The DIG - novel by Alan Dean Foster

[theo]

So, after lugging my five huge bags of (mostly) scifi books to the used book store, I got a 500 Kr bill and the question "If you wan't a couple of new books, just grab something from the shelf". Now, I'm about to move to another home, so the whole point of getting rid of these books was to not have so much lose junk to lug around. I was about to decline and walk out the door, when the familiar DIG logo caught my eye from one of the bookshelves.



I figured, heck, how much can it suck? I'll give it a chance.

Now, I'm no huge DIG fanatic, I like the game like any other average point n clicker obviously would, I am however specifically in love with the games' backdrop art, music and overall ambiance. The actual story never really stuck out to me as something worth getting all literate about. However, I decided to revisit the world of Cocytus a quickie by reading the book, and I'm very glad I did.

It brought me back to the beautiful purple/orange world and had me bathing in it's visual wonders once again. I liked being back. The story however was no doubts lacking, as everything that really mattered sort of suddenly got insta-solved on the last two pages of the book. I must admit though that I remember having the same feeling when beating the game. All pieces of the puzzle sort of dropped in place in a period of five minutes at the end, leaving the player/reader nothing but dazzled by all the cheap auto-happy-solutions. I personally, would not have minded if Foster took some liberties with the original story and tried to avoid the big deus-ex-machina type solution, or at least tried to embed it a bit better into the overall story arc.

As a stand-alone novel I think I would have dissed this book quite badly if it weren't for the fact that I have played the game and loved it's ambiance and art direction. As it is now, I found it a pleasant way to pass the time when sitting on the tram zooming about in Gothenburg.

Now, I'm curious to hear if anyone else here has read the book, and if so, what where your feelings about it? Also, are there any die-hard DIG fans out there who read the book? Did it strengthen the story or break it?

(Note: I posted this on mixnmojo a week or so ago but got no interesting replies whatsoever, thus I'm re-posting it here, hoping to find some firey soul who wants to discuss this with me.)

edit: PS. If anyone here is in Gothenburg, and would like to get their hands on this book, drop me a line and I'll gladly give it to you.

[Igor Hardy]

I remember The Dig book has already discussed on minxmojo at least once, you should check the forum archives.

Personally, I just skimmed the book. Found the writing rather bad and cheesy. But what I was mainly interested in was that the ending in the game was a bit strange and suspicious. It make me wondering if

Spoiler

Boston Low ever returned from that abstract dimension at all.

[close]

So in my naivety I thought the book adaptation might expand on that. But no such luck.

[m0ds]

Never heard of it, but looks cool! I assume it was that novel that got Spielberg interested initially? Being a Dig fan, it's certainly an artifact I'd like to own in the future, but probably wouldn't read it til I was becoming an old man The Dig has a special place in my heart because when I first bought it I left it on a train and it went to London without me, and was never seen again. I agree when you say in game it feels like it all comes together right at the end and not really before that. If the book is similar then it's good to think they didn't overtly change what was written.

[Igor Hardy]

I assume it was that novel that got Spielberg interested initially?

You assume wrongly. The game was based on an original story (I think invented for some Spielberg-produced TV series but never realized) and the book was an adaptation of the game script and part of the game's marketing. Possibly it's based on one of the earlier scripts than what ended up in the final game though.

[Vince Twelve]

Haha, I read that as a kid!  Loved the game, wanted to live in that world some more and somehow came across the novelization.  I remember reading it and loving it but then looking at the book again a few years later, skimming through it and finding it terribly written and wondering what I liked about it as a kid.  (Still love the game for the atmosphere if nothing else!)  I then sold it to a used book store.  HEY!  You may have my copy!

[theo]

I couldn't agree more with the lot of you. This is no literary masterpiece. Returning to Cocytus though, was a very nice experience for me, I love the place. If you're interested in books of this kind but actually want good writing, I can recommend Arthur C Clarke's RAMA and 2001 series, which basically do THE DIG, but, well, good. Those series are by no means perfect either though, but I'll gladly recommend them to any DIG fan since they are certainly in the same vein of storytelling, and, well, more polished.

Vince: Who knows, maybe it is. I hope some other fiery point n click soul comes to claim it after me 

Acovel: Nice thought, but no, no such luck. Unless it flew wayyyyyyy above my head, who knows.

[cosmicr]

I replayed the dig over the weekend, and I have to say as ground breaking as the game was, the dialogue (especially the intro) was terrible. The premise was a bit of a joke too (they're all so casual about saving earth like it happens all the time).

I'd be curious to read the book, but from the sounds of it it's not much better.