|
|
|
HOME
| ALIAS | ANGEL
| THE AVENGERS | BUFFY | CHARMED |
DOCTOR WHO | OTHER
FILM & TV | ROSWELL | LINKS |
||
|
|
Unsurprisingly, the first post-television series Roswell novel follows directly on from Graduation, with the six teenage characters heading out of New Mexico in their VW camper van, determined to put as many miles as possible between themselves and Roswell. However, things don't go to plan as the van breaks down outside the small Colorado town of Stonewall. The immediate priority must therefore be to get it back on the road as soon as possible, but there's one snag - they've only got a few dollars between them. Ignoring what seemed like the obvious solution of using his powers to forge dollar bills, Max ludicrously tries to create gold, but is about as successful as Percy in Blackadder II, except that what he makes is at least gold coloured. Instead, everyone tries to get jobs. Sadly we're deprived of reading about Isabel working in the service sector, as her services aren't required by the laundromat after all. Instead, it's up to the three human characters to earn enough cash for them to be able to fix the van. Working at the cafe brings Liz into contact with Jimmy, a boy with Down's Syndrome, who shares her ability of premonition. Jimmy's sister is missing, one of a number of girls who've gone missing in the town. Meanwhile, Kyle is attracted to the garage's receptionist, who later becomes one of the disappeared. Despite the group's initial intention not to get involved, it's pretty obvious that they will, and the manner in which their collective hand is forced was rather too obvious. Sadly it was at this point that things went downhill, with the novel ending up like something from the original Roswell High novels than the more adult television series. A different reason for the disappearances would probably have been better in my opinion. Character-wise, it's good to see Kyle getting more prominence for a change, although I was less happy about what could be the first attempts to pair him off with Isabel. It would be understandable if the writers did, but I'm certainly not convinced at this stage. The "on the road, helping people" concept was mentioned by Jason Katims as a possible series format for a fourth television season, so it's no surprise that the novels appear to be doing something similar. A New Beginning is a reasonable start to post TV series Roswell, although all the alien stuff seemed a bit silly compared to what we saw on television. Oh, and can't we have a halfway decent cover just for a change? These are the worst I've seen since all those Fifth Doctor photo-montage Target covers in the early 1980s... back to the top |
A NEW BEGINNING |
