Staff of Kings (novel) by Rob MacGregor
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ThrowMeTheWhip
Well-known member
It certainly is the most like an Indy film. I’ve always said I thought the game had an amazing tone that felt very in keeping with the movies and a strong story that was poorly told in the game. I pursued this book for years because I felt it was likely the only chance we could get to redeem a story that deserves a better telling. I think largely the novel was successful at that.So far, I think because of its origin as a game which was trying to be sympathetic to the films as much as possible, I'd say it's the Indy book that feels closest to the movies that I've read so far
British Raider
Well-known member
Wow this is such a fun read, thanks @ThrowMeTheWhip
DirkPitt
Well-known member
I read somewhere, that both Lucas and Spielberg worked on the story for the game (the original version, which was eventually cancelled).
So I am not surprised
ThrowMeTheWhip
Well-known member
Matt Shell and the Story of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings | Engadget
In this video, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings producer Matt Shell offers a brief outline of the new game's story.
www.engadget.com
smithguy_789
Member
Finished the novel this past weekend. I thought it was a little slow to start, but once it got going it didn't let up.
I feel oddly vindicated finally getting to experience the story of Staff of Kings all these years after struggling to get through the Wii version!
I feel oddly vindicated finally getting to experience the story of Staff of Kings all these years after struggling to get through the Wii version!
ThrowMeTheWhip
Well-known member
It really is rip-roaring. A well paced yarn.
ThrowMeTheWhip
Well-known member
When you play the Wii version, you can feel some of that Lucas and Speilberg influence imo.I read somewhere, that both Lucas and Spielberg worked on the story for the game (the original version, which was eventually cancelled).
So I am not surprised
The cutscenes of Staff of Kings(The way the scenes were directed) felt more true to the spirits of the movies compared to Fate of atlantis, Infernal Machines and Emperor's tomb cutscenes.
Sadly the story in the wii version felt like a movie that has some of it's major scenes removed.(And the ending was inferior compared to PSP version)
punisher5150
Member
Finally finished Staff of Kings. I enjoyed having a new Indy adventure to get through. Although I was happy to see MacGregor’s novel finally available, I was disappointed in the overall story. It felt like a bunch of disjointed scenes loosely tied together. There was very little lore involved in the artifact and the quest. This is not MacGregor’s fault. He did a fine job novelizing the game. It’s the overall game script that honestly made no sense how the clues were tied togoether in the quest. Otherwise great to have a new (old?) Indy adventure to read.
Thanks to Dale and ThrowMeTheWhip for the massive effort in getting this to the fans. And of course to Rob MacGregor for allowing his hard work to finally be enjoyed.
Thanks to Dale and ThrowMeTheWhip for the massive effort in getting this to the fans. And of course to Rob MacGregor for allowing his hard work to finally be enjoyed.
Klaus Kerner
Member
First of all: A big "thank you" to everyone who was involved in making this and getting this "published".
I have all the Indy-books and the PS2 and PSP version of Staff of Kings, to which I compare this novelization.
It has been a long time since I have read the original indy novels by Rob MacGregor. But I remember that I prefered Hohlbein and McCoy´s novels since those had a better pacing and were more "fun". The novels by Macgregor seemed to drag and were not as exiting to me..
The novelizaion of SoK on the other hand is fast paced. Lots of action and various changes of the local ... this is obvioulsy because it is based on an action game!
You can easily read through it quickly without getting bored. Since SoK isn´t a prequel that is set in 1920´s (as in the original novels by MacGregor), Indy actually feels more like the cinematic Indy that we all know and love.
Magnus Völler is an interesting villain and the book fleshes him out more than the games. Just like in the game, Maggie is a very good Indy girl. Archie Tan has a bigger role in the novel than in the game and is a nice side-kick in the first third of the game.
Most of the time when someone speaks german in the novel it is full of grammar errors or typos. I am geman BTW and I am full aware that this posting probably is full of errors as well.
The book uses the first level of the PSP-game (the flashback sequence) and skips the Sudan level of the PS2 version. This makes sense since that level had no impact on the overall story. The way the PsP version told the story was a better introduction for the Völler character.
The story for the game always had a lot of potential but it seemed it wasn´t fleshed out and that several pieces were missing. If you play all versions of the game you get a better picture of the entire story.
The best novelizations (IMO) are the ones which give some extra-information that were not in the movie/the game and fleshen things out a bit. The story of SoK NEEDED to be fleshed out in a novelization ... but this novelization fails to do so IMO. It moves from et-piece to set peice without letting the story time to breath.
It still seems silly to me that Indy has to take back the Jade-Sphere to the pyramid to get a hint on Kingston´s fate. This is a bit far fetched and stupid to me. It was silly the game and it is silly in the book.
Of course not every action sequence of the games are used, but it follows the main strucure of the plot.
The MacGuffin (the staff) was introduced way too late in the game (at the halfway point). It should have been build up better and earlier.
The books mentions that Kingston was after the staff much earlier but it also fails to "build up the Macguffin". Give us more history on the staff by summarizing what has been told in the bible! The history of the Ark and the other artifacts were retold in the movies, why do the game and the book fail to do so? They just pretend that everyone is an expert.
