V: The Second Generation

Kenneth Johnson's V

by Kenneth C. Johnson

Millions thrilled to Kenneth Johnson's hugely popular mini-series "V," an action filled drama of alien invasion, a TV event that was also a number one bestselling novel. Now, in a new novel based on the sequel miniseries currently being developed for TV, the tension between The Visitors and Earth's human inhabitants has reached a boiling point.

The reptilian Visitors, who cleverly portray themselves as Earth's protectors, are anything but. Our oceans are being drained in order to fuel the aliens' motherships, and our scientists are treated like wanted criminals. And they have pods of preserved humans destined for even more sinister purposes.

But hope is not lost. A small, yet resourceful Resistance risks everything to undermine the Visitors' stranglehold on Earth's people. Despite their heroic efforts, without more help they will be crushed by the Visitors and their human militia. Just when Earth's doom seems inevitable, agents of an alien civilization from another planet arrive in answer to humanity's desperate call for help. But can these other aliens be trusted? Or might we defeat one alien overlord, only to be delivered into the hands of another, equally as oppressive?

Time is running out for the Resistance, for when the Visitors' Leader arrives, the aliens will complete their mission on Earth, with devastating consequences for all life on the planet.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Media Tie In, Tv, Aliens, Politics

448 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 5, 2007

About the author

Creator of V, The Incredible Hulk, Alien Nation, The Bionic Woman and other
Emmy Award Winning shows.

Director of numerous TV movies and the feature films Short Circuit 2, and Steel.

Winner of the prestigious Viewers for Quality Television Award, multiple Saturn
Awards, The Sci-Fi Universe Life Achievement Award, plus nominations for
Writers Guild and Mystery Writers of America Awards, among others.

Reviews

[Alejandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool to read but with its deficiencies


THAT PHENOMENON KNOWN AS "V"

I was really excited when I knew about this book back then, in 2008.

I was and still am a huge fan of the original TV miniseries and following TV series of "V". I have on DVD, the 2 parts of the TV miniseries and the brief following TV series.

When the TV miniseries and the following TV series were aired in my country, Costa Rica, it was something huge! There are people who may not remember well the story but all of them remember Diana eating a mouse... oh, yes... Gross, but unforgettable.

In 2008, whem this book was published, it didn't exist yet the recent failed "reboot" for TV. In fact, this book was a rejected proposal by Johnson to develop as a sequel TV series, since he didn't get the green light for the production of a TV series, but having copyrights on his own over the first part of the script of the original miniseries, he opted then to publish a novel.

And it was other cool thing about the existence of this novel, knowing that the novel was written by Kenneth Johnson, the original creator, it was a powerful "plus", that he is a legend in making Sci-Fi TV series such as The Six Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman and Alien Nation, so, it was just too perfect.

Obviously, I ordered the book right away.


AN UNEXPECTED TWIST FOR THE STORY

However, I am afraid to say that the book isn't as great as, at least I expected.

This novel V: The Second Generation is a sequel to the original "V", BUT it's a sequel based in how the events of the original story ended in the first part of the miniseries.

The miniseries was produced in two parts: "V" (the original miniseries) and V: The Final Battle.

You may wondered why Kenneth Johnson didn't considered the events despicted in The Final Battle and the following TV series,...

...well, the reason is quite simple, he left after producing the first part, the original "V", and so, in the eyes of Kenneth Johnson, The Final Battle and the following TV series were "non-canon", at least for him.

So, you can bet that for me, it was an odd experience to read the book due this unexpected twist in the story.

I am not saying that it wasn't good, just odd, since the Visitors never suffered a defeat due the Red Dust, and so they have remained in control of Earth during 20 years and the Resistance is in very, VERY, bad shape since many of its people are dead or arrested. Not a bad setting, but again, quite unexpected.

I didn't like the idea of considering "non-canon" the second part of the miniseries and the TV series. For me, they are canon without discussion.

I mean, due this twist, in the book you don't have characters like Elizabeth (The Star Child), since in the Kenneth Johnson's unique "timeline" for the story, she never existed.

However, another dissapointment is that you get really few recognizable characters from the first part of the miniseries, and so you will deal with a lot of new characters, okay, I know, the book is titled "Second Generation", but still it was hard to cope. Since any fan is craving with the chance of "visiting" again those characters that they knew in the miniseries, at least.

Nevertheless, I thought that it was still interesting to read this take of the original story. I had already paid the book and it was on my hands... so why the heck not?


