A birthday gift from Jeff and startling different from the film. Perhaps it's all the "imprinting," but I prefer the film. ( )

Its all about the distopian future novel at the moment (I just finished reading Make Room, Make Room! and Friday, both of which have a not-so-bright vision of the future). This book was turned into a movie as well, and is a lighter read than Make Room, Make Room!. The future is equally dark here though, and I think the writing technique on display in Make Room, Make Room! is better than the one used here. In places this book feels like a script outline. An example is during an escape sequence, where there is a single sentence describing how Logan escapes from a danger. There is no tension or insight -- just "Logan avoided the blah". Overall I thought this book was disappointing, with a premise that is hard to believe.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/William_F... ( )

I was really looking forward to reading Logan’s Run. I expected a social commentary on what was going on in the late sixties wrapped in the form of an action/adventure novel. Logan’s Run was sort of that, but it wasn’t a very good job of it. The ideas were just better than the book they were turned into.

The book felt like the novelization of a television series. The first two chapters were a strong pilot episode, and then a chapter would start with them exiting a mazecar (a small cart that travels through a vast maze of underground tunnels, running city-to-city and even continent-to-continent). They would have an adventure in their new location. Then board a mazecar again and it was on to a new adventure. Logan and Jess didn’t really seem to grow or change as characters through the course of the story.

The story seemed to be made up as it went along. For instance, Logan and Jess crossed the continent in mazecars for two thirds of the book, even traveling to the North Pole and a submerged city. Then suddenly when it served the story they couldn’t use them any longer because scanners at the mazecar entrance would pick them up. Where were those scanners the rest of the time?

I just never got the feeling that William F. Nolan had an overarching vision of where his story was going as he wrote the book. Plot twists and characters seemingly came from out of nowhere. The characters of Box and Whale were interesting characters for sure, but they didn’t really add anything to the story of Logan, Jess and their world. If they were removed the book would have come off as more focused.

In the end, I'd really have a tough time recommending this one. For once, the movie got it better. ( )

I first read this book when I was thirteen--back when my life clock, if I had one, would have been blue. Now I'm old enough to have a few years on Ballard, the senior character of the book. Logan's Run, if you're not familiar with the book, comics, television show or movie, is a tale set in a world under population control. Human beings are alloted 21 years of life, then must submit to euthanasia. (Pleasantly called "sleep" in the book.) Now and then you get someone who doesn't want to go quietly into that dark night and tries to escape. When someone becomes a "runner" like than, then the law is enforced by a Deep Sleep agent, a "Sandman". Logan is a Sandman, and when his Lastday comes up, he wants to spend it hunting down and eliminating Sanctuary, the rumored place where runners can live free of the law and of Sandmen. Posing as a runner, he hooks up with a lady named Jessica and together they make their way to the promised haven. But as their quest continues, one starts to wonder--is Logan that good an actor? Or is he starting to question the status quo? I've loved this book for years, though it's been a while since I last pulled it off my shelf. This time around it wasn't as enjoyable. I found myself questioning all sorts of things--from the timeframe required for all of Logan's adventures to the overuse of one word sentences. Truly! Maybe I'm just too old, but I have to wonder what a society essentially created by teenagers would look like. The teenagers in Logan's reality sound way too old. However, if you don't think too deeply, it's a fun read.
--J. ( )

A bit disappointing. On the plus side, the book was good at creating an atmosphere of doom, making good use of the fact that the age of compulsory euthanasia was 21 as opposed to 30 in the film. However, the explanation for the rise of this perverted society is unconvincing and the ending I thought rather lame. I didn't care for the author's writing style either. This is one case where the film is definitely better in my view. ( )