Jumper: Griffin’s Story
The first thing fans of Steven Gould’s “Jumper” series need to know is that my wife got a hold of the book before me and stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish it. When I got a hold of it, she watched the kids all morning so that I could read it. In one sitting. She brought me hot coffee. I let it go cold. Now that’s true love. It also says something about the pace of latest addition to the “Jumper” universe. I chowed down in one big bite — you will, too.
Jumperverse, rev. 2.0
The original Jumper introduced us to the adventures of Davy, who can teleport — instantly transporting himself to any place he’s ever been, if he can recreate a sufficiently detailed mental picture of his destination. Jumper: Griffin’s Story introduces Griffin O’Connor, providing the history and background to a character that was created especially for the adaptation of Jumper (the novel) to Jumper (the movie), slated for release in 2008. As such, Griffin’s Story comes with a significant caveat for fans of the “jumper” universe.
A Note about This Novel
My previous novels featuring teleportation, Jumper and Reflex, are the basis for the upcoming New Regency/Fox movie Jumper, to be released in early 2008. Like most novel-to-movie projects, the story’s events and circumstances mutate through the process of adaptation. This novel was written to be consistent with the movie, and, as a consequence, there are significant differences between its world and the world of the previous novels.
Steven Gould
Jumper: Griffin’s Story
Certain constraints come with the world of movie adaptation. While Griffin’s Story was not written to the movie script, I understand the manuscript was closely monitored to make sure it was consistent with what the director and producers wanted to achieve in the movie version. Sacrifices were made and some things have changed from the previous works in Jumperverse, most notably the bad guys.
What hasn’t changed is the breakneck pace, the engaging characters, the struggle to stay one step ahead of pursuit and the sense that the least mis-step could be the last.
Hello, Boys!
Griffin’s Story opens with a bang. Lots of them. As fans of Jumper know, teleportation is one of the world’s coolest powers. Except that someone wants Griffin dead. Before the story opens, a near miss has sent Griffin and his parents underground, moving from England to America where they hope to become lost in San Diego.
I held up four fingers and ticked them off one by one. “Never jump where someone can see me. Never jump near home. Never jump to or from the same place twice. And never, never, ever jump unless I must — or unless you or Mum tells me to.”
It doesn’t take long before the assassins find their new home and strike. Relying on the training his father has drummed into him, Griffin manages to escape. His parents are not so fortunate. At 9 years of age, Griffin is injured, alone in the desert and an orphan. Griffin goes into hiding, gains allies, grows older and learns more about his talent. Still, no matter where he goes or how careful he is, his mysterious pursuers are never far behind. With each encounter, Griffin gains valuable knowledge and experience but the personal cost is high. Bodies pile up in a one sided struggle as the assassins try to flush Griffin from cover. He flees again and again, puzzled by the source of the assassins and their motive for hunting him. He learns they can sense when he jumps, they call themselves “paladins” and they have an ancient history of seeking out and killing jumpers while they are still children.
The killer’s plan has a distinct flaw: a man with nothing left to lose is a man without fear. What follows after they rob Griffin of the last the thing that holds any meaning for him is left as an exercise to the reader.
Hint to Griffin: identify as many paladins as you can before offing them wholesale. Oh, and you might want to keep one alive and on ice so you locate surviving jumpers and get to them before the paladins do.
Rites of Passage
The comparison between Jumper and Griffin’s Story is inevitable. The prose in Jumper: Griffin’s Story is some of Steve’s best to date. The main characters are sympathetic and Griffin’s romantic entanglements are handled tenderly, as always. The original Jumper was action adventure, with the emphasis on the adventure as Davy explored how his talent works, its limitations and the implications on his life. Griffin’s Story is an action thriller, resembling nothing so much as a younger person’s version of The Bourne Ultimatum. Innumerable highly organized, lushly funded mysterious agents who hold themselves above law or morality engage Griffin in a desperate high velocity, life and death chase.
The premise of Griffin’s Story is highly charged. Personally, I wouldn’t want to go up against someone who can have as much money as he wants (by virtue of being able to step into any vault), any weapon or technology that he wants (by virtue of the same talents), who they can’t even locate without revealing their agents to Griffin’s tender mercies and who knows that his continued existence rests entirely on his being able to kill you before you kill him. Almost makes you sad for them.
Almost.
Hint to Griffin: get yourself some henchmen. With all of the cash lying around in bank vaults where you can see it, you should be able to afford some good ones. Personally, I would start with banks that hold paladin accounts. Maybe buy yourself the odd Congressman to be on the safe side.
Davy possesses power. In Jumper, he learns both how to use and abuse that power, and the decisions he makes shape the person he becomes. The question he faces is can he mature — create a balanced life — without becoming seduced and corrupted by that power?
Griffin, on the other hand, is possessed by a curse so powerful people he doesn’t even know are willing to kill him and everyone he loves. His adversaries have made it quite clear — Griffin must kill or be killed. His question is very elemental: can he stay alive?
Griffin’s Story offers more straight on action than the original Jumper. Still, I miss Davy’s thorough, Science Fiction-oid approach to his talent and situation. Where in Jumper we followed Davy as he rigorously explored the limits of his ability and how to use it, spending hours planning and practicing for some of his operations, Griffin’s Story is dedicated to keeping Griffin one step ahead of the assassins. Davy plans ahead, rehearses his operations, and his personal goals set the priority for much of the action. Griffin has no such luxury, in part because the assassins dictate the pace and in part because Griffin’s struggle is reduced to this basic struggle for survival.
Existing fans of Jumper and Reflex will get a bang out of Jumper: Griffin’s Story. Fans of Jumper (the movie) and readers who come to the Jumper Universe through Jumper: Griffin’s Story will be richly rewarded by reading Davy’s story in Jumper and Reflex.
Best regards,
Alan