WRITING SCREENPLAYS ISN'T THE SAME AS PROSE FOR A NOVEL

Another critic is Kenneth Johnson's writing style for novel purposes.

I mean, he is an excellent screenplay writer but writing a TV script isn't the same than to write a prose novel.

Let me explain you...

...you are reading the book, and sometimes he makes too quick changes in two separate places, that I am sure it is normal when one is watching a TV episode that you receive several changes of situations, but in a book without even any mark to denote the change of scene, you feel lost many times since you didn't realize that you are reading something that it's happening, in other place, different from the one that you "were" just a paragraph ago.

About the plot, I think that it's kinda weak.

It has a fair good initial proposal using the radio signal sent to space at the very end of the first part of the original miniseries, which provokes that another alien race came to Earth telling that they are enemies of the Visitors and so, they will help the Resistance. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

I don't want to say more, to avoid a spoiler but I just can say that the development of the story is not much creative and way, WAY, predictable.

But I don't regret my decision of ordering the novel since, still, it's a really cool collectible item for fans of "V".

[C.p. Bialois · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge, I mean freaking HUGE, fan of the V miniseries from the 1980s, I can’t tell you how awesome it was when I found this little gem for sale at the local library. Written by the creator of the miniseries, Kenneth Johnson, V: The Second Generation picks up twenty years after the original novel based on the miniseries.

One of the first things that caught my attention and sent me to Wikipedia is the timeline. While I read the first book that matched the original two-part miniseries, I forgot about Kenneth Johnson leaving due to creative differences before V: The Final Battle. Once I understood that, I was able to really dive into the book.

As a sequel to the first, Kenneth Johnson continues his vision of the Visitors in control with the red dust from the second miniseries never discovered. Now in the current day, most of the oceans are shrunken to the point they’re more deserts than bodies of water and the Resistance is mostly gone following the Great Purge. With the human race on the brink of extinction, another alien race has come in answer to the distress signal Julie and the Resistance sent out twenty years before. With their technology they are the answer to many people’s prayers, but towards the moment when the Visitors’ leader arrives on Earth, the question about their true intentions begins to bother what’s left of the Resistance.

I would go on, but I don’t want to give away any spoilers. I admit I’m biased due to my love of the series, but I can’t wait for the author’s next book!

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining story, but a lot of things from the first book were never mentioned. If I had never read the first one (written by A.C. Crispin) this story would have still kept me captivated. The only real problem I had was with Johnson's writing. A lot of times he used words that were too "big" for the context. When I have to stop and say, why would you use a 50 cent word when a nickel word would have been better to the flow of the text? Despite that, I really did enjoy this book, but wish he hadn't "Lucased" out a bunch of history from the series.

[Inferus · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like Rip Van Winkle waking up from his twenty year nap when I read Kenneth Johnson's sequel to his original "V". The world around me had changed dramatically, and I had become reunited with some familiar faces, but nobody bothered to explain to me what had happened in the intervening years.

I remember when the Ann Crispin's novelization of "V" came out. I felt disappointed by it (and still do). I felt she spent too much time on details to the original miniseries that weren't very relevant, and the parts that were key she merely glossed over. I remember thinking, "Boy, I bet if Kenneth Johnson were to write the novelization it would be a heck of a lot better."

And he has. Unfortunately, it isn't.

If you're a fan of this franchise, you may be upset Mr. Johnson chose to write a sequel to "V" and completely ignore "The Final Battle" and "The Series". Frankly, I agree with his decision. You see, Mr. Johnson is god (little "g", not big "G"), and if he decides to ignore a bastardization of his creation then he is entitled. To me "Final Battle", with its deus ex machina ending of the magical Star Child saving the day, was silly (imagine "Star Trek: The Next Generation"'s Wesley Crusher with magical powers), and "The Series" was just plain awful. "V: The Second Generation" is how I envisioned the story continuing.

However...

Mr. Johnson has chosen not to tell us many of the details that transpired in those twenty years. Most notably absent are many of the key characters from the first miniseries, particularly Robin Maxwell. Robin was the central character in the original "V". It was her story being told, much like a sci fi version of "The Diary of Anne Frank". Not only is she missing in this novel, but she is not even mentioned. At first I had assumed the half-breed child Julie was raising (named Ruby after the elderly woman who gave Julie a shot of confidence in the first film) was Robin's daughter. It turns out Ruby's mother was just a nameless human woman who conveniently died in childbirth.

