Horror, Fantasy, and other non-sci-fi genres... [Archive] - Page 2

D_Davis

03-05-2009, 03:57 PM

The House on the Border Land looses steam towards the final third, when it becomes all cosmic and stuff. Definitely a huge influence on Clark Ashton Smith, and the kind of weird fiction I can do with out. It's all setting, and no plot. However, the first 2/3 are still worth reading - the part with the swine things invading the house and the journey into the pit are amazing.

***

I started my first Tim Lebbon book yesterday: Fears Unnamed, a collection of 4 novellas. I'm almost done with the first, called Remnants, and it is really good. Right up my alley. It's about a couple of guys who, while on an archaeological dig, discover the City of the Dead, buried deep in the bowels of a vast desert. It's Lovecraftian in scope and atmosphere, but written with a far more accessible style, thus reminding me a great deal of TED Klein's collection, Dark Gods.

I love stories about ancient cities being discovered, and this is an interesting one.

megladon8

03-05-2009, 04:32 PM

I've read one Tim Lebbon book, D - "Berserk".

A fairly good, fast-paced horror novel. Certainly not anything I'd give a "best of the genre" award to, but I was actually creeped out by a few key moments.

I'd certainly recommend it if you came across a used copy.

D_Davis

04-27-2009, 03:10 AM

DaMu - did you ever finish that Ligotti book?

I thought you would have loved it, and been raving about it. Never met a horror-lit fan who hasn't adored Ligotti.

D_Davis

04-27-2009, 03:14 AM

Oh yeah, I finished that Lebbon novella. And it contains my biggest literary pet peeve - it's a first person POV story, in which we find out in the end that the main character is dead!

Well then, WHO THE FRAK WROTE THE STORY?

It's like amateur hour at the Apollo.

That's not clever, nor is it spooky.

It's stupid, and lazy.

monolith94

04-30-2009, 02:35 AM

Umm, didn't Lebbon write it?

D_Davis

04-30-2009, 02:48 AM

Umm, didn't Lebbon write it?

Well, d'uh smart ass.

But a first person narrative is in the guise of being written by the character telling the story. If that character is dead, how is he typing or writing? It's a silly, amateurish trope that reeks of first year creative writing students.

The only way that convention makes any sense is if the first person narrative is framed by another character discovering the writing.

lovejuice

05-04-2009, 03:21 AM

reading Robert E. Howard's short stories. never read anything by him before, and really enjoy it right now.

D_Davis

05-04-2009, 03:33 AM

reading Robert E. Howard's short stories. never read anything by him before, and really enjoy it right now.

He's great. King of the pulps. I recently picked up Lord of Samarcand, and Other Adventure Tales of the Old Orient, and The Black Stranger, and Other American Tales.

That dude wrote so many dang stories, especially for dying so young. Suicide too, that's a shame. He wrote more, and better, stories by the time he was 30 than many authors do living much, much longer.

And I've only read a small handful. There is still a ton of stuff to discover, in so many different genres.

lovejuice

05-05-2009, 04:37 AM

finish The Black Stranger, and Other American Tales. very very good. even racism is appalling yet strangely welcomed. (all anacronism usually is.) in retrospective, nietzsche's quotation at the beginnin of conan the barbarian is right on spot.

settings are usually the strongest parts of these stories. hyborian is such an intersting age. heavily european and yet strangely american (new-world-ish). on the other hand, plots and characters are the weakest. more of often than not, i find myself skipping the ending when it's obvious there will be no more atmosphere stuff.

D_Davis

05-06-2009, 03:19 PM

I started reading Brian Lumley's Necroscope this morning. It's pretty good so far. It's like a cold-war themed horror tale complete with necromancy, spies, espionage, the KGB, vampires, magic, and all sorts of things. Looking forward to this one quite a bit.

D_Davis

05-07-2009, 03:00 PM

About 100 pages into Necroscope, and it's really good. Lumley is a great writer. He elevates the extreme pulp-nature of the narrative to a respectable level, and his grasp on the scope of it all is commendable.

I think this is going to be a perfect series to read this summer.

Smart, interesting, dark, and entertaining.

Spun Lepton

05-08-2009, 03:36 AM

After I finish reading Blood Meridian, I'm probably going to break out a Richard Matheson novel. I bought a bunch of them when B.Dalton was having a random $5 paperback sale. Right around the time I Am Legend was in theaters last year, if I recall correctly.

Whattya think? Stir of Echoes, The Shrinking Man, or Earthbound?

D_Davis

05-09-2009, 04:43 PM

So Necroscope is getting more awesome by the moment. Finally getting to the vampire lore Lumley has created, and wow, it's great. I love how he's mixed in elements of Lovecraftian, cosmic horror. It's all very interesting, and fresh.

D_Davis

05-12-2009, 05:14 PM

Thomas Ligotti's My Work is Not Yet Done is back in print.

Buy it now - it is amazing - before it becomes OOP again. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0753516888/ref=ord_cart_shr?%5Fencoding=U TF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance)

megladon8

05-12-2009, 07:57 PM

Glad you're enjoying the "Necroscope" series, D.

They're some of my favorites. I have all of them.

You should also check out his "Psychomech" stuff.

D_Davis

05-12-2009, 08:03 PM

I really like how small, and personal Lumley has made the narrative, and yet I know that things are going to open up and become more epic.

It feels very well planned out and deliberate.

Thoughtful.

megladon8

05-12-2009, 08:04 PM

I really like how small, and personal Lumley has made the narrative, and yet I know that things are going to open up and become more epic.

It feels very well planned out and deliberate.

Thoughtful.

Trust me, it explodes. You haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg yet.

D_Davis

05-13-2009, 02:57 PM

D_Davis

05-14-2009, 02:51 AM

So I'm hooked.

Finished Necroscope 1 on the bus ride home today, and I just got back from Borders with books 2 and 3.

It's a good thing that I previously knew Lumley as an authour of Lovecraftian and literary horror, though, because the covers for these Necroscope books are about as bad as covers can get. Not only are the cheesy as hell, but the art is just bad - really bad.

I wouldn't mind seeing these classed up a bit in some newer trade editions, but that might spoil the mass market trashy feel of the books. And at the end of the day, despite Lumley's style, the Necroscope bokos (or the first at least) are trashy fun.

And it's exactly what I'm in the mood for now.

D_Davis

05-14-2009, 02:52 PM

Oh yeah - the first 60 pages of Vamphiri! are dynamite!

So much fun.

In reading some user reviews for this, and the subsequent books, it seems like a reader will fall in one of two camps:

1. You totally dig the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink, genrebusting, silly, trashy, entertaining romp...

or

2. You don't, and find it lame.

Thus far, I am in camp 1.

I have a feeling my previous admiration for good Japanese animation has prepared me for this. It really does read like a novelization of a Japanese animated series. It throws all kinds of crazy stuff into the mix, and you really just have to go with it.

I am also reminded of my favorite filmmaker: Tsui Hark. Like Tsui does, Lumley simply lets it rip. I like stuff like this, stuff that doesn't concern itself with rule-following; it's not an overly structured exercise is detailed world-building. Stuff seems to happen because Lumley thought it would be cool to make it happen.

That's awesome.

megladon8

05-14-2009, 09:56 PM

Meg - have you read all of the Necroscope books, or just the original series? On my book, it says that it is the first of a trilogy, but from what I've gathered there are 5 books in the original series.

Are the others worth reading? I think there are 14 in total.

I've read all 14.

"Necroscope"
"Necroscope II: Wamphyri!"
"Necroscope III: The Source"
"Necroscope IV: Deadspeak"
"Necroscope V: Deadspawn"
"Blood Brothers"
"The Last Aerie"
"BloodWars"
"Necroscope The Lost Years"
"Necroscope The Lost Years, Resurgence!"
"Invaders"
"Defilers"
"Avengers"
"The Touch"

And I also read Brian Lumley's book "Demogorgon" which kind of sucked.

But I really liked his "Psychomech" trilogy, as I mentioned before.

As for the "Necroscope" series, I thought the first 5 novels were wonderful. After that there was a decrease in quality, but nothing horrid - "Defilers" is bloody fantastic, and I also liked the 2006 release "The Touch".

I'm looking forward to reading "Harry and the Pirates", despite it sounding like something by J.K. Rowling :lol:

monolith94

05-22-2009, 01:44 AM

Well, d'uh smart ass.

But a first person narrative is in the guise of being written by the character telling the story. If that character is dead, how is he typing or writing? It's a silly, amateurish trope that reeks of first year creative writing students.

The only way that convention makes any sense is if the first person narrative is framed by another character discovering the writing.
I'm writing a novel in the first person, but at the end, he doesn't die. So I guess that's my way of dodging that particular bullet.

D_Davis

05-22-2009, 01:47 AM

I'm writing a novel in the first person, but at the end, he doesn't die. So I guess that's my way of dodging that particular bullet.

I love First Person POV, so long as the character doesn't die at the end.

Unless of course we are to assume that it is the character's ghost telling the story, and in this case it should be stated.

Winston*

05-22-2009, 01:50 AM

I ordered the first Necroscope book. This better be good, D_Davis and megladon8...I'm trusting you here.

kuehnepips

05-29-2009, 02:13 PM

Meg, it's definitely worth reading the other books in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I finished the four books earlier this year and it gets better and better. I you loved the first one, then I'm pretty sure you will like book two and three as well. The fourth book, A Feast For Crows, is a bit weird because it seems that a lot of characters were missing...

Damn.
I'm reading A Storm of Swords ... page 795.

D_Davis

05-29-2009, 02:37 PM

Damn.
I'm reading A Storm of Swords ... page 795.

Did you see my rec to you in the Summer reading thread?

Never heard...

If not, check out JM McDermott's book The Last Dragon. It is a wonderfully written, unique fantasy novel that raises the bar of the genre to a whole new level of literary excellence. It towers over any fantasy novel I've ever read. It has more in common with the traditions in literary horror, and it is intensly atmospheric.

