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The Abyss
Librarian's note: There are Alternate Cover Editions for this edition of this book here and here and here..
From the author of "Speaker's for the Dead", and "Seventh Son", this science fiction thriller is set in the Caribbean where a US submarine is mysteriously attacked. Foul play by the Soviets is suspected, and the world draws close to nuclear war. But the answer has nothing to do with human deeds.
From the author of "Speaker's for the Dead", and "Seventh Son", this science fiction thriller is set in the Caribbean where a US submarine is mysteriously attacked. Foul play by the Soviets is suspected, and the world draws close to nuclear war. But the answer has nothing to do with human deeds.
363 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
45 people are currently reading
11649 people want to read
About the author
Orson Scott Card
891 books20.6k followersOrson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
April 8, 2009
This book was an incredible work of science fiction. I read it as a teenager the same summer that the movie came out. A friend and I were big fans of James Cameron's "The Terminator" and "Aliens," so when we heard he had a new movie coming out, we were pretty excited. Then my mom brought home this book by Orson Scott Card, and I knew it would be great.
Once again, you can understand my bias on things. The protagonist in "The Abyss" is a female aeronautical engineer. I really admired her and saw a lot of myself in her character (though not her history with her family). The Abyss was yet another science fiction story that inspired me into my field of study.
I've never felt like James Cameron got the credit he deserved for this movie, though the ending for the theatrical version was pretty lame. I finally did see the "director's cut" in a special edition DVD and it paralleled the book better. But I felt like the motivations of the characters and the aliens were explained much better in the book than in the movie.
Once again, you can understand my bias on things. The protagonist in "The Abyss" is a female aeronautical engineer. I really admired her and saw a lot of myself in her character (though not her history with her family). The Abyss was yet another science fiction story that inspired me into my field of study.
I've never felt like James Cameron got the credit he deserved for this movie, though the ending for the theatrical version was pretty lame. I finally did see the "director's cut" in a special edition DVD and it paralleled the book better. But I felt like the motivations of the characters and the aliens were explained much better in the book than in the movie.
November 20, 2024
The characters themselves were so well developed and thought out, I loved how he wrote Lindsey’s character. And with the current news about our Roswell down under, this felt like a fitting book to pick up. But it did lose me towards the end, the action didn’t really do anything for me.
December 22, 2018
This is my first Orson Scott Card novel. I know what you might think. Never heard of Enders’s Game, or what?
Actually, Ender’s Game is sitting on my shelf since forever. It is standing there near loved ones like The Martian, Ready Player One or 2001: A Space Odyssey. Which makes for some awkward moments.
From time to time I walk by, seeing one of those books. They look back at me and I start mumbling something like „Yeah, I know. I love you too.“ Then Ender’s Game catches my eye. Looks at me, contemptuously. I stare at my feet. Feeling a bit embarrassed. Then I walk back to one of my reading places. Another book in hand. Again. Ender’s Game starts whispering to his friends Christine, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Dispossessed... They have another meeting of their how-did-I-end-up-here-with-this-jerk-when-millions-around-the-world-read-and-loved-my-twins-and-I-merely-stand-here-bought-shelved-but-never-read-self-help group.
I understand their sentiment, of course. Though I really think they could have come up with a better name for their group. Something a bit more catchy, maybe. I mean, seriously, what kind of jerk comes up with a name like that?
A few weeks ago I watched James Cameron’s The Abyss. A movie I always liked, but never loved. Not like his Aliens or the Terminator movies. Still, I liked it enough to pick up the book, which by the time was threatening to become a full-time member of this depressed group I mentioned above.
The Abyss is about a US submarine apparently being attacked by some unknown enemy and subsequently sunken in the deep sea. A group of SEALs and civilians working for a deepwater oiling company are send there to investigate. We witness as they discover the unexpected truth about the incident.
This book by Orson Scott Card was based on the screenplay for the Cameron movie and partly rewritten after he saw a nearly finished version of the movie. James Cameron and Orson Scott Card apparently have different opinions about what should be called a novelization. Still, they both hoped it can be read without needing to know the movie and experienced by the reader as a proper novel.
Personally I think the book does work without knowing the movie. But I think watching the movie first enhances the reading experience. It also helps to understand some of the book‘s flaws.
Being a book based on a screenplay for a Hollywood movie it is almost inevitable to have some bad dialogue. A lot of times Card is giving us one of these movie lines and then spends paragraphs explaining what went through the characters' minds while they were saying this or that. I guess that's how novelizations are done. And he’s doing it pretty well in my opinion. Though it can get tiring. Sometimes it feels like he’s saying „Look, I know this sounds stupid. But what they really wanted to say was...“
For someone who liked the movie, it was still nice to get some more details about the characters. And I guess for fans of the movie this book is a lot of fun.
Though I don’t think a novelization is fun for the writer. Surely, some of this Hollywood stuff you usually wouldn’t like to have in your book. But, of course, you have to stick to the base material.
I suggest watching the movie first. If you liked it and want to expand on the experience, go pick up the book.
If you didn't like the movie but you're still intrigued by the premise, I recommend Michael Crichton‘s Sphere. It tells a similar story. But Crichton had the artistic freedom Orson Scott Card didn’t have with this book.
Actually, Ender’s Game is sitting on my shelf since forever. It is standing there near loved ones like The Martian, Ready Player One or 2001: A Space Odyssey. Which makes for some awkward moments.