And the others? What happened with Elias? I always pictured him taking over the L.A. resistance cell or New Orleans. The other Maxwell children? Did Katie and Polly survive? I'm surprised he mentioned how old Ruby was shot in the back by a Visitor Friend (now called Teammates) because that occurred in "Final Battle".

If there was one character from "Final Battle" I would have liked to have seen brought in was the character of mercenary and Donovan's perpetual thorn-in-the-side Ham Tyler. Maybe he wasn't his creation, but he was a delicious character who could have played a key role in this story.

The characters who are there simply don't ring true, and a few, like Robert Maxwell, have no real reason to be there. Since I only have the original "V" on DVD and have not seen either of the others since they were first out, I can truly say my observations have not been tainted. They have the names, and they have the looks, but I kept asking myself, "Who are these people?" I should know them, but I don't. Since when did Willy become more important to the Fifth Column than Martin? Why would the pascifist Harmony even risk her life being a part of the resistance? As for the new charcters, I didn't care for them. There was no reason to root for any of them. They were all, even Diana, one dimensional cut-outs.

Instead of providing clues and insights into the fate of many of the characters, Mr. Johnson spends five pages -- count them, five -- describing what Earth looks like now that the Visitors had reduced the size of the oceans by one-half. I'm sure that will look great on screen if/when it is made into a movie, but to devote five pages to the description is absurd. The space would have been better filled with the back story of the past twenty years.

He has also decided to join the Politically Correct crowd. Collaborators are now called Players. The Visitor Friends are Teammates. He even has a couple of personal relationships within the story that I find morally reprehensible, but that's just my own opinion and won't go into it any further.

Mr. Johnson has also decided not to answer many of the fundamental questions about the changes he made in his creation. Example:

1) When and why did Diana decide to move her flagship from Los Angeles to San Francisco?
2) When and why did the Visitors decide to "officially" reveal to humanity their reptilian form?
3) Why did the Visitors change their cover story for being on Earth from creating a chemical compound to save their own planet to the pretext of sucking up our oceans in order to scrub them clean of pollution?
4) When and why did the Visitors abandon the process of conversion?

A lot of the science fiction elements in the story are very derivative. The flying stealth motorcycles were used in "Galactica: 1980" and also seem reminiscent of the speeder bikes in "Return of the Jedi" and the flying broomsticks of "Harry Potter". The fact that the San Francisco mother ship is now the flagship borrows from "Star Trek" the notion that San Francisco is the home of both Starfleet Headquarters and Starfleet Academy. (By the way, Mr. Johnson, the Golden Gate Bridge is a mile long, not two. I should know; I cross it every day). And yet another derivative is the new Zidti species introduced in the novel. You can argue that he pulled this notion directly from the third season of "Star Trek: Enterprise" with its similarly named "Xindi" which, like the Zidti in this book, developed multiple sentient species on a single planet. I'm not entirely sure Paramount Studios doesn't have a case for a copyright infringement lawsuit over this.

There is also a fundamental scientific flaw in Mr. Johnson's handling of the human-Visitor half-breed children. On the plus side, I think the way he characterized Ruby was excellent and should have been the route followed by the producers of "Final Battle" and "Series". The scientific negative which kept bothering me throughout the novel was how he described them as not really having any physical symmetry to them and that the reptilian and human features were at odds with one another. I must point out that mules, which are a hybrid of horses and donkeys, do have physical symmetry and balance.

I think the main issue is Mr. Johnson is a television writer and not a novelist. One could argue writing is writing, but television writing is a form of shorthand of which he is a master (same goes to Gene Roddenberry -- his novelization of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is horrendous). I have tried to adapt my own material into screenplays just as an exercise and failed miserably; very few writers are adept at both (Harlan Ellison comes to mind). I have the feeling that he just couldn't or wouldn't break out of that when he adapted the screenplay he wrote for "The Second Generation". Unless he plans more novels which will answer and clarify things, I think I'll go back to sleep. Night-night.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a kid, I loved the two V miniseries and the subsequent television series. Actually, I was obsessed with them. I ended up reading every single book in the series and the comic books. So when I heard there was a new book, I was incredibly excited. The new book was fun to read, but it took me awhile to get over the many changes the book had taken with V history. Kenneth Johnson completely ignores any events that happened in both V: The Final Battle and the tv series, which is really strange. It took me awhile to get used to reading about characters who had died in the shows. I kept asking myself, "Wait, isn't this character dead?" These omissions also mean a number of well-liked characters never appear. Bye-bye Ham Tyler, Elizabeth the Starchild, Robin, and many others. The setting has also been changed from Los Angeles to San Francisco which was probably done because it's more visually striking to have the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge sitting over dry land. This change, however, is never addressed in the book. After getting over these big changes, the book does a good job of introducing a number of new characters and moving the book firmly into the 21st century and San Francisco. Surprisingly, there are gay and lesbian Visitors, who have along with their heterosexual counterparts, relations with humans. This creates an interesting dynamic and produces the nice story arc with "half-breeds," the children of these pairings who are half reptile and human. Don't ask how, but go with it. There is also the introduction of a new alien race who may or may not be out to save humankind. Overall, I think this was a pretty decent entry into the whole V canon. It moves quickly, has a number of nice surprises, tragic moments, and humorous touches. And it does leave the ending open to further stories. Much fun!

