Jim Henson, Gary Kurtz and Frank Oz during the filming for The Dark Crystal. The two must battle the evil Skeksis and save Thra. On his quest to The Castle of the Crystal, Jen meets Kira, another Gelfling. If Jen succeeds, the world will be saved but if Jen fails, the Skeksis will rule the land forever. Jen is sent by his dying master on a journey to heal the Dark Crystal. The last Gelfling left on Thra, a male named Jen, was saved and raised by the Mystics. Due to the prophecy, the Skeksis hunted down and killed all the Gelflings. A prophecy was written that stated if a Gelfling healed the crystal, the world would be renewed and the UrSkek would be reunited. ”ġ,000 years ago the crystal cracked, and the spirits of the UrSkek were divided into the peaceful Mystics and the evil Skeksis. Then strife began, and two new races appeared: the cruel Skeksis. For a single piece was lost a shard of the Crystal. A thousand years ago, this land was green and good, until the Crystal cracked. The Dark Crystal novel is worth the time and money, but hardly essential reading.“Another World, Another Time. ACH Smith went on to adapt Labyrinth into a novel (I hear Kate Moss did the same.joke!) which is also OOP and sells for insane prices. Dark Crystal literature is still very popular and I imagine that a new edition of this novel, however average, would still sell. I'd suggest checking out the amazing The World of the Dark Crystal, which is everything a Dark Crystal fan could want.ĭespite the straight-forward nature of this novel I am surprised it is not in print anymore. If you're looking for an expansion on Jen and Kira's quest to heal the crystal before the Great Conjunction then you won't find it here. Most novelizations are born from the expanded screenplay of a movie before shooting restrictions and editing room decisions cut it down. Bizarrely, The Dark Crystal, a movie rich with subtext, allegory, and vision, becomes a rather workmanlike novel written by ACH Smith, a novelist and playwrite who really ought to be capable of better. Some movies have become good novels, especially the many 80s fantasy movies my childhood was lucky enough to be saturated by. With those wonderful images, the book does embellish upon the plot and make the world of Thra coming that much more alive. I think the book really only works after having watched the movie a few times and really getting the images into your head. The author never really gives a good physical description of the Gelflings of Skeksis. Unlike the movie, where the urRu are presented as lovable mystics, in the book Jen starts to question whether they were a bit too passive, too little practical knowledge. Also, the book expands upon Jen's character and ambiguous relationship with the urRu. We see his insecurity as rivals plot for the emperor's throne. The novel actually tells most of the Skeksis scenes through his point of view. I think the biggest plot element is that it really expands upon the Garthim-Master's character. As such, I was curious to see how this novel adaptation of the movie worked. If you enjoyed watching "The Dark Crystal," I recommend reading this book.ĭark Crystal is a very visual film, but it's also obvious that the movie had so much more story it could tell but couldn't due to time and technological constraints. It did not interfere with my overall enjoyment of this book. However, since the original concept of the movie had the Skeksis speak their own language with English subtitles, I can let this one detail go as a difference in stylistic preferences. This is different from the movie, where they speak English. Rather than regular dialogue, there are a few Skeksis phrases followed by a summary of what they said. The only thing I didn't like about this book was that the Skeksis speak in their own language. Each feels like it is one part of the whole and Jim Henson himself said that he considers A.C.H Smith's novelization part of "The Dark Crystal" canon. It does not feel jarring when compared to the movie or the companion book "The World of the Dark Crystal" by Brian Froud and J.J. It's an older style than most modern books, but gives it a sense of weight and depth that is appropriate to the feeling of this world that Jen and Kira inhabit. The language in this book is beautiful, a real joy to read, precise and evocative. Smith manages to infuse interest and wonder into the book while staying true to the events of the movie. Some novelizations or movie-to-book adaptations are slower, more boring rehashes of the original material, but A.C.H. Smith does a wonderful job bringing the world of "The Dark Crystal" to life in this novelization.
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