From time to time I walk by, seeing one of those books. They look back at me and I start mumbling something like „Yeah, I know. I love you too.“ Then Ender’s Game catches my eye. Looks at me, contemptuously. I stare at my feet. Feeling a bit embarrassed. Then I walk back to one of my reading places. Another book in hand. Again. Ender’s Game starts whispering to his friends Christine, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Dispossessed... They have another meeting of their how-did-I-end-up-here-with-this-jerk-when-millions-around-the-world-read-and-loved-my-twins-and-I-merely-stand-here-bought-shelved-but-never-read-self-help group.
I understand their sentiment, of course. Though I really think they could have come up with a better name for their group. Something a bit more catchy, maybe. I mean, seriously, what kind of jerk comes up with a name like that?
A few weeks ago I watched James Cameron’s The Abyss. A movie I always liked, but never loved. Not like his Aliens or the Terminator movies. Still, I liked it enough to pick up the book, which by the time was threatening to become a full-time member of this depressed group I mentioned above.
The Abyss is about a US submarine apparently being attacked by some unknown enemy and subsequently sunken in the deep sea. A group of SEALs and civilians working for a deepwater oiling company are send there to investigate. We witness as they discover the unexpected truth about the incident.
This book by Orson Scott Card was based on the screenplay for the Cameron movie and partly rewritten after he saw a nearly finished version of the movie. James Cameron and Orson Scott Card apparently have different opinions about what should be called a novelization. Still, they both hoped it can be read without needing to know the movie and experienced by the reader as a proper novel.
Personally I think the book does work without knowing the movie. But I think watching the movie first enhances the reading experience. It also helps to understand some of the book‘s flaws.
Being a book based on a screenplay for a Hollywood movie it is almost inevitable to have some bad dialogue. A lot of times Card is giving us one of these movie lines and then spends paragraphs explaining what went through the characters' minds while they were saying this or that. I guess that's how novelizations are done. And he’s doing it pretty well in my opinion. Though it can get tiring. Sometimes it feels like he’s saying „Look, I know this sounds stupid. But what they really wanted to say was...“
For someone who liked the movie, it was still nice to get some more details about the characters. And I guess for fans of the movie this book is a lot of fun.
Though I don’t think a novelization is fun for the writer. Surely, some of this Hollywood stuff you usually wouldn’t like to have in your book. But, of course, you have to stick to the base material.
I suggest watching the movie first. If you liked it and want to expand on the experience, go pick up the book.
If you didn't like the movie but you're still intrigued by the premise, I recommend Michael Crichton‘s Sphere. It tells a similar story. But Crichton had the artistic freedom Orson Scott Card didn’t have with this book.
May 14, 2008
If I said, "A tour de force" would you hit me? I saw the movie, "The Abyss" and consider it to be excellent. Better by far than any other scifi/adventure movie made after 1930.
When I heard that Orson Scott Card had made a novel based off the movie, I was sorely disappointed. No novel from show ever works. Movies should be made from nothing larger than a novelette in my opinion. So why was Card making substandard work?
Then I read it.
I apologize most sincerely, Mr. Card, for ever having doubted you. Not only does this book tell the story well, it fleshes it out most delightfully! Nothing is added that isn't part of the movie, but oiy! So much ... ARGH I just can't describe it!
I urge you, please see the movie then read the book. You will absolutely not be disappointed!
When I heard that Orson Scott Card had made a novel based off the movie, I was sorely disappointed. No novel from show ever works. Movies should be made from nothing larger than a novelette in my opinion. So why was Card making substandard work?
Then I read it.
I apologize most sincerely, Mr. Card, for ever having doubted you. Not only does this book tell the story well, it fleshes it out most delightfully! Nothing is added that isn't part of the movie, but oiy! So much ... ARGH I just can't describe it!
I urge you, please see the movie then read the book. You will absolutely not be disappointed!
June 18, 2021
Read this:
Bad writing; disingenuous sentiment coming from the mouth of a homophobe.
The film wasn't my favorite, either; but it had the good luck to be visually stunning.
“This is the most important thing the humans have taught me. The thing they're teaching us right now. You see, they are all strangers to each other. They live out their entire lives, never truly understanding one another, only making guesses, making mistakes, distorting, deceiving, misunderstanding each other. And yet, though they're permanently strangers, they choose sometimes to trust each other, care for each other so completely that they gladly die to let the other live—that they gladly change themselves to make the other person happy.”
Bad writing; disingenuous sentiment coming from the mouth of a homophobe.
The film wasn't my favorite, either; but it had the good luck to be visually stunning.
January 10, 2008
This was a really great book. If you liked the movie you'll LOVE the book. So many times in science fiction there isn't a lot of characterization.........not with this book. You know these characters and you can relate to them in some way.
May 3, 2019
OMG.... What a whale of a story. In some ways, I was watching a movie unfold on the pages and other ways I felt that the book is still better than the movie even though the book is a novelization. The afterwords did shed some light on how this book was constructed and I can see the efforts were very much appreciated on the pages. At the end of the day, I would like the belief that the builders are real. In many ways, we are our own worst enemies and the message is real; we need to dig the power of love rather than the love of power.
May 12, 2014
I have to stop getting drawn in to nostalgic reads - seriously I have nothing but praise for this book (recent controversies aside). Orson Scott Card was introduced to me by a friend at University (yes while one friend was getting me to read fantasy and Raymond E Feist, another was getting me to read Enders Game and Orson Scott Card). Well this was a happy mix for me - and one even now I cannot resist re-reading - even with so many new and untried books to explore.
The book pretty much follows the same story line as the film - something that can often disappoint but not with this book. it pretty much follows the same story as the film one which I enjoy watching and re-watching (ok I can gush on and on about the film since many of the effects were done by ILM one of the masters of the craft, ok stop its about the book). But what also makes this book so special is that it makes even the most saccharine sweet moment such as the ending right and appropriate (even more so since originally and lot of the explaining back story was missed in the film edit). SO why the mediocre rating- well this to me is not the BEST of Cards work and it is a novelisation of the film - so as enjoyable as it is its all just filler compared to his truly good work. Still I will be reading it again just you watch.
