Despite popular belief, I do enjoy
reading...the problem is I'm an extremely fussy reader, so it's not something I
do a lot. So what do you do when you feel like reading a book, but you've read
everything you own, and there's nothing new that interests you? I
decided I'd pick a good book, and read it again. I've never read a book more
than once, regardless of how good it was, it's just something I don't
do...until last week. Contest. Australian author Matthew Reilly's (hereby referred to as Matt - no I don't know
him personally, but this is just a casual review, not a formal biography
or column review) first ever book and the second book of his I read
(the first being Ice Station).
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Not at all
related to the above text, or the following text,
but come on...it's awesome. Notice on the far left in the middle of the bookshelf...Darth Tater, I own one as well. |
Matt first wrote the book at 19, having
to self-publish after major publishers rejected him. Only 1000 copies were
printed (so if you look your copy it says 'Published 1996' then you've got an
original...lucky bugger). More copies were published later through Pan
Macmillan, in 2000. This version has a couple changes. Though the general storyline
is the same, a couple extra characters and scenes were included, as well as
minor changes.
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The
original cover for Reilly's self-
published version. |
Like all of Matt's books, a brief
prologue at the beginning sets the scene and creates instant suspense without
delving into the main story. One thing I like about them, is
they immediately capture your attention and get you reading, full of
action that you otherwise probably wouldn't get in the first couple pages of a
book. The prologue in Contest is perhaps one of the most gruesome scenes
in the whole book, with the introduction of a fierce alien-like monster,
brutally killing someone.
Another common feature in
Matt's books that I always look forward to, is maps, or schematics, of main
places or scenes throughout the book. Just before the prologue in Contest,
there's a couple neat diagrams depicting the location of 'labyrinth' in which
the contest will be held - the New York State Library.
So what is the book about? The
'contest' in question is The Presidian, an intergalactic competition
between 7 worlds (the only worlds in the universe with intelligent life).
Pretty much, it's a fight to the death. Each contestant represents their
planet, and each time, The Presidian is held in a different system. This time,
it is being held on Earth, only our world is not familiar with the contest. The
story follows Stephen Swain, a human chosen to participate
on behalf of the Earth, and naturally, he is the underdog of the
story.
The action is really fast paced, and
both times reading it, I couldn't help but get submerged in the
adventure (as I do with all his other books). Every scene is well
described - comes to life - and just gives you that feeling, 'this would be an
awesome movie!'
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That
feeling doesn't apply to all books
however...who the hell thought this would be a good idea?!? |
Well that's exactly what Matt thought
when he wrote it. Contest was originally optioned in
1999, unfortunately the option expired in 2002...so in 2005, Matt
decided to do it himself. He personally scripted and directed the filming for a
12 minute short of the movie, as a 'showcase' sort of thing to try and entice
Hollywood. The short covers the prologue and a first few scenes of the main
plot.
Had I have written this post 3 years
ago, I would still have access to a wider variety of stills from the filming
and behind the scenes photos that Matt kindly posted on his site, however since
updating the site these have now disappeared (they were seriously some awesome
shots, it looked like a proper full on Hollywood Blockbuster). And if you
wanted to see what the 12 minutes short looked like (bound to be awesome,
right?), well, it was never released to the media, so I can't show you that
either.
Reilly himself played the lead role,
Swain (I believe the above shot wasn't actually part of the footage,
seeing as in the book Swain doesn't confront the Karanadon until much
later than 12 minutes worth of movie equivalent).
Unfortunately, Hollywood didn't take the bait, so Matt decided to
drop it for a while.
Bye the way, the title of this post if
you were wondering, is Matt's response as to why he puts 'big scary animal
elements' in his stories. At the end of his books, is always an
exclusive interview, where Matt answers questions about that specific
book, as well as future projects, and always has interesting facts about
himself.
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'Why yes,
it does have a flux capacitor.' Actually Matt did
clear up that misinformation... apparently the DeLorean is actually quite unreliable. That doesn't mean it's not awesome. |
Keep an eye out for Matt's new book to
be released later this year, 'Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves', from the Scarecrow
series (Ice Station, Area 7, Scarecrow, Hell Island - Read them).
And so it comes to the end of another
poll. I feel this one is slightly more credible, with many more voters than
ever before (combined...). How do people tie their shoelaces? So apparently no
skaters read my blog, because no one voted for 'Tucked in laces'. The results
were quite close: Two loops knotted together came in 2nd with 22 votes.
One loop and tie around won the poll
with 29 votes!
Therefore I can officially say,
Kate-Lyn, you are weird...even if only by a little bit. For all those
other people who do it with two loops, being a little bit weird is a
good thing - feel special.
Which means it's time for a new poll:
Best/Favourite Band Ever. There will be no 'Other' option, so just vote on
what's available. If none of them are your favourite, then your vote is who you
think is better (think about how influential they are, and how big
they were/are).
One more thing, I'm running a
competition, either leave a comment here or post a comment on Facebook: What do
you think would make a good poll question? If you're up to it, you can give
possible answers as well!
Chris
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