[Tony Gross · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of the V series since the first miniseries aired on NBC in 1983, I was really excited when I saw this book on the shelf. V has always been one of my, if not my absolute favorite sci-fi series of all time.
V: The Second Generation picks up where the first miniseries left off, completely omitting The Final Battle, and the television series.
For the last 20 years, The visitors have pretty much taken control of the planet, and have all but wiped out the planets oceans. They are able to use political, and media means to spread their lies, and propaganda. And if you question them, you simply disappear. Many of the humans have even sided with the visitors as Teammates (Replacing the Visitor Youth program from the miniseries), kids in classrooms are taught "The Visitor Way", and any retaliation is dealt with swiftly.
The resistance has been branded as criminals and try to continue, the fight, but they won't have to do it alone. 20 years later the distress call sent out into space is answered by an alien race that are the enemy of the visitors, and have defeated them before. Will they help save mankind,or do they have their own agenda?

Overall: The book is a fast, and good read. There's a lot of new interesting characters, as well as some of the old favorites we have grown to love. It's kinda slow at times, but doesn't stall too much. I thought the fact they omitted The Final Battle would bother me since The final Battle was my favorite part of the original series, but as I finished reading I discovered I actually liked this story better. No hokey Starchild ending like in The Final Battle. The only thing that really bothered me is that I would have liked to have known the fates of a lot of characters from the miniseries that are not even mentioned in this book. But overall the story was great, and I highly recommend it if you are a fan of the V series!!

[Emanuel F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've lost track how many times I've read this book and the original miniseries. It is like comfort food for me. I don't know why. But take anything I say about V and Kenneth Johnson with a grain of salt. I have a special place in my heart when it comes to both and I am certainly biased.

Including the hilarious "From the random ambiguously hugging man. Ken" he signed on this book when I got it back in the Summer of 2008 where I hosted him at one of the events I was running---only to not recognize him when he photobombed me and others and I called him a "Random ambiguous hugger" with an odd look on my face that read, who the heck is this guy! We all got a hell of a laugh then.

I love Ken's work. I love reading this book and the original miniseries novel he rereleased in 2008 and the original AC Crispin book from 1984.

[David Agranoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

V: The Second Generation

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (February 5, 2008)

As A kid there was only one show that came close to Star Wars in my love. That show was V. I had every hour of both mini-series and even the horrible weekly show all on Beta-max. I had a V pulse rifle that I could take apart, a visitor punching bag. I even had a mothership technical manual that I sent away for after I saw a classified ad in the back of Starlog. I was a V Geek.

Sure I loved the story, the gun battles, and the spirit of resistance even as a kid. I actually consider V a huge part of how I developed such a radical spirit. Over the years I returned to the Mini-Series in the nineties and found a totally different film. Suddenly I understood on a deeper level what Director Kenneth Johnson was trying to say about Nazi Germany.

Don’t look down on the Germans because it could have just as easily been us. This hit home even harder when I happened to watch it with friends in October 2001. Our country had lost it’s damn mind. Members of my very liberal family were calling for muslam blood and Indiana was awash with flags everywhere. GW was just starting to mold his bullshit Iraq agenda. V was more powerful than ever.

To this day I can always watch V. I always find something new. It’s like a song I love to sing along to because I know every word, every beat. So as much as I love the final battle (the official TV sequel) I was excited when Kenny Johnson the original creator told the world he was working on HIS sequel, based on his original vision.

I’m sure when he started thinking about the task of pulling all the actors back together and dealing with getting Warner brothers, NBC and everyone else back on the same page he thought a book would do it just right. So he wrote a novel.