The book pretty much follows the same story line as the film - something that can often disappoint but not with this book. it pretty much follows the same story as the film one which I enjoy watching and re-watching (ok I can gush on and on about the film since many of the effects were done by ILM one of the masters of the craft, ok stop its about the book). But what also makes this book so special is that it makes even the most saccharine sweet moment such as the ending right and appropriate (even more so since originally and lot of the explaining back story was missed in the film edit). SO why the mediocre rating- well this to me is not the BEST of Cards work and it is a novelisation of the film - so as enjoyable as it is its all just filler compared to his truly good work. Still I will be reading it again just you watch.
February 9, 2023
I loved the movie so when I saw a novelisation of it I bought it in the hope that it would be as enjoyable. I have to say the author did a great job. The book closely follows the film, but what I wasn't expecting is the way the author fleshed out and gave back stories to the non-terrestrials and human characters, and how well he did it. In the book we find out where everyone came from and why they make the decisions that they do, as well as how the non-terrestrials interpret man's actions. Highly recommend if you enjoyed the film, and even to those who haven't seen it.
July 3, 2019
Primi capitoli eccezionali, si va via via spegnendo per poi riprendersi nel finale.
October 5, 2015
I haven't read a novelisation since I was a kid, when I used to borrow heaps of them from the library. I used to read them completely credulously, without judging them in relation to 'proper novels'. If I'd seen the film, reading the novelisation was like having it play again in especially vivid detail. If I hadn't seen the film, I just read the novelisation as if it were any other novel that had subsequently been adapted to film.
Also, I have a special relationship with James Cameron novelisations. I was especially obsessed with the Terminator 2: Judgment Day novelisation, which was at a local newsagency. Lacking the money to buy it, I used to sneak in there after school and spend anything from a few minutes to half an hour at a time reading it in the shop, for days, until I'd read it all.
Anyway, so when I saw this in an op-shop I couldn't resist buying it. In extensive afterwords, both Cameron and Card insist that they wanted to write a novel, not a 'novelisation', and Card details the difficulties of trying to produce something original from another creator's vision, and trying to be faithful not only to the script but also to the visuals and to the nuances of the actors' performances. The fact that both film and book were being produced simultaneously meant Cameron actually shared Card's early chapters with his key cast, who used them to inform their performances.
At first I could see the seams – it felt as if Card was shovelling in reams of psychological motivation between each laconic line of Cameron's dialogue. Reading it felt a bit like watching a DVD with the commentary track on.
But I quickly came to appreciate what Card has added. Basically, the film is quite enigmatic as to what the aliens are, how they caused the initial sub crash that sets the plot in motion, how their civilisation works, and what they think about humankind. But Card has fleshed all this out, and given them a much more prominent role influencing the course of events – the kinds of serendipities that, as moviegoers, we'd just put down to narrative convenience.
What I found especially clever about this device is that it actually provides a diegetic reason for that tendency in novelisations to psychoanalyse everything. Turns out the aliens can read human memories – it's this power that enables the narrator's omniscience. And I liked that the narrator is revealed actually to be one of the characters, who has been gifted the aliens' power, knows what every character has felt, and has hence been empowered to tell the story we've just read.
I also appreciated that Card has fleshed out Coffey, the evil Navy SEAL antagonist, and made his actions much more understandable. He's a good guy who's not thinking straight, and who's driven by his own demons.
To pull off this more introspective approach, Card has sacrificed some of the action-movie paciness of the source film – the endless forward momentum I recognise from Cameron's screenplays. The action sequences are well handled and quite thrilling. But it's the ability to survey the best and worst tendencies of humankind, and empathise with an alien civilisation – which I remember from Card's book Ender's Game – that makes him the perfect writer for this story.
Also, I have a special relationship with James Cameron novelisations. I was especially obsessed with the Terminator 2: Judgment Day novelisation, which was at a local newsagency. Lacking the money to buy it, I used to sneak in there after school and spend anything from a few minutes to half an hour at a time reading it in the shop, for days, until I'd read it all.
Anyway, so when I saw this in an op-shop I couldn't resist buying it. In extensive afterwords, both Cameron and Card insist that they wanted to write a novel, not a 'novelisation', and Card details the difficulties of trying to produce something original from another creator's vision, and trying to be faithful not only to the script but also to the visuals and to the nuances of the actors' performances. The fact that both film and book were being produced simultaneously meant Cameron actually shared Card's early chapters with his key cast, who used them to inform their performances.
At first I could see the seams – it felt as if Card was shovelling in reams of psychological motivation between each laconic line of Cameron's dialogue. Reading it felt a bit like watching a DVD with the commentary track on.
But I quickly came to appreciate what Card has added. Basically, the film is quite enigmatic as to what the aliens are, how they caused the initial sub crash that sets the plot in motion, how their civilisation works, and what they think about humankind. But Card has fleshed all this out, and given them a much more prominent role influencing the course of events – the kinds of serendipities that, as moviegoers, we'd just put down to narrative convenience.
What I found especially clever about this device is that it actually provides a diegetic reason for that tendency in novelisations to psychoanalyse everything. Turns out the aliens can read human memories – it's this power that enables the narrator's omniscience. And I liked that the narrator is revealed actually to be one of the characters, who has been gifted the aliens' power, knows what every character has felt, and has hence been empowered to tell the story we've just read.
I also appreciated that Card has fleshed out Coffey, the evil Navy SEAL antagonist, and made his actions much more understandable. He's a good guy who's not thinking straight, and who's driven by his own demons.
