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Title: Uprising: Ascension
Series: Pacific Rim #2
Author: Greg Keyes
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Movie Tie-In
Pages: 320
Format: Digital Edition
| Synopsis: |
Taking place 17’ish years after Pacific Rim, we follow several new recruits into the Ranger program, from which new Jaeger pilots are chosen. With the closing of the portal and threat from the Kaiju vanquished, the Jaegers were re-purposed into peace keeping forces. Nor did technology stand still and the Mark 6 is the latest model.
Jinhai and Viktoriya are both talented candidates with their own issues. Jinhai is the son of a famous pair of Jaiger pilots and has always felt left out of his own family. Vik was raised by her grandparents and told that her parents were the brave Russian Jaeger pilots who went down stopping the Kaiju threat. But from the get-go of everyone’s training, things go seriously wrong. A training jaeger is sabotaged and a technician killed. Suspicion rests on Jinhai or Vik and ties to Kaiju worshippers pop up incriminating both of them.
We also get flashbacks about Jinhai and Vik growing up that show the forces that have shaped them.
Eventually the Kaiju worshippers make their move. They kidnap Jinhai and Vik and plan to sacrifice them as they detonate a bomb drenched in kaiju blook (thus exponentially increasing its power) under an island, thus opening a new portal to the anteverse and the Kaiju. They are stopped in time but it is obvious that Jinhai and Vik weren’t random selections for the sacrifice.
The Kaiju will return and humanity must be ready.
| My Thoughts: |
Last time I read a movie prequel book was Terminator: Salvation: Cold War. I had already watched the movie and absolutely loved it. The book was enjoyable as a backstory filler and it led me on to Terminator: Salvation: From the Ashes. That was a direct prequel and I loved it. All of this leads up to say that I had decent expectations for this prequel movie tie-in.
This was the novel prequel to Pacific Rim: Uprising. I have not watched the movie yet but since I enjoyed the first movie so much at some point I know I’ll watch it. So I figured why not read the prequel to get me ready for the movie? Man, what a mistake. The thing with Terminator: Salvation is that I watched the movie first. I should have done the same thing with this book.
There was nothing wrong with this book but I was bored for most of it, as it was almost all setup for the movie. There was way too much “I’m a poor hurt teenager, feel bad for me while I sulk and act like a spoiled brat” and not any jaeger fights. Thankfully, we do get simulated jaeger fights in their training and it was fun to see them work through scenarios that previous pilots had battled through. The kaiju worshipers were the big threat and they were poorly done. Caricatures and barely there.
I had the movie novelization on my tbr, but after this and re-reading my review for the original Pacific Rim, I’m going to pass and just watch the movie “sometime”.
★★☆☆½
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
I haven’t seen any of the films and was wondering if I’d enjoy the books more because of this … going by tge fact you haven’t seen the film this is a prequel to, I’m assuming the answer would probably be a no.
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No, the first book wasn’t nearly as fun as the movie (I loved Pacific Rim. I’m sure there are giant plotholes you can drive a robot through, but mecha fighting monsters? Yes please!).
I talked to my brother after reading this and he said the second movie was aimed at a younger audience than the first and it really showed. I’m guessing teen drama/angst? But I won’t be watching it now, between this book and his non-recommendation.
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I haven’t read this, but I really enjoyed the first movie. Not great cinema, but a highly enjoyable flick. I might see the second one some day, but tie-in novels are always a risk and I will probably pass…
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My bro told me the second movie stank, so I’m going to avoid it now
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Book prequels for movies (or even adaptations of the movies) can be touch and go. There are enough good ones to keep us hoping, but I think most of them aren’t as good as we want them to be.
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I concur. They never live up to the hype. The only time I read novelizations now is if it is a movie I’m semi-interested in but not quite enough to invest the Eye time…
It’s weird because I won’t think twice about adding a book to my tbr…
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This is one of many reasons why I struggle even considering movie tie-ins or novelizations hahah Hope your next novelization will be much more fruitful.
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I doubt I’ll be reading any movie tie-ins for quite some time now….
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Tie-in novelizations often fall short of the goal, which is strange because usually I find that books are better than the movie they inspired, so there must be some peculiar inverse chemistry at work here… Still, I had to laugh at “feel bad for me while I sulk and act like a spoiled brat”: that was SO “bad YA” that I could not avoid being amused 🙂
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I think Ascension is geared much more toward YA and has all of its attendant faults, at least according to what my bro told me. Definitely not going to bother watching it now…
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Pacific Rim has never made me feel like I should go see it. Came out after transformers so I thought it was just a cheaper version, same withBattleship, I think they used the same set peices lol
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I liked the original a lot. It was like an anime come to real life. It should have been a standalone. I think the second movie was a serious over-reach and cash grab and it will tarnish the first one 😦
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