Re: Once again, in defense of Caidin, especially in praise of "Sky Pirates", and certainly the rest of the Indy novels!

Posted by Jonesy from spider-tk043.proxy.aol.com on March 26, 2000 at 10:49:51:

In Reply to: Once again, in defense of Caidin, especially in praise of "Sky Pirates", and certainly the rest of the Indy novels! posted by Ultraman Tiga on March 26, 2000 at 03:47:00:

: Just another response to the post from below about how canon the Indy novels are. I was pretty amazed by it, as most of the Indy fans I've talked with over the years enjoyed the novels more than the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. I was so amazed I almost decided not to respond at all, as anything positive said about that show is something that pleases me very much.

: As far as my thoughts about the canon thing, I don't think we have to discount them, as they do fill in the gaps between YIJC and the films. Where there are discrepencies, the show should take preference. As far as the Al Capone thing that was pointed out, well Indy didn't actually meet him in that episode, he only saw him. And then his name hadn't changed, so maybe Indy hadn't pieced it together that he'd met him before? Besides, Indy's got tons of other stuff on his mind, so I think we can forgive him on that count. Other than that, the only discrepencies I can think of were the dates of his education, and the claim that he learned his languages in school.

: As far as the novels contradicting each other goes, huh? Interior World and and Hollow Earth are the only ones that feature a similair topic, and then they are just different enough (the locations of Indy's entry points for one thing) but yeah, it would have been nice to see McCoy make a ref. to that one. Still, I don't think there is any valid "contradiction" as such, is there?

: Just a few weeks ago I posted about how I like the more unusual "Indy" stories, as opposed to the more "Last Crsaude" formula stories. I absolutely hated the "spear of Destiny" comic (Last Crusade 2) and also really only enjoyed a few of those Dark Horse series (The best ones being "Thunder in the Orient" [which forgives the awful "Fate of Atlantis" adaptation] and "Golden Fleece").

: That said, I really, really enjoyed Caidin's novels. There were problems that, for those complaining about them, were not Caidin's fault. The books were longer and thicker than MacGregor's or McCoy's, which leads me to believe the reason the books lack any scenes involving the villains was that they were likely edited out for space. There are some lines of dialogue that don't ring true of Indy's tone, but I can easily forgive that in favor of Caidin's excellent descriptives, especially in "White Whitch" with all the English country side. The one element of this book I could not stand was Caidin's left-field claim that Indy is a civil war buff. Doesn't Indy have enough epertise in one field too many? However, I doubly enjoyed "Sky Pirates" for it's ultra cool concept: a credible UFO story set in the 1930's is brilliant, especially without being the least bit "science fiction". The technical aspects of the book were a breath of fresh air from all the usual archological aspects of any given Indy story, but I thought it was clever how Caidin managed to use it to involve Indy into the story in the first place ("the tracer"). I also liked how Caidin used technical expertise to dampen the fantasy elements of the stories. Indy's rationalising of magic in "White Witch" was more interesting than MacGregor's 'Indy-on-crack' explanation for what he witnesses in "Interior World".

: Something that doesn't come up a lot when people start ragging on "Sky Pirates" is that it gives some insight into Indy's piloting skills. He knows the instruments, as pointed out in ToD, but cannot fly a plane! No doubt, Gale Parker eventually teaches him enough to, "Fly, yes. Land? No!" In my opinion, Caidin also gave us two of Indy's best female companions in the Parker sisters. I was intrigued with both of them, and don't you love Struzan's face for Gale?

: can't wait for your responses, but in the meantime, ciao!

: TIGA

WOW,

Ok, now when I asked my question it was just meant to gage the gammet of emotions of what we all think and feel. Personally, and as much of a Star Wars fanatic as I am (as well as Indiana Jones) Lucasfilm did
Indy fans a dis SERVICE by not getting fully behind an "expansion"
universe, in terms of the novels that were published. I for one
loved the YIJC and I think Fate of Atlantis is a first rate game, that being said, there is a ton more STAR WARS merchandice than Indiana Jones, lets hope this small Indy revival on the tv continues forward with the EVENTUAL release of Indy IV. I for one enjoy many of the books for they have interesting characters, like Jack Shannon,
probably my favorite "expansion" character.

anyway, got to go get in some studying for Geology..yuck.

