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Not because it would attract above a PG rating at best, probably a U, if it were classified like films, but because the English usage is deliberately very high brow, complex with constant usage of words that would not be used in normal language by the majority, certainly that a child would baulk at.

The language usage is also rather scientific and clinical at times, like listening to a recording of a forensic pathologist doing an autopsy.

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Then there is the made-up language usage, which is laid on with a trowel, and far more confusing than it is in the film, ill-explained, or over-explained, becoming either pointless or the meaning lost - a shame, as I usually relish such things. They betrayed no sign of fear, yet the locus of their lateral movements began to edge closer to the stream, until several of them were dancing on the water itself.

He double-stopped one pipe of the flute, as a kind of chanter, and on the other experimented with quarter-tone effects he had discovered by partial stopping. He tapped his foot in a slow rhythm, shut his eyes, and improvised a sinuous melody. Along all the ley-lines of energy around the planet, they had continuously fed noxious pulses, fomenting the misery and weakness throughout the world. And along the same ley-lines they had sucked in geodynamic energies. The lightning Jen had seen was focused into the Standing Stones and transmitted to the castle.

The Skeksis controlled the nodal points of the planet by terrestrial acupuncture. The copy of the book I had was enhanced with a long set of notes on a draft of the book, written by Jim Henson himself - he had some of my concerns too, though probably caused some of them also. Nice to hear in his own words the thoughts on the wider world of that story.

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The Dark Crystal A. What I do here is give my opinion of the book. These movies and characters were my friends and I knew every line by heart. I hadn't read the novelizations until I received them as gifts for Christmas The Dark Crystal, the novelization, shed so much light for me on the origin of the Mystics and the Skeksis and really filled in the gaps. As with most movies, there's important background information that gets skimmed over or left out entirely for sake of time, but once I read the novel and went back to the movie I loved it even more!

It's almost like being part of a secret club. I have "insider" information that the average fan may not have and I am very satisfied in this knowledge. The book is different enough from the movie to keep it interesting and fresh, but also similar enough that it's still a good friend. Just one you haven't seen in a while. I am glad that I have the paper copies of these. My favorite part about this book is the notes from Jim Henson and the original drawings by Brian Froud. There's something about them that needs to tangible to love and explore them the way that they deserve, and that just isn't going to happen on an e-reader.

If you're a fan of the movies or if you're looking for something quirky and absolutely unique, pick up The Dark Crystal! Apr 26, Clare Neilson rated it really liked it. Another world, another time The s were taking the effects of the 70s and perfecting them. Matt paintings, model work, creature creativity were all present in the film. This adaptation is incredibly beautiful and even includes some of the deleted scenes such as the funeral precession of both leaders.

Like the vast majority of adaptations the writer has to work with a rough cut of the film and so there will be differences. The last of his race he must leave the peace and safety Another world, another time The last of his race he must leave the peace and safety of his home valley to go on a solo quest.

Along the way he goes from innocent to brave survivor while discovering such strange concepts as evil, death, suffering and loss. This looses half a star for the part where Augra and Jen are talking about the shard. It drags quite a lot and Augra comes across as an annoying know-it-all rather than a mysterious one like the film manages.

The other lost half star is for the writer's choice of words on occasion had me reaching for a dictionary. This is one to read to older children if they still enjoy stories rather than younger children, the odd words may put them off. A must for any fan of the film, you can now get this in hardback with sketches, lots of back story, and notes on the draft by Jim Henson. The sketch pages are not formatted very well into the book and so you may turn a page to see a beautiful drawing and then find the rest of the sentence on the page after.

It didn't take that much away from the flow. Dec 21, April Helms rated it really liked it Shelves: I remember reading this as a child, and loving it. I was--no, am -- a big fan of the movie.

I recently broke down and bought a copy, and enjoyed it as much -- if not more. I love the "behind the scenes" stuff -- especially the Skeksis politics -- added to the novel, which really compliment the movie. This fulfills the category for reading a book I've read before could also be used for fantasy. The Dark Crystal is a novelization of the Jim Henson movie. The movie was one of my favorites a I remember reading this as a child, and loving it. The movie was one of my favorites as a child; heck, it's still a favorite. I read the novel either in late grade school or middle school and was able to find it again on Amazon a couple years ago.

It expands on the world of the movie and adds details, such as the names of the individual UrRu and Skeksis.

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Fans of the movie may want to get their hands on this, if they haven't already. It really helps flesh out the character of Jen, the Gelfling protagonist who was raised by the UrRu after his family was killed by the sinister Skeksis and their Garthim warriors. It adds details such as words in the various languages used, particularly the Skeksis. At least one scene the funeral of the Skeksis emperor , which was cut from the main release, is included here.

I enjoyed it as much now as I did then, perhaps even more. Mar 08, Vanessa rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: This was a surprisingly well-written movie adaptation. I picked it up to read because I have lost a large portion of my book collection in recent moves to random boxes taking up space in my mother's garage, not expecting it to be anything more than a kid's fantasy book.

Despite having read The Hobbit in the fifth grade, I will say that the vocabulary level in this novelization was far beyond what I would normally expect for a book supposedly targeted towards children perhaps because it was writ This was a surprisingly well-written movie adaptation.

Despite having read The Hobbit in the fifth grade, I will say that the vocabulary level in this novelization was far beyond what I would normally expect for a book supposedly targeted towards children perhaps because it was written in a different era with different standards?


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I found it compellingly written, though I haven't seen the film for many years, and I am disappointed in myself for having left it sit for so long on the shelf untouched. I think the insight into the background of the story that was provided without becoming overly hokey, a fate to which many movie novelizations fall victim when authors seem to decide or are told that too much was left out of the actual film and that they need to remedy the situation, justifies an excellent rating for this particular Good Read.

Aug 21, Eric Peter rated it it was ok. I hate to say it but I gave up on this one after fifty pages. The author is capable but spent more time on his own inventions for the book than on the important moments of the movie. Page after page of made up ritual and language and then the violent dressing down of The Chamberlain is handled in one paragraph.

The Splendor Before the Dark

One of the key plot points is tossed out off handedly in order to get back to more Skeksis politics and ritual. After 50 pages of this page book I was still in the first 10 or fifte I hate to say it but I gave up on this one after fifty pages. After 50 pages of this page book I was still in the first 10 or fifteen minutes of the movie. I really wanted to like this book because the movie was a favorite. I know what's happening and I know where the author was padding. That said, the other movie novelization I just read, Howard the Duck, was brilliantly done and the author's inventiveness improved on a crummy script.

Anyway, gonna move on to something where I have no expectations. Jun 08, Audrey Terry rated it it was amazing Shelves: This was everything that a novelization should be for me. I'm fine with some of the dialogue being the same, but oftentimes the plot never goes any deeper than the film did. Not the case with this novel, in it, the reader is given more insight into the lives of both Jen and Kira, and there was a lot of clarification of some of the shadier parts of the film.

Probably the two biggest ones for me were how the UrRu operated, and what their purpose was, and the history of the Gelflings. Jan 06, Jonathan Maas rated it it was amazing. Great small companion piece to a great movie.


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The one thing I like about A. Smith 's style, is that he sticks to the source material, and shows it as it is - very straightforwardly. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Alien Resurrection by A. Crispin , and her style is to read into the characters. She has great, great sections where she goes into the mind of a Xenomorph. But sometimes, I just want the movie in book form, and this one delivers. Jan 31, Larissa Glasser rated it really liked it. This was one of the first darkish fantasy films I remember seeing as a young, impressionable kid and many of the concepts stuck with me especially the urSkeks, entities split into violent and peaceful selves.

The actions and description in the book seemed a bit compressed and even truncated towards the end, but I figure that was in the interest of achieving a faster, climactic pace. The novelization provides backstory, layers of description, political rivalries between the This was enjoyable. The novelization provides backstory, layers of description, political rivalries between the Skeksis, and makes use of the invented languages.

And even though I'm a geography nerd, I had no idea the planet is named Thraa. Jun 11, Lincoln Wert rated it liked it Shelves: Not bad, not great. In the forest, Lahr meets a female Gelfling named Neffi, who was a weaver. Her and Lahr have a dreamfasting , where Gelflings exchange memories through touch, and Lahr sees that Neffi witnessed her village being attacked by Garthim. She realizes that they're on the warpath, and she needs to warn the other Gelfling villages.

She decides to join Lahr. Lahr and Neffi soon reach the Namopo Valley, where a secret Gelfling village lies secure in a maze of canyons. Lahr tells them what he's seen, and they must decide whether to retreat or fight the Garthim. Neffi plays a game with some Gelfling children where they get tangled up in a thread of yarn and can't break it. She realizes that a net is stronger than its fibers, and gets an idea. The elders of a village decide to cast a vote to leave or stay.

Dark Crystal Chronicles Part 4: Timesword (Dark Cystal Chronicles)

Meanwhile, back at the Dark Castle where the Skeksis live, Emperor SkekSo is worried that the supply of Gelfling essence is running out. General SkekVar, who is in charge of the Garthim army, assures him that's not true. This was a test of loyalty, however, and SkekSo is suspicious that SkekVar tried to grab it. SkekVar begs for forgiveness, and SkekSo says he's forgiven the incident, but asks him to cooperate with SkekLach with his Gelfling collecting. Chamberlain SkekSil, who is eavesdropping, thinks that SkekSo is becoming paranoid, and believes he can take advantage of this.

This foreshadows his actions in the film to usurp SkekSo's throne following his death. Like in the film, SkekSil has a tendency to say "Hmmm" often. Back in Namopo Valley, the village elders have finished their vote. While they're counting, however, a lookout spots a Garthim army in the distance, and the vote is cancelled.

The Dark Crystal

Panicked, Lahr urges everyone to run, but Neffi says she counted the votes, and the elders want to stay. Lahr comes back to his senses, and the Gelfling begin to arm.

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The Gelfling are a peaceful race and have no weapons, so they smash whatever they have to use as sharp objects. He asks if the Emperor gets all the essence, and SkekTek assures him that he does; keeping any for himself is heresy. With this news, SkekLach takes some essence and drinks it to blackmail SkekTek. The Gelflings at Namopo continue to arm. Tempers are running hot, since Gelflings are peaceful by nature, but Lahr assures them this is their only chance of survival.

Soon, they're ready for attack. Neffi has weaved a large net lined with spikes across the entrance to the valley to keep the Garthim out. It keeps them at bay, but soon they break through it, and the battle begins. It's a difficult fight, but the Garthim aren't used to being stood up to, so they become confused, and eventually retreat. Timesword Dark Cystal Chronicles Feb 11, Available for download now.

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