Many people have complained that Johnson is being Lazy by throwing out the events of the final battle (Yep as far as this novel goes the final battle never happened) but personally I’m going to give this move a big thumbs up! Don’t get me wrong I love Ham Tyler and the final battle but it’s not gone. If you love the red dust, the star child, Diana’s brainwash chamber you still have your DVD’s. Personally I am glad we get to see the original creator’s vision. Personally I think Johnson’s vision while more bleak is better.

A better story, a little less cheesy and a bit more daring. You see when the events of the book start the resistance is on the ropes more than ever. Diana has lead a “great purge in ’99 and has almost dried the earth of it’s water completely. For reasons that I consider a spoiler The Vistors are on a time line and they need to finish up on earth soon.

That’s not to say the V:TSG is perfect it has some cheesy moments but nothing has cheesy as the star child. Infact the hatred and scorn thrown on the half breeds in the novel makes a lot more sense. As you read this you can tell Johnson is more comfortable writing for the screen and switches perspectives so fast it’s easy to get confused. This worked well for the original TV movie but in the book it is annoying. Johnson also had a habit of reminding us what the characters had done twenty pages earlier and I found myself wishing he trusted us to remember.

The only other thing that made me want to throw the book out the bus window (this was my commute book). Willie, you might remember as the loveable sweet alien (played by Robert England before he became know for being Freddy Kruger) in 1983 it was funny and cute when he messed up words, cut the Alien some slack he learned Arabic for going there. Johnson has Willie still screwing up english words, after thirty years in America and being married to a English speaking human. Johnson also missed a chance to give Willie a baddass sub-plot where he could have helped communicate with middle eastern resistance cells and perhaps help a jihadist muslam suicide bomber attack the visitors but I digress with my wishes. Willie had a cool role but not that cool.

In the end the book was a quick read for me because it was like being reunited with old friends. The characters have been forged by twenty years of struggle, they have hardened, changed but they are still committed to the fight and damn I am with them every page of the way.

V fans! Don’t be a poser. Read this book.

[Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

V was an amazing science fiction television miniseries in the 80's, about aliens who come to Earth, simply calling themselves "the Visitors." They looked a lot like us, and they promised new technologies. It's soon discovered they have a malevolent agenda. To protect themselves against discovery, the Visitors install a fascist police state around the globe, take over the media, and round up Earth scientists and put them into concentration camps. It was also a fascinating twist on the Holocaust. It was one of the more realistic scifi stories I've heard, in one specific sense: if aliens really came to Earth, and made it past our defenses, their biggest upheavel wouldn't be technological, but political.

What followed was a sequel miniseries and then a full television series, in which the original plot devices became watered down, the alien race were portrayed as kind of pathetic, and the human race quickly wins out. It was a disappointment, but the original creator of V had nothing to do with it. He had a vastly different vision, where the Visitors crush the Resistence and rule over the planet for 20 years, tightening their control on the human race. One important set up that was ignored from the original miniseries was the distress signal the Resistence sent to any possible enemies of the Visitors.

This book, written by the original creator of V, is his original vision for the story arc, an alternate sequel to the one in the 80's. It really is a far more interesting sequel. It picks up the story 20 years later, and describes the results of a 20 year fascist regime. It introduces a second, benevolent race of aliens, who are a lot more interesting than the Visitors. But they have a unique and different culture, and like any culture, it has its advantages and disadvantages. I like how the author, in both the original miniseries and in this book, shows both the strengths and weaknesses of characters, and makes every armed conflict messy. It's not typical Hollywood, in that sense. However, there are parts where it becomes cheesy and simplistic.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you, too, can recall that sublime television moment in the spring of 1983, when Diana, archetypal alien commandant of V, unhooked her jaw and shoved a live furry rodent down her throat then, no doubt, you will understand the necessity of consuming this book. If not, there's no point in watching it now, a quarter century after the fact. It will require a massive suspension of disbelief, most powerfully in the areas of special effects and science. But to those who were, like me, much too young and green to know any better at the time, read on:

Throw out everything that happens after Kenneth Johnson's original mini-series (it will be painless, if not favorable, to do so) as V: The Second Generation ignores the subsequent mini-series and television series altogether with no compunction. In addition, expect that nothing in these pages will resemble award-winning prose and you will have one less reason to be disappointed. It must be said, though, that I felt no personal climax (as in the original mini-series when Diana contemptuously disintegrated a bible with her pulse gun) or personal point of interest (as in the original V's persecution of all Earth's scientists) but all the principal characters from the original mini-series do pop up a lot older and no wiser and that, alone, makes the journey sweet.

