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The book industry always has attempted to take advantage of current trends in fashion, which extends far beyond anorexic models parading on a runway clad in clothes that defy logic or are affordable to any but the average Wall Street broker or the Hollywood Starlet of the Month.
Chet Griffin, a rollerblade messenger, works for an ultra-sleazy operator of a delivery service. Using methods that may remind readers of notorious villains of literary history, Griffin's boss challenges his employees to meet a seemingly impossible deadline, delivering a precious package to an address in San Francisco in a preposterous time frame. Young Chet, never one to ignore the impossible, not only gets there, but shows up several minutes early. Novice author Quirk writes in a breezy style that makes good use of cinematic techniques, describing this death defying feat with a rush of words that gives the reader the illusion of experiencing every twist, turn and obstacle along the route. The plot doesn't reinvent the wheel, but serves well to keep the action moving along at a breathless rate. The lulls occur when Quirk parks his blades while exchanging witty repartee that isn't always witty or pushing the plot along. In a book such as this one, the thrills must be unrelenting. Such judicious trimming by an alert editor would have helped. The Ultimate Rush at times reads like the fleshed-out screenplay it probably will become. The resulting film should create new challenges for Hollywood's creative crews of stunt men. Space Opera Demands Time, Pays Off Science fiction achieves new fans every day, many sent to book stores after watching some of the recent s-f achievements on the big screen. The time seems right for a renaissance of the genre. Peter F. Hamilton, a British novelist, could well become an important figure in the field, which seems ready for a renewed interest well beyond the mediocre material on film, usually dominated by special effects with not enough attention paid to stories. Hamilton garnered some success a few years ago with the two-volume The Reality Dysfunction, and now adds to that burgeoning reputation with another two-volume fiction extravaganza that's a sequel to the first two books, The Neutronium Alchemist, Part 1: Consolidation and The Neutronium Alchemist, Part 2: Conflict (Warner Aspect paperbacks, $6.50 each). Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Books Made for The Movies in Contemporary Fiction is owned by . Permission to republish Books Made for The Movies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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