Customer Reviews

Underworld: Book 1

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Now, as much as I loved the film, it's nothing in comparison to the novelization. Though the characters here differ slightly from those in the film, I believe all Underworld fans should read this. Greg Cox' vocabulary is amazaing, and the way he describes each moment in the book makes me love the film even more. It does indeed contain a good deal more romance than the film, seemingly at no expense. The characters are far more fleshed out, due to the fact that you get to see their thoughts and emotions, rather than just struggle to decipher them from the actors expression.

A must read for all Underworld fans.

I love the film "Underworld" and bought this book hoping to get more background information on the characters. The film warrants a sequel (and filming on "Underworld 2" starts Fall 2004) and even after several viewings of the dvd I always found new facts and tidbits that I hadn't caught before.

This is where the book comes in handy. Greg Cox does a fantastic job not only of bringing the film to life with his vivid descriptions, but he also does a great job of telling you what the characters are thinking and feeling. There is also more background info on the characters and the vampire and lycan culture that is not obvious or even mentioned in the film. For instance, I didn't realize that the vampire culture has a certain hierarchy and that the character Erika is considered a mere servant. Kraven and Lucian's plans are also explained here while only alluded to in the film. Many of my questions were answered in this book and this is why I find this an indispensable companion to the movie/dvd.

If you are an "Underworld" fan, then this book is a must have. It is a quick and enjoyable read that will give you new insight on the characters and cultures of the movie.

Now first of all, don't get me wrong. I am now reading this book for the 4th time. Not because of the writing, but because of the plot. Greg Cox did indeed write fine tale which helped flesh out the movie with strong characterzation of the players, except there are some grivences that I have. Like Erika. Why he chose to take a great manipulative, schemeing supporting character in the movie, and turn her into a simpering, annoying, brainless brat? He uses her over and over to show what a jerk Kraven is, when we know from the first time he appears in the book, he's a jerk. That's my first irk with Mr. Cox. My second problem I have with him is his actual writing style. This is why I only gave the book three stars. Oh my lord, could you please try and put a few more $10 words in, please? Bumbershoots? Franked? Perdition? Inauspicious nook? And that's only at the beginning. Through out the book he tries to show you how well he can do in Scrabble by throwing out words and phrases that I actually had to get up and hunt for a dictionary to find out what they meant. This type of writing really throws me off when I'm wanting to read a book. But I love the whole idea of a vampire/lycan war with the vampires being good, sort of. He really has a problem with overly done descritions as well. But he does have some good points that have had me reading this book so many times. Like I said, he has great characterization skills. He fleshes out Selene and Michael where the movie couldn't. We really get into their heads and get to examine what makes them them. His battle scenes are great and I like the way he treated the lycan ammo as painful to the vampires to even look at. The movie just really goes "They're special bullets, ho hum". And the love affair is developed in greater detail and passion than the movie does, as well. All in all, if you loved the movie, read the book. If you love vampire writing, it's a good read too. You just have to be VERY forgiving of Mr. Cox's writing style. A good trick is when you come across a disagreeable word or phrase, just change it in your mind to something less ponderous. It really helps. But all in all, I do enjoy the book evertime I read it. As long as you can get past the writing style, I think you will too.

I went into reading this book long after seeing the movie. I must admit, it was not completely different than the movie, however I enjoyed the book more than the movie. I felt much closer to the characters than I did in the move, in addition, I felt the book answered some questions which I had after seeing the movie. If you enjoyed the movie, I definitely recommend reading the book. If you haven't seen the movie, read the book for fun, but only if you like action. A great fast read.

I absolutely loved this movie and was looking forward to reading the book, but it was a big disappointment. All the beauty and mystery built up in the cinematography of the film and the restrained behavior of the characters is lost in this book. Selene ogles Michael. There are way too many descriptions of how cool her car is. And there isn't enough added beyond the basic movie plot to make the book worth reading -- what little extra character development is done in the book is mostly trite and cliched. (Spoiler alert!!) Michael even has the obligatory "I became a doctor because the woman I loved died in car wreck and I couldn't save her!" subplot, which is so cliched it's not to be believed. Save your time and money for repeated viewings of the DVD, and cross your fingers that if a second novelization comes out it's written by someone else.