Regards to all,

Jonesy

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: : Just another response to the post from below about how canon the Indy novels are.  I was pretty amazed by it, as most of the Indy fans I've talked with over the years enjoyed the novels more than the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.  I was so amazed I almost decided not to respond at all, as anything positive said about that show is something that pleases me very much.

: : As far as my thoughts about the canon thing, I don't think we have to discount them, as they do fill in the gaps between YIJC and the films.  Where there are discrepencies, the show should take preference.  As far as the Al Capone thing that was pointed out, well Indy didn't actually meet him in that episode, he only saw him.  And then his name hadn't changed, so maybe Indy hadn't pieced it together that he'd met him before?  Besides, Indy's got tons of other stuff on his mind, so I think we can forgive him on that count.  Other than that, the only discrepencies I can think of were the dates of his education, and the claim that he learned his languages in school.

: : As far as the novels contradicting each other goes, huh?  Interior World and and Hollow Earth are the only ones that feature a similair topic, and then they are just different enough (the locations of Indy's entry points for one thing) but yeah, it would have been nice to see McCoy make a ref. to that one.  Still, I don't think there is any valid "contradiction" as such, is there?

: : Just a few weeks ago I posted about how I like the more unusual "Indy" stories, as opposed to the more "Last Crsaude" formula stories.  I absolutely hated the "spear of Destiny" comic (Last Crusade 2) and also really only enjoyed a few of those Dark Horse series (The best ones being "Thunder in the Orient" [which forgives the awful "Fate of Atlantis" adaptation] and "Golden Fleece").

: : That said, I really, really enjoyed Caidin's novels.  There were problems that, for those complaining about them, were not Caidin's fault.  The books were longer and thicker than MacGregor's or McCoy's, which leads me to believe the reason the books lack any scenes involving the villains was that they were likely edited out for space.  There are some lines of dialogue that don't ring true of Indy's tone, but I can easily forgive that in favor of Caidin's excellent descriptives, especially in "White Whitch" with all the English country side.  The one element of this book I could not stand was Caidin's left-field claim that Indy is a civil war buff.  Doesn't Indy have enough epertise in one field too many?  However, I doubly enjoyed "Sky Pirates" for it's ultra cool concept: a credible UFO story set in the 1930's is brilliant, especially without being the least bit "science fiction".   The technical aspects of the book were a breath of fresh air from all the usual archological aspects of any given Indy story, but I thought it was clever how Caidin managed to use it to involve Indy into the story in the first place ("the tracer").  I also liked how Caidin used technical expertise to dampen the fantasy elements of the stories.  Indy's rationalising of magic in "White Witch" was more interesting than MacGregor's 'Indy-on-crack' explanation for what he witnesses in "Interior World".

: : Something that doesn't come up a lot when people start ragging on "Sky Pirates" is that it gives some insight into Indy's piloting skills.  He knows the instruments, as pointed out in ToD, but cannot fly a plane!  No doubt, Gale Parker eventually teaches him enough to, "Fly, yes. Land?  No!"  In my opinion, Caidin also gave us two of Indy's best female companions in the Parker sisters.  I was intrigued with both of them, and don't you love Struzan's face for Gale?

: : can't wait for your responses, but in the meantime, ciao!

: : TIGA

: WOW,

: Ok, now when I asked my question it was just meant to gage the gammet of emotions of what we all think and feel. Personally, and as much of a Star Wars fanatic as I am (as well as Indiana Jones) Lucasfilm did 
: Indy fans a dis SERVICE by not getting fully behind an "expansion"
: universe, in terms of the novels that were published. I for one 
: loved the YIJC and I think Fate of Atlantis is a first rate game, that being said, there is a ton more STAR WARS merchandice than Indiana Jones, lets hope this small Indy revival on the tv continues forward with the EVENTUAL release of Indy IV. I for one enjoy many of the books for they have interesting characters, like Jack Shannon,
: probably my favorite "expansion" character.

: anyway, got to go get in some studying for Geology..yuck.

: Regards to all,

: Jonesy

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