What is the Best 90's Indy novel?

HovitosKing

Well-known member
Agreed. Max McCoy is your best bet for Indy books. If you get through those and want more, go with the Macgregor books in order. Skip the Caidin books, they're crap.
 

Travis85

New member
Are the novels any good?

I have had Indiana Jones and the Genesis Deluge for a long time but never read it, because I find that movie tie-in books are usually not very good. I know this forum mostly talks about the Indy comics, but are any of the novels worth reading? do they have the same feel as the movies?
 

UltimateManGod

New member
I've only read a few of the books, but I enjoyed them all. I used to have all four McCoy books and Peril at Delphi. I rented Genesis Deluge and Interior World from the library long ago. I loved the McCoy books, but don't remember the others that well. The impression I've gotten is that the general consensus is the McCoy books fell the moost like the movies, and the MacGregor books were pretty good. The Caidin novels don't sound like they were that good. I actually ordered all twelve from Amazon and the price wasn't bad. The shipping costs were a bit high, but the average price per book still came out to about $7.50 for me. Once I've read them all, I can give a more personal view on the rest of the series.
 

Ska

New member
I do own and have read them all.

And like already stated, the Max McCoy and Rob MacGreggor novels are good and worth reading...the others are ok at best, with the Martin Caidin ones being just plain bad and a waste of time. Unless you like to know EVERYTHING about planes.
 

Perhilion

New member
Honestly, I didn't like any of them. They just didn't feel "Indy" to me. And how many times has Indiana Jones ever said "golly"?!
 

metalinvader

Well-known member
I've always enjoyed the MacGreggor and McCoy Novels.Nice,Fun reads.The Caidin novels you should avoid like they are the black plauge.Awful books that read like a flight manual.
 

RedHuffy

New member
Perhilion said:
I'm working on that...


Cool. Try to emulate the storytelling structure of the films as much as possible. And, more importantly, inject your work with the same sense of mystery and wonder found in the movies, the same suspense and breakneck action.

Most of these characteristics are missing from the novels.
 

NoCamels

New member
In Secret of the Sphinx, there is a part about a crystal skull. Is there more to the Crystal Skull sub-plot in another book that I haven't read, or does it just come out of nowhere? I just read that book for the first time- I think I've only read Young Indy books until this one (been a while since I've seen any).

Good luck on writing a good Indy story!
 

No Ticket

New member
NoCamels said:
In Secret of the Sphinx, there is a part about a crystal skull. Is there more to the Crystal Skull sub-plot in another book that I haven't read, or does it just come out of nowhere? I just read that book for the first time- I think I've only read Young Indy books until this one (been a while since I've seen any).

Good luck on writing a good Indy story!

Yeah... the crystal skull part seemed unnecessary to me. It comes after the main story has already been resolved.
 

UltimateManGod

New member
NoCamels said:
In Secret of the Sphinx, there is a part about a crystal skull. Is there more to the Crystal Skull sub-plot in another book that I haven't read, or does it just come out of nowhere? I just read that book for the first time- I think I've only read Young Indy books until this one (been a while since I've seen any).

Good luck on writing a good Indy story!

There's a crystal skull sub-plot throughout the four McCoy Indy novels. It's not too bad a sub-plot. I enjoyed it. Once you've read all four, it makes more sense. I was worried that the skull in the books would be the one in KotCS and that the movie would disregard the books, but thankfully I was wrong. It would be cool if they could fit in a mention about how Indy dealt with the crystall skull from the books, as long as it wasn't shoehorned in.
 

No Ticket

New member
UltimateManGod said:
There's a crystal skull sub-plot throughout the four McCoy Indy novels. It's not too bad a sub-plot. I enjoyed it. Once you've read all four, it makes more sense. I was worried that the skull in the books would be the one in KotCS and that the movie would disregard the books, but thankfully I was wrong. It would be cool if they could fit in a mention about how Indy dealt with the crystall skull from the books, as long as it wasn't shoehorned in.

OHHH... is that what that little snippit is about. It's a sub-plot? I have to read them all I guess. Too bad the one I read was Secret of the Sphinx, which is the ending to that story.
 

Violet

Moderator Emeritus
Yeah, that sub-plot is a pretty big deal. A pretty bad curse on Indy, which leaves you wondering if it is lifted after what he does to the skull in "Sphinx" or if he has to live with it the rest of his life? I'd like to think that the curse got lifted.
 

UltimateManGod

New member
Violet Indy said:
Yeah, that sub-plot is a pretty big deal. A pretty bad curse on Indy, which leaves you wondering if it is lifted after what he does to the skull in "Sphinx" or if he has to live with it the rest of his life? I'd like to think that the curse got lifted.

I figured it was lifted, mainly because I don't think we see evidence of any sort of curse like that in the movies. It would be hard to have Indy cursed, than have three movies that take place after the books where he doesn't seem cursed at all. All this talk of Indy books is making me impatient as I wait for all twelve to eventually be delivered to me.
 

NoCamels

New member
Ok, so there is more to that crystal skull part, then. I really liked the part where Indy had been hiding it in a jar of (something) because the skull was crystal quartz and would therefore be invisible due to the (actual scientific reason which I can't remember what it's called at the moment.) I would love to see that in a movie, if there was a logical reason to do it.
 

Violet

Moderator Emeritus
UltimateManGod said:
I figured it was lifted, mainly because I don't think we see evidence of any sort of curse like that in the movies. It would be hard to have Indy cursed, than have three movies that take place after the books where he doesn't seem cursed at all. All this talk of Indy books is making me impatient as I wait for all twelve to eventually be delivered to me.

Actually, the type of curse it was, it could be still attached to Indy. Here's why:

The curse was: "You will kill, what you love." Whomever he told, "I love you" and consumates it and they love him back, they would die a death that was caused by him. Alecia, his girlfriend in the McCoy books, tells him she loves him and he says it back and she dies a death, that is related to the Crystal Skull and him. Now in the trilogy, he never says "I love you" and no one says to him, "I love you". He does lay Elsa, and they did seem to have feelings for each other, until he found out she was a Nazi. She dies, but really because she was the cause of her own death, I think. Depends on your point of view on Elsa. I will think the curse is lifted, if we find in KOTCS, a son with Marion and IF Marion is told by Indy that he loves her and IF she survives.
 

UltimateManGod

New member
That's right. I forgot the details of the curse. Those are definitely some good points. It'll be interesting so see if Indy says that to Marion. I sincerely doubt that
Marion will die though.
So in that case, I still think the curse is lifted. But you are right,
there is no real evidence of it in the trilogy.
 

UltimateManGod

New member
Dr._Jones said:
i shouldnt have highlighted the black......... scared.......cold....so....cold....

It's okay. We're here for you. I'm 99.9% sure that the bad thing hiding in the black bars will not come to pass. It just makes no sense, and I just don't think Lucas was looking back at the novels to find something he could use in the story. I doubt Nathanson or Koepp did either. Since the trilogy came out years before the books, I think it's coincidence that it works out that way. I also think McCoy meant for the curse to end after the skull was returned.

Speaking of the novels, mine have started coming in. I got Unicorn's Legacy and Sky Pirates today. Only ten more to go.
 
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