Quantum Leap: The Beginning (by Julie Robitaille)

(Amazon UK link)

I'm not entirely sure why the 1980s TV series 'Quantum Leap' appealed to me so much. I'm not a fan of science fiction at all, but this show was really character-based, with the premise that God was sending 'Sam' leaping around time to fix things that went wrong. Each week was different, and for some reason it was compelling viewing. When the series went off the air, I stopped watching television.

We now have the first three series on DVD and are half-way through watching the second series as a family. It's as enjoyable as it was the first time through. So when I saw a book of the series, called 'Quantum Leap: The Beginning' in a second-hand shop, I couldn't resist.

It turns out to be almost 200 pages just on the first episode. The author, Julie Robitaille, has apparently written others as well. It begins with Sam's total bewilderment at waking up in a house he did not recognise, beside a wife he was sure he had never met. Yet everyone else seems to know him well.

The author has done a very good job of turning an action-packed and exciting episode into a book. Although I remembered the story well I enjoyed reading it again with descriptions of Sam's feelings and thoughts, which of course are more difficult to portray on screen.

I don't think this book would have appealed to me if I weren't a fan of the series, however. Nor will I be searching for copies of other Quantum Leap books. While I usually much prefer books to their film or TV equivalent, this particular series was written for TV and works very well on the screen. The first episode, with so many unanswered questions and confusions, is a good one to read about. But I doubt if any of the others would be so interesting.

Recommended, in a low-key sort of way, to anyone who likes the TV series. But it's not currently in print, so it might not be easy to find.