Conquest of the Planet of the Apes

Planet of the Apes Movies #3

by John Jakes, Paul Dehn (Screenplay)

The chilling 20th Century Fox Film becomes a spellbinding novel by John Jakes based on the screenplay by Paul Dehn.

The Time:1990 - The Place : North America where apes are the terrified slaves of men. Then the apes revolt.

Genres: Science Fiction, Media Tie In, Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction Fantasy, Animals, Speculative Fiction

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

John William Jakes, the author of more than a dozen novels, is regarded as one of today’s most distinguished writers of historical fiction. His work includes the highly acclaimed Kent Family Chronicles series and the North and South Trilogy. Jakes’s commitment to historical accuracy and evocative storytelling earned him the title of “the godfather of historical novelists” from the Los Angeles Times and led to a streak of sixteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. Jakes has received several awards for his work and is a member of the Authors Guild and the PEN American Center. He and his wife, Rachel, live on the west coast of Florida.

Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.

Reviews

[Kim Teeple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Go ahead and yuck it up...but I'll have you know these books were my only friend that long lonely summer when I was thirteen and stuck on my grandparent's farm in the middle of South Dakota with nobody to talk to except a fat shetland pony who chewed her oats and stared all drowsy-eyed at me and a dog named Brownie who refused to learn to shake.

And I had the coolest Planet of the Apes sweatshirt--I'd give up my Planet of the Apes lunch Box to get that sweatshirt back...well no, no I wouldn't.

I saw them here--and it was like finding an old friend.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

And now the REVOLUTION! Great read for the beginning of the Ape dominance. These are great classic reads. Recommended

[Grady Hendrix · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few years after he wrote his very strange novel, "Black in Time" about Black Power militants using a time machine to change history, John Jakes got a paycheck for writing the novelization of the most racially-loaded of the "Planet of the Apes" films, "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes." Released in 1972, just four years after more than one hundred American cities erupted into race riots following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King the movie (and book) kicks off back in time, with apes serving as slaves to humans. The super-smart talking ape, Caesar (child of apes who escaped from the future), gets angry at the abuses his apes suffer, infiltrates the institutions of The Man and leads a violent ape revolution.

Jakes's writes sentences the way a lumberjack chops wood - whack, whack, whack, with hardly any change in rhythm - but this novelization shines for two reasons:

1) It keeps the original ending. Test audiences roundly rejected the bleak ending of the movie which saw Caesar executing the humans who kept his apes chained up, and vowing that his revolution would sweep the world and see man totally destroyed. A new ending was shot that emphasized a "Why can't we all get along?" message. The original ending was included with the special edition Blu-Ray a few years ago and it's astonishing in its power. The book keeps the original ending and rarely has the rage of the oppressed been so powerfully expressed and the book does an even better job of drawing a parallel between the plight of African-Americans who were enslaved and the apes.

2) In the film, the characters who are chained up, enslaved, tortured, vivisected, whipped and degraded are concealed behind thick prosthetics and make-up that makes them look like monkeys. Without the visual cues that these are apes, the book gives us a world where characters dressed as humans but having "dark faces and forms" are subjected to this kind of treatment and called "monkey" and "inhuman" and "ape" which all sound like racial slurs directed against African-Americans. So by virtue of its medium being imaginative and not visual, the novelization of "Conquest" becomes an even more racially-loaded anti-slavery screed and reads less like a sci fi book about slave apes and more like a sci fi book about slaves.

Also...ape war! Which is awesome!

[James Caterino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes blew me away. It is by far my favorite film of the year, or many years for that matter. I am a huge movie tie in novelization addict, and since Conquest is sort of the Rise of the original film series, I had to track down a copy of the novelization.

I have always enjoyed reading John Jakes. I first became aware of him at a young age when I read his Brak the Barbarian novels. Conan ripoffs to be sure, but I loved them at 12 or 13 and devoured them. Later on I read The Bastard, North and South, some of his SF, and even his early sleazy pulps. I liked them all. He has a terrific readable style, good tight descriptions, and a great sense of pacing. He would make a good screenwriter.

Overall, one of the better novelizations I have read. I wish he had done a little better with the MacDonald character, but Jakes really captured the dark brooding Orwellian feel of the movie, and the action sequences are exciting.(less)
6 minute

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic read that was perfect as a commentary for the times when it was published. To be fair, it was a novelization of the movie, yet it used the original, darker ending that was omitted from the film. The novel cuts better.

What's even better, and profoundly sad, is that this book is still relevant today in the age of Trump and the white supremacists he surrounds himself with and motivates. A book for our times...perhaps a handbook...

[Tim Deforest · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written and engrossing novelization of the film which keeps the original brutal ending to the story intact.

SPOILERS AHEAD: In the film, an ending was filmed in which Caesar leads the ape rebellion and has the main antagonist (the human governor) killed, announcing that now apes will be in charge and humans will be slaves. As I understand it, the studio decided to tone this down after a test screening. So Roddy McDowell (as Caesar) recorded some additional dialogue which was awkwardly inserted into the climax, in which he backs off and decides to show mercy.

