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Le trou noir
Un vaisseau-fantôme au coeur d'une lointaine galaxie, des météores qui envahissent l'espace, une station scientifique qui se désagrège et un engin d'exploration spatiale inexorablement aspiré par un gouffre monstrueux : le trou noir.
252 pages, Hardcover
First published November 12, 1979
14 people are currently reading
702 people want to read
About the author
Alan Dean Foster
498 books2,032 followersBestselling science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster was born in New York City in 1946, but raised mainly in California. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA in 1968, and a M.F.A. in 1969. Foster lives in Arizona with his wife, but he enjoys traveling because it gives him opportunities to meet new people and explore new places and cultures. This interest is carried over to his writing, but with a twist: the new places encountered in his books are likely to be on another planet, and the people may belong to an alien race.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
Foster began his career as an author when a letter he sent to Arkham Collection was purchased by the editor and published in the magazine in 1968. His first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, introduced the Humanx Commonwealth, a galactic alliance between humans and an insectlike race called Thranx. Several other novels, including the Icerigger trilogy, are also set in the world of the Commonwealth. The Tar-Aiym Krang also marked the first appearance of Flinx, a young man with paranormal abilities, who reappears in other books, including Orphan Star, For Love of Mother-Not, and Flinx in Flux.
Foster has also written The Damned series and the Spellsinger series, which includes The Hour of the Gate, The Moment of the Magician, The Paths of the Perambulator, and Son of Spellsinger, among others. Other books include novelizations of science fiction movies and television shows such as Star Trek, The Black Hole, Starman, Star Wars, and the Alien movies. Splinter of the Mind's Eye, a bestselling novel based on the Star Wars movies, received the Galaxy Award in 1979. The book Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990. His novel Our Lady of the Machine won him the UPC Award (Spain) in 1993. He also won the Ignotus Award (Spain) in 1994 and the Stannik Award (Russia) in 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 94 reviews
September 18, 2021
I don't remember the film or the novelization in very much detail, but I remember thinking at the time that Foster had done a good job of adapting the film to novel length and format with some added background details but without too obviously drawing it out with boring filler. I found the ending a little unsatisfying, but Foster did his part of what he was hired to do very well.
March 15, 2010
When I picked it up I hadn't realized this was a novelization of the Disney movie - I was hoping it was a book that inspired the movie. No such luck. It reads like a novelization, very directed and fairly dry.
I have only seen the movie once, long ago shortly after it was released (in 1979), but in the era of Star Wars it captured my imagination and reserved for itself a special little place in my heart - despite the fact that I can remember only vague images from the movie.
The book is a good refresher on the concepts in the movie - and probably goes a bit deeper into the conceptual side of black holes and a possible future of space exploration - or at least gives you more time to think about it as you read it.
If you have an interest in sci-fi, space exploration, black holes and the like, it's definitely a good story - with some decent drama and an (albeit predictable) twist to keep things interesting. If memory serves, the ending is a bit different between the movie and the book - and the book's conclusion is a bit less than satisfying, but at least doesn't fall into the usual cookie-cutter format. Will have to rewatch the movie and decide (as an adult) if it is worth the viewing. It has already made it onto my Netflix queue. The special effects will no doubt be quite dated, but Disney usually had decent live-action movies back then.
I have only seen the movie once, long ago shortly after it was released (in 1979), but in the era of Star Wars it captured my imagination and reserved for itself a special little place in my heart - despite the fact that I can remember only vague images from the movie.
The book is a good refresher on the concepts in the movie - and probably goes a bit deeper into the conceptual side of black holes and a possible future of space exploration - or at least gives you more time to think about it as you read it.
If you have an interest in sci-fi, space exploration, black holes and the like, it's definitely a good story - with some decent drama and an (albeit predictable) twist to keep things interesting. If memory serves, the ending is a bit different between the movie and the book - and the book's conclusion is a bit less than satisfying, but at least doesn't fall into the usual cookie-cutter format. Will have to rewatch the movie and decide (as an adult) if it is worth the viewing. It has already made it onto my Netflix queue. The special effects will no doubt be quite dated, but Disney usually had decent live-action movies back then.
