Jumper

movie came out just over a month ago now. I saw it the weekend it opened and loved it. I thought the whole premise was very cool and I liked the interaction between the Jumpers and the Paladins. I left wishing that they’d gone into more detail with the back-story about everything, and thinking that the ending was extremely anticlimactic. I still want to see it again, because it was fun and entertaining, and Hayden Christensen was pretty good in the movie. Well, the movie is based on a novel by Steven Gould by the same name. I went to my local Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy of the book a few days later. Got home only to find out I’d picked up a follow-up book called Jumper: Griffin’s Story, which – according to the forward – is based on the movie and not Jumper or its follow-up, Reflex. Annoyed at myself for making such a mistake, I went to a different B&N the next day and purchased the correct book. (The other store didn’t have Jumper on their shelves at all.) Once home, I started reading right away. The first thing I found out is that the movie is loosely based on the book. VERY loosely based on the book. By the time I finished it, I realized that the filmmakers basically used a few characters and the teleportation ideas from the book and created a whole different movie. (This is what Gould meant when he said, “This novel was written to be consistent with the movie, and, as a consequence, there are significant differences between its world and the world of the previous novels.” (In regards to Griffin’s Story)) A short run-down of the differences between the two. WARNING: Spoilers!

1. David’s mother left when he was twelve, not five as the movie says.
2. His mother actually dies in halfway through the book, as a result of a terrorist plot.
3. In the novel, David’s first jump has nothing to do with a frozen river at all.

And Finally:

4. Paladins? What Paladins? There aren’t any in the novel!

If I sound a bit grumpy, it’s because the movie lead me to believe that it was a struggle all the way. That being said, I have to say that Jumper and Reflex are two of the most exciting and entertaining books I’ve read in a LONG time. I would recommend them to anybody looking for a Sci-Fi novel with a bit of a more down-to-earth twist. The only disappointment I had with these novels is that Reflex is currently out of print very hard to find. I came VERY close to buying it on eBay, but ended up finding it at the used bookshop near my house. It was book-club style hardcover, but that meant little to me. I got to actually read this book! It was just as exciting as its predecessor, and I have to give both novels a two-thumbs-up. On a side note… I have also procured most of Steven Gould’s books for reading after finishing those two. The two I don’t have sitting on my bookshelf right now are Greenwar and Blind Waves. Steven has his own blog, and you can find that here. (And, I might ad, he’s also running WordPress!) Anyway… It’s WAY past my bedtime and I need to get up in about five hours. I’m going to bed now. Thanks for visiting and Keep Coming Back!!! EDIT: Reflex is not out of print. It can be purchased directly from the publisher here. Thanks to Steven Gould for the link (picked up from comments on his blog).]]>