There is one sentence in the book in which a comparison to Kingston & the Staff and Ravenwood & the Ark is made. THAT had to be fleshed out more. Indy should have reflected on Kingston´s expertise and obsession with the staff.
This shoud have been the strength of the book: Flesh the things out that are not explained in the game. Build up the hisory and importance of the Staff. Give us even more history of indy as Kingstons student. But the book fails to do so unfortunatley.
The sheperd in Istanbul is different in both versions I have played. In the book it is a mystical compass that Kington hid in a bathysphere. LAME. It liked it better when it was an hidden, untouched artifact / machine deep in the catacombs of the palace like in the PS2 version. Novelization-Kingston was an idiot by hiding the staff that way. Much too dangerous. The book was also very lazy in that apsect: When Indy got away with the Sheperd Völler suddenly doesn´t mind because he had a spy in the palace all along that would know about the location of the Staff. WHAT?! Then why did he go into the trouble of finding the sheperd in the first place?? This doesn ot make any sense at al,l. The PS2 version solved this better when Kingston later asks Indy if he also " destroyed the second sheperd that he mentions in his notes, which Indy obviously had no idea of beacause he did not read all of Kingston notes. That was kinda clever and funny (in the game!) .
The monestary in Neal is refered to as Shambala at one point. This of course contradicts "The Infernal Machine" which also had Shambala. McCoy´s Secret of the Sphinx also had the Staff so this is also another continuity-contradiction.
During the elephant-chase seuqence the novel mentions that the Nazi´s are shooting at the elephant. The Ps2 version had the elephant wear some metal-armor. but there was no mention of that in the novel. Are we assuming that the Nazi´s are unable to shoot/hit an elephant? Is the elephant bullet-proof?
The "getting the artifact scene". When Indy gets to the artifacts in the movies it was EPIC.. The PS2 version was also epic when Indy reached the staff-: You had to solve puzzles concering the history of Moses (the cradle in the river, the splitting of the red sea) to get to the staff. That was very athmosperic and IMO EPIC. The PSP version was kinda lame with turning some valves and machinery (what does this have to do in an ancient temple?) but the novel just doesn´t do anything with it. Indy just grabs the staff in some cave which is protected by some spear-traps. LAME. Why couldn´t they adapt the PS2 sequence here? Indy escaping the temple via the cradle on a wild river was also epic in the game but eft out of the novel.
The guy with the falcon near the end came out of nowhere and was gone in like 2 paragraphs. What was this all about? And did I miss something with the "wise man"/ "prophet" guy at the end? Was this supposed to be a real (unnamed) historical person that I did not make the connection to?
Overall it was a good, quick read. Better than some of the existing novels but far from being among the best Indy novels. I exected much more from the novel and was a bit let down. But its still fun read and I would still prefer this over stuff like the Caidin books, Army of the Dead or Interior World.
Once again: thanks to everyone involved for giving this to us.
I have all the Indy-books and the PS2 and PSP version of Staff of Kings, to which I compare this novelization.
It has been a long time since I have read the original indy novels by Rob MacGregor. But I remember that I prefered Hohlbein and McCoy´s novels since those had a better pacing and were more "fun". The novels by Macgregor seemed to drag and were not as exiting to me..
The novelizaion of SoK on the other hand is fast paced. Lots of action and various changes of the local ... this is obvioulsy because it is based on an action game!
You can easily read through it quickly without getting bored. Since SoK isn´t a prequel that is set in 1920´s (as in the original novels by MacGregor), Indy actually feels more like the cinematic Indy that we all know and love.
Magnus Völler is an interesting villain and the book fleshes him out more than the games. Just like in the game, Maggie is a very good Indy girl. Archie Tan has a bigger role in the novel than in the game and is a nice side-kick in the first third of the game.
Most of the time when someone speaks german in the novel it is full of grammar errors or typos. I am geman BTW and I am full aware that this posting probably is full of errors as well.
The book uses the first level of the PSP-game (the flashback sequence) and skips the Sudan level of the PS2 version. This makes sense since that level had no impact on the overall story. The way the PsP version told the story was a better introduction for the Völler character.
The story for the game always had a lot of potential but it seemed it wasn´t fleshed out and that several pieces were missing. If you play all versions of the game you get a better picture of the entire story.
The best novelizations (IMO) are the ones which give some extra-information that were not in the movie/the game and fleshen things out a bit. The story of SoK NEEDED to be fleshed out in a novelization ... but this novelization fails to do so IMO. It moves from et-piece to set peice without letting the story time to breath.
It still seems silly to me that Indy has to take back the Jade-Sphere to the pyramid to get a hint on Kingston´s fate. This is a bit far fetched and stupid to me. It was silly the game and it is silly in the book.
Of course not every action sequence of the games are used, but it follows the main strucure of the plot.
The MacGuffin (the staff) was introduced way too late in the game (at the halfway point). It should have been build up better and earlier.
