I finished reading Greg's new novel today and I really enjoyed it. The continuation of the canceled show was handled quite superbly as I totally felt immersed in the world of the book just as I would an episode. Of course, the tone of the book felt more like a season or series finale rather than a season opener, but that was as expected. All of my favorite characters were back and behaving just as I expected them to, and I think Greg's approach to handling the reality of Promise City worked and seemed in line with what the Producers of the show would have done with Jordan and his followers in control of Seattle. Before reading the book I wasn't sure if the government was going to try to take the city back by force right away, but it would seem plausible that if Jordan had unlimited Promicin abilities at his disposal to unleash on the rest of the country that the government might bide their time and wait for the right opportunity to present itself thereby temporarily relinquishing control of a major city to a figure like Collier.
I particularly liked Kyle's role in the story. I had previously stated that I was unhappy with how the show's writers handled Kyle's character in the 4th season, but this novel totally makes up for it. It finally gave me the payoff I was looking for with the character bringing Kyle into conflict between his loyalties to Jordan, his father, and oddly enough himself since his abilty is a projection of himself only as a female form, Cassie, who spurs Kyle on towards his devotion to Collier's movement. Overall, I also liked how the subject of young people's devotion to a cause was explored and how easily young people can be manipulated and become fanatical once they seem to feel as if they've "discovered" their purpose. It's almost as if rationality gets eclipsed once someone believes they must further a higher calling that they believe in, and Kyle isn't the only one who deals with it. It's sort of problematic that the sort of self-discovery involved in attaining a special ability could either cause someone to change their perspective or reinforce certain delusional beliefs that were there to begin with.
Thanks for bringing back Richard and Dennis Ryland. Those were two characters sorely missed in the show's finale episodes. It made sense that Jordan would try to use Richard again the way he does in this book although one could argue that what Richard was doing was justified. I'm sure Tom must have understood that by giving Jordan the list of the Marked that Jordan would handle things his way, and to be honest, saving each of the host bodies may have proved impossible anyway as much as it pains me to sound like an apologist for Jordan's cause.
I have a few questions I'd like to ask Greg if that's okay. I've tried to stay as SPOILER Free as possible, but I'm sorry if some details get spilled.
1. I thought the Drew Emroth nanites were successfully implanted into Jordan during the finale just not activated. As you know, the Marked nanites could lay dormant for a while as they did with Tom during the 4th season which is why Tom encouraged Jordan to "mend fences" with Shawn after their escape implying that Jordan needed the same treatment that Tom needed to remove a Mark. Did you decide to do away with that potential aspect of the story so that you could focus more on your own plot developments or did you just feel like it was implied that that happened before the events of your story?
2. Where did the Astrid Bonner character come from? I don't seem to remember her although it feels like I should already know who she is when her character appears? I recognized Simone Tanaka from the Vesuvius Prophecy as an original character of yours but I don't remember
Astrid.
3. Nice touch using the Klingon mask. Kapla!! I couldn't help but smile when I read that.
4. My only disappointment was that Shawn seemed to disappear from the story. I know you had a lot of characters to juggle with and a limited amount of time to devote to each of them. Will Shawn be featured more in Promises Broken?
5. Since the show never showed us who were the rest of the Marked that were on the list that Tom gave to Jordan are there any specific reasons behind choosing the identities of these characters?
Overall, thanks for the fun read. I had a good time immersing myself in that universe as you can probably tell. I truly hope there will be more 4400 novels to come if at all possible. I look forward to David Mack's Promises Broken.
I might think of more questions. When I do, I'll post them here.
P.S. If I ever visit Philly, I'll make a point of visiting Eastern State Penitentiary. Of course, my dislike for Philly's baseball and football teams might very well get me locked up.
Let's Go Mets!!! Let's Go Giants!!!!!
I particularly liked Kyle's role in the story. I had previously stated that I was unhappy with how the show's writers handled Kyle's character in the 4th season, but this novel totally makes up for it. It finally gave me the payoff I was looking for with the character bringing Kyle into conflict between his loyalties to Jordan, his father, and oddly enough himself since his abilty is a projection of himself only as a female form, Cassie, who spurs Kyle on towards his devotion to Collier's movement. Overall, I also liked how the subject of young people's devotion to a cause was explored and how easily young people can be manipulated and become fanatical once they seem to feel as if they've "discovered" their purpose. It's almost as if rationality gets eclipsed once someone believes they must further a higher calling that they believe in, and Kyle isn't the only one who deals with it. It's sort of problematic that the sort of self-discovery involved in attaining a special ability could either cause someone to change their perspective or reinforce certain delusional beliefs that were there to begin with.
Thanks for bringing back Richard and Dennis Ryland. Those were two characters sorely missed in the show's finale episodes. It made sense that Jordan would try to use Richard again the way he does in this book although one could argue that what Richard was doing was justified. I'm sure Tom must have understood that by giving Jordan the list of the Marked that Jordan would handle things his way, and to be honest, saving each of the host bodies may have proved impossible anyway as much as it pains me to sound like an apologist for Jordan's cause.
I have a few questions I'd like to ask Greg if that's okay. I've tried to stay as SPOILER Free as possible, but I'm sorry if some details get spilled.
1. I thought the Drew Emroth nanites were successfully implanted into Jordan during the finale just not activated. As you know, the Marked nanites could lay dormant for a while as they did with Tom during the 4th season which is why Tom encouraged Jordan to "mend fences" with Shawn after their escape implying that Jordan needed the same treatment that Tom needed to remove a Mark. Did you decide to do away with that potential aspect of the story so that you could focus more on your own plot developments or did you just feel like it was implied that that happened before the events of your story?
2. Where did the Astrid Bonner character come from? I don't seem to remember her although it feels like I should already know who she is when her character appears? I recognized Simone Tanaka from the Vesuvius Prophecy as an original character of yours but I don't remember
Astrid.
3. Nice touch using the Klingon mask. Kapla!! I couldn't help but smile when I read that.
4. My only disappointment was that Shawn seemed to disappear from the story. I know you had a lot of characters to juggle with and a limited amount of time to devote to each of them. Will Shawn be featured more in Promises Broken?
5. Since the show never showed us who were the rest of the Marked that were on the list that Tom gave to Jordan are there any specific reasons behind choosing the identities of these characters?
Overall, thanks for the fun read. I had a good time immersing myself in that universe as you can probably tell. I truly hope there will be more 4400 novels to come if at all possible. I look forward to David Mack's Promises Broken.
I might think of more questions. When I do, I'll post them here.
P.S. If I ever visit Philly, I'll make a point of visiting Eastern State Penitentiary. Of course, my dislike for Philly's baseball and football teams might very well get me locked up.
Let's Go Mets!!! Let's Go Giants!!!!!
