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| Monk novels | |
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| Topic Started: 14 Dec 2009, 19:11 (454 Views) | |
| Jedikatie | 14 Dec 2009, 19:11 Post #1 |
Rygel's Chief Engineer, Throne Sled Maintenance and Repair
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Well, I started reading the Monk novel I bought the other day for my Kindle tonight. It's called Mr. Monk in Outer Space. At first I thought that I got the wrong text (despite the title at the top of the page, because it was discussing some guy who died of a heart attack at the corporate HQ of a burger joint, but then about 5 or 6 chapters into the book, it finally got to the plot that was actually described on the book... I don't know if they're all like this one, but so far it's rather annoying. Partly because it's told from Natalie's POV and I dislike her intensely, and partly because the author apparently likes to make Monk act even more bizarre than he usually does on the show--I mean, I know that Monk's OCD, but really, he doesn't stand there and insist that people have to drink 2 7-Ups, he doesn't demand that the cops find everyone who hasn't lined up their car perfectly along the side of the street and make them move the cars to his satisfaction (or insist on giving them tickets), stuff like that. It's a bit over the top. Anyway, the main reason why I bought this book (I'm only partway into it so far) is because the premise of the book is that the creator of a popular SF show, Beyond Earth, from the '70s was killed in broad daylight in front of a hotel convention center as he got out of a taxi. By a guy dressed as one of the characters (Mr. Snork) from the show, and then the killer ran into the convention center... which was in the midst of a "Beyondcon" and there were hundreds of people in costume. So far, they've made fun of Kirk, Riker (the captain's name on the show is "Stryker"), Troi (aka "Starella", Stryker's psychic concubine), and used a weird combination of Spock and Worf to come up with "Mr. Snork" since he's supposed to be the security officer on the ship, who has "pointed ears, vertebrae on the forehead, and an elephant's trunk hanging from his nose"... and apparently they're also trashing BSG (there's a group who is vehemently opposed to the reimagined "new" version of the show which has started filming with a new cast, etc., that is supposed to be "grittier" than the original). I can't decide if they're poking fun at J.J. Abrams or Ron Moore, though, as far as who the executive producer of the "new" show. They also mention the station that's producing the new show as being "UBS". And the ship is the Discovery, which is a "Piller-class Confederation starship"... Sadly, I'm already nearly a quarter of the way through the book, and it's so full of stereotypical cliches about SF fans, that it's not really funny. The author, of course, had to throw in the line about how a lot of SF fans live at home with their parents and have the con organizer vehemently deny that he's a virgin... :rolleyes: Hopefully it gets better, because right now, it's not winning any prizes as a mystery, it has as its narrator a character I couldn't stand on the show (and who is even more whiny in the book, if that's possible), and while I expected them to poke fun at SF fans and conventions, I'd really like to get past the cliches... ETA: About who they're making fun of as the executive producer--it's both Abrams and Moore, because I just read the chapter where Monk talks to the guy, and he's "reimagining" the show to expand it beyond the casual viewer who might have heard about it but not actually watched it before, but making everything dark and depressing at the same time. The author also, apparently, watched the Xindi episodes of Enterprise, because the premise of "Beyond Earth" was that Earth was blasted by an alien device which was located beyond the edge of the galaxy, then created a wormhole, which the ship just happens to go through before it closes, dumping them on the far side of the universe, where a bunch of other people were also stuck, and they form their "Confederation". He apparently doesn't like the fact that they're happy, go-lucky people, instead of clinically depressed over the loss of their world with no way to return home. And one of the characters (Mr. Snork) in the "reimagined" version was going to be made female. There's also the bit about how he wants to make a show that reaches out to masses, though he never watched the original show and doesn't give a damn about the original fans. Though I did get a slight chuckle from one of the seminar titles at the convention, which was "When are Trekkers going to give Earthers the respect that they deserve?" But so far, this is still a crappy mystery, and it's pretty damn obvious that the murder has to do with the pristine happy meal type toys from '78 that the fat lady was selling at her booth at the convention, which were put out by the same burger chain that the first death in the book took place at (where a guy who suffered a heart attack was shot 3 times after he was already dead). Edited by Jedikatie, 14 Dec 2009, 20:14.
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| Jedikatie | 15 Dec 2009, 09:17 Post #2 |
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Rygel's Chief Engineer, Throne Sled Maintenance and Repair
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Well, I'll give the author of that Monk novel this much: he had a copycat killer take out the guy who was doing the "reimagined" version of the show as well... Overall, though, the mystery itself was rather thin--I mean, it was pretty obvious that the convention murder had to do with the first murder in the book (though, honestly, how is anyone supposed to figure out the connection for themselves when the author didn't bother to mention what was in the cab until Monk "tells" us why the murders are connected, about halfway through the book? There's only about 3 "real" suspects in the whole book (excluding the copycat killer, because it was pretty damn obvious who did that murder, even before Monk "allowed" his brother Ambrose to solve it), and two of those were easy to dismiss from the time you met them. He definitely overdoes the whole "Monk has many and varied phobias" bit, however. I'm surprised that Monk even breathes, given in this book, he apparently has a problem with a microscopic coffee stain on his living room rug; insists that everyone who drinks 7-Up has to drink two of them (because 7 is an odd number), but they only have to drink one V8; wants to move the body from the crime scene on the fifth floor either up or down one floor (never mind that Monk, despite his numerous phobias, would never ask such a thing of the captain, nor would he insist on "adding" a penny and piece of lint, even in an evidence bag, to the victim's jacket pocket so that there's an "even" amount of both in there); etc. Personally, I think the author is the one who has a thing about stuff having to be "even" rather than Monk, given the innumerable times, usually about every 3rd or 4th page, that the author uses that as an excuse for something that is apparently supposed to be funny (but usually isn't) in the book. |
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4:10 PM Jul 29
