Publishing Information
Author: Allen Wold
Publisher: Pinnacle Books Inc., 1430
Broadway, New York, NY 10018
ISBN: 0-523-42401-9
Canadian ISBN: 0-523-43397-2
Copyright: Warner Bros. Inc.
Comments
This novel was written just after the network
had announced that "V" would be becoming a weekly series.
The television writers in L.A. were frantically putting together a story
bible for the series, but it was not available for Wold. Therefore,
the events in this book are drastically different from the TV series, and
deal greatly with the attempts of the Resistance to free the people aboard
the Mothership, while the authorities below, who have been converted by
Diana, attempt to hamper their efforts.
Major Plot Points
Memorable Moments
p.53 (Juliet questions Diana)
"You don't think I'm going to co-operate
with you, do you?" Diana sneered.
"If we can figure out how to work the conversion
machine," Julie said coldly, "you may not have a choice."
"Never," Diana said. "It takes years
of training, as staff of experts, and a fine artistic touch to perform
a conversion."
"Well, at the least, we'll have you to experiment
on. And if we damage you in the process, what more fitting punishment
could there be for your crimes?"
The defiance slowly faded from Diana's face.
p.91 (Ham looks for a way to rescue Mike
and Julie)
"And what are you going to do?" Robert asked.
"Get back into the network and find out more
about who ordered that arrest and why. I might be able to apply a
little pressure and have the order countermanded." His smile indicated
that the kind of pressure he had in mind would result in dead bodies.
The Back of the Book ...
The Final Battle is Over -- Or Is It?
The alien stranglehold on Earth has been broken,
and the resistance has triumphed. Victory is sweet until
alien leader Diana uses her powers to escape
from her captors. The alarm is raised, and the familiar beat of
fear rises in the heart of the resistance.
Diana must be stopped.
Resistance member Donovan sets off in the alien
Mother Ship in pursuit of the fleeing Diana, praying that he
will be able to capture or destroy her before
she can reach alien forces and trigger another invasion of Earth.
During Donovan's absence, the victory continues
to unravel. And so, the battle once won, must start again ...
Review by Wendy Rathbone (Taken from The V Files)
The very first sentence of this book begins where the first novel, V, leaves off. Juliet Parrish and Mike Donovan are in the control room of Diana's now captured Mothership. At this point, it is obvious that the V television series is definitely not being taken into account, although the TV series begins a year after the end of V.
Diana escapes in a shuttle from the Mothership and sends an untranslatable signal before she is found and imprisoned. Much of the book details how the rebels get the Mothership back to Earth intact and convince the Earth people that they are running things and it is not another trick pulled by the Visitors. And, of course, a sixth column of Visitors is quickly forming on board the ship and they plan to take over the ship from the humans and fifth column Visitors who are now in charge. Things get really confusing and no one knows who they can absolutely trust. But a truth serum helps in these matters. This is just one example of where the humans use Visitor technology to get the upper hand with the Visitors. Still, some humans pose greater threats than some Visitors. On Earth, many humans in key authoritative positions were converted by the Visitors and orders still stand for police and military to fight against and kill resistance members. This serves to complicate the plot and leads to several action scenes which, I assume, sell books. I found this book, though an easy read, to be more pessimistic than the second book, and therefore less engrossing. Also, I missed the detail that was given in the first two books to the characters.
As with the first two V books, this one is not without humour. While the rebels are trying to figure out if the conversion process can be reversed, Juliet volunteers herself as guinea pig to the cause since she underwent the conversion process in the first book with Diana and is still felling adverse effects from it. Because Juliet is the leader of the resistance, they do not want to risk her life to something so unknown as reversing the conversion process. One of the fifth columnist Visitors says: "We're going to have to find another guinea pig." A Visitor technician admonished, "Please use a different term; you're making me hungry."
There is one inconsistency I noticed in this book. One of the main characters, a Visitor named Barbara, was, I thought, killed in the first V book. But, Barbara is a common name. Maybe this is another person (or alien).
Once again, as with the end of V, the
starchild, Elizabeth, saves the day. This book ends with Diana once
again captured and waiting to stand trial for her crimes against Earth.
And the end is left open in such a way that we know we can expect sequels.
Ordering Information
All of the "V" novels are currently out of
print. However, you can often find used copies at reasonable prices
at the Advanced
Book Exchange.
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