Three stars, but worth reading at only one, because Kenneth Johnson, for all his service, deserves our money.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where do I begin...Ken REALLY needed to read the original V book by AC Crispin before writing this. He resurrected characters that DIED in the original, neglected to acknowledge the "Red Dust" that killed half the visitor population in the TV series V the Final Battle, certainly had NOTHING to do with the the one season TV series (which, because it only ran for a season many may not have seen) and placed the flagship in San Fransisco rather than LA. The characters are weak compared to their counterparts in the V book series, mini series and tv series. I've been waiting for this book to come out for months and being a long time V fan (yes, I own the DVD's)was appalled by his lack of follow up. This would be MUCH better as a screen play. Bless his heart. I can't even recommend it to other V fans.

[Colin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rarely do this, but I had to put this book down. It was written so poorly that I could not get into the story at all. Besides the technical flaws in technology, even alien technology, the flaws in story construction fouled this before it really had a chance to go anywhere. By page seventy-five there were still characters being introduced who were in no way relevent to the story except to say that a character knew them. A single character from any of the television episodes appeared within the first 20 pages and in that, he was recorded on a mini-TV. My arguement is that authors shouldn't put their readers through so much backstory on characters who are going to die in the first couple of pages and spend more time on the ones who are going to make a difference. For a long time V fan it was too hard a pill to swallow after too long a time.

[August · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sequel that Kenneth Johnson, the mind behind the original hit 1980s miniseries, intended. For starters, you need to forget the second TV miniseries and the terrible TV series that followed. Humanity remains under the heel of alien overlords over 20 years after their arrival as it was told in the original miniseries, an allegory about Fascism, collaboration, and resistance. The original miniseries still feels fresh and is relevant to our current political environment. Go and watch it again if you have a chance.

The updated story is similar in narrative style and structure to the miniseries. The style makes one nostalgic for the good versus evil narratives of the 1970s ad 1980s network television. This comes from an era before anti-heroes (e.g., The Sopranos, Breaking Bad) and shades. of gray (e.g., Deep Space Nine the 2000s Battlestar Galactica reboot). The closest we get is ambiguity about a new entrant into the story who may or may not be humanity's new salvation and allies.

The story picks up a fever pitch at the end, much like a television production. The story would benefit from a faster pace throughout. The reader has to wonder if Johnson intended this book to make the case for a reboot of the V franchise that picks up on the original story (as opposed to the lackluster 2009 reboot). The pacing feels itself like a television drama that reaches its fever pitch and quick conclusion.

This is a much, much better story than the second miniseries. The miniseries suffered from a Deu Ex Machina ending for the history books. The TV series that followed was campy and ridiculous with its own Deus Ex Machina ending.

[Curtis]

As a huge fan of Kenneth Johnson's original V mini-series, I was excited to learn he'd written a direct sequel, and more excited to finally get my hands on a copy. Sadly, the story did not live up to the promise of the original. Yes, it's fun to visit this world again and reconnect with legacy characters and form new connections with new characters. But it failed to excite and move me the way the mini-series still does.

Storywise, the time jump doesn't do Johnson any favors, and prompts far too many questions of "But what about...?" and "How come...?" etc. Apart from story problems, there was also a strangeness to the prose. It definitely feels like it was originally written as a teleplay and rewritten to be a novel (which I understand is exactly what happened). The prose is clumsy, unnecessarily wordy at times, and strangely cursory at other times. I think if Johnson had been able to make this as a new television mini-series the way he wanted, I'd forgive a lot of the leaps in logic, coincidence, and unbelievable action. My bar is significantly lower for television than books.

If you're a huge fan, definitely give it go. It's worth reading once, I think. But if I ever read this again, it'll probably only be once many years from now. Not annually like I rewatch the mini-series.

[Tyler Riggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of the V miniseries and V: The Final Battle. I’ve consumed any number of think pieces about the second miniseries and its deficiencies without Kenneth Johnson’s involvement, but it was still hard to pretend nothing from the second miniseries happened as I read this book.

I still found the book entertaining, but especially in the last quarter, I found myself skimming more just to get to the end, which is the opposite of what I should want to do at the climax.

I found the author’s jumping from scene to scene, while doing a fair job of mimicking what I would see on a television broadcast, made some chapters start to feel like I was juggling many balls in the air simultaneously. It became fatiguing.

That all said, the primary characters returning from the original miniseries maintained their personalities and felt familiar, and new characters like Ruby, Margarita, and Nathan felt right at home in the narrative. There were some elements that really required suspending disbelief such as Willy still having language problems after being on Earth for 20+ years. On this point, there were quite a few elements that one would have expected there to be a lot more evolution over a 20-year period.

