Turnabout

Roswell (Simon Spotlight Entertainment) #8

by Andy Mangels, Michael A. Martin

After Liz foresees a horrible death awaiting Isabel in Los Angeles, Max sends his sister to Boston and enlists the aid of their former alien protector to wage an assault on the FBI's Special Unit holding his and Liz's parents captive.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Tv, Media Tie In, Aliens

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Andy Mangels is an American science fiction author who has written novels, comics, and magazine articles, and produced DVD collections, mostly focusing on media in popular culture. As an openly-gay man, he has been a longtime advocate for greater visibility of gay and lesbian characters in various media, especially comics, including the coordination and moderation of the annual "Gays in Comics" panel for Comic Con International since it was begun in 1988. He is the founder of an annual "Women of Wonder Day" event, which raises funds for domestic violence shelters and related programs. As of 2011 he has had books on the USA Today "best-selling books" list three times. wikipedia

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turnabout is the final tie-in book for the original Roswell television series. It's really just the second half of a long novel; the first half had appeared a couple of months earlier with the title Pursuit. (Luckily, there was a nifty fanfic site called Crashdown with some extraordinarily well-crafted stories, some better than some of the licensed and professionally printed Simon & Schuster stories, to tide you over while waiting for the finale.) Pursuit/Turnabout is a fan-friendly story that brings back a lot of the characters and conventions from all three previous years of the show, as well as continuing the and concluding the Simon tie-in storylines. The relationship of Kyle's father and Maria's mother is expanded and is quite touching, Jesse is re-introduced in a meaningful manner (though I'm not sure the majority of the fans approved), and there are several little touches that are great, such as having Liz's journal frame the story. There were also a few bits I didn't care for, such as Kyle developing special powers... one of the neat things about the extended friendships was that some of the crew were alien and some were human, and those lines didn't need to be blurred. (It was like the Superman comic in the 1960s... everybody who met Clark eventually turned into a superhero or a supervillain a time or two. Or like a series of vampire books in which the heroine eventually ends up in bed with -everybody- she meets. But I digress.) Anyway, the story wraps up most of the character arcs satisfactorily, and they chose to end the series with a true conclusion, though I thought leaving it a bit more open-ended might have been a better way to go. Perhaps due to the fact that the television series was long gone, and the book series was cancelled, and this was to be the final book volume, Turnabout got very little distribution or publicity or attention from the publishers, so affordable copies are now amazingly difficult to locate. I believe many readers who had enjoyed Pursuit never got the opportunity to read this wind-up, which is a shame, because it is a fun ride, with some nice touches.

[Kathryn Houghton · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were so many goofy lovable moments in the beginning of this book that will stay with me. But not a fan of the ending in many ways. I’ll end it with Jesse staying in the picture really puts a damper in my Kybel agenda :/

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part two and a worthy ending to Roswell series!

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels so weird to have officially finished this series. When I was 14, this show occupied my thoughts for literal months, and my parents got countless hours of labor out of me in return for buying me whichever book in Roswell High (the book series the show was based on) was next on the list. This particular version of the Roswell series (which was based on the show and is separate from the Roswell High book series) was the last series of books with Roswell in the title for me to read.

This is also the most money I have ever spent a paperback trade tie-in novel. $84 for this one book because they made a limited number of copies and only one edition of the book exists. I'm glad to say that it was a lot closer to being worth the price than the preceding book in the series was (which I paid a little over $20 for.)

This novel picks up where the previous novel "Pursuit" left off, and as with the previous book has a bit of a pitfall in that it switches POVs and locations so frequently that it's like whiplash for your eyes. However, about halfway through the novel all the characters are in the same place and so the shifting narrative begins to be less bothersome and becomes an asset as you begin to read the novel in the same way you would watch the show.

The climax of the book is a bit *convenient* -- things happen a bit too on-the-nose for my taste (as those of you who read my reviews know, that is a thing that tends to drive me crazy), and some explanations are skipped over in favor of flash and witty one liner instead of substance.

The Pros: Max does more than sit around and feel sorry for himself. There are real consequences to the character's choices. We finally get some answers about plot lines that the show left open in its visual canon. The fact that Maria is the only one in the Pod Squad without powers is touched upon and dealt with in a straightforward manner (for the first time in both the show and tie-in novels.) Maria never does get the kick-ass moment I was hoping for, but she does at least get validation. Liz got to be involved in the final showdown and did more than have visions and pass out. (That's a real step up from the role the writers gave her in Pursuit.) Liz and Max share a vision with they kiss (this happened frequently in the show and hardly ever in the tie-ins) and we get to find out about what their future together would be. (And naming a kid Alex?! *cries forever*)

All of the characters get a moment in the epilogue to talk about their decisions for the future and where they will end up. And then Isabel not only sees Alex, but she links up with Liz and Maria and lets them see Alex, too. For me, this was the only really emotional part of the final two books. My heart never healed completely from Alex's death in the show, and I love that the tie-in novels never gloss over the gaping hole that his death left in the group. Though he was a later addition to the Pod Squad, he really was the great link in the chain between the aliens and the humans, and when they lost him they lost the cohesive trust and turned against each other.

That being said, as much as I love the ending, a part of me wishes that they had never written these last two books. I enjoyed the open ending of the visual canon and I am sad that, of 4 post-show novels, only 2 of those dealt with them actually, "traveling the world, trying to do good and avoiding the law." The final two books were basically one long, unending action episode and it closed out the whole story and made it impossible to ever write more adventures of them traveling the US in a microbus. (And they ended it by taking away Liz's powers. My headcanon has always been that the show gave her powers to help balance out the Royal Four after losing Tess. That way, when the alien invasion happens in 2015, they would have the strength needed to stop it. Powered!Liz saved the world of Future Max in a way that they had not been able to foresee in the original time line.) But, oh well... it can stay my headcanon, I suppose, whether it's official or not.

[Amethyst · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this 4 stars not because it’s amazing literature but because it was a fitting ending to the series. It’s written so that you can see it happening on screen. The end scenes with Alex did make me emotional. I’m glad these characters I have loved for years got a happy ending.

[Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love stories that show that being kind is tough, requires sacrifices and an open mind. Stories that show that when Kind people get together they can change not just the world but destiny itself. #BeingKindIsPunkAF

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book gives you one more adventure if you were missing the series it continues after they leave roswell

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it gives you a great ending that doesn't really leave you asking more.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the TV series ended so abruptly, it was nice to get some closure.

[Heather (hungrycookiemonster)]

See my depressed review reason behind why this book series is not in my hands right now.

[Vampiress_demitri]

good plot

[Rianne27]

Excellent season ending. Skipping required for both Pursuit & Turnabout.