KING KONG

THE MODERN LIBRARY

Written by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper

Novelization by Delos W. Lovelace

Introduction by Greg Bear
Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz

Introduction copyright 2005 by Greg Bear
Preface copyright 2005 by Mark Cotta Vaz

All rights reserved.



In King Kong - originally written by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper, with the novelization by Delos W. Lovelace - movie producer Denham is out to make a film with the new 8th Wonder of the World - the great ape, King Kong.

Denham takes a film crew and an innocent leading lady, Ann Darrow, out on a freighter ship in the South Pacific ocean and sails to an exotic tropical island in order to search for a mythical legend. There on the island full of dinosaurs, they run into the natives who kidnap the beautiful actress Ann and have put her up to sacrifice to the native's mysterious monster god - the giant gorilla beast King Kong.

This novelization of the original movie from 1933 gave me the feeling of the movie. The Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz explains how the story of the movie King Kong came about. This is especially important as some people like me might think that King Kong had came from a book first, but this is a completely original story that was created to be produced for a movie - with Cooper saying that he had gotten the idea from a dream that he had of a giant gorilla terrorizing New York. From reading the Preface, this story seems more like a biography about Cooper who is living his life vicariously through the character of Denham - especially with a film crew trying to film an unusual wildlife phenomenom. Greg Bear's introduction of the book gives a modern perspective of the story behind King Kong. The fact that the book is printed by Modern Library Classics shows how much of an impact this fictional story of a beast loving a beauty has had on the American popular culture for the movie story to be even considered to be a classic story.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language. 

G.I. JOE - THE RISE OF COBRA

A Del Rey Mass Market Original

Written by Max Allan Collins
Based on a Story by Michael Gordon, Stuart Beattie, and Stephen Sommers

and the Screenplay by Stuart Beattie, David Elliot, and Paul Lovett
Copyright © 2009 by Hasbro Inc.
Copyright © 2009 by Paramount Pictures

All Rights Reserved.



 A convoy of nano-tech weaponry, weaponry made from molecular robots - is ambushed by aggressive super-soldiers that are called Vipers. The convoy is rescued by a top secret elite team of soldiers from all branches of the armed forces called G.I. JOE. Survivors of the convoy, Duke and Ripcord soon join the team G.I. JOE as they go after the nano-tech weaponry the Vipers stole from the convoy before the Vipers can deploy the weapons. The Vipers collaborate with a weapons dealer, who basically is in charge of a group of terrorists - that will soon become the terrorist organization called COBRA.

This is a fairly straight-forward novelization of the movie with very little additional material to add to the adaptation, which makes it a little disappointing coming from Max Allan Collins. I expected a little more bite in the style from a novelization from the usually dependable Collins - especially after watching the movie, which was more commercialized. I wanted to see more of the envitonmental impact of the nano-technology weapons of grey goo eating all of the metal it touches, like when they ate the Eiffel Tower.

See movie review:
G.I. JOE - THE RISE OF COBRA

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.