June 17, 2025
A very quick read. Alan Dean Foster is the king of movie adaptations so I knew this would be fun to read. I had hoped for some more explanation and behind-the-scenes information that was not disclosed in the movie, but the novel follows the movie very closely. The only difference is in the ending, which is much more sensible than the strange ending of the movie, but somehow not as satisfying. Not sure why I felt the need to read this novelization over 45 years after the fact, but I am glad I did.
Edit: I noticed other reviews mentioned “a typo” at the end of the book. When I first finished the book, I read that final paragraph as a strange “stream-of-consciousness” thing that I just took in stride as I’ve apparently been exposed to too many weird writing styles over the years. However, upon looking it over a second time I figured out that in fact there is no “stream” going on but actually the last three sentences are printed in the wrong order. Reading them in the correct order makes a lot more sense. This is now, to me, the funniest book ending I have ever read.
Edit: I noticed other reviews mentioned “a typo” at the end of the book. When I first finished the book, I read that final paragraph as a strange “stream-of-consciousness” thing that I just took in stride as I’ve apparently been exposed to too many weird writing styles over the years. However, upon looking it over a second time I figured out that in fact there is no “stream” going on but actually the last three sentences are printed in the wrong order. Reading them in the correct order makes a lot more sense. This is now, to me, the funniest book ending I have ever read.
September 2, 2009
A novelization of the 1970s movie. The crew of the starship Palomino encounter the legendary research vessel Cygnus, eerily stationary near an enormous black hole. Upon boarding the Cygnus, the crew meets the crypt Dr Hans Reinhardt and his creepy robot servants. The Palomino crew just wants to repair their ship, but Reinhardt has other plans for them. Adventure ensues.
A pretty straight-forward translation over from the movie, without too many differences. The two most interesting characters were the Nemo-esque Reinhardt and the Cartman-like robot V.I.N.CENT, both of whose characters seemed a little more fleshed-out than in the movie. This is a short sci-fi adventure of surprisingly decent quality (though you can't experience "The Black Hole" without actually visualizing the ominous red menace of Maximilian, which gave me nightmares as a kid: You'll have to watch the movie as well).
A pretty straight-forward translation over from the movie, without too many differences. The two most interesting characters were the Nemo-esque Reinhardt and the Cartman-like robot V.I.N.CENT, both of whose characters seemed a little more fleshed-out than in the movie. This is a short sci-fi adventure of surprisingly decent quality (though you can't experience "The Black Hole" without actually visualizing the ominous red menace of Maximilian, which gave me nightmares as a kid: You'll have to watch the movie as well).
September 23, 2012
An otherwise great space opera yarn with two significant problems: A nonsensical ending that would be hard to show in movie form--isn't this a novelization of a film?--and a rather egregious typo that makes said ending difficult to decipher. I haven't seen the original movie, but I would hope it is better than this.
October 5, 2021
The ending is completely different but just as bonkers to the movie ending with an equal dose of WTFery.
April 7, 2025
Le livre est adapté du film de 1979 de Disney. On suit un équipage à bord d’un vaisseaux spacial, découvrant « Le Cygnus », un vaisseaux disparu des radars depuis vingt ans à proximité d’un trou noir. Globalement pas de changements majeurs, l’écriture n’a pas vraiment de distinctions particulière, les révélations et certaines actions ont un format très expéditif, alors que des moments long pourraient être écourtés, tout comme dans le film.
Cependant je remarque la volonté de vouloir meubler l’histoire par moment, comme la fin qui diffère de l’originale. L’histoire fait moins cheap que le film grâce à l’imagination du lecteur, et Reinhardt est toujours autant un chien de la casse.
