Sunday, December 27, 2009

James Cameron’s Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora

James Cameron’s Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora
Maria Wilhelm and Dirk Mathison
IT Books, Nov 2009, $17.99
ISBN: 9780061896750

In a distant solar system lies the once beautiful moon Pandora; home to a native sentient race the Na'vi. However, abuse of the environment has endangered the orb. This does not prevent the Resources Development Administration from continuing to exploit the dwindling once rich natural resources. An Earth delegation to include paraplegic Marine Jake Sully replacing his brother who died on combat has collected data that make up this source book as a means to avert this planet from the downward poison spiral that threatens life on Pandora. However, even the RDA guide to Pandora is proof of avaricious developers always win as some unknown greedy person is selling the confidential reference tome on EBay.

This is a fascinating accompanying guide to James Cameron’s movie Avatar as the director overwhelmingly makes clear which side of the environment issue he is on with no room for compromise. Clearly intended for fans who see the movie several times, this “Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora” is interesting as it makes the moon and its species (the Na’vi even have their own unique language) seem real although new art supersedes extracts from the movie.

Harriet Klausner

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