The Chronicles of Riddick

Rating:
Summary: Acceptable if Brief Read
Review: Writers often take on media spin-off projects on contract in order to provide notoreity and income while working on other projects. As a result, an otherwise unspectacular adaptation may receive the boon of a good writer's talent while at the same time suffering from a tone that bespeaks the sense of urgency with which the volume is written.

Foster's adaptation of Twohy's second Riddick film is a good read. It follows the general line of the screenplay while adding expository details and delving into aspects of narration and insight not easily captured on the screen. As a fan of the film series I enjoyed the novelization enough to keep it (while I have relegated Lauria's less-than-stellar adaptation of _Pitch Black_ to the local used book store), and especially appreciated Foster's taking the time to develop the history and tenets of the Necromonger faith.

The author waxes a trifle corny at times, attributing Riddick's pantherish reflexes and indomitable resolve to a trick of Furyan genetics that leans heavily toward the supernatural. In Foster's defense, however, the film was unable, due to time constraints, to address the issue completely, and as such the topic falls well within the novelist's scope of influence. I did, however, take note of numerous typos and mistakes of grammar. Every published book, no matter how well edited, is possessed of one or two, but the speed with which media tie-ins are sent to press tends to contribute to their being infested with far more than the usual ration of bloopers.

All in all, however, Foster's _Chronicles of Riddick_ is worth reading if one is already a fan of the series. It is doubtful that the book will make a convert of those not already enamored of the character and his world, but for pre-existing afficionados the background information on Necroism and the added internal narration of the characters ought to be enough to justify the purchase of the book.