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Title: Majestic
Series: ———-
Author: Whitley Strieber
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 267
Words: 95K
Majestic is the name of the secret government agency tasked with dealing with aliens, etc in the United States Government. This book was published in 1989 and in 1993 the tv show The X-Files started airing. I will eat my hat, and quite possibly my boots too, if Chris Carter, the creator of the X-Files didn’t read this book and lift parts of it whole sale to create the X-Files mythology. The head of Majestic is even a bitter old man who has given himself cancer by smoking so much (one of the main villains in the X-Files is the Smoking Man). Because I have seen the X-Files, this felt like an origins story and was rather boring since all the bits and pieces had already been revealed. The differences and specifics were small enough and didn’t matter enough so I wasn’t really interested.
This is supposedly non-fiction posing as fiction to protect Strieber, but come on. And it committed the cardinal sin of being boring. I mean really, really, really boring. And aliens invading us, or protecting us or evolving us, or whatever the heck Strieber is claiming (all of the above at the same time plus some other stuff as far as I could tell) should NOT be boring.
I am debating whether I want to try again with Strieber. Part of writing reviews is so I can think about things like this and not make a snap decision. Sometimes not continuing isn’t even on my mind (like with Universe 2 from yesterday) until I start writing and then I can easily make a decision. This isn’t like that unfortunately. I have been considering this since about halfway through this book and I still can’t make up my mind. Am I hitting a bad run of Strieber or is he really just not for me? Is he really boring like this book? If he is, do I dare give him a 3rd chance? Cat Magic was also very boring, so you know what? I’m done with Strieber. I’ll leave him to those who want him.
★★☆☆☆
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
I liked Streiber’s film about aliens probing Chris Walken, but that was the high point so far…not easy to improve on that.
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Yeah, how do you beat that kind of cinematic magic, eh?
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I got frustrated trying to figure out just what the aliens were up to in the X-Files mythology, so this would probably push me over the edge.
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It didn’t help that Carter, the creator of the X-files, seemed to change his mind every couple of seasons. The mythology was a real mess by the end.
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Agreed. I have been rewatching The X-Files recently and while the “monster-of-the-week” episodes are great, those with the alien/government conspiracy are muddled and rudderless. It was a real mess.
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And Carter totally destroyed the mythology when he started the series again with season 10(I think). I couldn’t watch any more 😦
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The problem with that kind of a story though is that you can’t ever resolve it. Once you do it’s pretty much over. It’s like on Twin Peaks once they revealed the identity of Bob. So as long as the series kept getting renewed they had to keep fudging things as they went along to keep it going, and once you got to the later seasons it was all falling apart and impossible to keep straight.
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Yep. You have to be willing to tell a story and then be done. It became evident that Carter wasn’t willing to do that and by the end, Scully and Mulder were synonymous with the Xfiles, so trying to keep the show going with new characters was out too.
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I ate xfiles for breakfast as a kid. Some episodes were terrifying specially a certain one where some guy was hiding underneath an escillator or something. I never wanted to go up those things on the of ocassion we went to the city
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yeah, the xfiles definitely got into the horror side of things. I didn’t watch it until I was an adult out and about on my own, so thankfully I didn’t have to deal with anything like what happened for you 🙂
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For some reason I have never felt the desire to try out one of Strieber’s books, and now your stress on the oh-so-boring quality of his writing makes me think I should always, always rely on my so-called “book vibes”…. 🙂
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Your book vibes are spot on, once again.
It’s amazing, really, how well that works for you.
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If I had the slightest idea about how the whole thing works I would patent it… 😀 😀
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I’ve always been curious about Streiber’s Communion. Have you read that book? I do recommend his werewolf novel “Wolfen” though. A good, pulpy mystery with a great 1970s New York setting.
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I have not. After this mess, I won’t be bothering either.
I thought about trying some of his more fiction’y books, but honestly, looking at titles and even synopses, I can’t tell which is supposed to be fake real (like this book and Communion) and which is real fiction (like I assume Wolfen is).
I don’t have time for that so Streiber gets a pass. maybe if I was a ufo nut I’d give him more chances, but since my ideas about ufo’s are already formed, and pretty strongly, nothing he has to say does a thing for me.
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I appreciate you letting us know that this book is boring. That’s unforgiveable for a “UFO” book.
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Boring is definitely a big no-no for me and the books I read. I can read soup cans if I want boring 😀
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Haha! Or watch Marvel’s The Eternals. Good for insomnia!
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I have not been tempted even one iota by that movie. I don’t think I heard anything good, at all, from anyone I follow who watched it.
and I doubt it is free on prime either, knowing Disney…
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I tried watching it on streaming and couldn’t even finish it. So dull and boring. What a waste of Jack Kirby’s ideas!
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And you’re a bigger comic fan than me, so you know it wouldn’t work for me.
maybe I should try it friday night to see if it works better than a sleeping pill, hahahahahaa!
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It is indeed weird that he managed to make this premise seem so boring… Not a good sign. I feel like you might have mentioned it at some point in the past but do you still or do you plan on rewatching the X-Files? 😮
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I am currently rewatching them now, albeit extremely slowly. I believe I am in season 7? Where Carter seems to be trying to downplay the whole alien side of things, sigh…
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I once heard the fantastic quote, “It is a SIN to bore children with the Gospel.”
A close second: It is a sin to bore the reader with aliens.
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Amen!
😉
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This author’s schtick is alien stories, right? If so, I think I’ve read a book by him once. It wasn’t boring but it wasn’t great either. Maybe it’s just his style but I haven’t felt to urge to pick up anything else by him since, but my next time will still be try #2 so I still have a couple chances left to give 😀
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Yep, he seems to be convinced they are real, and made a movie about it, Communion.
Best of luck if you ever do pick up something by him.
You’re going to need it, hahaha
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