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#1 2007-08-03 08:02:17

J_A
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From: CTU Zurich
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24- the official companion s3 and 4

51WgiXqS1xL._AA240_.jpg

does anyone know this book or has anyone read it? I'm thinking of getting it along with the newest (and last?) 24-declassified book, Chaos Theory. of course, being that it's written by a woman and deals with season3 and 4 I have hopes that it will have lots of stuff on tony and michelle, so would like to not be disapointed.

suggestions?


tony.jpg

"Yeah, I didn't wanna believe Tony Almeida was a terrorist either, but at some point we just have to deal with the facts. Not with what we want to believe is true."

You need to start living in the real world! Because every second you help the government you're spittin' on Teri's grave!

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#2 2007-08-03 15:48:35

smitten
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Registered: 2007-04-12
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Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

Haven't got the companion, though I will at some point buy it. Chaos Theory is good, imo the best of that series.

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#3 2007-08-03 16:34:38

J_A
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From: CTU Zurich
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Posts: 1,436
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Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

oh really? because I'm not much of a fan of jon witham. i think cerassini does a much better job of staying in character and also likes tony more tongue. I really went 'awww' when I read his acknowledgements for the last book (vanishing point) where he thanked carlos bernard and said, "tony almeida, you *will* be missed." although this book feels like he'd went through the seasons and just collected his favorite characters and put them right in the mix. not that it's bad but it makes the book very AU. as AU as you can get, probably. the only way to top that would be if he had tony and michelle meet lol but I still like his 3 books, in fact I wish they'd continue the series and give cerassini a few more books to write. and go beyond the pre-season 1 period. why not just make it fanfics like we do? between seasons.


tony.jpg

"Yeah, I didn't wanna believe Tony Almeida was a terrorist either, but at some point we just have to deal with the facts. Not with what we want to believe is true."

You need to start living in the real world! Because every second you help the government you're spittin' on Teri's grave!

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#4 2007-08-03 20:53:58

smitten
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Registered: 2007-04-12
Posts: 169

Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

jack_addict wrote:

not that it's bad but it makes the book very AU. as AU as you can get, probably. .

AU?

You're right about Marc Cerasini writing better Tony stories. The best Tony plots are in Vanishing Point and Trojan Horse (I just went to check, because, after a while, I forget which is which). I just find that John Whitman is more subtle with Jack's sexuality, and the violence is, what can I say, more satisfying? I liked Chaos Theory because you get to understand the villain that bit better.

I think they've done just about all they can with the years leading up to season 1. They could go further back, tell us how Jack managed to do basic training, get a degree in English literature and maintain a marriage all at the same time. Or, like you say, they could go between seasons. I hope they do something.

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#5 2007-08-03 21:08:11

J_A
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Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

yeah I know, all the declassified novels are pre-season 1. which makes one big thing very difficult : dealing with nina myers and jamey farrell being there, and knowing what they'll turn out to be. that's why I'm hoping for other books in other times with other characters. and - this is a spoiler if you haven't read the book, but seeing henderson working with tony and knowing the end of that relationship? *shakes head* no no no... but I'll let it pass cause... well, I dunno why. probably because if I don't, then I can't finish reading the book.

the thing with tony is, I always get the feeling that as the books get started, the chapters are long and there's lots of tony, and it's really promising, and then as space becomes limiting towards the end, the chapters are short, and suddenly the hour takes only like 3 pages instead of 20, and by the same token, tony's story just gets thrown out. it happened in all the stories so far, even in trojan horse, which was a really good tony's story, at least in the beginning. but by the end of the book, he was just sitting at CTU twiddling thumbs. so I'm a bit afraid that that's what will happen here in vanishing point as well, but ... we'll see. I'm only on the 3rd chapter so far.

AU means alternate (alternative?) universe. it's basically used to talk about everything that is freely invented by the author of the story but doesn't follow the true storyline of the show anymore. for example, whereas we all know that teri bauer died at the end of season 1, if someone wrote a story taking place after season 2 and had teri be alive and well
, that would be ignoring an actual fact and going AU. artistic liberty, I suppose, but it depends on the person if you value AU or not. I always keep in character and keep with the actual storyline in my fanfictions. maybe an element here and there does manage to go AU, but I try not to go majorly off the track wink

hmm. I'm including spoiler tags here because this is the off topic section, but in reality I'm trying to figure out where a better place would be to move this discussion. cause it is not exactly OFF topic. it is 24.


tony.jpg

"Yeah, I didn't wanna believe Tony Almeida was a terrorist either, but at some point we just have to deal with the facts. Not with what we want to believe is true."

