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Just Finished! - willum - 05-21-2013
Well, I've been avoiding this forum like the plague for fear of inadvertent spoilers until I finished all the RJ & Adversary Cycle books I started back in January. Now that I've finished, I've got to say...I'm really happy I took the time to read it all.
That was probably one of the most engrossing series of novels I've read in quite a while, and Nightworld was an excellent payoff.
The only thing I wonder about--what did the novels look like (particularly Nightworld) before the revisions? I had the luck of being able to read through from start to finish with all updated/revised novels, but part of me wonders if I missed out by not having read the books in their original form.
Anyway, just wanted to send my compliments to FPW--that was an amazing ride.
Just Finished! - Marc - 05-21-2013
willum Wrote:The only thing I wonder about--what did the novels look like (particularly Nightworld) before the revisions? I had the luck of being able to read through from start to finish with all updated/revised novels, but part of me wonders if I missed out by not having read the books in their original form.
Welcome to the forum.
I haven't read the latest revision (this was the second, I believe) but did read the first which was for the limited edition Borderlands Press released a few years back. The difference between those two was minimal.
From the original version of Nightworld the the first revision, I believe there was something like an additional 5000 words added, though Paul could verify this. The biggest changes were added scenes with Jack, as well as following Gia and Abe when they leave New York. Other then that I don't think remember a lot being altered, mostly character names.
Just Finished! - willum - 05-22-2013
Thanks for the Welcome! And thanks for the info; sounds like I'm not missing out by not having read the original. The completionist in me was itching the back of my skull telling me I needed to read the originals first, but if the revisions are mainly additions to the storyline then I don't feel so bad reading the revisions first.
Just Finished! - fpw - 05-22-2013
You didn't miss anything. Material removed from the original/1992 Nightworld (about 8k words) was repurposed in earlier novels; even with the cuts, the final Nightworld (which you read) wound up 10k longer than the 1992 version.
Just Finished! - quikfix228 - 05-22-2013
Dude aren't you so happy you read the greatest story ever told\written?? I'm trying to finished Re reading them all before dark city. But def read the original nightworld. It is a drastically different book, especially when it's closing the jack series. Glad you loved it!
Just Finished! - quikfix228 - 05-22-2013
I guess coming from the man himself, I'd take his word for it but I loved the final revision so much. It made jacks story come to a perfect end, as well as the relationship between all of the final team formed by Glaeken. Didn't you love when jack and him meet? I think they are the perfect team
Just Finished! - Damin J. Toell - 05-23-2013
The most important revision of the entire series is this: in the very beginning of THE TOMB, Jack originally fell asleep watching a Betamax tape. In the 1998 revision, he fell asleep watching a VHS tape. In the latest revision, he fell asleep watching a DVD. I'm waiting for the day when it's a Blu-ray.
Just Finished! - willum - 05-24-2013
fpw Wrote:You didn't miss anything. Material removed from the original/1992 Nightworld (about 8k words) was repurposed in earlier novels; even with the cuts, the final Nightworld (which you read) wound up 10k longer than the 1992 version.
Awesome--I thought that might be the case. I probably should have figured most of the changes would be additions to the story with all the RJ books being added to the canon between revisions. Look forward to re-reading these books in the future!
Just Finished! - willum - 05-24-2013
quikfix228 Wrote:Dude aren't you so happy you read the greatest story ever told\written??
Absolutely! 'Twas a fantastic story and I'll recommend it to others in a heartbeat.
@Damin--It's funny you mention that; The Tomb is actually the only RJ novel I'd read before this year, and it was the 1998 version. I definitely noticed the difference when I read the latest revision. Good stuff
Just Finished! - revrasputin - 06-01-2013
I also finished reading (and re-reading) the Secret History saga. I turned the last page on Nightworld yesterday and I think I'm pretty happy with the revised edition. The final battle was heavily altered to feature a role for Jack, one in which he calls Rasalom "asshole" a couple of times. That might have been over the top a bit, but I loved it nonetheless. From the original edition, what I remember changing most is the insertion of Drexler and Hank Thompson's fates. While Ernst Drexler was unceremoniously slaughtered outside Hank Thompson's door, Hank Thompson met the same death that Nelson Treece met in the first edition. I liked Wilson altering the highway robbery scene into a confrontation between Hank and his Kickers, and he kept the egg implantation and millipede birth the same with Thompson as the victim instead of Treece. Those paragraphs were among some of my favorites in the first edition. The ending was changed too to feature the rebirth of the Lady, which wasn't in the first edition. One thing I'm thankful for is that Jack, on his trek to save some of the surviving characters from the series, did not stop and get "Frank P. Winslow." There were a few moments when I felt that Wilson jumped the shark, but by putting himself into the Repairman Jack series I thought he was going the way of Stephen King a la Gunslinger series. But the character did not last more than a couple of paragraphs in two (or three, I'm not positive) of the books.
Now that I've read almost everything in the Secret History (I'm missing a few short stories and I've ordered Sibs which should be here soon) I feel a bit deflated. What should I read next? Would anything be as good as what I've just read? Argh! Must take break....Sibs will be here soon...Dark City...must wait for Dark City...
SPOILERS!!!!!!!