I usually do not read book novelizations of movies because they turn out very inadequate and make the movie look bad. I liked Underworld so much that I decided to buy the book anyway. I read a lot of mediocre reviews, but I gave the book a try and I am not in the least bit disappointed. This book by Greg Cox is excellent. It follows every sequence in the movie and his usage of vocabulary makes the book all the better. His writing is very descriptive, but not to the point of boredom. I really like how he characterizes Selene and Kraven, who is not too detailed of a character in the movie. If I hadn't watched the movie first, I would probably think the book is better.

For any vampire genre fans, read Underworld (as well as watch it)! It's an excellent book as well as sophisticated and descriptive. I am surprised that the book turned out so good; it's definitely surpassed my expectations. I can't wait for the second book and movie!!!

O.k., this movie was flat-out five star. All I can say is "Houston, we have a franchise!", and hopefully a long lasting one too (I could really see this being added to the massive Alien/Predator/Terminator/Robocop crossover franchise). But, unfortunately, this book didn't live up to the standard. It was a good synopsis of the movie, but failed to include much extra (the only addition was a scene under a pier that must have been deleted, but I won't spoil that for you). Overall, if you liked the movie, get the book, if not, don't.

I say, See the movie first, then read the book. The movie lays a nice foundation for the book. Each character in the movie, including the characters who had non speaking roles, have a personal history that was explained very well, in the book. The book is a mixture of gothic, medieval history, and modern day Budapest Hungary. The Lycan ( werewolf ) leaderLucian's character ( Lucian was my favorite character in the "Underworld"movie. ) was explained very beautifully in the book. Lucian's character's personality had culture, ethics, passion, and so much past history, that an entire book should have been written about him. The characters of Michael Corvin and Selene had more depth in the book, than they ever had in the movie. The book did a better job, slowly developing the caring aspects and attraction, between the characters Michael and Selene. But, in the movie, you feel that their "romance" was too much of a rush. For the most part, books based on the movie ( Movie Tie in books ) are suppose to be an extended version of a movie. This book not only follows in order, each scene from the movie "Underworld", But, The author does such an excellent job in writing the scenes, that were not in the movie. This book is the movie and much, much, more. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was an interesting and fun read. I would like to hear from other Females, 21 years old and older, who are fans of the movies "Underworld" and "Lord of the rings". Please, E-Mail me. My name is Suzanne, and My e-mail address is: skywatcher171@yahoo.com

Greg Cox's writing is perfect for this genre. I saw the movie and loved it, but Cox's details and storytelling was grafted on with a superb touch.
The movie - though highly entertaining and visually stimulating - left me a little confused about some things.
The book version cleared all that up.
I for one will be buying the next exciting romp in this series. I also will see the sequel.
If you are looking for an exciting read - this is it!

The book/movie has a great premise, a world where werewolves and vampires exist in a secret society. The werewolves tend to be the more dangerous to humans and the 'high-society' vampires (the werewolves are more like your trailer park trash and Hell's Angels types) hunt them. One of the vampires falls in love with a human turned werewolf (I can see Jessica Alba playing the vampire part, but they casted Kate Beckinsale; and Ewan MacGregor as our werewolf--they casted Scott Speedman, whoever that is)l There are some bright spots, but over all, it reads a bit amateurish. Now to be fair, this is a novelization of a movie (I haven't seen the movie) and they tend to be weak (except for Alan Dean Foster's novelizations of the Alien movies). What I wish is that this was an idea that a good writer had gotten, instead of Hollywood. This would make a great limited series, of say four or five books. But this is what we got, and I suppose it isn't bad for a novelization, but on the whole, it is weak. I'm not sure how the movie is, but I think you'd do better watchint it instead of reading it.