En toute honnêté, je pense que Foster a réussi à bien l’adapté, on va dire que c’est ok.
Cependant je remarque la volonté de vouloir meubler l’histoire par moment, comme la fin qui diffère de l’originale. L’histoire fait moins cheap que le film grâce à l’imagination du lecteur, et Reinhardt est toujours autant un chien de la casse.
En toute honnêté, je pense que Foster a réussi à bien l’adapté, on va dire que c’est ok.
June 10, 2024
A expedition to find alien life among the stars is on its way back to Earth, having failed to locate any form of sentience. They take a diversion to a nearby black hole to gather some data and discover a ship impossibly suspended within the event horizon. This ship turns out to be the biggest and most expensive craft ever made, which mysteriously vanished many years ago. The crew investigate the ship, finding some strange circumstances aboard.
I received this as part of a mystery sci-fi book box and it is a novelisation of the Disney movie. I've never seen it but I do know that it was not very well received. This book is OK but it struggles with pacing, lacks any real character depth and doesn't build to a satisfying ending. There are one or two exciting action sequences and Alan Dean Foster's writing is decent but overall it didn't come together well for me.
I received this as part of a mystery sci-fi book box and it is a novelisation of the Disney movie. I've never seen it but I do know that it was not very well received. This book is OK but it struggles with pacing, lacks any real character depth and doesn't build to a satisfying ending. There are one or two exciting action sequences and Alan Dean Foster's writing is decent but overall it didn't come together well for me.
January 25, 2024
Decent novelization of a movie I always liked. I always thought this movie was a little underrated. The novel stays fairly close to the movie although there are a few differences. It's been a while since I watched the movie, so my memory could be a little faulty as well.
Even if you've never seen the movie, this would probably make an interesting read.
Even if you've never seen the movie, this would probably make an interesting read.
December 1, 2025
This was the second of three vintage books I picked up on a trip to National Trust Ightham Mote last year. Their delightful little used bookshop had a locked glass cabinet of ‘rare’ and ‘vintage’ books which were reasonably priced. The first was the novelisation of RoboCop by Ed Naha which I read straightaway. The others were The Black Hole—the subject of this review—and Superman: Last Son of Krypton. It was a brilliant find. So as it says on the cover this is Alan Dean Foster’s novelisation of the screenplay by Jeb Rosenbrook and Gerry Day, which became the 1979 Disney movie of the same name—at the time the most expensive movie Disney had ever produced. I only fairly recently (in the last couple of years) watched the movie on Disney+. It’s pretty campy and very silly, but I rather enjoyed it, so I was well up for trying out the book. I’ll definitely have to do a rewatch to catch all the differences!
This novelisation of The Black Hole was surprising for a lot of reasons, and I enjoyed it much more than I did the movie. Similarly to other sci-fi books of the 1970s such as Rendezvous with Rama and Ringworld, it follows a group of scientists/space explorers who come across something unusual that encapsulates the particular scientific concept the book wishes to explore. With Rama it was the O’Neill Cylinder, with Ringworld, it was the titular megastructure. The Black Hole is less focussed on the hard science and it’s less about the stellar remnant than it is the strange case of the starship Cygnus found strangely motionless near the black hole’s accretion disk. The book is actually more a blend of this trope and a space-based retelling of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
That’s not to say there isn’t surprisingly hard science in the book, though. A Disney property from 1979 wasn’t where I was expecting to find references to gravitational waves (predicted by General Relativity decades before, but only experimentally confirmed in 2015), and intermediate mass black holes (which are theorised because of the gap between stellar-mass black holes at 5–70 solar masses, and supermassive black holes starting at ~100,000 solar masses, but are yet to be confirmed—though there is strong evidence for their existence). The black hole in the novel is around 100 solar masses, putting it on the low end of the theorised intermediate range, making it a significant discovery worthy of the Palomino crew’s attention. The movie really doesn’t make very much of this and kind of gives the impression that the “science” of the story is more arrogant flights of fancy akin to some of Jules Verne’s megalomaniacal antagonists. Also on the hard science table was ESP, or extra-sensory perception. Now, hear me out: A lot of older sci-fi posits that ESP could be possible for humans to develop, and mostly it’s some kind of higher, evolved ability. Not so in The Black Hole. It’s purely a tech-based wireless communication implant with a direct brain interface that can help people communicate at a distance with robots. It suffices to say, I was impressed by the book’s attention to detail on these fronts.
