Vision Quest 2 : Synopsis

[jackyl]

For starters, the sequel refers to the book and not the movie. The original and Larry Colton's "Goat Brothers" are my two favorite books from my younger days, and I was more than a little intrigued when I stumbled upon Davis' website.

Of course, like many second helpings, this looks like an absolute dogturd. Here's the first paragraph of the synopsis.

hxxp://www.terrydavis.net/index.2ts?page=1001


VQ II: A Synopsis

Swains Out of Nowhere

Roy Swain (17), son of the late astronaut and Olympic gold medal wrestler Louden Swain, has caught his father on the Arts and Entertainment channel again. It's the Biography that contains the scene of Roy himself as a fourth grader in class watching his father blast off on the space shuttle and the subsequent explosion as the rocket carrying the shuttle reaches out toward the darkness on the other side of the sky. The little boy's face is frozen. Every young face but Roy's shows astonishment. Roy is devastated, but not astonished. Roy's father had told him since before Roy was old enough to reply that life was a dangerous place, and particularly dangerous for a man who rides a controlled explosion beyond the bounds of gravity. Roy's face is a mirror of loss and knowledge. Of course this can happen when we approach the darkness, whether it's the darkness of space or the darkness in other human beings. It's dangerous to be a warrior. Death is among the discoveries the warrior makes on the hero's quest.

[Senator]

jackyl,

Terry Davis and I are very good friends, and he sent me the entire second part to review and discuss almost 5 years ago now. I am not sure this will ever be published, but I enjoyed it very much. I think he is a fantastic writer, and I would not ever classify anything this guy writes as dog crap. Does it live up to the greatness of the first one? Probably not. If you were like me, you read that book in your formative years and it had a very deep effect on you. We are different people now, and a book about growing up will not relate the same as it does to someone who is 17.

[jackyl]

jackyl,

Terry Davis and I are very good friends, and he sent me the entire second part to review and discuss almost 5 years ago now. I am not sure this will ever be published, but I enjoyed it very much. I think he is a fantastic writer, and I would not ever classify anything this guy writes as dog crap. Does it live up to the greatness of the first one? Probably not. If you were like me, you read that book in your formative years and it had a very deep effect on you. We are different people now, and a book about growing up will not relate the same as it does to someone who is 17.

Strange stuff abound. I was reading the thread about your brother Clay playing collegiate football and thought of the book. So I googled Davis' name and up popped his website, complete with the synopsis mentioned earlier.

I still reread that book about twice a year, and my original copy has survived about fifteen moves. As a matter of fact, I think it's the longest tenured possession (of mine) in my house. So naturally I was a little excited to see that an actual sequel was already written.

Once I saw that Roy had a chimp, I stopped reading and started skimming. Maybe if there was a excerpt floating around instead of a synopsis, I wouldn't be disappointed in the way I was. I'm guessing that I should try out some of his other works outside the Louden-verse.

[Senator]

That is funny. Clay and I read Vision Quest once a year as sort of a tradition. Do you want to know something else strange? When I pulled up to the stadium in Wichita for the playoff game, some guys were out there having a tailgate party. When my family got out of the car, you could hear they had music playing above the fray. It was the Vision Quest soundtrack from the movie. I started laughing, and I told my parents that Clay would find that pretty cool if he knew about it. I saw it as a pretty good sign, and what do you know, we pulled off the upset that day.

My first edition is signed by Terry, and what he wrote to me was one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. I keep that book safe and sound.

I also hated the chimp angle, until I found out it was a direct result of what Roy's mom (Louden's wife) did for a living. It made much more sense. Still, I told him if he wanted to take out that angle, I wouldn't cry. I still am not sure it will even be published.

The other books - If Rock and Roll were a Machine, and Mysterious Ways are pretty good. Quite honestly, Vision Quest was such a good book, that all others fail by comparison.

[JeeberD]

I had no idea that Vision Quest was originally a book... :o

Looks like it's time for a trip to the bookstore.

[Senator]

Be prepared. The movie does not follow the timeline from the movie. Some who watch the movie expect it to be exactly the same and it isn't.

[jackyl]

The movie is excellent, but the book is special. I'm ten years removed from high school and I still get inspired virtually every time I pick it up.

[Grammaticus]

So I guess it's safe to say that Vision Quest 2 does not have Carla's coos in it?

[Senator]

So I guess it's safe to say that Vision Quest 2 does not have Carla's coos in it?


No, but Kuuuch makes a showing.

[WrongWay]

I just don't understand why they would need a "Coos" doctor in outerspace? :)

[Grammaticus]

I just don't understand why they would need a "Coos" doctor in outerspace? :)

You never know when you are going to get stuck in the space station.....