Customer Reviews

Farscape: House of Cards

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love Farscape. The acting, the sets, the story, everything about it. This book, however, is not very good.It's very awkward, the characters aren't like them selves. They say odd things and the whole book is kinda silly. The story is poor and feels like a VERY bad suspense movie. This book is only for people who are obsessed with Farscape(like me) and will read it once and then keep it on your shelf. I recommend reading it, but it's not worth reading over one time.

DeCandido was fairly spot on with characterization. Easy read. Afterward you felt like you had just experienced an episode. Pick it up!

While testing his Farscape module, the astronaut John Crichton is shot through a wormhole and deposited in another part of the galaxy. While floating powerlessly in space soon thereafter, a freak accident finds him killing the brother of a Peacekeeper commander and running with a ship (a living ship) full of escaped Prisoners and one (thanks to him) Peacekeeper that can't go back to her ranks. Add in a person they've rescued along the way, some changes in the enemy but not in the "run away" premise, and you've worked your way up to the book.

Liantac is a gambler's paradise and one of the crown jewels in the middle of nowhere. According to Rygel, expert on all things fun, he's always wanted to go there and would have gone before except for a slight problem. There's been a little woe that wouldn't allow for travel to the planet with ships. After being sought after, told they'd be paid well for taking someone there, and reassured that biomechaniod ships function in its atmosphere, the crew agrees (some reluctantly) they can get supplies while planetside. Taking a deposed figurehead into a place like that can result in some problems, however, just like taking an Ex-Peacekeeper can drudge up some old problems. Yeah, its just like old times.

One thing I liked about this in light of the series and its departure is that this captured the Farscape feel rather well. Keitch R. A. DeCandido seems to know the series, and he certainly understands the motivations behind the characters. While reading along, he briefs you on the people therein much like the show would do, keeping them feeling like the series always does. He also knows his timeframe, too, and must have followed the series while working on this book. According to the author, it is set toward the end of season 2, between the episodes "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "The Locket." Knowing that and watching a few DVDs from that timeframe helps plugs into it rather well.

If you're like me and you still miss Farscape, then this isn't a bad way to find a little more of your fix. Its not the dynamic of the television cast playing out with a nice budget and some special effects, but it really does feel like the shows from that time often felt. It even does one of the things that the shows are notorious for, adding in a little "Earth humor" into the Crichton equation and letting him interpret many of the things he's seeing for you. Coupled with a nice outing by the always-troublesome "Sparky," a little Nebari moving, some Luxan added to the fray, and into sets the mood and the timeline really well.

To note, if you are new to Farscape then you need to watch the series up until the points mentioned and let it do the introduction for you. This is merely an installation in the saga and works well as an add-on to the DVD sets. While it could be understood without the background, picturing the faces and knowing their woes ahead of time lets this have more effect because the author does something I like, treating me like a viewer of Farscape and not a bumbling fool in need of constant reminders. Too many books do that when tied to a spin-off.

I found "House of Cards" to read pretty well. It's not literature, but you don't want it to be. Farscape's been cancelled and you need a fix. This is it. The author seems to be familiar with the characters and the series and this shows in the writing. I hope there are some other good Farscape novels out there.

Well, I'm a Farscape fan, and if you are too, you'll probably like this book. I sure did. Overall, the story might be a touch on the light side - you can pretty much tell where things are going. There aren't too many surprises, but there are a lot of good laughs in the typical Farscape vien. I had a lot of fun reading this book. It's a very good romp with the characters I know and love.

The author has been able to write the wonderful characters as we see them on TV and DVD. The action takes place during year 2 of the series; if storylines hadn't progressed on the show, this would have made a wonderful movie adaptation. The dialog in the book is so faithfully written, that I could actually hear the characters' voices as I read.

The end was very exciting as all the disfunctional teamwork came together.

Thought I'd chime in on the positive side even as I sit here lamenting the cancellation... I give this book 3 stars because it's pretty much candy. In my world, Joseph Conrad and George Orwell get 5 stars, dang-it. You only get 4 or 5 stars if you bother to invent the universe and characters for yourself. But as far as media tie-in novels are concerned, this is a good one.

I just finished writing a space opera series of my own, hadn't read anything for about 5 years, and this was the best choice for easing back into it. It was like watching an episode of Farscape (which is pretty much like spending time in my own universe, come to think of it). Took about as long to read as to watch a two-parter. The author does indeed "get" this show, these characters, etc. I love the "Viva Las Vegas" running gag. Definitely a fun romp through one part of the uncharted territories that would be too expensive to build as sets... I only hope these novels aren't our only way to visit with Moya and her crew in the future...

PUT FARSCAPE (AND WITCHBLADE) ON UPN!

A solid match with the characterization in the show and a fun adventure in it's own right. This is a good book to help wait out the reruns.

Quoth Mr. O'Bannon: "You =get= it!" ("You", in this case, being Mr. DeCandido.)

And DeCandido does, indeed, "get it". House of Cards is a perfect example of what a media tie-in novel should be: it should seem like it was taken from the show, like these characters are those characters; it offers a story that you are unlikely to find in the series (simply because of sheer cost--would you *really* expect them to try to build about half of Las Vegas? because that's about where on the planet this story takes place); and it's *entertaining*.

House of Cards is all of that. My minor nitpick: Mr. DeCandido talks about some events that happened in the past in the series. If you're the odd case like me (who bought this book after having seen only "Self-Inflicted Wounds") who hasn't seen much of the series, it can help provide a sense of grounding. Otherwise, it's simply repetion of prior knowledge in an already small book.

Alright, that's done. Now, bring on Out of Time (the fourth Farscape book, also by Mr. DeCandido, to be released Summer 2002)!

This was a fun read. Keith's story was pretty simple, and I had to admit that I was somewhat disappointed that the crew of Moya were not involved in more arduous tasks, but then that would have taken away from the plot he was developing. I can't speak for how dead on the characterization is as many others have as I have only seen maybe two complete episodes of the series, but it is a fun read and certainly a good first book in what appears to be another mass media market chain of books.