In terms of characters, as is typical for the time, the male protagonists are almost cardboard cut-outs and copy-pastes of one another. The best variation in character we get is with the robot, Vincent, the brilliant scientist, Dr Kate McCrae, and with the Nemo-inspired antagonist, Commander Reinhardt. There’s much less sexism in this book than there was in the aforementioned novels by Niven and Clarke, though towards the end McCrae did unravel a bit—less so than the cowardly journalist, Harry Booth, however. With Captain Nemo as his template, Reinhardt was a superb antagonist, though much more villainous.
— — Spoiler Warning — —
— — End of Spoilers — —
The robots are brilliant. Vincent is a standout character, and Maximillian is a chilling villain. Bob is another robot like Vincent, but an older model, who manages to help the crew of the Palomino on account of Vincent. His character arc is really well done and heartbreaking.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novelisation. It’s very well-written, as expected of Alan Dean Foster, surprising in its scientiand does much better with the source material than the movie. By all rights, the movie, while campy and fun, was a huge disaster and the novelisation is absolutely the superior adaptation of the screenplay. If you’re going to consume one, I’d recommend this book (though it’s harder to get hold of than simply watching the movie on Disney+).
This novelisation of The Black Hole was surprising for a lot of reasons, and I enjoyed it much more than I did the movie. Similarly to other sci-fi books of the 1970s such as Rendezvous with Rama and Ringworld, it follows a group of scientists/space explorers who come across something unusual that encapsulates the particular scientific concept the book wishes to explore. With Rama it was the O’Neill Cylinder, with Ringworld, it was the titular megastructure. The Black Hole is less focussed on the hard science and it’s less about the stellar remnant than it is the strange case of the starship Cygnus found strangely motionless near the black hole’s accretion disk. The book is actually more a blend of this trope and a space-based retelling of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
That’s not to say there isn’t surprisingly hard science in the book, though. A Disney property from 1979 wasn’t where I was expecting to find references to gravitational waves (predicted by General Relativity decades before, but only experimentally confirmed in 2015), and intermediate mass black holes (which are theorised because of the gap between stellar-mass black holes at 5–70 solar masses, and supermassive black holes starting at ~100,000 solar masses, but are yet to be confirmed—though there is strong evidence for their existence). The black hole in the novel is around 100 solar masses, putting it on the low end of the theorised intermediate range, making it a significant discovery worthy of the Palomino crew’s attention. The movie really doesn’t make very much of this and kind of gives the impression that the “science” of the story is more arrogant flights of fancy akin to some of Jules Verne’s megalomaniacal antagonists. Also on the hard science table was ESP, or extra-sensory perception. Now, hear me out: A lot of older sci-fi posits that ESP could be possible for humans to develop, and mostly it’s some kind of higher, evolved ability. Not so in The Black Hole. It’s purely a tech-based wireless communication implant with a direct brain interface that can help people communicate at a distance with robots. It suffices to say, I was impressed by the book’s attention to detail on these fronts.
In terms of characters, as is typical for the time, the male protagonists are almost cardboard cut-outs and copy-pastes of one another. The best variation in character we get is with the robot, Vincent, the brilliant scientist, Dr Kate McCrae, and with the Nemo-inspired antagonist, Commander Reinhardt. There’s much less sexism in this book than there was in the aforementioned novels by Niven and Clarke, though towards the end McCrae did unravel a bit—less so than the cowardly journalist, Harry Booth, however. With Captain Nemo as his template, Reinhardt was a superb antagonist, though much more villainous.