To pull off this more introspective approach, Card has sacrificed some of the action-movie paciness of the source film – the endless forward momentum I recognise from Cameron's screenplays. The action sequences are well handled and quite thrilling. But it's the ability to survey the best and worst tendencies of humankind, and empathise with an alien civilisation – which I remember from Card's book Ender's Game – that makes him the perfect writer for this story.
February 22, 2018
Book club choice. I've been a fan of the movie for years and it holds some special nostalgia for me. I had no knowledge of a novel, nor had any desire to read it, as novelizations are usually unnecessary and not very well written. But as it was the majority rules for book club, I went along with it.
Starting it and keeping up with it was a task. I was not a huge fan of the voice that narrated from this omniscient perspective. It truly felt like a screenplay merged with a novel - as if each aside was a director telling his actor what mindset to step into. But it got easier to wade through as the action escalated. I liked having the memory of the movie in the back of my mind; it made it easy to follow the story. I appreciated that this wasn't an overly technical book and it could have been.
Oddly enough, following this story in novel form makes it easier to realize that the story is kind of....strange. A political thriller...and aliens? It sounds far fetched, even as the climax falls. But I think I'm too engrossed in the nostalgia of it all to care. I can also finally see, upon finishing the novel, why this omniscient voice was present. It makes sense now, but I still don't quite think it was an effective voice.
All in all, enjoyable and unique in its construction. Even the author forwards were more interesting than usual. And on the basest level, I enjoyed learning the tiny details that the movie couldn't convey. It was definitely an interesting novel.
Starting it and keeping up with it was a task. I was not a huge fan of the voice that narrated from this omniscient perspective. It truly felt like a screenplay merged with a novel - as if each aside was a director telling his actor what mindset to step into. But it got easier to wade through as the action escalated. I liked having the memory of the movie in the back of my mind; it made it easy to follow the story. I appreciated that this wasn't an overly technical book and it could have been.
Oddly enough, following this story in novel form makes it easier to realize that the story is kind of....strange. A political thriller...and aliens? It sounds far fetched, even as the climax falls. But I think I'm too engrossed in the nostalgia of it all to care. I can also finally see, upon finishing the novel, why this omniscient voice was present. It makes sense now, but I still don't quite think it was an effective voice.
All in all, enjoyable and unique in its construction. Even the author forwards were more interesting than usual. And on the basest level, I enjoyed learning the tiny details that the movie couldn't convey. It was definitely an interesting novel.
May 13, 2015
Really entertaining! And that is coming from a reader that does not particularly care for any story bubbling up from the briny depths. I am a fan of dry land formats. This book, however, combines interesting characters (both human and not-so-much) with excellent and exciting interactions between each other. Edge of your seat suspense taking place at frequent intervals and an exceptionally surprising and unexpected otherworldly ending make this one of my absolute favorites - even with all the moisture content! Would recommend this to all.
November 19, 2016
I'm partial to Orson Scott Card, novels about the ocean, and intelligent female leads (probably not in that order) Needless to say…I LOVE this book. I read it twice in one year. It is gripping and freaky and un-put-downable.
June 17, 2020
I can watch the movie again and again, and can read the novella again and again. It is spectacular, and contains more background than the movie did. One of my favorites, actually.
August 4, 2021
I didn’t remember much of anything of the 1989 movie going into my read of The Abyss but if the movie is anything like the book, it may be worthwhile giving it another view. There’s a lot of (warning: bad pun ahead) depth in Card’s novelization of James Cameron’s film. Card starts the first three chapters with a detailed background of the story’s main three characters. You understand the relevance of Card doing this right off the hop as you plow through the story in later chapters, as it provides insight into the actions, thoughts and motivations of these three central characters. Loved these chapters.
The plot of the story is an intriguing one. An alien species living in a deep trench on the ocean floor, has settled here to study the planet (as it is also doing across other worlds). During a scouting exercise, the race accidentally sets off a chain of events creating a Cold War scenario between the Americans and Russians. The world is teetering on the brink of nuclear annihilation when the three main characters are given a task that will hopefully repair hostilities. Feeling responsible for creating this nightmare scenario and fearing their demise as well, the alien race devises a plan to put an end to hostilities. This is where one of the central themes comes to the fore in the story, that of communication. Not only does the alien race need to find a way to communicate with the humans to help them see the error of their ways, they also recognize in studying them, that they have great difficulty in communicating amongst themselves. Ultimately, isn’t that the root cause of many of the grievances between people and nations? This core theme of language barriers and understanding one another really drives this story forward.
Card wonderfully probes the inner thoughts and feelings of his characters and the alien race. Mix this with an intriguing theme, likeable and unlikeable characters (but in a good way) and a dash of Tom Clancy intrigue and you’re left with one of the better sci-fi books that I’ve read in recent memory.
The plot of the story is an intriguing one. An alien species living in a deep trench on the ocean floor, has settled here to study the planet (as it is also doing across other worlds). During a scouting exercise, the race accidentally sets off a chain of events creating a Cold War scenario between the Americans and Russians. The world is teetering on the brink of nuclear annihilation when the three main characters are given a task that will hopefully repair hostilities. Feeling responsible for creating this nightmare scenario and fearing their demise as well, the alien race devises a plan to put an end to hostilities. This is where one of the central themes comes to the fore in the story, that of communication. Not only does the alien race need to find a way to communicate with the humans to help them see the error of their ways, they also recognize in studying them, that they have great difficulty in communicating amongst themselves. Ultimately, isn’t that the root cause of many of the grievances between people and nations? This core theme of language barriers and understanding one another really drives this story forward.
