V: The Novelisation

 As I said before, V was a roaring success, and that success meant that tie-ins needed to arrive. The first if these was the adaptation of the two mini-series in the form of a chunky paperback novel by Ann Crispin. At the time, Crispin was presumably seen as a safe pair of hands. She had experienced breakout success with a Star Trek novel and delivered a V novelisation that is engaging throughout and that rockets along at impressive pace. 

Released in the US at the same time as the second mini-series, I think it's obvious to see the differences in approach to the two mini series. 

Presumably, in the case of the original two parter, which had already aired, Crispin had access to both the scripts and the completed material. Much like that original show, the first half of the book is more thoughtful, takes more time to develop the characters, and indeed expands some of them from their televised version. 

I wonder if, for the second series, she only had access to the scripts. Much like the final show it tends to move from set piece to set piece, not hesitating to fill in the gaps, and not really developing the characters. It's fair to say that although the second half of the book is still a thoroughly enjoyable read, it's much slighter than the first half. 

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