D_Davis

06-05-2009, 04:16 PM

Finally about finished with the second Necroscope book, not as good as the first. Way too much exposition. The history of the vampire should have been broken up and then peppered throughout the series. It's interesting, but it doesn't do anything to push the story forward.

However, there are some very, very good parts. The attack on the vamp-house, and the espionage stuff is awesome.

So while I don't like this as much as the first, I liked it enough to read the 3rd. If the 3rd doesn't blow me away (I hear it's the best), I doubt I'll continue with these right now.

Dukefrukem

06-08-2009, 02:36 PM

Are there any Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child fans here?

D_Davis

06-08-2009, 02:42 PM

Are there any Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child fans here?

Never heard of them. What's good?

Dukefrukem

06-08-2009, 03:02 PM

Never heard of them. What's good?

I've read most of their work, but you might be more familiar with the Relic, which was made into a movie a couple years back.

The reason I'm bringing them up is I just bought their newest book, Cemetery Dance , which has a reoccurring character in the series, Agent Pendergast. He's an FBI agent who investigates unusual murder cases. It's kinda X-files themed. My concern is, I haven't read three books prior to this book, which are considered a trilogy, and wondering if anyone has read those books. I don't want to skip over stuff that I might need for Cemetery Dance .

If you're interested; I'd highly recommend,

the Relic (95) (the book is waaaaay cooler than the movie)
Reliquary (80)(which is the sequel)

Douglas Preston also writes solo. I'd recommend;

Riptide (90); Story about treasure buried off shore by island. Legend tells it's impossible to dig up due to a strong Riptide.
The Ice Limit (94) Awesome story about a meteorite that landed in Antarctica. Bizarre events have been occurring near the site.

Lincoln Child's solo projects

Utopia (92) (story about a hostage situation in a futuristic amusement park)

kuehnepips

06-09-2009, 10:25 AM

Did you see my rec to you in the Summer reading thread?

Never heard...

If not, check out JM McDermott's book The Last Dragon. It is a wonderfully written, unique fantasy novel that raises the bar of the genre to a whole new level of literary excellence. It towers over any fantasy novel I've ever read. It has more in common with the traditions in literary horror, and it is intensly atmospheric.

Yes, thanks. I've downloaded the first chapter.

D_Davis

06-09-2009, 05:51 PM

Sweet - thanks Duke.

I have The Relic - haven't read it yet.

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit.

D_Davis

06-09-2009, 05:55 PM

Wow.

So Necroscope 2 ended exactly the same way that Necroscope 1 did. How frustratingly odd. The more I think about that book, the more I realize that it didn't do anything to push the narrative forward. It's basically a slightly altered version of the first book, but with the exact same ending set piece. What a strange way to approach a book. It really doesn't make any sense to me at all.

They've already killed off all the main villains; where is the dramatic impetus that should compel me to read the 3rd book?

I hope book 3 is better, going to give it a chance, or else my time with the Necroscope series is done with.

Dukefrukem

06-15-2009, 12:04 AM

Sweet - thanks Duke.

I have The Relic - haven't read it yet.

I enjoyed the movie quite a bit.

Yeah i was only a fan of the movie because I read the book so many times. They changed the ending (which happens a lot between books made into movies) to make it more Hollywood styled. Meh.

Dukefrukem

06-15-2009, 05:04 PM

D_Davis

07-07-2009, 08:51 PM

I started The Name of the Wind yesterday, and at about 100 pages in I am finding it OK. Nothing special, but so far it is a well-told tale.

I am a bit appalled by the praise it has received though (it really is amazing, the amount of hyperbole surrounding this book), especially since the seemingly superior Last Dragon, a fantasy book released around the same time, has been largely neglected by genre fans; it really is quite sad. I don't know how else I can say to people "READ THAT DAMN BOOK!" JM McDermott's prose, narrative maturity, and execution far surpasses what I've read of Rothfuss' novel. I don't mean to belittle the Rothfuss book because it is good, but Last Dragon stands heads and shoulders above it in every way possible.

Perhaps something will change with The Name of the Wind and it will end up wowing me but somehow I doubt it. However, I have not regretted a single moment I've spent with it; it is very solid. It's just that after reading Last Dragon, it's going to take a whole heck of a lot to impress me in terms of fantasy lit.

Spun Lepton

07-07-2009, 09:36 PM

D_Davis

07-10-2009, 03:11 PM

D_Davis

07-14-2009, 02:43 PM

Almost 1/2 way through the Rothfuss book, and I'm back into it. So long as the narrative focuses on Kvothe's tale it is good. His traveling to the University have been my favorite part thus far. As a musician I especially loved when he played the lute for the first time in years; Rothfuss really captured that moment wonderfully.

D_Davis

07-24-2009, 03:24 PM

I'm in the middle of Richard Matheson's A Stir of Echos. I haven't seen the movie in years, so I'm going into the story fairly fresh. So far, it's as good as you would expect from Matheson. Simple, straight-forward, and very well-written.

I need to read this; didn't like the film, though. I have it, What Dreams May Come, and The Incredible Shrinking Man sitting on my shelf, all to be read in the near future. I appreciate Matheson's workman-like style, and his ability to tell a great tale; you can see quite easily the influence he had on Stephen King. If only King would have been more influenced by Matheson's brevity.

This week I finally purchased my copy of the newly released version of Ligotti's My Work is Not Yet Done, a collection of corporate horror. I re-read the last two short stories and was once again reminded of Ligotti's brilliance. It's a fact that he will go down in history as the premier author of horror of his generation. That dude can write as well as anyone writing today. It's just a shame that most of his stuff is so hard to find and so expensive. So buy this book before it's OOP. If you want to experience an author who has a power over the English language unlike any you've ever read, Ligotti's your man. It's a very unique thing to have a writer like Ligotti writing while we're still alive. All too often, it seems like writers of this caliber are long dead.

lovejuice

07-29-2009, 12:19 AM

the interpretation of murder is better than it has a right to be. as the name suggests, it's a murder mystery starring freud among the main characters. (thank god, he's not a protagonist.) i have read enough of these things to know how sorry states these kinda novels generally are. (the one with oscar wilde is among the worst strings of texts i have ever laid my eyes on.)

with the interpretation of murder rubenfeld did a fine job researching the period. his portrait of manhattan the first decade of the 20th century is compelling. there is this one exciting scene involving the caisson of manhattan bridge.

rubenfeld's reading of freud is cute. i believe, he studied psychology for BS before changing to law. his reading is...very undergraduate. freud is here taken literary and to the extreme. it's stupid in an adorable way.

the book's biggest flaw is near the ending when things seemingly fall apart with the revealing of the murderer's identity. as a rule, a 367-paged novel always contain too many clues to make any sense together. (that's why christie's are never more than 300 pages, and eco's the name of the rose is an exception that proves the rule.)

still, it's a fun reading. much much better than the average of its genre.

Marley

10-05-2009, 03:06 AM

WHY?

After nearly 200 pages in, Rothfuss turns his back on all that he had done and resorts to one of the most tired of all fantasy cliches: pages-long flashback stories that do nothing but WORLD BUILD. Ugh. So disappointing.

Imagine how much better this would be had Rothfuss only started the story Skarpi tells, but then cuts to when the story is finished, and then we, the readers, have to decipher what Kvothe learned, what he was told, during the present narrative.

But no. Instead, we have to read pages about the world's past, it's lore, it's mythology. The narrative stops dead in its tracks while we read about ancient battles, gods, and demons. Shoot, one of the stories is the Christ story with only the thinnest of veils place over it.

This world building technique has got to stop. It's old and tired, and does nothing but pad the pages, thus turning a taught 400 page story into a bloated 700 page epic, the first part of a trilogy no less that will probably be stuffed with world-building lore.

I'm so very disappointed.

Well, this is discouraging. I have this book ready for pick-up at the library after hearing nothing but high praise for it.

I'd like to really start reading more of these literary works and after skimming through this thread, it seems like you really know your stuff when it comes to genre fiction. I've taken a lot of your recommendations and even have The Last Dragon on hold from the library (probably won't get it for another 2 weeks). I was hoping that maybe you could help me form a better understanding of what exactly distinguishes science fiction from fantasy literature. I understand they share similar characteristics but differ greatly when it comes to themes but what would you consider to be a working definition of each? Or maybe you can point me in the direction of authors in the genre who have commented on this issue? I just think it would help me to appreciate these genres more if i had some kind of background info on them. Thanks man.

Dukefrukem

10-05-2009, 12:03 PM

So I started Cemetery Dance anyway, and from what it sounds like in the first 10 chapters or so, that this book is based around something I love. Something that...

Rises from the grave and lusts for brains...

I'm in.

I forgot to update this thread. I finished this book a while back and although the hype and tension leading up the climax was AWESOME, the ending was pretty dissapointing and the book as a whole ended up being pretty mediocre.

MadMan

10-06-2009, 05:09 PM

So thanks to a friend of a friend of mine, I got my hands finally on 'Salems Lot by Stephen King. I'm roughly 100 something pages in, and its good, although hopefully I'm passing the buildup stage. King is someone who I will probably end up being a fan of; sure I've read the first five Dark Tower books, but I've only read Pet Sementary in regards to his horror/fantasy novels.

Dead & Messed Up

10-06-2009, 09:11 PM

...Pet Sementary...

The climax in that one comes a little early, and things get kinda flaccid afterward.

Spun Lepton

10-06-2009, 09:45 PM

Kurosawa Fan

10-07-2009, 02:02 AM

So thanks to a friend of a friend of mine, I got my hands finally on 'Salems Lot by Stephen King.

This is easily his best book (that I've read) and among my all time favorites.

megladon8

10-07-2009, 02:08 AM

This is easily his best book (that I've read) and among my all time favorites.

Seconded on both.

It's a great book. Scary, powerful, great writing.

I don't think King gets enough credit as a truly great writer.

Kurosawa Fan

10-07-2009, 02:11 AM

Seconded on both.

