Well I’ve finished Matthew Reilly’s Hell Island novella, for 100 pages it’s rip-roaring Scarecrow action, but not an Armalite MH12 Maghook in sight, I kid you not!! It’s not even mentioned, not once! I guess in 100 pages it would pretty much suck if he got out of one of the two main scrapes using his favourite toy. It did, however get my appetite up for his new one and I’ve started on Hover Car Racer, which I hadn’t got round to reading before.The novella was produced for the Australian Government sponsored “Books Alive” programme, to encourage more reading in Australia (Reilly’s home). It also includes a few pages from his forthcoming Seven Ancient Wonders (due in January in the UK, and called 7 Deady Wonders in the US because clever words like Ancient and Philosopher don’t appeal to thickie Americans), which looks to be another riproaring affair with a new protagonist, Jack West Jnr, apparently no relation to Fred and Rose, or John’s tuna.One thing that interested me with Hell Island is how easily a novella can become a novel. Here, the story thunders to a conclusion through some prior knowledge on the part of Scarecrow. However Reilly could have removed this knowledge and brought the information to light through additional plot segments, perhaps finding some old maps or exploring the island further. Perhaps this novella was originally going to be Scarecrow IV, and maybe the story has been sat on Reilly’s PC for some time? This is worth bearing in mind for budding writers - no idea should be binned, simply put it somewhere on your computer (or blog?) for future use and one day you will probably find a use or place for it.It would also appear that Matthew Reilly is as big a fan of Joss Whedon and Serenity as I am. Looking forward to that one on DVD I am.
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