Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes

This book, which takes place 5-6 months before the movie, is an excellent introduction to the post-Judgment Day world of 2018. We meet most of the main characters of the movie and get some insight into their history, character, and motivations. We also get a real look at what day-to-day life is like in the post-apocalypse, not just for the epic heroes but also for average people trying to survive in a dangerous and terrifying world where Skynet's ever-expanding army of killing machines are just one of several hazards. And scary it is. Zahn does his usual perfect job of keeping the tension level up. It's dark and gritty but also surprisingly human, with just a touch of humor here and there to provide a contrast to the action. From The Ashes stands on its own as a superior page turner set in the Terminator universe, but it also enhances the movie by providing insight into both the world and the people in it.

I normally don't read books relating to an upcoming movie, since sometimes you find yourself reading something that's completely not needed to read or even unworthy of your attention. I can't speak for everyone, but some of the previous attempts by Star Wars novel authors to write prequels and/or books related to previous terminator films have been faulty. Take Aaron Allston's Terminator Dreams, which put me to sleep. Timothy Zahn, on the other hand, is one of those sci-fi authors who can come into differing series', and write books in them without compromising the integrity of the storyline it follows. Such is the case with Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes. From the very first pages, in which you meet a Marine and find out his distaste for being called a 'gringo' since he is full-blooded Mexican, you can feel a pull. Having the events of Judgement Day written out from the point of view of someone who has NEVER been expecting this is much more interesting than reading the novels where its all from the point of view of the Connors or one of their guardians. This Marine and those around him, I think, show a very realistic view of what people in our world today would feel like if mushroom clouds began popping up all over the map. Reading about the politics of the Resistance is a good laugh, especially for hard-core Terminator fans I think, since we know that John Connor's going to become the leader, and so seeing someone bossing him around and actually considering his current unit to be not worth sending in more weapons and equipment is something I laugh at. Add this to the council in the Lost Ashes Hotel, and you got an interesting bit of politics to read about. The only problem for me was that I wished the book was longer! Of course, any longer and it might as well be one of the paperback version's of Robert Jordan's books, or Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels for that matter. Well, this book is worth the money, I say. I am looking forward to seeing the movie, and am already planning on a midnight showing. No freaking way am I waiting in a line during the day, unless I've already seen it.

One of the best sci-fi authors tackling one of the best sci-fi universes, you cannot possibly go wrong with this book. The writing and the plot are excellent - it's quite difficult to put down once you start reading, and yet something seemed missing. After pondering for a while, I believe what was missing was scope. Whereas many of his other book span worlds and universes, this was really only one battle in an epic war. It reads like a good movie. It moves along well and keeps you interested, introduces a large cast of characters and gives each one a distinct personality, but doesn't delve deep into the psyche of any one character. This is a war book. It's not a character book like the S. M. Sterling's Terminator series. If you like the Terminator movies or TV series, then you'll like this book, but just don't expect it to be earth-shattering.

Well I have to admit that I almost didn't pick this book up and read it because I initially thought that it was the novelization of the upcoming movie. I have done that before, bought the novelization of a movie and then read it before the movie itself, and I won't ever make that mistake again. I did that with X-Men - The Last Stand (Collector's Edition) and with Spider-Man 2 (Widescreen Special Edition) and although it didn't totally ruin the movies for me, it did make them a lot less fun to watch since I already knew pretty much everything that was going to happen. Anyhow, I passed up this book the first week it was out and then a couple of days ago I took a closer look at the cover and realized that it was the prequel novel to the movie. Suddenly I had an epiphany and bought this book as quick as I could so that I could go home and start reading it, and let me tell you I am sure glad that I did. I have been a HUGE FAN of Timothy Zahn's work ever since I read Heir to the Empire (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Vol. 1), Dark Force Rising (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Book 2), and The Last Command (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Vol. 3). Zahn is a phenomenal writer and he really seems to be able to capture any character that he writes about, and that is exactly what he does in this novel. According to the back cover, the story in this book supposedly takes place just prior to the upcoming movie, Terminator: Salvation, which stars Christian Bale in the title role of John Connor. Now I am not going to give the story away, as I really hate it myself when somebody spoils the story for me, but I will tell you the following: You will be introduced to a young teenage Kyle Reese. You will learn that John and Kate Connor were not always the leaders of the resistance. You will be introduced to a USMC Marine that exemplifies the best ideals of the corp. You will see the beginnings of the battle with Skynet before all the plasma rifles, etc. You will get a very unusual surprise in the last two sentences on page 311. Trust me explicitly on this one and definitely pick up this book and read it before you see the movie. It will only add to the movie experience by understanding a bunch of the back-story. I would also highly recommend getting Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - The Complete First Season (DVD) (Widescreen) (w/Exclusive Steelbook Packaging) and Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Season 2 on DVD as it is a very good series and gets better with every episode. Shawn Kovacich Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.

This book was so good and makes a great addition to any terminator fan's collection. It makes for a great transition from Terminator 3 :Rise of the Machines to Terminator Salvation. It contains all the original characters and even adds new ones that show up in the new film!!!