It's a great book. Scary, powerful, great writing.

I don't think King gets enough credit as a truly great writer.

When he reins himself in, he's a very talented guy. When he tries to get too epic and/or cute with his prose, he loses me. 'Salem's Lot is nothing but the best. Terrifying at moments, and just perfectly written.

megladon8

10-07-2009, 02:14 AM

When he reins himself in, he's a very talented guy. When he tries to get too epic and/or cute with his prose, he loses me. 'Salem's Lot is nothing but the best. Terrifying at moments, and just perfectly written.

Totally agree. Many of his short stories suffer from the "cuteness" you're talking about - trying too hard to give a wink and a nod with the morbid humor, when it's not really necessary at all.

But reading stuff like "'Salem's Lot", "The Stand", "The Shining" and "Insomnia" shows quite a talent there.

However I've never been able to enjoy "The Tommyknockers". I read it twice and both times just felt "blech" about it.

Kurosawa Fan

10-07-2009, 02:20 AM

Totally agree. Many of his short stories suffer from the "cuteness" you're talking about - trying too hard to give a wink and a nod with the morbid humor, when it's not really necessary at all.

But reading stuff like "'Salem's Lot", "The Stand", "The Shining" and "Insomnia" shows quite a talent there.

However I've never been able to enjoy "The Tommyknockers". I read it twice and both times just felt "blech" about it.

I've never read The Stand or Insomnia. I've been reluctant to go for his lengthier stuff after reading It, which I didn't care for at all. Also haven't read The Tommyknockers because I haven't heard anything good about it.

My favorites of his are 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Desperation, and the novellas Rage and The Long Walk. I take it I should give The Stand a go one of these days?

Dead & Messed Up

10-07-2009, 02:58 AM

The Stand is great mostly because the characters are so goddamn memorable. To read it is to become friends with the drugged-out one-hit-wonder Larry Underwood, the sociopathic pyromaniac Trashcan Man, the sympathetic-if-repellent nerd Harold Lauder, the dark man himself Randall Flagg...

It peters out at the end, but it's still an immensely rewarding read.

But yeah, his best books are normal novel-length. The Long Walk, Misery, 'salem's Lot, The Dead Zone, and The Green Mile are superb. It, The Dark Tower (VII), and Needful Things...not so much.

megladon8

10-07-2009, 03:31 AM

My favorites of his are 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Desperation, and the novellas Rage and The Long Walk. I take it I should give The Stand a go one of these days?

Absolutely. I think it'll be the book that he's most remembered for.

But yeah, his best books are normal novel-length. The Long Walk, Misery, 'salem's Lot, The Dead Zone, and The Green Mile are superb. It, The Dark Tower, and Needful Things...not so much.

Agreed on everything except "The Dark Tower" which gave me a big "say WHAAAAAAAAT?" reaction.

I thought you were a fan. At least I got that impression from your comments in the Upcoming forum regarding the potential film series.

Dead & Messed Up

10-07-2009, 03:44 AM

I thought you were a fan. At least I got that impression from your comments in the Upcoming forum regarding the potential film series.

Oh, I was referring specifically to the last book in the series, which has some great moments, but just lurches along like a damn zombie.

MadMan

10-07-2009, 04:18 PM

This is easily his best book (that I've read) and among my all time favorites.Really? Interesting.

Read The Shining.That one I've been trying to get my hands on as well. I'll have to check my local library.

The climax in that one comes a little early, and things get kinda flaccid afterward.Really? I thought it was fantastic, and extremely creepy. Love the book's ending. I don't think it looses its power after the early climax at all.

Meg I agree (based on what I've read so far) that King is truly something special. And I will try to get around to reading many of his short stories as well.

Dead & Messed Up

10-07-2009, 05:57 PM

Really? I thought it was fantastic, and extremely creepy. Love the book's ending. I don't think it looses its power after the early climax at all.

Double-check how you spelled the title. Maybe then the joke will reveal itself...

:lol:

lovejuice

10-07-2009, 08:36 PM

Totally agree. Many of his short stories suffer from the "cuteness" you're talking about - trying too hard to give a wink and a nod with the morbid humor, when it's not really necessary at all.
actually i like his short stories a lot. but yeah, he has been written so many that it comes as no surprise not a few suck.

what do you or KF mean by "cuteness"?

for some reason "cuteness" makes me think of that story in which a guy is hallucinated or possessed into committing a series of homicides by this ghost/rat/chick. it's wonderfully written. sad, scary and erotic. the best part is the twist doesn't come out as a twist at all. the story is superbly told with such confidence that it doesn't need a big surprise.

am i the only one missing D at the moment?

megladon8

10-07-2009, 08:44 PM

actually i like his short stories a lot. but yeah, he has been written so many that it comes as no surprise not a few suck.

what do you or KF mean by "cuteness"?

Cheeky dialogue/prose. Trying to write with "attitude" or "grit" when it doesn't come naturally with King's voice.

am i the only one missing D at the moment?

I miss him too. I've asked a few times on Random Thoughts if anyone knows where he is, but to no avail.

Kurosawa Fan

10-07-2009, 08:45 PM

what do you or KF mean by "cuteness"?

Have you ever read his attempt at pulp crime, The Colorado Kid? That's the best example I can give. When he tries to nail a certain style, winking at his reader along the way. It's really bad. The Colorado Kid is one of the worst books I've ever read. All I could do while reading was get this mental image of King at his typewriter just smiling like crazy, nodding his head, thinking "Yep, my readers are going to love this one. It's just like the pulp novels I used to read as a kid!". I felt similarly about Tarantino's Death Proof. They're trying too hard to nail down a particular style or voice, and it comes off really corny.

lovejuice

10-07-2009, 08:46 PM

Cheeky dialogue/prose. Trying to write with "attitude" or "grit" when it doesn't come naturally with King's voice.
hmm....can you give an example? better a well-known one though since it's been a while.

megladon8

10-07-2009, 08:47 PM

hmm....can you give an example? better a well-known one though since it's been a while.

Not at the moment, sorry. I'm at work.

MadMan

10-14-2009, 06:55 AM

Double-check how you spelled the title. Maybe then the joke will reveal itself...

:lol:*Shrug* I thought I spelled it correctly. Oh well.

MadMan

10-23-2009, 07:12 AM

Oh and I'm now currently on page 377 of 'Salem's Lot. The shit has not only hit the fan, but the book has become deliciously creepy. Stephen King you crazy nightmare creating bugger, you.

When I was a kid, the thought of someone appearing at my window in the night terrified me. You know what? That thought remains terrifying.

lovejuice

10-24-2009, 09:36 AM

Oh and I'm now currently on page 377 of 'Salem's Lot. The shit has not only hit the fan, but the book has become deliciously creepy. Stephen King you crazy nightmare creating bugger, you.
that book is very good. it's amazing too how "low concept" it is. vampire attack in a small town? big deal! but that only shows how much king's at the top of his game.

kuehnepips

10-26-2009, 05:19 PM

So, this 5th book of Ice&Fire: ever to be published or what?

:frustrated:

Saya

11-01-2009, 03:36 PM

So, this 5th book of Ice&Fire: ever to be published or what?

:frustrated:

Probably somewhere late 2010. GRRM is busy working with the tv show now. :cry:

He is always getting sidetracked, but I hope the success of the show will pressure him into finishing the rest of the books faster.

kuehnepips

11-03-2009, 06:48 PM

Probably somewhere late 2010.

Damn. I might not live that long.

MadMan

11-13-2009, 09:06 AM

that book is very good. it's amazing too how "low concept" it is. vampire attack in a small town? big deal! but that only shows how much king's at the top of his game.Yes, spot on man. The way he describes it makes it sound like an infection, only the townspeople don't realize it until its too late. I've stalled on page 410, but not because its not getting better-I just haven't had time to read further.

D_Davis

12-31-2009, 03:33 PM

So, anyone else read Under the Dome yet?

D_Davis

12-31-2009, 03:34 PM

Finishing up the Earthsea Trilogy this week. What a remarkable little tale this is.

Mara

12-31-2009, 03:39 PM

Finishing up the Earthsea Trilogy this week. What a remarkable little tale this is.

There are actually, like, five now, I guess? I don't think I read them all.

Tombs of Atuan is fantastic. My favorite, easily.

D_Davis

12-31-2009, 03:42 PM

There are actually, like, five now, I guess? I don't think I read them all.

Tombs of Atuan is fantastic. My favorite, easily.

Yeah - I'm going to stop at the original 3.

Tombs is my favorite as well (thus far). Such an odd 2nd entry for a trilogy. It feels more like a side story. I love how the main hero is introduced - it's hilarious.

D_Davis

12-31-2009, 03:44 PM

The Stand is great mostly because the characters are so goddamn memorable. To read it is to become friends with the drugged-out one-hit-wonder Larry Underwood, the sociopathic pyromaniac Trashcan Man, the sympathetic-if-repellent nerd Harold Lauder, the dark man himself Randall Flagg...

It sure is. I read the unabridged version a few months ago - blew me away. A real American classic.

I never wanted it to end - I wanted to spend more time with the characters.

D_Davis

12-31-2009, 03:50 PM

I've never read The Stand or Insomnia. I've been reluctant to go for his lengthier stuff after reading It, which I didn't care for at all. Also haven't read The Tommyknockers because I haven't heard anything good about it.

My favorites of his are 'Salem's Lot, The Shining, Desperation, and the novellas Rage and The Long Walk. I take it I should give The Stand a go one of these days?

I recently finished Insomnia - loved it. It's totally weird, and the central characters are great.

Desperation is one of my favorites as well. Simply a corking good tale.

The Long Walk is another classic - recently re-read that in preparation for the planned film.

