Raiders of the Lost Ark (novel)

The Raiders of the Lost Ark novel was an adaptation of the Raiders film by Campbell Black. It was first published in April 1981 by Ballantine Books. The book, along with the novelizations of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was republished in 2008 by Del Rey, and retitled Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Publisher's summary
''The holiest artifact on earth is filled with dazzling, incredible power. Indiana Jones has to get it before the Nazis do.''

''Indiana Jones, archeology professor and swashbuckling adventurer, has unearthed many an ancient treasure. But now the very future of the world depends on his finding one special relic.''

 With a bullwhip in his hand and a beautiful lady at his side, Jones journeys from Nepal and Cairo to the Mediterranean, dodging poisons, traps and snakes, battling rivals old and new, all in pursuit of an ancient artifact said to give invincible power to its possessor.

It's a battle to a startling finish, a finish dictated by the magic, the light&mdash;and the power&mdash;of the Lost Ark.

Differences from the film

 * Jock Lindsey is Scottish instead of American.


 * Indy at one point recalls some of his previous encounters with Belloq, such as at graduate school, when Belloq plagiarized Indy's essay on stratigraphy, and as a result was awarded the Archeological Society Prize. Later, in the summer of 1934 Indy found that Belloq already had excavated a spot in the Rub al Khali Desert of Saudi Arabia, a place which Indy had spent months planning to dig.


 * Although in the film it is a nameless Nazi agent who gets aboard the plane with Indy as he leaves for Nepal, the novel combines this character with Toht.


 * Indy recalls the last time he spoke with Abner Ravenwood, discussing Indy's relationship with Marion.


 * When Indy rescues Marion from the Nazis at the Raven Bar in Nepal, Marion remembers how Indy everyday used to practice with his bullwhip. Indy then recalls how he developed his fascination for the bullwhip, seeing a whip-act in a travelling circus when he was seven years old.


 * The German Mechanic never appears, instead Indy fights the Second German Mechanic (who is described as having tattoos) the entire time, and the second mechanic meets the first mechanic's character's fate of being shredded by the Flying Wing's propeller.


 * Toht is killed during The Truck Chase, riding in the same car as Gobler, which goes flying off a cliff.


 * Indiana uses his whip to lash onto the periscope of the submarine, but loses his hat in the water and his whip tied to the periscope.


 * The book does not mention Colonel Dietrich's death. Belloq's death is different than the movie. His eyes burn out of his sockets, his skin decays, and he turns to dust. Also, Mohler was present, but the book leaves out his death.

Characters

 * Abu
 * Barranca
 * René Emile Belloq
 * Marcus Brody
 * Capuchin monkey
 * Herman Dietrich
 * Eaton
 * Eidel
 * Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir
 * Forrestal
 * Giant Sherpa
 * Gobler
 * Adolf Hitler
 * Imam
 * Indiana Jones
 * Anna Mary Jones
 * Simon Katanga
 * Lin-Su
 * Mean Mongolian
 * Mohler
 * Musgrove
 * Omar
 * Ratty Nepalese
 * Abner Ravenwood
 * Marion Ravenwood
 * Susan Ryan
 * Satipo
 * Second German Mechanic
 * Second Nazi
 * Arnold Ernst Toht

Artifacts

 * Ark of the Covenant
 * Headpiece to the Staff of Ra
 * Chachapoyan Fertility Idol