The novelization retains the grimmer ending. Caesar allows the governor to be essentially tortured to death and goes the "humans will be our slave" route. Also, the novel shows off Caesar's leadership abilities better. Both the film and the novel show Caesar making on-the-fly tactical decisions during the battle, but the novel is able to go into this process with a little more depth without slowing the pace of the action. All in all, an excellent job of retelling the story in prose.

[Chris Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this, but I guess that it just doesn't work as well as a novel than it does as a film. Events seem to evolve too quickly. You don't really notice it whilst watching the film.
I always thought Escape From the Planet of the Apes was an ingenious way to follow the story after the ending of Beneath, and Conquest is, again, ingenious in the way it actually makes the reader/viewer root for the apes in their revolt, even when we know that revolt will eventually turn the human race into slaves. Still, I reckon we deserve it.
My main bugbear about this novelisation is the author's insistence on referring to MacDonald as "the black". I get it that repeatedly reading "MacDonald" could get a little tedious, but really!
Still - I suppose it's a minor gripe in a novel more than fifty years old.
3.5/5 (I often wish Goodreads had a ten-star rating, like IMDB does).

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written violent fiction, a novelization of the movie which out does the original in it's orgy of climactic blood-letting. What can I say as much as I admire the original movie this is based upon and the novelization which this is - I can't help but be a Human Being partisan. When I saw Conquest as a kid, 8 or 9, I was a natural anarchist who cheered the apes on in their riotous anti-human rebellion. As a sober middle-aged man I can't help but shake my head at the simplistic moralizing of both movie and book. Still, it's a classic of sci-fi and early 70's cinema. I can't say I loved the book because it is almost unrelenting grim in it's revenge-porn portrayal but it was a damn gripping read. Did I mention the movie is pretty good and might actually in it's own twisted way be the apex of the original Planet of the Apes series. Thank you very much.

[Robert Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that is rather quite unsubtle in talking about race relations. It really shows the humans in the worst light possible, which might turn some off. The last few chapters are quite violent and blood soaked. It does show the digression of Ceasar from an innocent and caring chimpanzee experiencing the slavery of society to an unapologetic conqueror blinded by hate. But then again having read this during 2020, I am sad at how current this book still is almost 50 years on. What with the protests and riots and documented police brutality. Whole scenes seem to have been lifted right out of this book to be shown on the evening news. It is disheartening to think so little has changed.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as novelizations go, this is a top notch read. I picked it up hearing it maintained the more extreme ending from the original screenplay and that it functioned as a pretty strong and serious race allegory. Both accounts proved true. I have not watched the film yet. My only exposure to Caesar was through Andy Serkis’ brilliant portrayal in the most recent Apes trilogy. Caesar is a favorite heroic archetype of mine. In this novel he is more violent than the modern trilogy but his characterization remains similar. It made me want to read the subsequent novelizations. Let’s hope the film holds up to the book!

[Dann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugly and hate-filled, the Conquest of the Planet of the Apes novel lacks all of the subtlety and nuance of the film. After living a life in hiding in Armando’s circus super-intelligent chimpanzee Caesar visits a metropolitan city and learns that humans have enslaved apes and brutally mistreat them, leading Caesar to stage a rebellion. Author John Jakes goes to extremes to paint humans as monstrous villains, and by the end even Caesar becomes a callous egotist who sees other apes as “animals.” There’s no one to really root for, as each side is acting out of hatred and prejudice. However, there are a few plot points that the book clears up and expands upon, such as explaining how Caesar is able to communicate with the other apes (who can’t talk) and organize them for his rebellion. Also there’s a little more about the political situation and the totalitarian government in this dystopic future. Yet Conquest of the Planet of the Apes utterly fails to capture the mood and tone of J. Lee Thompson’s extraordinarily evocative and compelling film.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book and much better than the movie upon which it is based. Re-watching the movie after reading the book gave the impression that the movie was just an over-long trailer for a much better movie.

[Drew Kenyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have I told you how much I love the Planet of the Apes movies? Yes I have. And so you know that obsession trickles to the books. And here we are.

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book. As I write that, I notice my shoulders reflexively squaring and my expression shifting into defiant 'So what?' mode. Admittedly, the writing is uneven, but there are moments in this book of intense drama and conflict. The writing is only passable, but I think the way that the subject matter is dealt with was masterful. It almost feels like a comic book conflict: epic and profound and maybe a little ridiculous, too.

[Beauregard Shagnasty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably where i first got my disgust for both slavery & animal abuse. This is not subtle, but it is a clever premise and holds undeniable appeal to see the fascists of the future get stomped by a bunch of pissed-off simians.

[Mhorg · Rating 4 out of 5]

one the best of the screenplay adaptations, this is the most violent. obviously based on the first cut off conquest which was re-edited. definitely worth reading.

[Nana Kitteh]

Fourth in Series.