Doom novel "Hell on Earth"

[suacy]

The wikipedia entry for the doom novels mentions that the President of the LDS church is the leader of the resistance against the demons.

Is this true, or is this wikipedia vandalism? If it's true, I'll cry; but if it's vandalism, I'll laugh, because that's the funniest edit I've ever seen.

[Use]

It's true. Start yer cryin', although you should probably also laugh, cause the books are essential a joke.

[myk]

I think they're a joke in a way, but the joke's on them. The guy who wrote them seems to think they're the key to saving America, or something.

[Coopersville]

[spoiler]




Faith is their weakness, and the Doom novels are brilliant.

[GreyGhost]

The first was good, the second was OK, three & four wandered into uncharted territory and got lost.

[MmM]

I only read the first two (that was all I could stomach), but I thought it was kind of a neat-o touch to have the Mormans going all military on the demons . . . er aliens.

The one part I really liked about the novels is the very beginning of the first book, where the author expanded on how DOOM guy got in trouble for disobeying orders and attacking his commanding officer--it's all downhill from there.

[r_rr]

I didn't like the idea of aliens helping fight off the hellspawn. It felt like the story rambled off into the void as I progressed through the books, and it felt like someone attempted to remake the whole Doom storyline. If you can even call it a "Doom" storyline.

The first book was my favorite, and here is why:

It related to monsters and "levels" that i've actually experienced in Doom. It may sound weird, but I could actually picture certain levels from Ultimate Doom and Doom 2 as I was reading through parts of the book.

[Craigs]

suacy said:

Is this true, or is this wikipedia vandalism? If it's true, I'll cry;

Don't read the third or fourth books, or you'll kill yourself.

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

In the third one, they discover that the demons are not actually demons. They're actually the creations of an evil alien race known as the Freds who fear us because unlike other alien races, we can die (yeah...). The fourth one in particular is extremely bad. How bad? They encounter a race of rapidly evolving aliens known as the "newbies". When they get to Earth(?) they find out that the damn newbs have evolved into some kind of bacteria that take over peoples' bodies and make them speak in broken Engrish and whine like little pussies every time they get into a situation that's even remotely dangerous. Eventually the newbies just kill themselves by evolving into nothing. Before the n00bs kill themselves though, they try to use a machine on the two main characters to suck their souls out, but the two main characters survive because the machine just made copies of their souls and sent them to a simulation of the phobos moon base. I really wish I was kidding.

/SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

The only thing that could make the book series complete is if Obama and Layne Staley suddenly teleported in front of the heros and started shooting lasers out of their eyes at them, causing them to explode and send candy bars flying all over the place like pinatas.

[GreyGhost]

Craigs said:

The only thing that could make the book series complete is if Obama and Layne Staley suddenly teleported in front of the heros and started shooting lasers out of their eyes at them, causing them to explode and send candy bars flying all over the place like pinatas.

Why not do that as a community project - create an unofficial fifth novel. Give it a storyline loosely based on Evilution and Plutonia, throw in some contemporary references (nothing that'll quickly go stale), in-jokes that the general public won't understand and maybe cameo appearances from some scene members.

[Stilgar]

GreyGhost said:

Why not do that as a community project - create an unofficial fifth novel. Give it a storyline loosely based on Evilution and Plutonia, throw in some contemporary references (nothing that'll quickly go stale), in-jokes that the general public won't understand and maybe cameo appearances from some scene members.

Don't forget the imp sex.

[CodenniumRed]

RR_R said:

I liked the first book the best... [because] it related to monsters and "levels" that I've actually experienced in Doom. It may sound weird, but I could actually picture certain levels from Ultimate Doom and Doom 2 as I was reading through parts of the book.

I couldn't agree more. The first book actually DID go through the levels in order, skipping some of course and moving the 'Hell' maps to taking place on Deimos. Even in the 2nd book, I knew that the part where the Spider Mastermind and the Cyberdemon on the train was inspired by DooM 2 level 20 'Gotcha' where in fact the platforms they're on resemble train cars - they even connect in the center!

[40oz]

Craigs said:

They're actually the creations of an evil alien race known as the Freds who fear us because unlike other alien races, we can die (yeah...).

The Frad Flintstands???

jetsons beware.

[Stupid Bunny]

I liked the first novel for the same sorts of reasons as others have said. It clearly relates to real levels in the game, with the same progression and everything, and it is fairly easy to imagine it being Doom. The enemies have been altered a bit--the idea that Lost Souls are weird robots and Barons of Hell have wrist launchers are kinda bogus--but on the whole I thought the first was a fun read.