— — Spoiler Warning — —
— — End of Spoilers — —
The robots are brilliant. Vincent is a standout character, and Maximillian is a chilling villain. Bob is another robot like Vincent, but an older model, who manages to help the crew of the Palomino on account of Vincent. His character arc is really well done and heartbreaking.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this novelisation. It’s very well-written, as expected of Alan Dean Foster, surprising in its scientiand does much better with the source material than the movie. By all rights, the movie, while campy and fun, was a huge disaster and the novelisation is absolutely the superior adaptation of the screenplay. If you’re going to consume one, I’d recommend this book (though it’s harder to get hold of than simply watching the movie on Disney+).
January 22, 2015
I am beside myself to explain how it is possible I liked this novelization of the movie better than the movie...after I saw and liked the movie first. Perhaps it is the King Effect, where every book is far better than the movie? But those are not novelizations. Hmm, odd.
Anyhow, it was a solid read that went by quickly. It wasn't Shakespeare or anything, but the story was good and the science wasn't complete bunk. The loss of 2 stars was caused directly by the ending. I won't disclose it here, but it was disappointing and had so much more potential than what the movie provided. Fault of the movie creators to be sure, but I would have hoped Foster would have used some poetic license to at least make the ending quasi-realistic.
Overall, not terrible and certainly better than the movie. 2.5 stars
Anyhow, it was a solid read that went by quickly. It wasn't Shakespeare or anything, but the story was good and the science wasn't complete bunk. The loss of 2 stars was caused directly by the ending. I won't disclose it here, but it was disappointing and had so much more potential than what the movie provided. Fault of the movie creators to be sure, but I would have hoped Foster would have used some poetic license to at least make the ending quasi-realistic.
Overall, not terrible and certainly better than the movie. 2.5 stars
March 29, 2014
I gave up on this one.
The original film was one of my favourites as a kid, definitely one of the movies that got me into science fiction, and I thought that I could relive some of that wonder through reading this.
It's as dull as dishwater though, not even up to the same standard as his other novelisations (love his Star Trek books). Avoid.
The original film was one of my favourites as a kid, definitely one of the movies that got me into science fiction, and I thought that I could relive some of that wonder through reading this.
It's as dull as dishwater though, not even up to the same standard as his other novelisations (love his Star Trek books). Avoid.
August 10, 2020
Re-read my 1979 copy in August 2020. Halfway through, I rewatched the film. As with other Alan Dean Foster novelisations, he does a workmanlike job at adapting (usually from a shooting script or earlier draft), whilst adding characters' inner thoughts. Certain scenes are completely different, especially the ending. It's an intriguing ending but I prefer the pseudo biblical ending of the film.
March 10, 2011
Curious about the movie now. The suspense was great and I really thought they were going to be able to escape. Some might consider the mystery ruined when we find out what happens through the black hole, but I rather appreciated the effort. A little cheesy, but on the whole a quick, fun read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2016
This book started out slow (2 stars), then turned really good in the middle (up to 4 stars), but absolutely fell off the cliff in the very last three pages (no spoilers here :) ; down to 3 stars). I know it's sci-fi but good grief...
September 26, 2022
Adds very little to the movie besides some tedious extra dialogue, and while the movie's ending may be a bit of a head scratcher, it's better than the books. Otherwise, the books differs from the movie only in very minor ways.
September 1, 2009
I really enjoyed this sci fi romp. I was very pleased with the ending.
April 6, 2010
Amazingly enough, I remember reading this right when the movie came out. The Disney movie was kind of crappy; the book was okay, but wasn't able to improve much on the source material.
