - Libro #08, per la task Un libro con un nome proprio nel titolo.
2. Alphabet 2020 per Un libro di un autore di cui il cognome inizi per G
3. Babele 2020 - Modalità difficile (3/15)
4. Esimio sconosciuto 2020 - (4/5)
Il protagonista non ha nulla di particolarmente interessante che lo distingua dalle migliaia di bambini-super-speciali di saghe analoghe. Ci viene presentato come più resiliente della media, ma compie errori così palesemente stupidi che ti metteresti le mani nei capelli. La prima volta me lo faccio andare bene, perché è giovane e sprovveduto, poi ci ricasca (di solito ha appena finito di dire "non permetterò più che succeda") e qualche dubbio sulla sua intelligenza mi viene.
Qualche perplessità sulla trama, come la società supersegreta che non ho capito quanto voglia restare supersegreta .
******************
Letto per le sfide
1. Trim your TBR - Libro #08, per la task Un libro con un nome proprio nel titolo.
2. Alphabet 2020 per Un libro di un autore di cui il cognome inizi per G
3. Babele 2020 - Modalità difficile (3/15)
4. Esimio sconosciuto 2020 - (4/5)
February 13, 2018
This is my first experience with the books, as I’d only ever seen the 2008 film. Griffin was my favorite in the film, so this prequel novel was the most enticing.
Loved the premise and how the story unfolded. Enjoyable characters with interesting situations. Griffin is a wonderful, likable yet tragic character.
Quick read. Very interested in moving on in the series.
Loved the premise and how the story unfolded. Enjoyable characters with interesting situations. Griffin is a wonderful, likable yet tragic character.
Quick read. Very interested in moving on in the series.
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