I highly, highly recommend Under the Dome. It is brilliant - King's best single novel, IMO. It's relentlessly paced - the fastest 1,000 pages I've ever read. The first 200 pages are truly something to behold in the way he takes us around the town and shows us the impact of the Dome. Finished it in like 7 work days. He stumbles a bit when writing the dialog for a group of teenagers (he sounds hopelessly dated, and it's too bad because the characters themselves are awesome), but beyond this small problem it contains some of King's best prose, a complex series of expertly plotted events, and dozens of amazing characters, including his most evil villain, Big Jim. It's just brilliant.

Dead & Messed Up

12-31-2009, 04:15 PM

I highly, highly recommend Under the Dome. It is brilliant - King's best single novel, IMO. It's relentlessly paced - the fastest 1,000 pages I've ever read. The first 200 pages are truly something to behold in the way he takes us around the town and shows us the impact of the Dome. Finished it in like 7 work days. He stumbles a bit when writing the dialog for a group of teenagers (he sounds hopelessly dated, and it's too bad because the characters themselves are awesome), but beyond this small problem it contains some of King's best prose, a complex series of expertly plotted events, and dozens of amazing characters, including his most evil villain, Big Jim. It's just brilliant.

Well, dammit, now I have to read it. You're making some big claims my friend.

D_Davis

12-31-2009, 04:23 PM

Well, dammit, now I have to read it. You're making some big claims my friend.

It blew me away. I was very skeptical of the advance reviews as well - it may be his best reviewed book to date. Some even claiming it will elevate his status from great genre author to great American author, or whatever. But it is really that good. It's timely, poignant, frightening, exciting, and emotionally moving. And they way he strings the scenes together - its like he's directing a film in the way he writes his transitions. While there are dozens of characters, I never once lost sight of who was with who and where they were. There are also a few passages in which King breaks through as the narrator and addresses the reader - these are filled with King's best writing to date, and his deft insight into the pathos of his characters.

lovejuice

12-31-2009, 04:30 PM

I recently finished Insomnia - loved it. It's totally weird, and the central characters are great.

Desperation is one of my favorites as well. Simply a corking good tale.
aside from being a bit too long, insomnia is indeed very good. and am i odd for preferring the regulators to desperation?

D_Davis

12-31-2009, 04:32 PM

and am i odd for preferring the regulators to desperation?

Yes.

:D

lovejuice

12-31-2009, 04:38 PM

Yes.

:D
the regulators is a good old shoot 'em up pulp. desperation, in comparison, feels like he's trying too hard to be kingish rather than bachmanish. the novel doesn't radiate the same mythological aura as many of king's. perhaps the time frame -- if i remember correctly the novel is confined within 24 hours -- doesn't allow it to be so.

megladon8

12-31-2009, 11:56 PM

I'll second Davis' love for "Insomnia". I thought it was a brilliantly odd book.

For my money, though, there's no better King than "'Salem's Lot".

D_Davis

01-06-2010, 02:50 PM

Alright fantasists, I'm reading your golden tome now:

Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun.

So far it's pretty darn good.

D_Davis

01-07-2010, 02:54 PM

OK, so Book of the New Sun is pretty damn amazing.

monolith94

01-07-2010, 06:37 PM

I lent out Shadow + Claw and it hasn't come back to me… :(

D_Davis

01-07-2010, 06:37 PM

I lent out Shadow + Claw and it hasn't come back to me… :(

Bummer - I'll probably read these back-to-back.

monolith94

01-07-2010, 07:07 PM

That's the way to do it. What scene/chapter are you up to (so I can live vicariously through your reading)?

D_Davis

01-07-2010, 07:10 PM

That's the way to do it. What scene/chapter are you up to (so I can live vicariously through your reading)?

Let's see....

Severian just went to the brothel.

I love how cryptic the futuristic elements are. Like the library having some cube no bigger than a thumbnail containing all of the books ever written - and yet the librarian misplaced it. Very cool.

monolith94

01-07-2010, 07:18 PM

As remarkable as the beginning of the book is… Severian eventually leaves the city. And the things he encounters…
I can't wait until you encounter:
Jonas, he's one of my favorite characters ever.

D_Davis

01-07-2010, 07:36 PM

As remarkable as the beginning of the book is… Severian eventually leaves the city. And the things he encounters…
I can't wait until you encounter:
Jonas, he's one of my favorite characters ever.

The anticipation of him leaving is killing me! :)

I know something is gonna go down, thus making Severian leave the citadel. It seems to me as if he's going to be going on a spiritual journey as much as he is a physical one.

D_Davis

01-08-2010, 01:52 AM

He's left the guild.

This book just keeps getting better.

monolith94

01-08-2010, 04:06 AM

Interesting note: while visiting the Boston MFA to see a small exibit of Durer's prints, I noticed a print of his that I'd never seen before and reminded me of the book of the new sun.

http://www.wga.hu/art/d/durer/2/12/1_1500/10cather.jpg

The martyrdom of St. Catherine

megladon8

01-09-2010, 10:43 PM

What better way to catch the reading bug again, than reading some Stephen King? I think I am now - finally - officially hooked back on reading. I read nearly 100 pages of "Needful Things" in just over an hour today.

It's fantastic. Really enjoying it. Can't wait to see how it all comes together.

I really should have done this earlier.

D_Davis

01-09-2010, 10:48 PM

megladon8

01-09-2010, 10:50 PM

That's funny - whenever I'm at a lost for something to read, I often times turn to King to rejuvenate my reading momentum. However, after finishing Under the Dome, I started on Needful Things, and I didn't like it much.

Glad you're digging it though.

I'm thinking of borrowing my mom's copy of "Under the Dome" (which I gave to her for Christmas, no less :)) when she's done.

She's utterly hooked on it. Like you, she says it's some of the best writing - particularly characterizations - she's ever read, by King or otherwise.

EDIT: I also have a couple King books on my shelf which I haven't read yet - "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" and "Desperation".

However, I don't want to read "Desperation" until I have "The Regulators" to read afterwards.

D_Davis

01-10-2010, 12:29 AM

I'm thinking of borrowing my mom's copy of "Under the Dome" (which I gave to her for Christmas, no less :)) when she's done.

She's utterly hooked on it. Like you, she says it's some of the best writing - particularly characterizations - she's ever read, by King or otherwise.

It's amazing. Really freakin' good.

lovejuice

01-10-2010, 12:33 AM

megladon8

01-10-2010, 12:42 AM

How would you guys rate/rank King's works?

lovejuice

01-10-2010, 01:00 AM

How would you guys rate/rank King's works?
oh, that's just too hard. i'll list a few which are my favorite.

The Drawing of the Three
The Dark Half
Four Past Midnight
Gerald's Game
Insomnia
'Salem's Lot
The Stand

D_Davis

01-10-2010, 02:27 AM

How would you guys rate/rank King's works?

Oh man...I'll have to get back to you.

D_Davis

01-10-2010, 06:31 PM

Tiers (I think this is accurate):

The Great

The Dark Tower - series
a. Wolves of the Calla
b. The Drawing of the Three
c. The Dark Tower
d. The Gunslinger
e. Wastelands
f. Song of Susanna
g. Wizard and Glass

Under the Dome - my favorite single King Novel
The Mist
The Stand
Cell
Everything's Eventual
Night Shift
Talisman
The Bachman Books
Different Seasons
Cycle of the Werewolf
On Writing
Danse Macabre
Desperation

The Good

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (this is the book that got me back into King as an adult)
Hearts in Atlantis
Insomnia
Four Past Midnight
Misery
The Shining
Nightmares and Dreamscapes

The OK

Bag of Bones
Eyes of the Dragon
Skeleton Crew
The Regulators
The Colorado Kid

The Bad

Needful Things
Lisey's Story
Dreamcatcher
Tommyknockers

Never Read

The Dark Half
Delores Clairborne
Rose Madder
Gerald's Game
The Green Mile
From a Buick 8
Faithful
Blaze
The Duma Key
Just After Sunset
Thinner
Black House

Read too long ago to rank

Firestarter
Carrie
Salem's Lot
Pet Sematary
Cujo
It
The Dead Zone
Christine

megladon8

01-10-2010, 06:35 PM

That's awesome, D. Thanks for posting that.

As I said, I still have "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" on my shelf to be read.

I strongly urge you to re-read "Salem's Lot" sometime. That is my single favorite King novel. It would without a doubt be in my top 20 books of all time.

D_Davis

01-10-2010, 06:38 PM

I strongly urge you to re-read "Salem's Lot" sometime. That is my single favorite King novel. It would without a doubt be in my top 20 books of all time.

I'll probably be reading all of these this year:

Firestarter
Carrie
Salem's Lot
Pet Sematary
It
The Dead Zone

With 'Salem's Lot being the first of the bunch. I read these when I was in Jr. High, so I am sure I will appreciate them much more now.

megladon8

01-10-2010, 06:45 PM

I'll probably be reading all of these this year:

Firestarter
Carrie
Salem's Lot
Pet Sematary
It
The Dead Zone

With 'Salem's Lot being the first of the bunch. I read these when I was in Jr. High, so I am sure I will appreciate them much more now.

"Pet Semetary" is one I felt rather lukewarm about. It had its moments for sure, but I also found some of the attempts at terror a little silly.

As for my King ratings/ranking, it'd probably be something like this...

Salem's Lot

The Dark Tower
a) The Drawing of the Three
b) The Gunslinger
c) Wolves of the Calla
d) Wastelands
e) The Dark Tower
f) Song of Susannah
g) Wizard and Glass

Insomnia
The Mist
The Shining
Cell
Gerald's Game
Pet Semetary
Rose Madder
Hearts in Atlantis

D_Davis

01-10-2010, 06:51 PM

megladon8

01-10-2010, 06:55 PM

I'm really glad there are quite a few people at Matchcut who really like Stephen King's work, even above and beyond it's status as entertaining genre fiction. Far too often I run into people who dismiss King at best, or flat out hate his stuff at worst.

I think he is a masterful storyteller, with a distinct prose style and wonderful dialogue.

He deserves much more respect from the reading community than he gets.

I feel that people who fancy themselves learned readers - very similar to wine connoisseurs - often do so based on what they exclude from their tastes, rather than what they enjoy. I find this attitude pretty silly.