Card wonderfully probes the inner thoughts and feelings of his characters and the alien race. Mix this with an intriguing theme, likeable and unlikeable characters (but in a good way) and a dash of Tom Clancy intrigue and you’re left with one of the better sci-fi books that I’ve read in recent memory.
July 29, 2017
Orson Scott Card is a damn fine writer. I never imagined a novelization could be so good! He manages to give each character a unique personality making them easily distinguishable from the each other. Exploring the relationship between Lindsey and Bud was entertaining and heart wrenching. But what amazed me the most was the way the author gave life to the builders. I could see them, I could understand them. So often when reading fantasy or sci-fi the author is never able to make the aliens familiar. They remain alien throughout the novel and we the reader never become one with them. He also switched from pure 3rd person to 1st person a few times. It was a smooth transition and I only stumbled through it once.Truly amazed at the authors abilities. I will be reading Enders Game again as soon as it arrives.
The function of Deep Core, the drilling rig meant for deep water drilling, the first of its kind, seemed feasible while reading. I am no engineer or mathematician but there was no glaring mistakes or assumptions that made me roll my eyes and mutter "yeah right". All of this seemed so plausible which I appreciated. The author took great care to explain, mostly in payments terms, the whys and how's of existing that far beneath the ocean.And who was narrator? It isn't revealed until the very, very end and I couldn't have guessed accurately to save my life.
The function of Deep Core, the drilling rig meant for deep water drilling, the first of its kind, seemed feasible while reading. I am no engineer or mathematician but there was no glaring mistakes or assumptions that made me roll my eyes and mutter "yeah right". All of this seemed so plausible which I appreciated. The author took great care to explain, mostly in payments terms, the whys and how's of existing that far beneath the ocean.And who was narrator? It isn't revealed until the very, very end and I couldn't have guessed accurately to save my life.
February 28, 2018
So far, 3 stars. And that's generous. No matter what, Orson Scott Card will lose a star because he's a terrible person.
This book is for book club and like here's the thing. The book is a little boring. The book is a weird hybrid of a novelization and like character backstory for the actors playing said roles. There's a lot of exposition and not a lot of plot. I'm nearly 100 pages in and the story is *just* kicking in and it's such a chore to read this.
Orson does not know how to write women.
So far, there's only 1 female character and she's written as this "don't need a man, I'm so much smarter than everyone. I'm so great." Which that's fine, I don't mind women characters who are arrogant but I think what sucks is that there aren't any other women in this book to counteract the arrogance. We're stuck with this one and she does nothing but degrade the men and it's so unnecessary.
Also the plot of the book is really odd because it's at first set up as the political thriller and then all of a sudden aliens.
Do I hate the book? No.
Do I love it? No.
Am I willing to give it a chance? Sure.
Three stars for now, let's see where it goes.
So i finished the book and i skimmed the last 2 chapters because i did not care at all. The ending was so deus ex machina and i’m glad to be done
This book is for book club and like here's the thing. The book is a little boring. The book is a weird hybrid of a novelization and like character backstory for the actors playing said roles. There's a lot of exposition and not a lot of plot. I'm nearly 100 pages in and the story is *just* kicking in and it's such a chore to read this.
Orson does not know how to write women.
So far, there's only 1 female character and she's written as this "don't need a man, I'm so much smarter than everyone. I'm so great." Which that's fine, I don't mind women characters who are arrogant but I think what sucks is that there aren't any other women in this book to counteract the arrogance. We're stuck with this one and she does nothing but degrade the men and it's so unnecessary.
Also the plot of the book is really odd because it's at first set up as the political thriller and then all of a sudden aliens.
Do I hate the book? No.
Do I love it? No.
Am I willing to give it a chance? Sure.
Three stars for now, let's see where it goes.
So i finished the book and i skimmed the last 2 chapters because i did not care at all. The ending was so deus ex machina and i’m glad to be done
June 26, 2021
Less of a novelisation, more of a novel. Card adds a ton of depth to the story and characters, as well as revealing the workings of the alien creatures. He mentions in an afterword that it was a true collaboration between the author and the filmmaker. He was allowed on the set and had access to the dailies as the film was being shot. The backstory chapters he wrote were given to the actors so their performances could be informed by the material. The results speak for themselves.
It's easy for emotion to be lost when translating a film into a book, but here I found it just as powerful. There are a couple of scenes in the film which bring me close to tears and they happened here too, but I found the writing affected me differently.
Side note, this book is based on the longer (and far superior) special edition of the film, with the extra scenes and story elements.
Now when the hell is The Abyss going to finally be released on blu-ray or 4K disc? I love my non-anamorphic DVD set but it looks like blurry garbage on modern TV screens.
It's easy for emotion to be lost when translating a film into a book, but here I found it just as powerful. There are a couple of scenes in the film which bring me close to tears and they happened here too, but I found the writing affected me differently.
Side note, this book is based on the longer (and far superior) special edition of the film, with the extra scenes and story elements.
Now when the hell is The Abyss going to finally be released on blu-ray or 4K disc? I love my non-anamorphic DVD set but it looks like blurry garbage on modern TV screens.
January 14, 2018
Both the book and the movie were great
February 8, 2018
This book adds so much to the movie. I recommend reading James Cameron's "Afterword" at the end of the book before reading it.
January 6, 2024
Wow wow wow. More soon.
I honestly can't decide whether I liked the book or movie more. I read the book first, thinking it was completely based on the movie. It's more than that, though. And there's an afterward about it. The "intro" to the characters was completely the work of OSC, and his immaturity shows, including way more penises than I would have liked (for no reason - we don't need them inserted into everything he writes (no pun intended)). He was also able to beautifully describe some of the water scenes early on, and it took my breath.
