To clarify here, I mean the Harry Potter BOOKS and Lord of the Rings MOVIES. The trouble with these two very good franchises is that they have made others think that it is OK for books to be 350 pages or more, and all movies must hit at least 2 hours and 20 minutes.... Depsite their individual excellence, they have encouraged others to copy their length, and so we have to see movies that are 20 or 30 or even 40 minutes too long, and read books that would have been much better if only the story had been condensed. Every one now feels justified in going on too long, not realizing that it takes great talent to extend a book or movie to great lengths.
Why do I go on about this? Well, because of a book called Larklight. It's a book stuffed with good ideas and absorbing illustrations, but it is just too darn long to sustain itself. Written as an alternate history kind of science fiction type book, the novel is set in Victorian times, only in this version of history, Isaac Newton discovered space travel, and gravity machines, etc. Space isn't as we know it however, but more like Victorian Empire builders may have imagined it - filled with something called "aether" and capable of being traveled without special gear, stuffed with alien lifeforms and ready to be added to the empire. The book is written in a somewhat florid "ripping yarns" kind of way, and tells of the exploits of a brother and sister who must try to foil the attempts of a spider-like race to bring down the Empire. It is inventive, fun, and entertaining - mostly. But it is too darn long, and the language is just too florid and old-fashioned. It is written with the tongue firmly in the cheek - making fun of that kind of old-fashioned adventure novel - but I don't know that most kids (or any kids) would get the joke. For a better use of an alternate reality old-fashioned adventure, you'd be better off with Airborn and Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel.
Link for Larklight: http://www.larklight.com/
Link for Airborn & Skybreaker: http://www.airborn.ca/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment