http://www.barnesandnoble.com
Usually when I see a co-authored book by a prolific author, I am suspicious. Generally this means that the Great and Popular Author (name #1 on the cover) is too busy (or too old, or too DEAD) to write his own books now and instead sketches out a plotline to shove over to some other guy (name #2 on the cover) so the lesser-known person can do the actual writing. (James Patterson is really bad about this, probably because the guy has too many great ideas for one novelist, but I have seen many other current authors do this. Also V.C. Andrews churned out a respectable number of novels after her untimely death.)
There's not really anything WRONG with this per se, because they are giving the poor workhorse (name #2) credit, but one has to be wary. If you're looking for a book actually written by a popular author (name #1) you like, don't go for the co-authored ones.
Anyways, I really like O. Scott Card a lot. I've read most of his books, (see The Pathfinder's Trilogy) so I was excited when I saw one on the library shelf that I hadn't read. Then I saw (uh-oh), it was a co-authored book. I was like, Oh man! Don't tell me this guy's already too old (or worse!) to write his own stuff! But I gave it a shot.
Fortunately it turned out that this book came out in 2008, and my pal Mr. Scott is still alive and well and writing currently. (Whew!) This story is in fact an adaptation of an old short story that Aaron Johnston, a screenwriter, turned into a movie and then a novel. Additionally, Mr. Johnston is also my pal, and I like his writing very much, although it's more like Michael Crichton than Orson Scott Card. Which is fine.
So, long story short (too late!): This is an exciting medical thriller that I enjoyed very much.
No comments:
Post a Comment