King has gotten me thinking about certain moral dilemmas and world views with more depth than many "classic" or "more imporant" authors of this time or the past.

So sue me. I'd take King over Marquez any day of the week.

lovejuice

01-10-2010, 10:24 PM

So sue me. I'd take King over Marquez any day of the week.

But that's because marquez is teh suck! :P

anyway, D, you really like Everything's Eventual that much? i bough it at boston airport, finished three stories while flying to la, didn't care about them, so i just left the book on the plane. but if you insist that the rest are much better, i will give the book another chance. i'm always craving for more good King's short stories and of opinion that a lot of his stuffs before the '00 are superb.

megladon8

01-10-2010, 10:48 PM

Is "Everything's Eventual" the one with the story about the teacher's "revenge" on her students?

monolith94

01-11-2010, 12:50 AM

Never read a single King. Not that I'm averse to genre fiction, of course. I'm rereading "The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul" right now, which is a definite genre mix-up: comedy with detective fiction with odd-fantasy.

Kurosawa Fan

01-11-2010, 01:18 AM

Look, I really like King, in fact 'Salem's Lot is in my top 30 books, but the man can write some extremely corny material. To put him on a level with Steinbeck/Dostoevsky/Marquez/Greene/McCarthy/Updike/Krakauer etc. etc. etc., is simply ludicrous.

D_Davis

01-11-2010, 01:36 AM

To put him on a level with Steinbeck/Dostoevsky/Marquez/Greene/McCarthy/Updike/Krakauer etc. etc. etc., is simply ludicrous.

I don't mind putting King on a "lower level," or whatever, than some of those mentioned authors, and many others. However, at the end of the day when making the choice I'd pick to read King over any of those authors because he is one of my favorite storytellers. I simply love his stories. He may not be the best writer, and he can often times be clunky as hell, but damn can that man spin a rippin' good yarn when he's on, and he's on a lot.

D_Davis

01-11-2010, 01:39 AM

anyway, D, you really like Everything's Eventual that much? i bough it at boston airport, finished three stories while flying to la, didn't care about them, so i just left the book on the plane. but if you insist that the rest are much better, i will give the book another chance. i'm always craving for more good King's short stories and of opinion that a lot of his stuffs before the '00 are superb.

It's the short form where King excels on a more literary level - that's for sure.

My placement of Everything's Eventual is probably tainted by my absolute love for "The Little Sisters of Eluria" - a side story with Rolland which is superb.

Kurosawa Fan

01-11-2010, 01:39 AM

I can get on board with that (though I'm not as enamored with him as you, and there are many other authors I'd read before him). Perfect description for him. He's a storyteller. Can't take anything away from him on that front. But as a writer, more often than not he's the definition of mediocre.

megladon8

01-11-2010, 01:58 AM

D_Davis

01-13-2010, 06:27 PM

Just about done with the first 1/2 of the first book. It starts to drag a little while Severian is in the gardens. But that's the only complaint I have thus far. Imagining two men fighting with giant flowers cracks me up. This book must have been a major influence on the Berserk anime series. I'm kind of surprised this hasn't been turned into an anime - it seems to be full of the crazy kind of SF/Fantasy mix the Japanese love so much.

monolith94

01-13-2010, 06:36 PM

In my head, I visualized the avern as more of a giant palm from a palm tree than a flower. By first half of the first book do you mean halfway through shadow + claw or halfway through the shadow of the torturer?

D_Davis

01-13-2010, 07:46 PM

I'm just about done with shadow of the torturer.

2 more chapters.

I'm really taking my time reading this.

Dead & Messed Up

01-13-2010, 08:49 PM

A little late to the party...

I love:

Salem's Lot
The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three
The Stand*
The Long Walk
The Green Mile
Misery
The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass
Skeleton Crew
The Dead Zone
The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands
The Shining

I like:

The Eyes of the Dragon
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger**
Hearts in Atlantis
Carrie
The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla
Cell
Pet Sematary
The Dark Tower: The Dark Tower
The Running Man
Everything's Eventual
The Talisman
Night Shift

I don't like:

Insomnia
Nightmares and Dreamscapes
It
Firestarter
Needful Things
Thinner

I kinda hate:

The Dark Half
Black House
The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah
Cycle of the Werewolf
Christine
Dreamcatcher

*I prefer the original version, which cuts out some stuff I like, but the revised version bloats the hell out of some stories (the dueling journals, the Kid).

**Again, I prefer the original, mostly because I enjoy seeing a series gradually define itself, even if there are inconsistencies (Farson as a town, not a man).

lovejuice

01-13-2010, 10:57 PM

I kinda hate:

The Dark Half

i really want to know why.

Dead & Messed Up

01-13-2010, 11:50 PM

i really want to know why.

I remember thinking of it as childish self-therapy for King, with a goofy mythology that felt like such a contrived excuse for the plot to exist. I doubt I'll ever return to it.

Great opening though.

D_Davis

01-19-2010, 05:07 PM

Started part 2 - Claw.

Again, it's good. I'm really liking it, but I feel it is lacking something. There isn't really any amount of immediacy to the narrative - no drive. It's a series of engrossing moments, and Severian is a great character, but after 250 pages I don't feel a pressing urge to continue. I will continue because I am liking the writing, but the scope of the narrative is unclear at the moment, and I am not feeling that same amount of compulsion to read more as I do from books like The Divinity Student, or Last Dragon, both similar in tone, containing elements of bizarro fantasy/weird fiction.

Still really good though.

D_Davis

01-19-2010, 05:12 PM

The play was my favorite part so far. I thought it was a neat meta-narrative device.

I keep expecting more weird things to happen. For instance, while in the gardens I expected Severian to just continue through the jungle, on onto new adventures there, never to return to his old world. I expected the play to finish having somehow changed the world. I keep expecting Wolfe to mess around more with genre conventions, perhaps to get more meta and really break down the reality of the world.

I think reading Cisco first kind of deflated the wow factor here. Thus far, in terms of bizarre fiction containing elements of fantasy, SF, and weird fiction, I think the Divinity Student is superior.

monolith94

01-19-2010, 09:53 PM

There is scope to the series, but that scope isn't visible from where you are in the narrative. Severian has a destiny, and he encounters many things, on that way to his destiny, and indeed it can be a bit episodic.

monolith94

01-19-2010, 09:59 PM

What did you think of Jonas?

D_Davis

01-19-2010, 10:02 PM

What did you think of Jonas?

Haven't learned enough yet. Only about 50 pages into Claw. He just completed the execution, and

told the reader that there would be no more detailed passages about other executions.

I am still really liking it - I only wish that I didn't have any preconceived notions about it.

D_Davis

01-21-2010, 04:19 AM

OK - so once Severian gets the letter, it's freaking on. Absolutely loving it again.

monolith94

01-21-2010, 01:05 PM

I thought that the play was at the end of Claw?

Remind me again, what are the contents of the letter?

I could tell you what Severian's drive really is, but that'd be a spoiler so huge I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

D_Davis

01-21-2010, 01:50 PM

I thought that the play was at the end of Claw?

Remind me again, what are the contents of the letter?

The play is at the end of Shadow.

The letter he gets is from Thecla, and he runs off to the caves.

D_Davis

01-21-2010, 01:50 PM

What did you think of Jonas?

Really starting to like Jonas. Hope he sticks around for awhile. Don't say anything.

I'm sick today, and I plan on finishing Claw.

monolith94

01-21-2010, 03:03 PM

Speaking of fantasy, I'm thinking of starting up the Wizard of Oz series this year, after I finish the big book that I've just started (Lord Byron's Don Juan). Huge series, right?

D_Davis

01-22-2010, 05:41 AM

OK Monolith - I'm sure I was totally confusing you. I didn't know there was, like, a real play at the end of Claw. The play I was talking about was the brief little thing that Severian performed with Dr. Talos at the end of Shadow. I'm about to start the REAL play now.

monolith94

01-22-2010, 09:32 PM

Answer solved! Yeah, that was confusing me.

D_Davis

01-25-2010, 02:54 PM

Finished the Wolfe book. It is excellent. A shining example of literary fantasy.

I'll get to the 2nd part after a little break into the realms of my all time favorite book.

A reread is in order of Michael Cisco's The Divinity Student. Started it again this morning, and instantly fell back in love with the most bizarre, surreal, phantasmagorical and masterful thing I've ever read.

D_Davis

01-26-2010, 01:50 AM

The Divinity Student...

Oh this book. So, so good. So unlike anything else I've ever read. Truly a remarkable and magical book.

Reading this again has instantly rekindled my love for Cisco's bizarre tale. I'm enjoying it as much, but on a different level. While the first time through left me feeling a greater sense of wonder, as I was totally lost in the surreal surroundings of San Veneficio, the second read-through is allowing me to gleam more of the plot, because I have an understanding of the book's strange nature.

monolith94

01-26-2010, 02:17 AM

What'd you think of Typhon?

Recently started rereading A Game of Thrones this weekend, because I had a lot of hours in the car and wanted something nice and fun. It's good, but painful because it makes me want to read the upcoming installment soooo bad.

MadMan

01-26-2010, 05:45 AM

Heh, I just realized that despite being probably only 200 some pages away from the ending, I've put finishing 'Salem's Lot on the backburner. And yet, I still remember everything that's happened so far, and I have an idea of how the last half will turn out, maybe. Donno really, but its still an awesome book currently.

Plus I have the last two books of the Dark Tower to finish. My problem is that after I quickly sped through the first five books in roughly two years, I'm burned out on the series. Then there's the problem in that I have never finished a seven book long series. Which is the main reason why I gave up on reading the Harry Potter books after the first one.

monolith94

01-26-2010, 12:35 PM

Mara

01-26-2010, 01:57 PM

I know I've read one or two "scary" King novels, but I'm just not a fan of the genre, and can't really remember anything about them.

