Title: Descent

By Peter Telep

Genre: Novel

Sub genre: Science Fiction / Juvenile literature

Nationality: American

Time Period: 20th Century

First and Last Read by Dr. Rearick  June 2000

Rated: 89 B+

Location: The Knox County and Mount Vernon Public Library: I found this in the Young Adult (YA) section.

Scripture Which Comes to Mind:
 

Job 40: 9

Comments:  This was a surprisingly good read for a novel based on a computer game.  I confess that the idea of literary works (books or movies) being spawned from computer video games left me doubtful about their quality.  There seemed to be so many aspects with which the writer would have to play along.  And how much can one cue into one's own creative energy while nodding to so many preset demands?

For example in this novel the action of the game, the nature of the ships used, even the personality of some of the major characters (Samuel Dravis has a bit role in the opening portion of Descent II, the game) and their internal relationships have already been set.  Still Telep manages to add elements which while existing in the game world full out into real stories in the novel.  Thus the main character, Benjamin St. John, begins the narrative by making a tactitical error which leads him into making a bigger error of rebelling against command.  He's a hero with rough edges.

True to the game upon which it is based, Descent is filled with dog fights, thrilling flights into close quarter mines, smart talking guide bots, rescues (or near rescues) of techs and scientists, and maverick flyers.  Its primary source of pleasure is the action adventure it provides.  The characters seem fairly standard but they grow as the story goes and when we are finished we realize that the story is not over.

As one reviewer noted much of what Telep does sounds familiar.  However, what I did not realize when I first read this was that the people who put the game together had later versions already brewing in their minds and Telep seems to have done the same thing with text.  What we see now is developed far more in the next work and even more in the third.  It's sort of similiar to Babylon 5 when we frist saw it and thought we understood all the in and outs of the characaters only to have our expectations flipped.

Check out my review of Descent 2: Stealing Thunder