July 7, 2017
It was a bad movie and possibly an even worse book
September 4, 2022
2,5/5
El més habitual és que d'un llibre d'èxit se'n faci una pel·li; fins i tot hi ha hagut casos en què el procés de creació s'ha realitzat en paral·lel, com amb «2001: una odissea a l'espai». El que no és gens comú és el pas invers: que a partir del guió d'un film se'n faci una novel·la. Això és el que va passar amb «El abismo negro» d'Alan Dean Foster (Ultramar Editores, 1980), un llibre que adapta la pel·li homònima dirigida per Gary Nelson el 1979, un dels films més desconeguts i infravalorats de Disney que a la vegada va ser un intent fallit de competir amb la saga d'«Star Wars».
Recordo haver vist fa temps la pel·lícula. Tot i les mancances del guió —recordo personatges i diàlegs bastant estereotipats— i un nefast disseny dels robots, el film conté idees i aspectes molt interessants: el disseny de la nau Cygnus n'és un, sens dubte, així com la naturalesa d'aquest Black Hole que dona nom a l'obra. Un cop llegida la novel·la m'han vingut ganes de tornar a veure la pel·li per veure si aquesta sensació de producte de cartó pedra que m'ha quedat es veu també reflectit en el film.
La veritat és que el llibre put bastant a guió de sèrie B, amb un desenvolupament força pla i també força previsible —excepte en el seu desenllaç, que és el punt fort de la novel·la. Els personatges resulten força anodins i l'acció transcorre amb un ritme gairebé narcòtic —és fàcil adormir-se en segons quins paràgrafs— quan el punt de partida i els esdeveniments suggereixen més aviat el contrari: acció i adrenalina a dojo. Tampoc hi queda gaire ben reflectit el caràcter d'en Reinhardt, sens dubte el protagonista més atractiu pels seus clarobscurs i la seva dèria de científic boig. Un punt a part el mereix el tractament dels robots, que si a la pel·li era nefast aquí encara ho és més: se'ls humanitza fins a un punt força ridícul i servidor no pot sinó pensar en una barreja entre un androide equivalent a un majordom i una versió 'adulta' d'en Nono, el robot que tenia en Telèmac a la sèrie Ulisses 31.
En definitiva, el llibre serveix per passar l'estona i poc més. Recorda massa un telefilm de diumenge de ciència-ficció on els recursos i la imaginació són escassos i que ho juga tot a la carta d'un desenllaç que, tot s'ha de dir, resulta impactant i amb un lleuger sense of wonder. Malauradament, el llibre no aconsegueix traslladar tota la potencia visual de la pel·lícula —el disseny de la Cygnus, sobretot el seu pont de comandament, és potser el millor que servidor ha vist mai— i això va en contra seu. Queda clar que el punt fort de la pel·li no es veu reflectit en el text, i això el deixa bastant coix. Em fa la sensació que amb 80 pàgines menys ja hauríem fet i la novel·la seria més fàcil de pair. El que ja no té perdó és el tema dels robots, però crec que aquí l'allargada ombra de Disney, entestada a infantilitzar aquesta dualitat entre el bé i el mal de forma bastant barroera a través de la naturalesa dels personatges i no dels seus actes, hi té molt a veure.
El llibre el conservaré, però ho faré per nostàlgia i per la dèria per acumular que tinc com a lector de sci-fi, no pas perquè el llibre valgui gaire la pena. Si us soc sincer, us recomano que primer mireu la pel·li i que després, si teniu molta però que molta curiositat, us llanceu a la novel·la.
El més habitual és que d'un llibre d'èxit se'n faci una pel·li; fins i tot hi ha hagut casos en què el procés de creació s'ha realitzat en paral·lel, com amb «2001: una odissea a l'espai». El que no és gens comú és el pas invers: que a partir del guió d'un film se'n faci una novel·la. Això és el que va passar amb «El abismo negro» d'Alan Dean Foster (Ultramar Editores, 1980), un llibre que adapta la pel·li homònima dirigida per Gary Nelson el 1979, un dels films més desconeguts i infravalorats de Disney que a la vegada va ser un intent fallit de competir amb la saga d'«Star Wars».
