Jumper: Griffin's Story (Jumper) | Steven Gould | Reminiscent of Orson Scott Card

Jumper: Griffin's Story (Jumper) | Steven Gould | Fantastic

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Jumper: Griffin's ...

	Jumper: Griffin's Story (Jumper) Steven Gould Tor Books, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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What if you could jump? Go anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye? What would you do? Where would you go?

What if you were only five years old?

Griffin O?Connor jumped for the first time in front of a busload of tourists in Oxford; there was no hope of keeping his ability a secret. He was hunted from that day, on the run with his family, and then without them. His only hope is to stay alive and free until he can become the hunter himself.

ANYWHERE IS POSSIBLE

Jumper is a major motion picture from 20th Century Fox/New Regency Productions, starring Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Diane Lane, and Jamie Bell.

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Reminiscent of Orson Scott Card

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's not a novelization of the movie (those usually stink). Instead he tells the story of Griffin who is a character in the movie. After seeing the movie and reading Jumper and Reflex, I was very curious to find out what Griffin's background was and I was left very satisfied.

Incidentally, I enjoyed the movie but found the ending lacking.

Fantastic

Steven Gould's rewrites the Jumper universe to be in line with the movie. While the original holds more depth, this is more fun. It is a coming of age tale as well, but with more action.
I really enjoyed this story, and in spite of the movie's lack luster showing, I hope Steven Gould continues to write in this fantastic world.

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Superior to the original jumper

The first Jumper suffered from a major flaw: a superpower without a downside is material either for a comedy or a comic for five-year olds. It just isn't interesting, and as plotting isn't one of Gould's strengths, Jumper suffered badly as a result. Great read, but empty calories.

I didn't read the sequel. Giving Millie the power seemed like a stupid, desperate, cop-out, so take this review with that grain of salt.

With Griffin's Story, he finds the middle -- the flaw in the design that creates some real lasting conflict, an answer to "Well, why doesn't he just...." Yes, certain elements are reproduced -- "recycled" would suggest a degree of change that he can't claim. That certainly is a weakness.

Far more significant is that this book has serious, serious pacing issues. It's like the book was a movie, and at some point he thought, "Crap, I have only seven minutes until the roll the credits". So, he rushes into a really stupid last 30 pages that betrays much of what he had established beforehand. At one point it degenerates into bad movie clicheville, when two characters have a conversation that just happens to reveal all kinds of information that would be useful if the main character happened to be hiding somewhere listening. A conversation, by the by, that makes no sense except to give the guy that info.

Steve, buddy, word of advice -- you do stuff like that early. When you do it late, it just annoys off the audience.

Gould has a gift for characterization, and once you accept that stories like these ain't exactly going to be MacBeth, that becomes a major strength. But I can't help lament what might have been. This could have been a quite spectacular 400 page novel. There was lots of room to show Griffin getting smarter and learning how to use his abilities more successfully. Also, he could take some time to bring some closure to the two really nice relationships that he developed, then just abandoned. Unfortunately, Gould hasn't shown he has the storytelling chops to pull that off.

Oh well. In the meantime, we wait for "Jumper 4: They Finally Meet".

3.5 stars, if such a rating were allowed.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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