However, in early high school I was totally into his fantasy novel The Eyes of the Dragon. I'd have to read it again to see if it's any good.

D_Davis

01-26-2010, 02:45 PM

Almost done with my reread of The Divinity Student. I think this will be the second book that I end up reading on a yearly basis (the other being Einstein's Dreams), and perhaps I'll read it more than once a year. It is just that good. The language Cisco uses is is captivating; he weaves words together in a way that creates a dream-like tapestry of richly complex description complete with sights, smells, tastes, end evocative emotion. I've never read anything like this book, and I doubt there really is anything like it in terms of narrative and prose. It would be easy to say that it is Lovecraftian in nature, or perhaps conjuring authors like Ligotti, Wolfe, Bierce, Chambers, Hodgeson, Machen et al., but to do so would be a great disservice to Cisco's unique voice and vision.

D_Davis

01-29-2010, 04:45 AM

My second read of The Divinity Student....

And I loved it just as much as my first, but for different reasons. The wow-factor of this novella's bizarre and surreal nature wasn't as hard-hitting, but I picked up on more nuance and subtleties. Cisco has truly written a remarkable and powerful tale in this - it's a magical book that completely envelopes my senses. A one of a kind.

Winston*

01-29-2010, 05:32 AM

Hey, Davis, did you ever finish the Charlie Huston Joe Pitt series? I thought the ending was pretty good.

megladon8

01-29-2010, 05:37 AM

Hey, Davis, did you ever finish the Charlie Huston Joe Pitt series? I thought the ending was pretty good.

Yes, that was a great series.

D_Davis

01-29-2010, 03:30 PM

Hey, Davis, did you ever finish the Charlie Huston Joe Pitt series? I thought the ending was pretty good.

I have not yet. Something I should do this year.

MadMan

01-30-2010, 06:18 AM

Relating to the King discussion earlier: I happened to be in a lobby where there were some old hardcover mainstream novels, King's Cell included. I picked it up out of curiosity from the discussion earlier, and what can I say? It was just gross. Really gross and cheesy. Sorry guys, I think I'll be putting him off for a little longer yet.Try some of his older material. I have a feeling that King, like too many writers who have been operating for a long time, has perhaps run out of ideas. On the other hand, I've heard good things about Cell.

D_Davis

01-31-2010, 03:20 PM

I have a feeling that King, like too many writers who have been operating for a long time, has perhaps run out of ideas.

He hasn't at all. However, like any prolific artist, he is bound to have some misses and some hits, and I don't expect him to be everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I think his newest, Under the Dome, is his best single novel. I also really enjoyed Cell.

lovejuice

02-03-2010, 03:48 PM

just finished rider haggard's she. all things considered, it's a surprisingly good novel, worthy of its classic status.

D_Davis

02-08-2010, 04:22 AM

Going to read some Richard Matheson.

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Mara

02-08-2010, 04:59 PM

just finished rider haggard's she. all things considered, it's a surprisingly good novel, worthy of its classic status.

Very interesting, very dated.

D_Davis

02-09-2010, 03:14 AM

Going to read some Richard Matheson.

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Started this last night. Don't think I'll finish it. I can't get into the writing style at all. It's so dry. Also, one of the first chapters is like a 12 page action scene - ugh. I can't stand extended action sequences in books. Nothing bores me more.

Dead & Messed Up

02-09-2010, 06:39 AM

DaMu - did you ever finish that Ligotti book?

I thought you would have loved it, and been raving about it. Never met a horror-lit fan who hasn't adored Ligotti.

Hah! I just finished it tonight. Only took me a year and a half.

----------

Teatro Grottesco, at its best, is a tremendously satisfying read, full of atmospheric passages that dizzy with their unusual, varied situations. Just as "Purity" prepares us for a real world invaded by the bizarre, "The Town Manager" plants readers into an unknown town, in an unknown land, with an unknown main character. Just as the warped nostalgia of "Gas Station Carnivals" settles, "The Bungalow House" head-trips its Lovecraftian protagonist. What emerges throughout is twofold. First, an almost palpable disregard for traditional story and character building. Second, a complete emphasis on the vague, the undefinable, the nightmarish as revealed through hints and forebodings. Less a series of stories than a sequence of tableaux that rebound off one another, Teatro Grottesco occasionally risks involvement, its pervasive oddity so completely bereft of any type of familiarity that might anchor us. Overall, though, Teatro Grottesco triumphs, revealing a confident author whose views of life are equally discomfiting and enrapturing.

A-

D_Davis

02-09-2010, 02:37 PM

Cool - glad you liked it.

I reread a few of these stories recently, and my favorite is still "The Red Tower," followed closely by "Our Temporary Supervisor." I love Ligotti's bizarre view of the workplace. He makes the simple act of going to work scary as hell.

D_Davis

02-09-2010, 02:44 PM

Tales of the Dying Earth - Jack Vance

Reading this now. Thought it was going to be more SF, but it is definitely more of a fantasy set in the distant future. Kind of like the opposite of Star Wars.

After two stories read, I can clearly see the influence this had on Gary Gygax and, subsequently, Dungeons & Dragons - for good and bad (the term Vancian Magic was coined from this to define the magic system Vance created, the one used in games like D&D). These stories read like side-bar lore tales from a campaign setting book, with about as much character depth and narrative meat. I hope they all add up to something more, though.

lovejuice

02-09-2010, 03:29 PM

just finished rider haggard's she. all things considered, it's a surprisingly good novel, worthy of its classic status.

Very interesting, very dated.
i'm quite surprised by how talky it is and philosophical it tries to be. from the moment she appears, the novel is one monologue on immortality after the other. as an adventure novel, it also defies convention; the conflict resolves itself without the main characters lifting any finger.

Dead & Messed Up

02-10-2010, 12:10 AM

I'm listening to Benchley's Jaws and Gaiman's Fragile Things in my car.

My opinion is that people should not read Jaws, but should consider Fragile Things. A short story collection, its first tale, "A Study in Emerald," is a curious, enjoyable fusion of H. P. Lovecraft and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That's all I've gotten through, anyway.

EDIT:
"A Study in Emerald" is available to read as a PDF on Gaiman's site. View or download here (http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/exclusive/shortstories/emerald.pdf).

MadMan

02-10-2010, 03:28 AM

Jaws is one of those books where the movie was actually leaps and bounds better. Still I kind of like it, more so as a guilty pleasure really.

megladon8

02-11-2010, 12:45 AM

Dead & Messed Up

02-11-2010, 01:05 AM

I'm nearing the end of "Needful Things". I have about 200 pages left.

It really wasn't a good book to pick to try to get my reading binge going again, because with my work schedule (and the intensity of my work) I don't really read during the week. So when I'm only reading on weekends, it takes some time to get through a book that's almost 1000 pages.

That being said, I'm still really enjoying it. I can definitely agree that it's not top-tier King, but I really don't understand the hate it gets. It seems the general consensus is that it's bottom tier King and just not good at all, which I don't understand. It has serious problems, but it's still good.

I think there are a couple of formidable problems with it. First off, its sheer size (page length, setting, cast of characters) suggests that it's of loftier goals, but the whole thing is really just a twisted, jokey attack on these awful people. Second off, the premise is so derivative of Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes that it's sometimes hard to forget that Bradbury's work was so much more interesting and delicate. Thirdly, the ending...

when Pangborn uses the "snake-in-a-can" to defeat Linoge, who mostly says "Fuck this" and flies away, is one of King's most stunningly anticlimactic finishes ever. It fits with his whole ethos on endings and villains, but I'm not a fan of that ethos.

I didn't hate it, and I enjoyed seeing how completely decadent some of the cast got by book's end. Also, Leland Gaunt is another loving addition to King's rogue's gallery of not-quite-human antagonists, which also includes the venerable Randall Flagg, Andre Linoge, and Kurt Barlow.

SIDEBAR: Is the best name ever for a supporting villain Richard Throckett Straker? I think so.

D_Davis

02-11-2010, 03:05 PM

Tales of the Dying Earth is wild, and comical in a way....

It's all kind of like this:

"What ho, wizard! I will destroy you!"

"But alas, I can only be vanquished by one certain spell."

"You vile demon! I know that spell, and cast 'Orb of Penetrating Penetration!"

"Ha! You mortal fool! Feast your eyes upon this, the 'Totem of Protection from the Orb of Penetrating Penetration.' Now I will devour your soul with this, my blade, The Soul Devouring Blade of Hades."

"You lecherous villain! I actually used the 'Orb of Perfect Penetration!' Your totem is useless and I will banish you to hell!"

"Arrghghghghg!"

megladon8

02-11-2010, 05:48 PM

That sounds like Harry Potter.

Or Hellboy II.

D_Davis

02-11-2010, 06:12 PM

That sounds like Harry Potter.

Or Hellboy II.

Yeah - Vance pretty much defined a lot of what we think of when we think of fantasy. The term "Vancian" is used to describe this style of fantasy. Hellboy is definitely Vancian.

D_Davis

02-17-2010, 02:37 PM

Finally started Algernon Blackwood's Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories.

So the first two stories I didn't like much. The first, "Smith: An Episode in a Lodging-House," was OK, but not great. It had some good atmosphere, and I loved the esoteric nature of the Hebrew mysticism, but it didn't really pull me in. "The Willows," the second story, did even less to interest me.

However, all has been redeemed with the third tale, "The Insanity of Jones." Holy crap! Absolutely brilliant, on par with any weird fiction I've ever read, and better than most of that. As far as workplace/corporate horror goes, I'd say it's better than Kafka's The Metamorphosis, and as good as Ligotti's My Work is Not Yet Done. Published in 1907, I cannot fathom reading this back then - it must have been brutally shocking. Even by today's standards, the ending explodes with the kind of fervor and disturbing violence one might find in Lansdale, or even a Tarantino, or a Pekinpah film. It's twisted, frightening, beautifully written, and expertly executed. You can read it here:

http://www.horrormasters.com/Text/a2334.pdf

If the rest of this collection is half as good, I'll be happy. Even if it's not, it doesn't really matter, because this story alone is good enough to carry Blackwood up into the ranks of a master.