Recordo haver vist fa temps la pel·lícula. Tot i les mancances del guió —recordo personatges i diàlegs bastant estereotipats— i un nefast disseny dels robots, el film conté idees i aspectes molt interessants: el disseny de la nau Cygnus n'és un, sens dubte, així com la naturalesa d'aquest Black Hole que dona nom a l'obra. Un cop llegida la novel·la m'han vingut ganes de tornar a veure la pel·li per veure si aquesta sensació de producte de cartó pedra que m'ha quedat es veu també reflectit en el film.
La veritat és que el llibre put bastant a guió de sèrie B, amb un desenvolupament força pla i també força previsible —excepte en el seu desenllaç, que és el punt fort de la novel·la. Els personatges resulten força anodins i l'acció transcorre amb un ritme gairebé narcòtic —és fàcil adormir-se en segons quins paràgrafs— quan el punt de partida i els esdeveniments suggereixen més aviat el contrari: acció i adrenalina a dojo. Tampoc hi queda gaire ben reflectit el caràcter d'en Reinhardt, sens dubte el protagonista més atractiu pels seus clarobscurs i la seva dèria de científic boig. Un punt a part el mereix el tractament dels robots, que si a la pel·li era nefast aquí encara ho és més: se'ls humanitza fins a un punt força ridícul i servidor no pot sinó pensar en una barreja entre un androide equivalent a un majordom i una versió 'adulta' d'en Nono, el robot que tenia en Telèmac a la sèrie Ulisses 31.
En definitiva, el llibre serveix per passar l'estona i poc més. Recorda massa un telefilm de diumenge de ciència-ficció on els recursos i la imaginació són escassos i que ho juga tot a la carta d'un desenllaç que, tot s'ha de dir, resulta impactant i amb un lleuger sense of wonder. Malauradament, el llibre no aconsegueix traslladar tota la potencia visual de la pel·lícula —el disseny de la Cygnus, sobretot el seu pont de comandament, és potser el millor que servidor ha vist mai— i això va en contra seu. Queda clar que el punt fort de la pel·li no es veu reflectit en el text, i això el deixa bastant coix. Em fa la sensació que amb 80 pàgines menys ja hauríem fet i la novel·la seria més fàcil de pair. El que ja no té perdó és el tema dels robots, però crec que aquí l'allargada ombra de Disney, entestada a infantilitzar aquesta dualitat entre el bé i el mal de forma bastant barroera a través de la naturalesa dels personatges i no dels seus actes, hi té molt a veure.
El llibre el conservaré, però ho faré per nostàlgia i per la dèria per acumular que tinc com a lector de sci-fi, no pas perquè el llibre valgui gaire la pena. Si us soc sincer, us recomano que primer mireu la pel·li i que després, si teniu molta però que molta curiositat, us llanceu a la novel·la.
October 16, 2023
The book started off pretty strong but ultimately ended up pretty flawed. I picked up the book without knowing it was a movie adaptation, so I don't know whether it is faithful or not.
The beginning is pretty engaging and Foster was doing well interesting me with the wonders of space. The plot ends up bogging down significantly halfway through and it becomes a somewhat boring science discussion.
The plot's ultimate flaw is that .
Finally, the ending .
The beginning is pretty engaging and Foster was doing well interesting me with the wonders of space. The plot ends up bogging down significantly halfway through and it becomes a somewhat boring science discussion.
The plot's ultimate flaw is that .
Finally, the ending .
January 21, 2024
Alan Dean Foster’s adaptation of the Disney movie into a book, usually it’s the other way around.
I got this book as a kid when the movie came out in 1979 and have always enjoyed picking it up and re-reading it every decade or so. It’s short and can be leisurely be knocked out in little time.
