Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings was to be the novelization of the video game of the same name, written by Rob MacGregor. Following delays with the game, the book was rescheduled to be released in June 2010.
After unsuccessful attempts from his agent to convince Lucasfilm to hire him to write the novelization of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, MacGregor was approached to adapt the storyline of Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. For MacGregor, who had previously written the novelization of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in the past, adapting the story of a video game proved more difficult than that of a movie script as it involved greater development of the characters and adjustments to the storyline. However, all locations from the game version remained unchanged.[2]
When the game release was brought forward to June 9, 2009, Del Rey had issues which prevented them publishing the novel in conjunction with the game's release so simply decided not to put the book out at all despite it being finished months before the deadline. When MacGregor questioned the decision, he was told that there weren't enough Indiana Jones fans to justify another novel, effectively cancelling it.[3]
Afterwards, MacGregor tried to get the approval of publish it himself for free as an e-book, and cover art was provided by Indiana Jones fan and illustrator Christian Guldager, but this idea was also nixed.[2]
In 2021, McGregor released a reading of his manuscript as a series of podcasts on SoundCloud.[4]
Plot summary
Appearances
Characters
- René Emile Belloq (Indirect mention)
- Blind Duck / Wu Ming
- Marcus Brody
- Walter Donovan (Indirect mention)
- Dragon Arm
- Flora / Great Mother
- Francisco Franco (Mentioned only)
- Heinrich Himmler (Mentioned only)
- Adolf Hitler (Mentioned only)
- Homer
- Jacques
- Janine
- Indiana Jones / "Whip Guy"
- Charles Jacob Kingston
- Margaret Grace O'Malley
- McNulty
- Missing Teeth
- One Arm
- Pigeon Man
- Rory
- Heinrich Schliemann (Mentioned only)
- Silver Tooth
- Sudao
- Archie Tan / "Eyepatch"
- Suzie Tan
- Village Chief
- Magnus Völler
Artifacts
- Ark of the Covenant (Mentioned only)
- Crystal skull (Mentioned only)
- Dead Sea Scrolls (Mentioned only)
- Holy Grail (Mentioned only)
- Jacob's Ladder (Mentioned only)
- Jade Sphere
- Septuagint (Mentioned only)
- Staff of Kings
Creatures
- Bug
- Caiman
- Crocodile (Mentioned only)
- Frog
- Dragon (Dragon dance figure)
- Horse (Mentioned only)
- Jaguar
- Macaw
- Monkey
- Howler monkey
- Owl
- Panther
- Pig (Mentioned only)
- Piranha (Mentioned only)
- Peccary
- Rat
- Snake
- Bushmaster (Mentioned only)
- Coral snake
- Fer-de-lance (Mentioned only)
- Spider
- Toucan
- Wasp
Cultures
- American Indian
- Ghost people
- Maya
- Simar
Events
- California Gold Rush (Mentioned only)
- Chinese New Year
- Christmas (Mentioned only)
- Darien scheme (Mentioned only)
- Great Flood (Mentioned only)
- Spanish Civil War (Mentioned only)
- World War I (Mentioned only)
Locations
- Africa (Mentioned only)
- Egypt (Mentioned only)
- Atlantis (Mentioned only)
- Central America
- Guatemala (Mentioned only)
- Uaxactún (Mentioned only)
- Honduras (Mentioned only)
- Panama
- Darién
- Cana
- Temple of the Cosmos
- Chamber of the Moon
- Chamber of the Sun
- Darién Gap
- Panama City (Mentioned only)
- Panama Canal (Mentioned only)
- Darién
- Guatemala (Mentioned only)
- Europe (Mentioned only)
- Far East (Mentioned only)
- Hong Kong (Mentioned only)
- Nepal
- Red Sea (Mentioned only)
- Tower of Babel (Mentioned only)
- United States of America
- California
- San Francisco
- American-German Cultural Center
- Chinatown
- San Francisco
- New York
- Barnett College
- National Museum (Mentioned only)
- New York City (Mentioned only)
- California
- Yucatán (Mentioned only)
- Chichen Itza (Mentioned only)
- El Caracol (Mentioned only)
- Chichen Itza (Mentioned only)
- Pleiades (Mentioned only)
- Venus (Mentioned only)
Organizations and titles
- Archaeologist
- Conquistadors (Mentioned only)
- Eastman Kodak (Mentioned only)
- Nazi
- Professor
- Tong
Vehicles and vessels
Miscellanea
- Banana (Mentioned only)
- Bible
- King James Bible
- Bow and arrow
- Brownie Six-16
- Bullwhip
- Colander
- Corkscrew
- Gold (Mentioned only)
- Iliad (Mentioned only)
- Indy's pistol
- Knife (Mentioned only)
- Malaria (Mentioned only)
- Missing link (Mentioned only)
- National Geographic (Mentioned only)
- Poker
- Rope
- Spear
- Swastika
Notes and references
- ↑ Leland Chee interview at TheRaider.net. As a copy of the completed manuscript never reached Leland Chee, the Keeper of the Indycron, it's unclear how much, if any, material from the novel has been archived beyond that which would match the released video game.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Interview to Rob MacGregor at El Recoveco del Geek (Spanish site)
- ↑ Rob MacGregor AMA at Reddit
- ↑ Rob MacGregor: Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings on SoundCloud
External links
- Rob MacGregor: Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings on SoundCloud
- The Lost Indiana Jones Novel at SevenRealmPublishing.com (Web archive)
- Staff of Kings Novelization Cancelled at TheRaider.net (Web archive)
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