I'm not the biggest Stephen King fan in the world, but I've always admired his storytelling ability. But I couldn't help but be very disappointed when I discovered what his novel 11/22/63 is about.
(I suppose you could consider this a spoiler although this is the type of info you'll probably find in the dust jacket and it's being referenced in news stories and reviews.)
It's about a guy who goes back in time to try to stop JFK's assassination.
That has got to be the most unoriginal premise on the planet. This is the storyline Paramount rejected multiple times when Roddenberry tried to get it made as a Star Trek movie; Red Dwarf opened its 7th season with it; Quantum Leap devoted a 2-parter to it; when Doctor Who came back in 2005 the Ninth Doctor was placed there (and an earlier novel, Who Killed Kennedy, was also based on the event with the title pretty much telling the whole story). The idea of someone going back in time to stop an event has been done to death, too - heck I just saw an episode of Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet based on the premise. And wasn't Seven Days based on the premise (as was, to a lesser extent, Crime Traveller)?
I'm sure it'll be a half-decent book, and of course it's coming out now so that there's time for them to make a movie out of it for November 2013.* I'm just disappointed that King would take on such an over-used premise. The only thing new here is that King usually doesn't do science-fiction (that's assuming some technology is utilized in the time travel; a Huffington Post story uses the term "time travel magic" which for King is quite possible, too.
Alex
* After typing that I see Jonathan Demme is indeed directing a film version that's going to go into production in 2012.
(I suppose you could consider this a spoiler although this is the type of info you'll probably find in the dust jacket and it's being referenced in news stories and reviews.)
It's about a guy who goes back in time to try to stop JFK's assassination.
That has got to be the most unoriginal premise on the planet. This is the storyline Paramount rejected multiple times when Roddenberry tried to get it made as a Star Trek movie; Red Dwarf opened its 7th season with it; Quantum Leap devoted a 2-parter to it; when Doctor Who came back in 2005 the Ninth Doctor was placed there (and an earlier novel, Who Killed Kennedy, was also based on the event with the title pretty much telling the whole story). The idea of someone going back in time to stop an event has been done to death, too - heck I just saw an episode of Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet based on the premise. And wasn't Seven Days based on the premise (as was, to a lesser extent, Crime Traveller)?
I'm sure it'll be a half-decent book, and of course it's coming out now so that there's time for them to make a movie out of it for November 2013.* I'm just disappointed that King would take on such an over-used premise. The only thing new here is that King usually doesn't do science-fiction (that's assuming some technology is utilized in the time travel; a Huffington Post story uses the term "time travel magic" which for King is quite possible, too.
Alex
* After typing that I see Jonathan Demme is indeed directing a film version that's going to go into production in 2012.