I also have to admit he did a damn good job at the rest of the book. Not supporting OSC or what he's stood for, but the book really delves more into the POV of the Builders, with beautifully done philosophy and description. I ended up a little let down that the movie didn't portray much of their POV. The movie was amazing, don't get me wrong, especially the effects for when it was released (I'm about 40 years late). But it's mostly an action movie, with an incredible cast. This book is that plus a lot more. Some excerpts below.
I have to add that my paperback's cover almost didn't make it through the read. Every time I picked it up a piece fell off lol. But it soldiered on and there's a little bit left! Lol.
p.6 He took off his shoes carefully, untying them and laying his socks across them. The breeze was chilly on his feet and when he got to where the sand was wet, it was even colder. His feet sank slightly into the sand, and it turned white where he stepped, as if his weight was squeezing the water out. As is he could drive the sea back from the shore just by walking toward it.
At first he stayed out where the weakest forewash only tickled and chilled him. He had always liked the way the backwash sucked sand out from around the edges of his feet, as if the ground was moving out to sea.
p.12 I mean, either we spend our whole lives acting out all the things our parents said and did, or we spend our lives deliberately not acting like our folks.
p.137 We build our monsters out of metal, but the earth and the sea are still stronger.
p.217 The guilders remembered this thought, because they knew it was important. Fear was the great controller of human beings. Fear was bringing them to the brink of war. Fear drove them away from each other, kept most of them from risking anything in their lives. There was good evolutionary reason for fear to be so strong in them - they could die, not just in the body, but in the memory as well. Of course they feared death. If we died so completely, we would fear it, too.
p.219 Humans aren't used to receiving others' thoughts directly, the builders told each other. They can't taste the flavor that tells us when a thought comes from someone else. So how can they possibly recognize someone else's mental voice inside their heads? Worse, how can they distinguish between their own thoughts and those we give them? We told her to be at peace. We told her where we come from, who we are, what we do. But she decided for herself that our works were beautiful, that she wanted us to teach her. Yet if she knew that some of her thoughts came from us, she'd be unable to tell where our messages left off and her own desires began.
p.302 We grieve, not for her past, which we will have forever, but for her future, which we will never have. We knew her best of all of them, and so the loss of her future hurts us worst of all. More than the self-destruction of the entire species of humankind, the loss of this one will grieve us.
The city listened, and the idea astonished them. And they also thought of something else: This very builder who gave the answer to them had been transformed by knowing these humans, and had acted in a way that was different from what any other builder might have done. What other builder has spoken despite the city's ban? What other builder has ever dared?
For which this builder should be taken into the city, remembered, and then dispersed.
***Isn't that precisely what these humans do? Destroy individuals that make them afraid?***
She's one of us. She won't be destroyed, she'll be remembered.
But we'll also remove the possibility of her acting strangely ever again. And why? Because we fear the change that she has brought us. We would remove her future influence because we're afraid of it. We have done that again and again in our history. We never thought of it as killing, because no part of their past is lost. But hasn't she shown us that it's just as grievous to cut off an individual's future?
It was a strange and terrible idea, that they themselves practiced something that resembled killing, and that their motive was also fear. They never acted in the manic rage these humans showed in battle, but they still did what every other living creature did: They acted against individuals to protect themselves. Until they met these humans, they had never valued individuals, had neverhad never really conceived of what true individuality could mean, since they shared memories so freely among themselves that each builder remembered having done what all others builders did; thus the boundaries between them meant little. (SPOILER) Now, though, as Bud Brigman dragged Lindsey's body through the water toward the lights of Deepcore, they finally understood what those boundaries were, and how it was possible to prize one person and mourn her loss.
Then her memories began to circulate among the builders of the city. Above all, they were astonished at the moment of her death. She was afraid of death, and yet she had chosen to die herself rather than take breath away from Bud.
p.316 He lifted his hand. Waved. Then he turned and stepped over the edge of the abyss. (It's always fun to find the title in the book. This appeared several times.)
p.329 Who is the nobler creature, then? Him or us? What do WE put at risk, if we save them?
We can't save them. Killing is in their hearts, even the best of them.
So is fear - and yet they overcome it.
p.330 He saw two possible worlds, one, a world in which he remained alive, but in which a terrible crime would be committed against us, a crime that he might have prevented. The other, a world in which there remained the possibility of peace between us and his people, but in which he himself was dead.
This is too simple and explanation.
***Is it? Then let me show you another, even simpler. I also see two worlds ahead of US. One in which we refuse to change our own behavior, and so we stand by and let these humans destroy each other, forcing us to leave this world behind, dead, when we could have prevented it, when its death is partly our fault. The other is a world in which we change to become a little more like them, in order to have the power to change them to become a little more like us; that's the world that remains alive, with us and these humans sharing it, at peace with each other, at peace within ourselves. I choose the second one. I choose to change ourselves a little in order to save us all.
What short of change do you propose?***
p.331 They're strangers! Monstrous, terrible strangers that we can't speak to because they don't even know they're being spoken to. They can never understand us and we can never understand them. They don't MATTER to us! Why should we change ourselves, betray our nature for them?
This is the most important thing the humans have taught me. The thing they're teaching to us right now. You see, they are ALL strangers to each other. They live out their entire lives, never truly understanding each other, only making guesses, making mistakes, distorting, deceiving, misunderstanding each other. And yet, though they're permanently strangers, they choose sometimes to trust each other, care for each other so completely that they gladly die to let the other live - that they gladly change themselves to make the other person happy. They're so used to this great leap of trust and love that Bud Brigman has extended that same trust to us - even thought he doesn't know us, doesn't understand us, even though we're strangers to him. All I ask is that we treat them as Bud Brigman is treating us. ***He barely comprehends us, yet values our lives enough to die trying to save us.***
p.331 You make it sound as if you think they're better than we are.