You need to start living in the real world! Because every second you help the government you're spittin' on Teri's grave!

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#6 2007-08-04 09:27:34

J_A
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From: CTU Zurich
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Posts: 1,436
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Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

I'm moving this topic to the Archives.


tony.jpg

"Yeah, I didn't wanna believe Tony Almeida was a terrorist either, but at some point we just have to deal with the facts. Not with what we want to believe is true."

You need to start living in the real world! Because every second you help the government you're spittin' on Teri's grave!

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#7 2007-08-06 12:29:03

smitten
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Registered: 2007-04-12
Posts: 169

Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

jack_addict wrote:

yeah I know, all the declassified novels are pre-season 1. which makes one big thing very difficult : dealing with nina myers and jamey farrell being there, and knowing what they'll turn out to be.

I quite like that. Knowing that Nina was there for all that time, establishing her cover and no-one worked it out, it adds another layer.

jack_addict wrote:

the thing with tony is, I always get the feeling that as the books get started, the chapters are long and there's lots of tony, and it's really promising, and then as space becomes limiting towards the end, the chapters are short, and suddenly the hour takes only like 3 pages instead of 20, and by the same token, tony's story just gets thrown out.

Yes, Tony never quite makes the final takedown, but he does get some great scenes. The one where he's half-naked, running around the airstrip saving the day, his skin blistering from the heat of the blast - I can just imagine it, I don't need to see it on the TV. Carlos has created the character for me, so I can just sit back and enjoy the story. (In fact, there's a good opportunity for someone - spin-off novels centred on Tony.)

jack_addict wrote:

AU means alternate (alternative?) universe. it's basically used to talk about everything that is freely invented by the author of the story but doesn't follow the true storyline of the show anymore.

Mostly I think these books are about as plausible/implausible as the TV series, there are only a few inconsistencies which I am able to overlook. Iirc, there is a timeline problem as Hell Gate refers to the twin towers still standing, but this is clearly set several years before season 1. Mainly, I thought they occupy the same universe as the TV series, even if Jack's on a different planet from the rest of us!

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#8 2007-08-06 13:26:22

J_A
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From: CTU Zurich
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Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

all true (and I actually do write tony centered novels big_smile).

i think the inconsistencies mostly refer to technology that hasn't existed back then (or maybe doesn't even exist now). like in the last book, cat's claw, jack snaps a photo of a guy with his mobile phone and sends it to ctu for analysis... now i know that camera phones were only starting to happen back then (and the story would have been maybe in the last century still, right?) but the resolution was probably pretty bad (in fact jamey does comment on that) but still. somehow it's not quite plausible. there were other tech gimmicks that i can't remember anymore

that being said, i don't mind that, but i like to have the characters stay in character. that's what i care about


tony.jpg

"Yeah, I didn't wanna believe Tony Almeida was a terrorist either, but at some point we just have to deal with the facts. Not with what we want to believe is true."

You need to start living in the real world! Because every second you help the government you're spittin' on Teri's grave!

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#9 2007-08-08 10:59:21

smitten
Member
Registered: 2007-04-12
Posts: 169

Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

jack_addict wrote:

all true (and I actually do write tony centered novels big_smile).

Do you? Where can I read them? There are some links in the fanart section, but they no longer work.

As for them staying in character, I have just a slight problem in the novels when Nina hares around with a gun - we are specifically told in season 1 that she is not a field agent. But mostly, they are just a cracking read!

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#10 2007-08-08 18:48:00

J_A
Administrator
From: CTU Zurich
Registered: 2007-03-05
Posts: 1,436
Website

Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

smitten wrote:
jack_addict wrote:

all true (and I actually do write tony centered novels big_smile).

Do you? Where can I read them? There are some links in the fanart section, but they no longer work.

As for them staying in character, I have just a slight problem in the novels when Nina hares around with a gun - we are specifically told in season 1 that she is not a field agent. But mostly, they are just a cracking read!

well tony has never been a field agent either and yet he's being sent undercover and going into the field all the time.... i suppose it's cause he's a Marine.

as for my fanfiction, try the links in my signature... smile


tony.jpg

"Yeah, I didn't wanna believe Tony Almeida was a terrorist either, but at some point we just have to deal with the facts. Not with what we want to believe is true."

You need to start living in the real world! Because every second you help the government you're spittin' on Teri's grave!

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#11 2008-03-12 11:51:32

Past Present Fortune
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Registered: 2008-02-13
Posts: 146

Re: 24- the official companion s3 and 4

I have all of the official companion books, they are simply awesome and great additions to the seasons themselves, I highly recommend that you buy them.

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