The second one got kind of stupid pretty fast, especially when we find out the demons are actually just aliens. Fuck that.

I got halfway through the third before quitting out of disgust.

Not touching the fourth.

[Koko Ricky]

I tried reading the first book recently, and you know what? Fuck it. It's REALLY, REALLY poorly writtten. Robotic, awkward and juvenile, indicative of someone who has very little experience writing.

[myk]

GoatLord, well said. I almost posted something similar earlier but had thought "wait, heh, I already trashed the novels on this thread". I only read the first one and it wasn't good enough for me to want to read any more (besides what I heard of the rest, which isn't very inviting at all).

[sgtcrispy]

Bah, the novels are works of genius. Genius I say!

[Richo Rosai]

I remember digging them, but then I was a kid when I read them so I might not have been able to see their weaknesses. I do have at least three copies of each book also, by the way.

[Coraline]

The books were good enough.

To even attempt to make a book out of a game with hardly any back story or plot, they hold up well. Pretty imaginative. Endgame was hard to follow for me though. .

[MmM]

In all fairness, I think it's tough to translate a video game, especially an action game, into a book. I've read some of the Resident Evil novelizations, based on the games, and those aren't very good either.

[40oz]

The fact that it's tough is why it baffles me that anyone even bothered to do it, especially if the result was going to be so poor.

[Coraline]

I agree, but at least they made nothing into something.

When I was smaller I was a bit confused by the whole Endgame novel, and I was disappointed when only bits and pieces of the first two novels made it into the other two (namely the familiar Doom gunfights).

Speaking of, has anyone read the Doom 3 novel yet? I have it but I've been scared to open the cover. Is it any good?

[myk]

That's nonsense. There are countless ways to write something interesting using DOOM's premise. For one, concentrating on the protagonist's solitude, the gore, brutal violence and the need to survive would work very well, especially with a grittier, less heroic tone mixed with sharp dark humor and baffling horror. You could even give some philosophical depth in the character's perceptions of the experience.

The DOOM comic, while cheesy, came out amusing and fun, for example. Even the movie is more interesting than the first novel, with all its flaws and deviations.

[Coraline]

I don't know, the first book was the best and it reminded me *a lot* of Doom. After the first book is where it kinda took off but I still can read and enjoy it.

Also, it's two different things here: Doom³ took a different approach (which was what the movie was based on). Since Doom was created like how it was back then (almost no plot and no other character encounters remotely in mind), they probably would not have thought up such a thing then (like Doom³). It's unlikely the creators of the book would've elaborated on it in such a way as id did in Doom³ years later (in which they were forced to).

In any regard, I don't think you can compare Doom³ to the novelization of the original Doom, since imo they are almost two different ideas, years apart, and are only similar mostly in heart to each other. It's like comparing Doom³ to the original Doom: only in heart.
..
..
Nobody has read the Doom 3 book?

[myk]

If that was a reply to my post, I didn't say anything about DOOM 3.

I think DOOM gives one more ground to explore as far as style and writing technique goes, because its plot is simpler, and thus you can escape conventional narrative (which is something DOOM 3 explores). A text made to advance the impressions and sensations of a marine amid the invading demonic forces, for example. That'd go well with the makeup of the game, that is a series of fragmentary action situations (each level) with little linking each part but the general plot that defines the style.

[Coraline]

Yeah you have a point. Maybe the authors did what they did because that wouldn't seem interesting as a series of four novels...who knows though.

I just want to know why they just made it so weird as it went on.

I just brought Doom³ into it because you mentioned the movie, btw. Mi malo.

[Creaphis]

The quality of writing is almost independent from the premise of said writing. If a novel of the type that Myk is describing wouldn't be interesting then it would be poor writing that makes it uninteresting, not a poor premise. Remember this: every good idea can be done badly, and many bad ideas can be done very well. I haven't read the Doom novels, but it sounds to me like they're a collection of bad ideas, poorly executed.

[Coraline]

Creaphis said:

Remember this: every good idea can be done badly, and many bad ideas can be done very well.

I sometimes have a hard time with that one, but it's a good quote. I'll be sure to remember that in the future. ^^

[Splatter]

The big problem with the first novel was that a huge chunk of it was just one dude running around. He may be pretty Fly for a Doomguy, but prose usually benefits from such niceties as "dialog."

I liked the second one best. The demons were still demons, the group had a dynamic, and we got to see more of a Hell-infested Earth than suburbs with square featureless buildings.

The third and fourth... no. Just no.

MmM said:

I've read some of the Resident Evil novelizations, based on the games, and those aren't very good either.

LIES.