Dukefrukem

02-17-2010, 07:57 PM

posting here (http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/02/16/avatar-the-novel-james-cameron-confirms-hes-turning-his-blockbuster-into-a-book/)

D_Davis

02-17-2010, 08:07 PM

posting here (http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/02/16/avatar-the-novel-james-cameron-confirms-hes-turning-his-blockbuster-into-a-book/)

He should let Alan Dean Foster write it.

Dead & Messed Up

02-17-2010, 08:18 PM

Jaws was pretty poor. Benchley's prose was serviceable, impressive only when he described the shark attacks, which achieved a reasonably vivid life. One character's last image was "the black eye of the fish, fogged over by the red of his own blood." Visceral and immediate. However, some force compelled Benchley to devote a third of the book to an adulterous escapade between Ellen Brody and Matt Hooper, and that subplot never even resolves. It slows the narrative to a crawl, switching the book's entire point of view for a space, and Benchley seems to purposefully ignore the fact that somewhere, outside his cornball affair, there's a shark that's eating people.

C

The audio recording I listened to was well-read by Erik Steele, although his voice takes a couple of cues from the film (his Larry Vaughn sounds much like Murray Hamilton).

lovejuice

02-18-2010, 03:17 AM

Jaws was pretty poor...C

i was confused at first, thinking i was in the FDT and thought to myself "whoa! someone on matchcut doesn't like jaws!!?"

D_Davis

02-19-2010, 02:50 PM

Algernon Blackwood's "The Man Who Found Out" - Pretty much the prototypical weird tale. A man discovers the ultimate secret, thus extinguishing his spirit and his will to live; and of course we, the readers, are never told of what exactly the man read. Classic, and very well done.

megladon8

02-19-2010, 05:20 PM

Dead & Messed Up

02-19-2010, 06:13 PM

I don't know how many of you clowns use Google Books, but it can be a fun resource when you have time to kill at work, which I have plenty of. Anyway, I've found the following short story collections, free to read in full:

Robert Chambers's The King in Yellow (http://books.google.com/books?id=LHcvAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false)

M. R. James's Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (http://books.google.com/books?id=bmXF2VRmYjIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false)

An H. P. Lovecraft Anthology (http://books.google.com/books?id=bJqSqbc3-J4C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false)

Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination (http://books.google.com/books?id=5HdlU4EcKWcC&printsec=frontcover#v=twopage&q=&f=false)

H. G. Wells's Twelve Stories and a Dream (http://books.google.com/books?id=jT4WAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false)

D_Davis

02-19-2010, 06:52 PM

megladon8

02-20-2010, 12:03 AM

My mom finished "Under the Dome".

She said it was masterful until the last 100 pages, and King absolutely destroyed it with a horrible ending.

She told me a bit about it and while I admittedly haven't read it myself (will at some point) the ending did sound pretty stupid.

D_Davis

02-20-2010, 12:41 AM

There is nothing wrong with the ending.

megladon8

02-20-2010, 12:42 AM

There is nothing wrong with the ending.

Child aliens used the dome to create their own version of a snowglobe?

D_Davis

02-20-2010, 12:46 AM

Child aliens used the dome to create their own version of a snowglobe?

Yeah. It's great. Right out of the Twilight Zone or something. It's chilling in its depiction of how beings can be so senselessly cruel to one another, especially when the cruelty is disguised as a form of flippant entertainment.

Plus, even if the ending totally sucked, I don't understand how the punctuation point can completely ruin all that has come before. The ending is only one point - the end. It's the journey that matters. Never really put much credit into a great ending. It's just the end. The end happens once, the journey happens the entire time.

megladon8

02-20-2010, 12:55 AM

Yeah. It's great. Right out of the Twilight Zone or something. It's chilling in its depiction of how beings can be so senselessly cruel to one another, especially when the cruelty is disguised as a form of flippant entertainment.

Yes but the execution sounds horrid. From what she tells me, up 'til then the book is quite a horrifying look at this community of characters and how the arrival of this dome tears them apart and decimates them.

Air is running low, there's only a handful of people left, and suddenly they all randomly put their hands on this radioactive box and meet alien children. The humans tell them "oh hai, could you like, stop this...you've killed people", and the aliens ixnay the dome.

Plus, even if the ending totally sucked, I don't understand how the punctuation point can completely ruin all that has come before. The ending is only one point - the end. It's the journey that matters. Never really put much credit into a great ending. It's just the end. The end happens once, the journey happens the entire time.

I'm 100% certain I've seen you dislike things due to bad endings in the past.

megladon8

02-20-2010, 01:49 AM

Apologies if my tone in that post came across as needlessly abrasive...I really didn't intend that. I'm just noticing it now upon re-reading.

I was actually smiling while I was writing it...and not a mean, spiteful smile.

D_Davis

02-20-2010, 06:38 AM

Meh, whatever. Don't read it. I think it's his best book.

D_Davis

02-22-2010, 04:24 AM

Algernon Blackwood's Ancient Sorceries and Other Weird Stories

Both "The Man Who Found Out," and "The Insanity of Jones" are 5-star stories. Absolutely fantastic. In these two examples, Blackwood shines like a master wordsmith, crafting stories that are eloquent and frightening, haunting and memorable, and well written without the overly-purple prose that can sometimes bog down weird fiction. Unfortunately the rest of the stories here didn't capture my imagination like these two did, and I think it is because of that aforementioned overly-purple prose. Like Smith and Lovecraft et al., Blackwood does have a tendency to loose sight of the narrative and characters through the layer upon layer of abundantly-descriptive passages, and so, if not in the proper mood, I am unable to fully absorb the stories (this happened a great deal with The Willows and The Wendigo, two of his most highly praised stories). But those two first-mentioned stories are worth the price of the book alone.

D_Davis

02-22-2010, 02:53 PM

Started Stanley C. Sargent's Ancient Exhumations. Pretty good so far. The first story, "The Rattle of Her Smile," is in the Lovecraft-pastiche camp, but Sargent adds enough of his own voice to elevate it slightly above being a mere copy. In this story Sargent weaves in the legend of Yig, the snake-god, the Great Old One, and tells the story of a sculptor who, through the use of the Necronimicon, stumbles upon a horrible discovery, thus, of course, driving him mad.

lovejuice

02-22-2010, 03:19 PM

reading her collection of short stories, i realize what an oddly anachronistic writer du maurier is. the birds, in its heavy use of symbolism and metaphores, is more funny than anything else. (it reminds me of simon pegg's the proletariats.) her characters have this annoying habbit to think every supernatural event is a conspiracy theory. this is grating for some of her longer work in which we, readers, realize what's going on way ahead of the character. also her insistence on using a bimbo-type girl as a protagonist irrates me. at this point, i'm not sure if i want to read rebecca. seem like it has a potential to go really wrong.

megladon8

02-22-2010, 06:51 PM

About 130 pages left in "Needful Things".

D_Davis

02-24-2010, 02:58 PM

The second story, "Dark Demonize," in Sargent's book is quite good. It reminded me a lot of the recent film Drag Me To Hell, only it's a much better story that explores its themes in a far less cynical manner. It's also typed loosely to the mythos canon, and thus mentions a "steward of Nyarlathotep, the Black Faceless One, the Avatar of Chaos." I'm sorry, but if I were to summon a demon, I think I'd pick one with a more pleasant title.

D_Davis

02-24-2010, 03:14 PM

I'm just going to come out and say it, I don't like Clark Ashton Smith's short stories. I've tried, even purchased a few expensive volumes, but they do very little to nothing for me.

D_Davis

02-25-2010, 01:48 PM

More from Sargent's book...

So while I am enjoying this book on one level, on another level I'm wondering if my time reading could be better spent on something else. It does feel as though with each story I'm simply moving from one pastiche to another, and while that's not really bad - weird fiction is a genre teeming with pastiche - I can't help but feel that I'd rather read an author with a more authentic and unique voice.

***

The third story - Mr. Sargent, leave the southern, rural horror to Lansdale.

lovejuice

03-04-2010, 02:39 PM

D_Davis

03-04-2010, 04:03 PM

D, i'm now 40 pages into The House on the Borderland. is it getting significantly better? it's kinda fun, but i'm troubled by the narrator's lack of any character and the way hodgson rushes things through. also aside from the wonderful first chapter, his prose is anything but atmospheric.

If you don't like it by now, I'd say to give it up.

While I enjoyed it more than you seem to be, it wasn't great, and it is especially mediocre when compared to Hodgeson's brilliant short stories.

I think it has a great first half, but the second half doesn't do anything to elevate the tension.

Dead & Messed Up

03-05-2010, 08:49 PM

Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things is so overabundant with its stories that, even when certain tales prove a little too half-baked or ephemeral, there's always a new one just around the corner that might tap into the imagination. So, while some of them read as sketches that would be better if more fully drawn ("Fairy Reel," "Bitter Grounds"), and others don't amount to much more than cute ("In the End"), a few of the stories vibrate with genuine energy and emotion. The collection's feature story is probably the clever Sherlock Holmes / Cthulhu Mythos fusion "A Study in Emerald," although readers unfamiliar with either subject will probably feel a little lost - I know I did. Other notable stories include "Sunbird," a tale about a club that delights in eating endangered (or purportedly extinct) animals, and "Goliath," an affecting tale set nominally in the Matrix universe. As someone new to his writing, I found this batch of stories diverting, if never masterful, but I suspect Gaiman acolytes will find plenty of rewards inside this bountiful collection.

B

D_Davis

03-05-2010, 09:24 PM

To Gaiman acolytes, the man can do no wrong. Ever.

Dead & Messed Up

03-05-2010, 11:32 PM

To Gaiman acolytes, the man can do no wrong. Ever.

What, is there a cult or something?

D_Davis

03-05-2010, 11:40 PM

What, is there a cult or something?

Are you joking?