In some ways they are. In some ways they're much worse. Humans and builders, we're DIFFERENT from each other. But we must still value each other, in spite of the differences.
p.333 (SPOILER) He looked into its eyes are realized that it was beautiful.
Bud wasn't afraid. He knew he was seeing an NTI - not something it made, not an artifact or vehicle, but one of the people of the abyss.
I honestly can't decide whether I liked the book or movie more. I read the book first, thinking it was completely based on the movie. It's more than that, though. And there's an afterward about it. The "intro" to the characters was completely the work of OSC, and his immaturity shows, including way more penises than I would have liked (for no reason - we don't need them inserted into everything he writes (no pun intended)). He was also able to beautifully describe some of the water scenes early on, and it took my breath.
I also have to admit he did a damn good job at the rest of the book. Not supporting OSC or what he's stood for, but the book really delves more into the POV of the Builders, with beautifully done philosophy and description. I ended up a little let down that the movie didn't portray much of their POV. The movie was amazing, don't get me wrong, especially the effects for when it was released (I'm about 40 years late). But it's mostly an action movie, with an incredible cast. This book is that plus a lot more. Some excerpts below.
I have to add that my paperback's cover almost didn't make it through the read. Every time I picked it up a piece fell off lol. But it soldiered on and there's a little bit left! Lol.
p.6 He took off his shoes carefully, untying them and laying his socks across them. The breeze was chilly on his feet and when he got to where the sand was wet, it was even colder. His feet sank slightly into the sand, and it turned white where he stepped, as if his weight was squeezing the water out. As is he could drive the sea back from the shore just by walking toward it.
At first he stayed out where the weakest forewash only tickled and chilled him. He had always liked the way the backwash sucked sand out from around the edges of his feet, as if the ground was moving out to sea.
p.12 I mean, either we spend our whole lives acting out all the things our parents said and did, or we spend our lives deliberately not acting like our folks.
p.137 We build our monsters out of metal, but the earth and the sea are still stronger.
p.217 The guilders remembered this thought, because they knew it was important. Fear was the great controller of human beings. Fear was bringing them to the brink of war. Fear drove them away from each other, kept most of them from risking anything in their lives. There was good evolutionary reason for fear to be so strong in them - they could die, not just in the body, but in the memory as well. Of course they feared death. If we died so completely, we would fear it, too.
p.219 Humans aren't used to receiving others' thoughts directly, the builders told each other. They can't taste the flavor that tells us when a thought comes from someone else. So how can they possibly recognize someone else's mental voice inside their heads? Worse, how can they distinguish between their own thoughts and those we give them? We told her to be at peace. We told her where we come from, who we are, what we do. But she decided for herself that our works were beautiful, that she wanted us to teach her. Yet if she knew that some of her thoughts came from us, she'd be unable to tell where our messages left off and her own desires began.
p.302 We grieve, not for her past, which we will have forever, but for her future, which we will never have. We knew her best of all of them, and so the loss of her future hurts us worst of all. More than the self-destruction of the entire species of humankind, the loss of this one will grieve us.
The city listened, and the idea astonished them. And they also thought of something else: This very builder who gave the answer to them had been transformed by knowing these humans, and had acted in a way that was different from what any other builder might have done. What other builder has spoken despite the city's ban? What other builder has ever dared?
For which this builder should be taken into the city, remembered, and then dispersed.
***Isn't that precisely what these humans do? Destroy individuals that make them afraid?***
She's one of us. She won't be destroyed, she'll be remembered.
But we'll also remove the possibility of her acting strangely ever again. And why? Because we fear the change that she has brought us. We would remove her future influence because we're afraid of it. We have done that again and again in our history. We never thought of it as killing, because no part of their past is lost. But hasn't she shown us that it's just as grievous to cut off an individual's future?
It was a strange and terrible idea, that they themselves practiced something that resembled killing, and that their motive was also fear. They never acted in the manic rage these humans showed in battle, but they still did what every other living creature did: They acted against individuals to protect themselves. Until they met these humans, they had never valued individuals, had neverhad never really conceived of what true individuality could mean, since they shared memories so freely among themselves that each builder remembered having done what all others builders did; thus the boundaries between them meant little. (SPOILER) Now, though, as Bud Brigman dragged Lindsey's body through the water toward the lights of Deepcore, they finally understood what those boundaries were, and how it was possible to prize one person and mourn her loss.
Then her memories began to circulate among the builders of the city. Above all, they were astonished at the moment of her death. She was afraid of death, and yet she had chosen to die herself rather than take breath away from Bud.
p.316 He lifted his hand. Waved. Then he turned and stepped over the edge of the abyss. (It's always fun to find the title in the book. This appeared several times.)
p.329 Who is the nobler creature, then? Him or us? What do WE put at risk, if we save them?
We can't save them. Killing is in their hearts, even the best of them.
So is fear - and yet they overcome it.
p.330 He saw two possible worlds, one, a world in which he remained alive, but in which a terrible crime would be committed against us, a crime that he might have prevented. The other, a world in which there remained the possibility of peace between us and his people, but in which he himself was dead.
This is too simple and explanation.
***Is it? Then let me show you another, even simpler. I also see two worlds ahead of US. One in which we refuse to change our own behavior, and so we stand by and let these humans destroy each other, forcing us to leave this world behind, dead, when we could have prevented it, when its death is partly our fault. The other is a world in which we change to become a little more like them, in order to have the power to change them to become a little more like us; that's the world that remains alive, with us and these humans sharing it, at peace with each other, at peace within ourselves. I choose the second one. I choose to change ourselves a little in order to save us all.
