Indy Novels - Best to Worst, And Why (Repost)

Posted by Galacter from ts006d17.las-nv.concentric.net on May 11, 1999 at 02:09:38:

: Hey Graml, sarcasm duely noted. NE wayz, thanks to the recent hubub about the books, I'm in the mood to write-up another ranking, though I was gonna' wait till after I'd read 'Seecret / Sphinx". I'll have to exclude that one for the time being, then post a review sometime later.

: Here goes, on scales of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest, authors inititals following the subtitles...

: Indiana Jones and the:

: 7 Veils / RM - 5
: Indy's best jungle adventure ever. A wild and unpredictable plot, excellent writing by MacGregor - the desript of the magic and the colors is awesome! Fast paced, and exhausting, like any Indy tale should be.

: Dino's Eggs / MM - 5
: McCoy outdid MacGregor on this one - almost! The plot is excellent and this remains as the most action packed novel so far. It is also, very suprsingly, much darker, scarier, and more violent than any of the others. It has the kind of distinct edge that TOD had, and Indy tales need to go there more often.

: Sky Pirates / MC - 5
: A fantasitic change of pace from the usual Indy-style, this is the only Indy technological-oriented story that's likely to ever be any good at all! A really stylized mystery-adventure, superbly laced with nice ariel knowledge from leading areonautical world-expert Caidin. Gale Parker made for a fascinating potential mate for Indy next only to Diedre Campbell - too bad Martin didn't get to stick around for at least four books to play up on that.
: This book also features the best cover by Struzan.

: Unicorn's Legacy / RM - 4
: A great desert adventure enhanced by an uncertain female characterization in Mara Rogers and a wild villain, Roalnd Walcott.
: Nicely structured, but an anit-climax keeps it from getting a perfect score.
: Struzan's second-best cover.

: Dance of the Giant's / RM - 4
: Indy's best UK adventure, and the best use of Indy's MANY trips to Stonehenge. A little slow going and actionless at times, but RM's excellent writing keeps things fascinating.

: The White Witch / MC - 4
: The best use of strong-fantasy elements in any Indy story. Indy's trip into the forests of England is well versed in Mecca lore and Indy's tracing of anceint coins into the hands of the villains from MC's previous book is a well done mystery. I only wish the books had more space to focus on the villains, and their confrontations with our hero.

: The Interior World / RM - 3
: Another strongly fantasy-oriented book. RM's magnificent writing keeps it from being too unbelievable, and it was good to keep Indy hopped up on the goofballs to explain the D&D trappings! I particularly liked how Marcus explained where Indy REALLY was at the end.

: The Philospher's Stone / MM - 3
: An action packed, but not actually suspenseful, or even very interestingly plotted book. McCoy can do Indy's character fine, even better than Caidin, and MacGregor at times. But the climax of this book really sucked.

: Peril at Delphi / RM - 3
: Nice characterizations, and a good deal of mystery, but ultimately a typical IJ-excercise with an anti-climax. Greek was a fresh choice for location, though.

: Hollow Earth / MM - 2
: Essentially a pale imitation of 'Interior World'. He was cool not be too contradictory with RM's novel, and though the first half is pretty good, the latter half is neither exciting or believable. The climax smacks of his better, previous novel.

: Genesis Deluge / RM - 2
: A true letdown. Indy's search for the other 'lost Ark' is extremely silly. A promising start and build up, and the Chicago sequences are fun, but uggghgh, the Mt. Ararat scenes moved way to fast and way too unbelievable. RM's only real falty step.

: Well, at least no one has written an Indy novel thast can only be desribed as awful (unhlike the numerous Star Wars books, where virtually ALL of them fit that description).

: Till I'm done reading SoTS....

: G!!!!

: PS - My Current Readin List

: ANYTHING by KW Jeter, especially his new novel, NOIR.

: This guy wrote the only SW books I could stomache, being the recent BOUNTY HUMTER WARS set.