All in all it is worth reading for fans of V who are hungry for more of the story, but it would really fall short for anyone who doesn’t already love the original material.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think technically he deserves a 3.5 as there was so much that was quite silly in this but he really deserves an A for effort. He really centred the women characters in this. There was a new main character who was a Black woman entertainer, who was utlimately the lizards downfall. A girl half breed who saved everyone in a way that was totaly different to the final battle. It was full of different ethnicities and even several gay (stereotypical) people. Diana is now canonically queer!
There wasn't much in the way of style for this. The character descriptions read like descriptions in a script rather than a novel. But he tried so hard. Like big kudos to the white male American author who realised that he'd have to have his main character talk in other languages to ships across the world to free the prisoners of the motherships around the world. But it made me laugh when he said how this was TWO DOZEN languages. So many women and POC characters. And yet their was so much sexualisation of the women in the text and the main character had to get raped and prostitute herself for "the cause".
It was still a million times better than the final battle though.

[Chris Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading this, please refer to my reviews of the prequel and the original version.

I enjoyed this heaps.

Set twenty years after the first landing, this story continues. Much has happened.

Familiar faces are still here, but not all of them. That’s understandable in a war situation. But we have new faces too, some of them children!

In the original novel, written in 1983/4, we witnessed two major points: invention of red dust, and a message sent to the stars. There is no red dust in this sequel to the rewritten/edited prequel. I’m glad of that. The original also failed to mention the results of the message to the stars.

Thankfully, this sequel addresses that issue without needing red dust. By doing so, it has created a superb storyline - still drawing parallels to Hitler’s regime and the duplicity of humans in such situations - with the perfect rounding up. And there’s the possibility of a third instalment (if I read it correctly) because it still leaves at least two issues in question.

Read it. You will love it.

[Phillip Murrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved V as a child. We had VHS copies of V the Final Battle and the TV series that my brothers and I watched dozens of times. The problem is that The Second Generations ignores those series. Only the original miniseries is canon. Also, I hate retcons. This book takes only eight characters from the show. Three more are mentioned. The rest are new people, but they really serve as stand ins for the characters I wanted to read about. Street-C is Elias. Shawn is Stephen. What happened to John, Josh, Christine, Sancho, and Caleb? I wanted to follow the characters I loved as a child. This just threw it all away. The climax was better than The Final Battle, but by that point, I’d stopped caring.

[Fred Files · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the other reviews will tell you about the context necessary to understand when/elsewhen this book takes place. I was disappointed that the fates of so many characters in the first miniseries was never revealed... Ruby for instance... I shall just have to assume she died the way she did in Final Battle.

The single biggest problem I had was that it read like a pilot story for a low budget tv spin-off. And I mean low budget. In the origonal V, if a helicopter or V fighter was shot down, it would always fly behind a hill, and then you saw the big fireball. The same thing happens in this book!!!

It's a BOOK! YOU DONT HAVE A BUDGET! You can blow things up in front of the camera! Heck, with CGI, you could do it in a low budget tv series too!

[Michel McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched "V: The Original Miniseries" as a teenager in the 1980's and I loved watching it and the series with my mother. This book is based on 20 years after the original series took place and the aliens are still occupying the earth and the resistance is still trying to stop them. I was so happy to see the names of some of the original members of the miniseries and series. I also love the new characters in The Second Generation.

As a person with ADD and dyslexia, this book was not difficult to read at all. The action scenes actually made my brain read the words faster and I still understood what I was reading.

This is a wonderful book that brings back a lot of memories of the characters for me. Thank you so much Kenneth Johnson, a truly wonderful man.

[Darla Ebert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone who enjoyed the well-beloved 1980's sci fi t.v. show of the same name, MIGHT also like this continuation of the story of earthlings against reptiles from another star system. There are echoes of Alien Nation, another pseudo sci fi program of the same time period but with a twist concerning law enforcement as an incentive (to watch).
To my dismay I found I would prefer this series to the book form.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read the first book V the original miniseries. It was fast paced, couldn’t put it down book. Was excited to start the second book V the second generation. Our library did not have it, okay then an inter-library loan. None in the province. Eventually found in a library I Moose Jaw, SK. While I did enjoy it I found it somewhat plodding. Hence my 3 star on the second book.

[Dirk Wickenden · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a terribly written book, pacing was all over the place, one sentence ran into another, as did paragraphs. There was unnecessary foul language. It read like a hastily written synopsis, with even more hastily written connective tissue.