Faithful to the movie but in other ways better than the movie as Foster fleshes out details that were not in the movie and he tidies up the ending as well. Reading the book one also has their own mind’s eye view of characters, locations, actions, etc., that are better than the movie.
I got this book as a kid when the movie came out in 1979 and have always enjoyed picking it up and re-reading it every decade or so. It’s short and can be leisurely be knocked out in little time.
Faithful to the movie but in other ways better than the movie as Foster fleshes out details that were not in the movie and he tidies up the ending as well. Reading the book one also has their own mind’s eye view of characters, locations, actions, etc., that are better than the movie.
June 22, 2025
It's okay. This was also one from the dumpster, though reading that it's based on a movie turned me off from it and I read the other one first. The fact that it was a movie kind of clued me in that it's a more stock standard sci-fi story, and it was.
The ending sucked, I'd have preferred it if it was open-ended. They had no way to communicate outside the black hole, so who knows what happened? Getting put into eternal spectator mode kinda sucks. Especially if it just collapses all consciousnesses into one. What's the point of spectating if you have no perspective?
The ending sucked, I'd have preferred it if it was open-ended. They had no way to communicate outside the black hole, so who knows what happened? Getting put into eternal spectator mode kinda sucks. Especially if it just collapses all consciousnesses into one. What's the point of spectating if you have no perspective?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2025
2.5 stars. I read it for the nostalgia and enjoyed reliving the imagery and story immensely. But the writing itself was annoying, with way too many witty asides, puns, quips, idioms and burns, even during high stress times when they should have been concentrating on staying alive. If the author had just reduced the number of these by a modest 200-300 I think the book could have jumped up a full star. The concept is cool and would have been worth a good seasoned writer doing it justice. Just imagine how good the Black Hole could have been if Asimov had written it!
February 16, 2021
I remember watching this movie when I was a kid. It reminded me of Star Wars back then. I thought the book was a lot like the movie, and it's really no surprise since the book is based on the movie. This is a typical science fiction novel, but it is the kind I like with a little bit of crew interaction, an arch-nemesis, deep space setting, some gunplay, humor, and plenty of heroics. I would recommend this novel to people who enjoy the classical sci-fi archetypes.
September 7, 2021
A fairly straightforward adaptation that seems like it came from a preproduction shooting script. Some expanded scenes and dialogue. Descriptions of characters don't match the actors eventually cast in the roles. Still, an enjoyable 200+ page summer read. The ending is kind of odd, which makes sense as the film's ending isn't much clearer. Major metaphors and philosophies don't suit basic sci-fi too well.
August 20, 2023
I enjoyed this book. The beginning of the book shows the palomino crew as a friendly team comfortable with one another. As the story progresses, each of their personalities and traits are shown more clearly. I wouldn't say there is a whole lot of character development, but the character's actual "selves" are revealed towards the late middle/end. Oh yeah, ending was pretty nuts too. Did not see that coming!
Not a huge fan of the ending btw. But I respect it. Now to watch the movie
Not a huge fan of the ending btw. But I respect it. Now to watch the movie
January 5, 2024
It doesn't add a great deal to the film but it was great reliving The Black Hole in a different media.
It was nice to have the ESP explained and the "different" ending was interesting.
Not sure why two scenes were changed, though. Vincent showing off his skills with the Cygnus robots and Alex's death.
Worth a read and worth revisiting the film, for the score and THAT ending if nothing else.
It was nice to have the ESP explained and the "different" ending was interesting.
Not sure why two scenes were changed, though. Vincent showing off his skills with the Cygnus robots and Alex's death.
Worth a read and worth revisiting the film, for the score and THAT ending if nothing else.
December 24, 2021
I liked the film when I saw it. It’s not for everyone and the ending is odd. I liked the novel as well. It’s a movie you either like or not. The robots are my favorite. Star Wars success spawned a lot of science fiction movies and tv shows. Entertaining and worth a read to fans of the movie.
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