The books mentions that Kingston was after the staff much earlier but it also fails to "build up the Macguffin". Give us more history on the staff by summarizing what has been told in the bible! The history of the Ark and the other artifacts were retold in the movies, why do the game and the book fail to do so? They just pretend that everyone is an expert.
There is one sentence in the book in which a comparison to Kingston & the Staff and Ravenwood & the Ark is made. THAT had to be fleshed out more. Indy should have reflected on Kingston´s expertise and obsession with the staff.
This shoud have been the strength of the book: Flesh the things out that are not explained in the game. Build up the hisory and importance of the Staff. Give us even more history of indy as Kingstons student. But the book fails to do so unfortunatley.
The sheperd in Istanbul is different in both versions I have played. In the book it is a mystical compass that Kington hid in a bathysphere. LAME. It liked it better when it was an hidden, untouched artifact / machine deep in the catacombs of the palace like in the PS2 version. Novelization-Kingston was an idiot by hiding the staff that way. Much too dangerous. The book was also very lazy in that apsect: When Indy got away with the Sheperd Völler suddenly doesn´t mind because he had a spy in the palace all along that would know about the location of the Staff. WHAT?! Then why did he go into the trouble of finding the sheperd in the first place?? This doesn ot make any sense at al,l. The PS2 version solved this better when Kingston later asks Indy if he also " destroyed the second sheperd that he mentions in his notes, which Indy obviously had no idea of beacause he did not read all of Kingston notes. That was kinda clever and funny (in the game!) .
The monestary in Neal is refered to as Shambala at one point. This of course contradicts "The Infernal Machine" which also had Shambala. McCoy´s Secret of the Sphinx also had the Staff so this is also another continuity-contradiction.
During the elephant-chase seuqence the novel mentions that the Nazi´s are shooting at the elephant. The Ps2 version had the elephant wear some metal-armor. but there was no mention of that in the novel. Are we assuming that the Nazi´s are unable to shoot/hit an elephant? Is the elephant bullet-proof?
The "getting the artifact scene". When Indy gets to the artifacts in the movies it was EPIC.. The PS2 version was also epic when Indy reached the staff-: You had to solve puzzles concering the history of Moses (the cradle in the river, the splitting of the red sea) to get to the staff. That was very athmosperic and IMO EPIC. The PSP version was kinda lame with turning some valves and machinery (what does this have to do in an ancient temple?) but the novel just doesn´t do anything with it. Indy just grabs the staff in some cave which is protected by some spear-traps. LAME. Why couldn´t they adapt the PS2 sequence here? Indy escaping the temple via the cradle on a wild river was also epic in the game but eft out of the novel.
The guy with the falcon near the end came out of nowhere and was gone in like 2 paragraphs. What was this all about? And did I miss something with the "wise man"/ "prophet" guy at the end? Was this supposed to be a real (unnamed) historical person that I did not make the connection to?
Overall it was a good, quick read. Better than some of the existing novels but far from being among the best Indy novels. I exected much more from the novel and was a bit let down. But its still fun read and I would still prefer this over stuff like the Caidin books, Army of the Dead or Interior World.
Once again: thanks to everyone involved for giving this to us.
emtiem
Well-known member
Yes I tend to agree with this, to be honest: it's rather all over the place and there's not much of a feeling of a sweep of a plot.
Lao_Che
Active member
For me, that's a problem with most of the Indy games, a lack of polish in getting Indy from a A to B. The globetrotting in Atlantis works because the city was an ancient vast empire, other games have Indy in places cause the designers want him there which is how we (eventually) get MacGregor having to come with what the heck a Hebrew relic has to do with Tongs, Mayans and Buddhist monks.
smithguy_789
Member
MacGregor's arguably the best man for that job, though. The guy that figured out how to link Greek, Druid, Aztec, Biblical and Native American mythologies and have Merlin/Apollo/Noah/Gandalf at the center of it all could probably make sense of just about any convoluted story
chapter11
Well-known member
Just finished reading this! I’ve read all of the U.S. Indy novels and a few (so far) of fhe German ones. This one is not without flaws (which @Klaus Kerner described quite well) but it’s a lot of fun and has much to recommend it for Indy fans.
First and foremost, Indy feels like Indy here, from the dialogue to the inner thoughts, it’s Indy through and through. That’s not always the case in these novels. Secondly, Maggie was a great companion. And thirdly (for fans of the earlier novels) there’s a nice little mention of Deirdre in here which I especially appreciated.
All in all, I’m glad I tracked this down and read it. Thanks to all involved for making it possible!
First and foremost, Indy feels like Indy here, from the dialogue to the inner thoughts, it’s Indy through and through. That’s not always the case in these novels. Secondly, Maggie was a great companion. And thirdly (for fans of the earlier novels) there’s a nice little mention of Deirdre in here which I especially appreciated.
All in all, I’m glad I tracked this down and read it. Thanks to all involved for making it possible!
Solomon Black
New member
Has anybody noticed the Kings villain has the same last name as the one in Destiny?
ThrowMeTheWhip
Well-known member
Yes. Voller vs Völler though.
Solomon Black
New member
Right on the money you are, my friend. For some reason I was thinking the dots were over the o on both. Dots are over the u for the Mikkelsen character.