What short of change do you propose?***
p.331 They're strangers! Monstrous, terrible strangers that we can't speak to because they don't even know they're being spoken to. They can never understand us and we can never understand them. They don't MATTER to us! Why should we change ourselves, betray our nature for them?
This is the most important thing the humans have taught me. The thing they're teaching to us right now. You see, they are ALL strangers to each other. They live out their entire lives, never truly understanding each other, only making guesses, making mistakes, distorting, deceiving, misunderstanding each other. And yet, though they're permanently strangers, they choose sometimes to trust each other, care for each other so completely that they gladly die to let the other live - that they gladly change themselves to make the other person happy. They're so used to this great leap of trust and love that Bud Brigman has extended that same trust to us - even thought he doesn't know us, doesn't understand us, even though we're strangers to him. All I ask is that we treat them as Bud Brigman is treating us. ***He barely comprehends us, yet values our lives enough to die trying to save us.***
p.331 You make it sound as if you think they're better than we are.
In some ways they are. In some ways they're much worse. Humans and builders, we're DIFFERENT from each other. But we must still value each other, in spite of the differences.
p.333 (SPOILER) He looked into its eyes are realized that it was beautiful.
Bud wasn't afraid. He knew he was seeing an NTI - not something it made, not an artifact or vehicle, but one of the people of the abyss.
Read
June 27, 2023This is one of my favorite books and movies. It’s also the book that introduced me to the phenomenon of novelizations. Where books are adapted into film all the time, this is where the opposite takes place. We start with the movie. An author is brought on board, given an early version of the screenplay and is tasked with expanding that into a full novel.
Sometimes the result is great. Sometimes you just get a bland recitation of the plot of the film. In this case, the novel in the hands of Orson Scott Card expands into a brilliantly realized story, above and beyond even what was accomplished in the movie. If you have ever seen the expanded directors cut, you get a glimpse as to the direction taken by the novel.
Also, Bud, Lindsay and Coffey become even more dynamic and defined as characters. We open with a series of standalone chapters centered around each one and it gives a great insight into their outlook and state of mind.
But where the book really comes to life is the point where you get to see the point of view from the aliens, themselves. You see more of their role in events and you get a brief but fascinating look at their civilization and their perspective on us as a species. The Cold War and the general brinksmanship of human society becomes much more of a central point to the plot and it all os woven together into a message that still feels relevant today.
The movie is a classic and if you love it as much as I do, you should give this book a spin. Really well done.
Sometimes the result is great. Sometimes you just get a bland recitation of the plot of the film. In this case, the novel in the hands of Orson Scott Card expands into a brilliantly realized story, above and beyond even what was accomplished in the movie. If you have ever seen the expanded directors cut, you get a glimpse as to the direction taken by the novel.
Also, Bud, Lindsay and Coffey become even more dynamic and defined as characters. We open with a series of standalone chapters centered around each one and it gives a great insight into their outlook and state of mind.
But where the book really comes to life is the point where you get to see the point of view from the aliens, themselves. You see more of their role in events and you get a brief but fascinating look at their civilization and their perspective on us as a species. The Cold War and the general brinksmanship of human society becomes much more of a central point to the plot and it all os woven together into a message that still feels relevant today.
The movie is a classic and if you love it as much as I do, you should give this book a spin. Really well done.
April 24, 2010
Eh. This book was okay in some ways, and occasionally you could see a glimmer of OSC genius poking through, but there were two major flaws for me: A) it was a bit cliche, which I guess isn't really OSC's fault since the novel is based on a screenplay by James Cameron, who is talented in some ways but not even on the same level creatively as OSC, but... really? Aliens down at the very bottom of the sea who are human enough to have eyes and hands and who give a crap about humans? Who have something to "learn" from humans? Come on! Use your imagination a bit, Jim; and B) uh, hey, Orson? Women are a bit more complex than "evil bitch" or "mothering sweet angel." Please try to reflect that in your writing.
But whatever, it was entertaining. For what it was.
But whatever, it was entertaining. For what it was.
June 3, 2018
Couldn't finnish it. The beginning is good with the stories of the main characters, but then the aliens make no interaction with the story. You can either tell me a story about people in a submarine and their psycology, or tell me a alien story, but don't just put aliens in the ocean and expect that I'll swallow 100 pages of submarine nonsense waiting for those aliens to do something. It's just mean. (droped it in page 212, 64%)
May 15, 2012
One of best novelizations you will ever read. But to call it a novelization would be a dis-service. It is a brilliant epic science fiction novel by a master writer in top form. It pulls off the seemingly impossible and manages to take the vision of one of the most gifted cinematic storytellers of all time and translate it to the novel form.
July 9, 2012
Always loved the movie, but the book added so much more depth to it. The book was written while the movie was being filmed, so when you're reading it, you can picture every scene almost perfectly, but what Orson Scott Card did was add so much depth to the characters that you've now got additional into their motivations.
August 30, 2020
Best novelization ever! So much more character development and pov's from the creatures in the abyss which I thought was awesome to see. The first three chapters (no major spoilers) are just backstories from Bud, Lindsey and Coffey. I really enjoyed it. Every the abyss fan should read it and novelization fans too!
-Roger
-Roger
January 18, 2012
This book is a good read. As I remember, it was not violent and didn't have profanity.
It was a page turner.
It was a page turner.
March 16, 2023
Ooit vond ik dit een goed boek. Nu, de laatste keer dat ik dit boek las, kon het me niet meer bekoren. Smaken veranderen blijkbaar.
Later schrijf ik wel eens een review.
Later schrijf ik wel eens een review.
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