And so we meet again on our episodic journey into the universe of the Old Man’s War series which continues with the release of Walk the Plank, the second chapter of John Scalzi’s forthcoming novel The Human Division. Last week we got a little more than we bargained for with a longer opening which set the stage for new and returning readers. A routine diplomatic mission resulted in a disaster that led to the activation of the B-team and a character introduced in the novel Old Man’s War got to take center stage. This week we get…
Aw geez, if I tell you much of anything it will dissipate the tension of the story! If I say “pirates” and “hostile planet” does it say too much? 🙂
There has been much talk that John Scalzi was influenced by his television work on Stargate Universe and that could be seen in The B-Team with an opening that gripped the reader early on and did not let up until the climactic finish. Walk the Plank takes a dramatic turn in that it is presented in the form of a recorded conversation between a small group of medical staff and a severely wounded man who seems to have appeared on their colony from out of nowhere. The Tor dot com website quotes John Scalzi regarding the format of this week’s episode:
“It offered an immediacy that a more formal, conventional structure wouldn’t allow. I wanted the reader standing right in the middle of the events—as close as you can get without being in first person. A dialogue-only presentation allowed for that.
Also, you know, I like playing with rules. One of the big ‘rules’ is ‘show, don’t tell.’ Well, I wanted to test the proposition that telling could be just as engaging as showing.”
Walk the Plank is significantly shorter than The B-Team. It was fun to wake up Tuesday morning to see the episode waiting for me on my Kindle and it went by all too quickly. Some interesting elements were unveiled and while there were a few lines of dialogue that felt awkward (mostly in the form of cues for the reader that the conversation was taking place in one hospital room setting), the story told by the wounded man built tension nicely. As readers we are asked to accept each chapter, or episode, as a stand alone story and yet it is hard to level too much criticism at what was a weaker story by comparison to the last with the knowledge that details revealed here will come into play in important ways as the overall story unfolds thus affecting the reader’s assessment. I believe this is one of those deceptively simple stories in that there are things mentioned in subtle ways that will be woven into future installments in greater detail.
This is so much fun, I’m glad to be along for the ride.
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Previous episode review: The B-Team.
Carl, I agree it is indeed a lot of fun. I’m actually going the audiobook route with this one, primarily because most of these will be the right length for my commute to my Tuesday night class, but also because each of the audiobook editions are priced the same as their ebook counterparts (.99 cents).
One of the nice things about audiobooks I’ve found is that sometimes hearing something gives you the inflection that reading it does not. That can mean the difference between what seems awkward on the page (or screen) and what sounds better to my ears. William Dufris is narrating, though I’ve not listened to anything else by him (at least that I can recall), he’s done all of Scalzi’s other OMW books save for Zoe’s Tale. I’m enjoying his performance so much at this point I may invest in the audiobooks for the other OMW novels for a future re-read.
– Christian
I read a review of the first audiobook on Guilded Earlobe, I believe, and it sounded like it was great. I was actually thinking as I read this yesterday that Scalzi’s format for this one would probably work a lot better in audio. I was so happy to hear that the audiobook price point was the same. Very clever idea.
I too would like to snag all the OMW books on audio.
I completely agree with you too, audio books can really make a huge difference with a good narrator. I am convinced that the reason I enjoyed Ready Player One so much had as much to do with Wheaton narrating as with the book itself as I’m not sure I would have gotten through the book reading myself as the beginning could have used some judicious editing.
Thanks for stopping by, Christian. I’m excited that we have another 11 episodes to go!
Okay this comment doesn’t really relate to your post. The other day I was watching a show–can’t remember the name right now. And the camera panned to some bookshelves and I saw the titles of the books but couldn’t read them. then I noticed that some of them were published by Tor. I hadn’t noticed that publisher until I started reading your blog. I’ve learned from you. Now I can recognize Tor and Whelan covers.
Ah, the student is becoming the master! 🙂
Seriously though, you have no idea how much that thrills me. Tor has long been a favorite publisher and Whelan a favorite artist and passing the knowledge on of their work is something I love doing.
See, I’m avoiding the Tor dot com discussions–they go live before I have a chance to read the installments.
There’s so much story in this installment–even though it’s dialogue only, we learn so much about the precariousness of wildcat colonies and the challenges and difficult decisions they have to make. And, of course, it gives us additional data on what happened in “The B-Team”.
My dad listens to a lot of audiobooks–I should email him about this; Scalzi’s one of the few writers we both agree on these days.
I do too, I pop over there after I’ve read the story myself to see what folks have to say.
There is a great deal revealed here, sometimes in very subtle ways and I look forward to seeing how John Scalzi weaves those details into later stories.
As Christian said above, it sounds like the audio books are great.
Another advantage to the serial format: it gives me an opportunity to read more closely than I usually do! I am, at times, a terrible skimmer.
I have never really been a skimmer when it comes to reading fiction. I am more likely in this format to read a short story like this more than once, or to go back and re-read parts than I am when I have the whole book in front of me.
It’s a bad habit I picked up when I was still writing book reviews on deadline–I’m trying really hard to break myself of it.
Now I could see that.
I agree that it sounds like a lot of fun… but I’m holding out for the book version.
Once it comes out and you get a chance to read it I will be interested in seeing a) how you liked it and b) how your description of your experience is similar and/or different from mine in reading it this way. It seems like a long way away but the book version will be here before we know it.
I really enjoyed the first episode The B-Team. I have this one waiting for me in my Kindle and can’t wait to read it already. I have to tell you, this format is really working out for me so far because I don’t have to invest a lot of time all at once. I’m hoping the overall storyarc will flow, let’s see how that works out. 🙂
I will be interested to see how it flows as well. There is a small nod to events in the last story in this one and so it ties in that way but by and large this is a separate story doing other set up work, I suspect, for things that will come later, so it is hard to entirely judge. But that is part of what makes this fun. It is working for me very well also.
I have decided to view “show don’t tell” as more of a suggestion, and less a rule. I absolutely adore Hemingway’s short story “Hills Like White Elephants” which is most all dialog. Going to have to get my hands on these. Loving your posts on these, looking forward to the next installment.
Yes, I agree. I think both can be effective ways to tell a story if done with some creativity. I haven’t read that Hemingway story but it is one I’ll keep in mind.