[Zak Kizer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid but unspectacular continuation of an SF classic. On par with V The Final Battle and an entertaining alternative to that sequel. Hoping we get to see the plans for V as a film trilogy materialize in the near future.

[Jennifer Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. Love the series as a whole. I wish Kenneth Johnson had been able to continue it in either book form or on television. I also wish it was easier to find this book as I lost my copy moving a while back ago.

[Rand Inskip · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an awesome follow-up to the original miniseries! Resistance Forever! :)

[Linda]

Brought back some characters from 20 years ago in original V TV series. Added new friends?, and resistant fighters. Enjoyed the plots and sub plots, some corny parts and of course love interests.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t help wishing that some producer will revamp the V series from my 80s childhood and give the project a renewed life in the same vein as Battlestar Galactica. I mean the idea of those giant saucers hovering over an entire city, the special effects of a Visitor getting his skin torn off to reveal the reptilian glory beneath, but alas…V the Second Generation does provide a wonderful flashback to the past. Yes the resistance is still fighting on, and not very well. For old fans, there are many characters that will be recognized from the mini-series and tv show, but even for those who never saw an episode, they can still enjoy the work.

The fascist, devious, propaganda spewing aliens have the same agenda: to eat our vermin and us, to steal all of our water and …impregnate our women. However the need us for a different reason, to fight their dreaded enemies, another intergalactic race called the Zedti who appear on Earth, to perhaps help us, or not…

While I did not know why Kenneth Johnson changed the idea of mixed-breeds looking human or reptilian instead of both, I liked how he drew a parallel of racism and oppression. Instead of being powerful, telepathic and emphatic superbeings, they are the lowest of the low, dregs.

The Zedti are remarkable, but slightly confusing as they are not just one race but several and yet all seem to have the hive mentality, but they are an interesting addition to the battle. I say interesting but in a film I don’t know how well they would work. While they don’t derive from reptiles, they are an intriguing mix.
Once again, for those looking to revisit an oldie but goodie franchise, this is an entertaining novel. 4 ½ out 5 stars would be my vote.

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, if you're a fan of the original V you might know that creator Kenneth Johnson left the project after V: The Miniseries due to a disagreement with NBC over the direction the sequel should take. The original ended with the Resistance discovering a second alien race existed (one that was an enemy to the Visitors) and calling this second race for help.

Johnson wanted the sequel to have that second alien race show up and help liberate the Earth. NBC didn't.

NBC won and we got V: The Final Battle, with the Resistance developing a bio weapon that could kill the Visitors. The end (until V: The Series).

Now, twenty-some-odd years later, Johnson gets to tell the story he (more or less) wanted to. Most of the original cast is still there: Dr. Juliet Parish, Mike Donovan, Robert Maxwell (no Robin, though; kind of a disappointment), Diana, Martin, Willy and also the younger, second generation of the title. Add a couple of the second alien race to the mix and the fight is back on.

The story that we get isn't bad. There are some plot elements that defy belief, but overall we get a somewhat satisfying end to the story. I think the biggest problem is that Johnson's style of storytelling is dated. He comes from a time when the audience didn't question the hows and the whys of what was happening, they just went with the show. Today's audience, however, questions everything. We want to know, for example, why most Earthlings haven't noticed that, even after 20 years, the Visitors haven't returned any of the water they took for "cleaning." It's plot problems like that that bring the book down.

Like I said, the book isn't bad. But in the hands of a better (or more up-to-date) writer, it could have been a whole lot better.

[David Brzezinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting read. A direct sequel to V: the Mini-Series, this story picks up 20 years after the events of the first book. A lot has changed on Earth under the Visitors control, and the planet's only hope is an alien race that is the enemy of the Visitors.

The book itself is a bit tough to get into at first, especially if all you know is the two NBC mini-series and subsequent TV show. But, once some of the original faces start to show up, you start to get your grounding. It is interesting to see how Johnson builds his world under Visitor control, from persecuted classes (scientists, half-breeds), forced cooperation, and people living in fear of being accused of working for the resistance and "disappearing."

The thing I had the biggest problem with was the ending. While engaging, it felt like Johnson wrote himself into a corner and contrived an ending that would not result in the total destruction of the Earth. Furthermore, it seems he wraps up just enough loose ends to conclude the book, while leaving a number of really big ones open for future tales. It did not feel like a real conclusion, but a season finale for a series that is most likely not going to return in the fall.