Follow Ups:

Re: Indy Novels - Best to Worst, And Why (Repost) sas c|:) 03:35:58 5/11/99 (1)
- Re: Indy Novels - Best to Worst, And Why (Repost) Galacter 03:07:28 5/12/99 (0)

Post a Followup:

Name:    
E-Mail:  
Subject: 
Comments:

: : Hey Graml, sarcasm duely noted.  NE wayz, thanks to the recent hubub about the books, I'm in the mood to write-up another ranking, though I was gonna' wait till after I'd read 'Seecret / Sphinx".  I'll have to exclude that one for the time being, then post a review sometime later.

: : Here goes, on scales of 1 to 5, 5 being the highest, authors inititals following the subtitles...

: : Indiana Jones and the:

: : 7 Veils / RM  - 5
: : Indy's best jungle adventure ever.  A wild and unpredictable plot, excellent writing by MacGregor - the desript of the magic and the colors is awesome!  Fast paced, and exhausting, like any Indy tale should be.

: : Dino's Eggs / MM - 5
: : McCoy outdid MacGregor on this one - almost!  The plot is excellent and this remains as the most action packed novel so far.  It is also, very suprsingly, much darker, scarier, and more violent than any of the others.  It has the kind of distinct edge that TOD had, and Indy tales need to go there more often.

: : Sky Pirates / MC - 5
: : A fantasitic change of pace from the usual Indy-style, this is the only Indy technological-oriented story that's likely to ever be any good at all!  A really stylized mystery-adventure, superbly laced with nice ariel knowledge from leading areonautical world-expert Caidin.  Gale Parker made for a fascinating potential mate for Indy next only to Diedre Campbell - too bad Martin didn't get to stick around for at least four books to play up on that.
: : This book  also features the best cover by Struzan.

: : Unicorn's Legacy / RM - 4
: : A great desert adventure enhanced by an uncertain female characterization in Mara Rogers and a wild villain, Roalnd Walcott.
: : Nicely structured, but an anit-climax keeps it from getting a perfect score.
: : Struzan's second-best cover.

: : Dance of the Giant's / RM - 4
: : Indy's best UK adventure, and the best use of Indy's MANY trips to Stonehenge.  A little slow going and actionless at times, but RM's excellent writing keeps things fascinating.

: : The White Witch / MC - 4
: : The best use of strong-fantasy elements in any Indy story.  Indy's trip into the forests of England is well versed in Mecca lore and Indy's tracing of anceint coins into the hands of the villains from MC's previous book is a well done mystery.  I only wish the books had more space to focus on the villains, and their confrontations with our hero.

: : The Interior World / RM - 3
: : Another strongly fantasy-oriented book.  RM's magnificent writing keeps it from being too unbelievable, and it was good to keep Indy hopped up on the goofballs to explain the D&D trappings!  I particularly liked how Marcus explained where Indy REALLY was at the end.

: : The Philospher's Stone / MM - 3
: : An action packed, but not actually suspenseful, or even very interestingly plotted book.  McCoy can do Indy's character fine, even better than Caidin, and MacGregor at times.  But the climax of this book really sucked.

: : Peril at Delphi / RM - 3
: : Nice characterizations, and a good deal of mystery, but ultimately a typical IJ-excercise with an anti-climax.  Greek was a fresh choice for location, though.

: : Hollow Earth / MM - 2
: : Essentially a pale imitation of 'Interior World'.  He was cool not be too contradictory with RM's novel, and though the first half is pretty good, the latter half is neither exciting or believable.  The climax smacks of his better, previous novel.

: : Genesis Deluge / RM - 2
: : A true letdown.  Indy's search for the other 'lost Ark' is extremely silly.  A promising start and build up, and the Chicago sequences are fun, but uggghgh, the Mt. Ararat scenes moved way to fast and way too unbelievable.  RM's only real falty step.

: : Well, at least no one has written an Indy novel thast can only be desribed as awful (unhlike the numerous Star Wars books, where virtually ALL of them fit that description).

: : Till I'm done reading SoTS....

: : G!!!!

: : PS - My Current Readin List

: : ANYTHING by KW Jeter, especially his new novel, NOIR.

: : This guy wrote the only SW books I could stomache, being the recent BOUNTY HUMTER WARS set.

Optional:

Link URL:   
Link Title: 
Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ The Indyfan Forum ] [ FAQ ]