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V: The Second Generation | 
 enlarge | Author: Kenneth Johnson
Publisher: Tor,U.S.
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £4.18
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New (31) Used (8) from £3.32
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 42811
Media: Paperback
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.3
ISBN: 0765319063
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780765319067
ASIN: 0765319063
Publication Date: November 1, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New book. Due to problems with Standard Airmail delivery times from the USA, we have switched to using PRIORITY AIRMAIL ONLY. UK & European delivery is 7-10 days.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 and thats being generous :( May 29, 2008
Mr. A. J. D. White
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What can I say, I am a huge fan of the original TV series, and many of the spin off books (I own them all whilst some are excellent others are not). When I saw this I just had to have it, V is one of those rare master peices in SciFi that withstand the passage of time fairly well (if you ignore a couple of dodgy hair cuts and some strange wardrobe choices).
However from the start of this novel I was disappointed, as has been said elsewhere this reads very much like a screen play, you can see the wardrobe notes, and stage prompts to get characters to look into the camera littered all over the place. The writting to my mind is amaturish and in need of a damn good editor to kick it into shape. The characterisation is all 2d it really needs an actor to bring it to life (more screen play writting I think).
Then you move onto the meat of the book, and things just get worse and worse to say its predicatable is a gross understatement its also weak at the sametime, building up tension for climactic scenes that never happen because the out come was obvious from the moment the setup began. The plot twists themselves often make little or no sense apart from that they allegedly advance what I can only laughingly refer to as the plot. Nevermind the fact that huge chunks of "plot" are stolen with barely even the names changed from the original novel.
To make things even worse it mangles the history of the show, various things never seem to have happened such as the birth of Elizabeth (although there are plenty of half breeds, because you know humans and lizards form a different planet will of course get it on, and are obviously geneticaly compatible) and more importantly the Red Dust also seems to have been wiped from the slate.
Oh and yeah they have flying motorbikes in this as well.... and they are even worse than those in BSG 1980 believe it or not....
All in all a huge disappointment.... I wasn't expecting a new book from tolstoy or shakespear, but I was expecting something far better than this, It could have been the openning of a new chapter but instead its a damp squib that ruins its legacy.
Awful, avoid. May 11, 2008
M. Ford
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was excited by the thought of reading this having waited so long. Now i just feel very deflated, i bought the book for the update to the story but basically don't bother. It reads exactly like a screenplay rather than a novel. In fact it even feels a bit 1st draftish....lazy and predictable, i have read it and rather than with most books i buy which i will re-read this one has been sold immediately.
If you must, buy it for the continuation of the story but don't expect much...except for a new mini series, which will confuse anyway as you have to forget that the Final battle mini series existed as that had nothing to do with Johnson so he has ignored it.
Very predictable and by the numbers, can't believe this made it past his editor.....oh and flying bikes with stealth.....errr wasn't that done in Battlestar Galactica 1980!!! They were rubbish then, now they are just super cheesy. Basically avoid and save your money, if you must read it then i would advise to go down the library and read it for free.
 Amazing! March 12, 2008
ChickenStu (UK)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I just have one word to say "WOW". And I'm not just saying that cause I'm biased as a fan, I read a lot of books and I know a good one when I read it. "V" or not, this is still a GREAT book!
Kenneth Johnson delivers a truly brilliant literary sequel. Whilst the prose does read a bit like a screenplay at times (you can definitely tell that was this material's first incarnation), it moves along at a breakneck pace, almost so much so that it's completely seamless. This book rockets like a jet engine from beginning to end, and once you get into it, you just have to finish it!
The beautiful thing is about this, is that Kenneth Johnson is a really talented writer. And as a reader, I find it a pleasure to read books by authors that have a command of language, dialogue and characterisation. The filmic nature of this book is very potent, and that means with the simplest of descriptions, the reader can perfectly recreate a vision in his/her head that the author is creating.
I was seeing the golden gate bridge with no water underneath it, I was seeing half human/half alien hybrids. It wasn't like I was reading it, it was like I was seeing it! And very few writers have a gift like that, to be able to write in that way.
The novel reminded me a lot of George Orwell's work. Also kinda reminded me of Terry Gilliam's movie "Brazil" in which a person's thoughts are controlled, their words are censored, books are burned and innocent people are constantly dissapearing, all for the simple "crime" of having an opinion. This crime of course being perpetrated by a regime which pretends to be benevolent, which pretends to have our best interests at heart - but are in truth working toward thier own dark agenda.
I like how the book is set in what at first seems like a distorted, parallel version of our current reality. But it's so well written, and so metaphorical for our current state of affairs that it becomes less distorted and more worryingly familiar. In this book it's aliens that are oppressing humanity and have been doing so for the last twenty years. But anyone who reads an intelligent newspaper at all knows that this is actually happening in our reality, being lied too by people who are pretending to protect us. It's all thier on the page.
That makes this sequel novel just as important, contemporary and relevant as the original mini-series from which it continues.
The new alien characters, members of the Zedti are very well written, and actually quite unsettling. When their actual true agenda is revealed it's almost disturbing. A true example of the saying "with friends like these, who needs enemies".
I have one minor critiscm however, but it's not something that can be blamed on Kenneth Johnson. We all know that he disregards the events of "The Final Battle" and the series in this book, and that can be a little jarring. Especially when you've seen those episodes as many times as I have, and characters like Martin, Harmony and Robert Maxwell are happily walking around when we've seen them die on TV!
But hey, who cares, it's "V" right?
My favourite part of the book was the arrival of "The Leader" and the surprising revelation about this character that I will not reveal here. It's so brilliantly written and entirely unexpected that it kind of thrusts the novel into a kind of different direction than perhaps the reader anticipates.
And boy does this book have a PEACH of an ending!
Kenneth Johnson, boys and girls, has done it again and delivered an exciting, fast paced science fiction nightmare. Disturbing, scary, but bloody thrilling and wonderfully entertaining.
This is just CRYING out to be filmed.
The long awaited sequel March 12, 2008
TWIN READERS FROM BEDFORD (UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Kenneth Johnson's delightful 'V THE SECOND GENERATION' is a book which can hardly be put down. Having read it, we found that there was so much action going on (with a lot of new characters included) and were absolutely chuffed that Diana makes a welcomed (if not aloof) return. We loved the usual Visitor rivalry, especially when the Leader's Emissary arrives! The conflict between the high-ranking visitor dignitaries is delicious (and so true to life in human terms) and the book is simply fantastic. We could not put the hardback down.
Full marks to Kenneth Johnson and let us hope that this will be produced for TV.
A welcome return to the dark side March 7, 2008
Stephen Gill (merseyside UK)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I recently purchased this after many months of delays, and it is well worth the wait. VTSG continues after the original miniseries set 20 years later. A true description of how the world would be under such a long occupation is painted, what i enjoyed was the darker element of the original series is back, a step into the lives of the characters and a more in depth account of them is evident. Old faves return and new faces emerge. some of the highlights being the revelation of the alien leader and the emergence of the zedti. However the true villain of the book is once again the evil diana who was the best character years back, so good to see her back to form. As for the heroes you just get the sense that Nathan is going to be the new hottie ala Mike Donovan. I truly hope this will be made into a new miniseries as it screams tv adaptation. If you are a follower of the franchise it is a must also recommended to new readers as it is a great interest gatherer to get new fans into the story and franchise. This book has a sense of happy blow you away moments, twists, sad moments but overall the message is the battle against prejudice and repression and a united front which in this day and age is a plus in my book. enjoy. Stephen Gill
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