Tag: Book

WW84: The Junior Novel by Calliope Glass (2020)

I know that some of you will accuse me of having junior humour, and you’re not exactly wrong!  But this was the ONLY adaptation of the WW84 film, and curiosity got me.  I don’t know how long the linked review will stay on the internet, but it goes into detail about what is “wrong” with the adaptation. Basically, the story leaves out a lot.

I will disagree on one point. Steve Trevor’s ‘resurrection’ always felt really foolish and verging on the edge of “mind rape,” so this adaptation glossing over it actually makes the story seem better!

As a 149-page retelling this has no addition detail from the film and very frustratingly stops before the film (and story) climax!  Maybe they had a hard stop at 150 pages but that doesn’t explain why there are 5 blank pages at the end, then!

No one needs to look this one up unless you are a hardcore WW collector, in which case you already have it.

Fair Trade by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (2022)

Through my involvement in The Heinlein Society I have become a regular attendee at Balticon, the Baltimore Science Fiction Society’s annual SF convention.  BSFS and THS award the “Heinlein Award” and the 2025 winner was Sharon Lee.  Before the con I had only read one of Sharon’s books and was vaguely aware of the Liaden Universe that her and her husband & cowriter created and populated.

At the con, I picked up Fair  Trade to be able to have Sharon inscribe it.  I read it this week and it’s an intriguing story with two main plot threads.  I didn’t realize it was the third book of an arc, but I was able to pick up the gist of earlier pertinent action.

I enjoyed the similarity of the Loopers/Traders/Liaden to some of the customs in Heinlein’s Citizen of the Galaxy. What I did not enjoy was finishing the book with several dangling plot threads and finding out there was not a “next book in the arc” yet published.  Steve Miller died in 2024, so it’s not really clear on what stories will be told in the Liaden Universe henceforth.

I’m glad I read this to get a better sense of Sharon & Steve’s writing, and a signed copy from Sharon is a nice memory of meeting her, but I would caution to read other parts of the Liaden Universe instead of this one for now.

Wonder Woman by Nancy Holder (2017)

While travelling visiting family this past Spring, I found this book in a used book store.  It’s a sad fact that movie-tie-in novelizations aren’t being done any more, except for those aimed at younger kids.  I hadn’t realized this one had come out, and Nancy Holder is a veteran of many adaptations. I really enjoyed her work in the Buffyverse.

As I expected, this is a solid telling of the story. What I usually love about novelizations is that they are done from a final script which often has more details than make it into the film.  Sadly, I didn’t learn anything “new” from this one.  I enjoyed the movie and I enjoyed reading the book after not having seen the movie in many years. It was a nice diversion on a dreary Fall day.

When I stop to look over what I have collected over the years that’s comics-related, I have a surprising amount of Wonder Woman books. I am going to add this one into the collection.