;)

He gives the Cult of Whedon and the Cult of Campbell a run for their money.

Dead & Messed Up

03-06-2010, 12:32 AM

Are you joking?

;)

He gives the Cult of Whedon and the Cult of Campbell a run for their money.

I'm seriously not familiar with Gaiman, apart from Beowulf and Coraline. I know he's been a success in a few different fields with his comics and books and what-have-you, but I didn't know there was a Gaiman cult.

Good for him, I guess. Always nice to have a nonjudgmental group of people willing to buy everything you do.

D_Davis

03-06-2010, 03:10 AM

He's insanely popular with the geek-culture. I don't really dislike him. I do get a little tired of seeing his name everywhere. It seemed like for awhile every book I picked up had an introduction or quote by him. I like many of his comic books, but I don't care for his novels too much. However, he also appears to be a very nice dude, and so I can understand why he is so popular.

Dead & Messed Up

03-06-2010, 04:46 AM

monolith94

03-06-2010, 06:31 AM

When do you think you'll resume The Book of the New Sun, D?

D_Davis

03-06-2010, 04:21 PM

When do you think you'll resume The Book of the New Sun, D?

After another Sturgeon book, most likely.

lovejuice

03-06-2010, 04:57 PM

I like many of his comic books, but I don't care for his novels too much.
can't agree with you more. i have to give up anansi boys halfway through. the book sure is imaginative and full of energy, but gaiman writes like he's not too comfortable with the material. his prose lacks elegance. it's packed with a lot of images and ideas, but gaiman seems too lazy to spend enough time crafting the text to convey those. his novel reads like he's badly in need of an accompanying artist.

D_Davis

03-06-2010, 05:08 PM

his novel reads like he's badly in need of an accompanying artist.

Heh, I've said the exact same thing before.

Which is why he works well in film. I loved Coraline - truly a remarkable movie - and I also really enjoyed Mirrormask. Beowulf, not so much.

Dead & Messed Up

03-07-2010, 11:08 PM

I was thinking about my favorite horror short stories this week, and so I made a quick blog post (http://horrorfilms101.blogspot.com/) with five of them, with more to come hopefully. An excerpt:

"Ligeia" by Edgar Allan Poe
"Ligeia" isn't necessarily Poe's most frightening, but it's his most unnerving and beautiful summation of a man who walks willfully into the pit of insanity (or does he?). The story deals with a man who falls in love with the titular woman, whose strangeness compels his curiosity and love. Her death proves to be uncommonly temporary. Not only does the story sums up Poe's philosophy (his idea that the death of a beautiful woman is the most poetic topic in literature), it eerily predicts the death of his own wife ten years later.

Dead & Messed Up

05-03-2010, 04:46 PM

Awesomeness: my parents got me Under the Dome for my birthday.

This thing looks like a fricking brick.

I can't wait to start.

:D

D_Davis

05-03-2010, 09:41 PM

Awesomeness: my parents got me Under the Dome for my birthday.

This thing looks like a fricking brick.

I can't wait to start.

:D

Nice. Hope you like it.

Dead & Messed Up

05-03-2010, 11:59 PM

Nice. Hope you like it.

Almost got eighty pages in this morning. I was devouring it. Classic King character-building, but there were a bunch of little nods that made me smile. The ominous cawing of a crow (The Stand), someone "lighting out for the territories" (The Talisman), repeated references to Castle Rock and Tarker's Mills.

kuehnepips

05-04-2010, 06:27 PM

Well, I bought Joe Abercrombries' Best Served Cold for my birthday, because I loved the three books before.
So far a book to make love to.
Okay, to bloody fuck. Bloody. To death.

D_Davis

05-04-2010, 06:31 PM

Almost got eighty pages in this morning. I was devouring it. Classic King character-building, but there were a bunch of little nods that made me smile. The ominous cawing of a crow (The Stand), someone "lighting out for the territories" (The Talisman), repeated references to Castle Rock and Tarker's Mills.

The first 250 pages, or so, are probably the best 250 pages King has ever written.

Dead & Messed Up

05-11-2010, 07:59 AM

Well, I'm done with Under the Dome. I'll post extended thoughts in the next couple of days, but in the meantime...really flippin' good. Like, kind of great.

Maybe even great, straight-up.

Observation about the ending:

Surprised it took someone that long to try begging. Even more surprised it worked. But it makes sense in the context of the story, which all about the dangers of pack mentality.

D_Davis

05-11-2010, 03:24 PM

I think it might be King's "great American novel."

Dead & Messed Up

05-11-2010, 07:27 PM

I think it might be King's "great American novel."

I think The Stand already has that covered, but if that ever disappears, this is an acceptable replacement. Hell, you can find a few compelling similarities between the two:

Precognitive dreams.
Factioned good/bad "teams."
Skinny freak obsessed with fire.
Second act capped with violent meeting that throws good guys into turmoil.
Freak produces cleansing explosion.
Ending intervention courtesy of cosmic being.

I'm kinda torn on the ending. Not the Dome creators, so much as the general tenor of the last eighty pages or so. In perhaps too-traditional a King fashion, it's pretty anticlimactic.

D_Davis

05-11-2010, 07:54 PM

Yes - it is anti-climatic, but thematically I think it works.

I think I actually like this better than The Stand, although it's a tough call. Both are pretty damn amazing. I do think that Under the Dome is better written, though. Those first 250 pages are a masterclass of plot and set up.

Dead & Messed Up

05-12-2010, 02:31 AM

Put a review of it in my blog.

I'd agree with you that the writing is stronger. I'll check back on this one in a few years and see how the characters hold up - they're always my favorite part of Stephen King's writing.

D_Davis

05-12-2010, 02:47 PM

megladon8

06-19-2010, 09:24 PM

This new book "Kraken" by China Miéville (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/034549749X/ref=s9_simvh_gw_p14_i3?pf_rd_m =A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1ZP2HW3V243YZSDWRV2N&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=463383511&pf_rd_i=915398) sounds pretty cool.

Winston*

07-08-2010, 01:50 AM

megladon8

07-10-2010, 07:30 PM

Anyone read or reading this new vampire thing: The Passage by Justin Cronin? 200 pages in it's pretty high quality so far, some dumb attempts at fleshing out the near future world aside. Governor Jenna Bush? C'mon book.

No, I've never even heard of this.

Every time I go to Chapters I swear I see a dozen new horrors I want to read.

D_Davis

07-21-2010, 03:24 PM

I started reading 'Salem's Lot, again. It's been about 20 years since I last read it. Damn is it ever good. I'd encourage anyone who ever doubted King's ability to write solid prose, while also telling a fantastic story with amazing characters, to read this book. It really is one of his very best novels. I'm glad I'm reading it again - I'm picking up on far more little details. Some of his characterizations are simply brilliant.

lovejuice

07-22-2010, 07:38 AM

I started reading 'Salem's Lot, again. It's been about 20 years since I last read it.
two things i especially like from that novel.

1. when the girl came back as a vampire. did you really expect that to happen?
2. the death of the boy's parents and his coping with it afterward.
all in all, it really is a wonderful novel.

Kurosawa Fan

07-22-2010, 12:44 PM

'Salem's Lot is easily my favorite King. I've only read ten or so of his novels, but nothing has come close in terms of quality writing.

D_Davis

07-22-2010, 09:46 PM

King really brings the Lot to life - I'd say Under the Dome is very similar in this way; the two novels are similar in structure and style.

megladon8

07-22-2010, 11:29 PM

"'Salem's Lot" is my favorite King novel, as well.

It's brilliant.

Dead & Messed Up

07-23-2010, 12:54 AM

Okay, this is weird, because 'salem's Lot is my favorite King novel too.

D_Davis

07-23-2010, 04:01 PM

It's not my favorite, but I think it's really good.

Dukefrukem

07-28-2010, 08:05 PM

Not my favorite either, but I also think it's very good.

D_Davis

08-05-2010, 03:16 PM

Alright, started A Game of Thrones last night...

lovejuice

08-12-2010, 04:25 AM

megladon8

08-12-2010, 05:17 AM

I'm halfway through David Moody's "Hater".

It's good. Very quick read. Very succinct prose.

I love that he's a guy who just published his work online on his own website and people liked it enough that it was picked up for publishing.

D_Davis

08-12-2010, 03:04 PM

I am quite enjoying M. R. James' ghost stories. What do you guys think of him? Perhaps being a contemporary of Lovecraft diminishes his achievement somewhat, but I am surprised not a lot more have been said about him.

He's great. I've only read about 1/2 of the collection I have:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1853260533.01._SX140_SY225_SCL ZZZZZZZ_.jpg

But I like what I've read quite a bit.

D_Davis

08-12-2010, 03:12 PM

So I put down A Game of Thrones - I just can't get into it right now.

I started reading The Strain, by Del Toro and Hogan. The story is pretty good, but my God is the prose ever clunky. Oh man...I've always suspected that Del Toro wasn't a very good writer, and this is just more proof. Although maybe its Hogan's fault? I don't know. I feel like the authors don't trust the readers to get it - they think we're stupid. For instance, there is a character who works for the CDC, and he's part of the first response team. They call his team the Canary team, referring to the canary carried by minors to test to unclean air. This is common knowledge, especially for an "adult" audience (and it's not a YA novel), but the authors spend a paragraph explaining what the term "canary" means in the situation. Another character is a "tort" lawyer, and the authors again take time to explain what a "tort" is.

It also has some of the worst metaphors I've ever read.

Nothing is ever left to context or left to the reader to discover. It's all very, very amateurish. Can't believe the amount of critical praise heaped onto this one. It is especially evident after having re-read 'Salem's Lot and Some of Your Blood, two vastly superior vampire novels. But hey, I burned through 100 pages last night, and I am being entertained.

D_Davis

08-13-2010, 05:09 PM

The Strain - by Gullible Dumb Toto and some other guy

Wow, this book is terribly written. Oh man...so bad. The story is pretty cool, but I just couldn't put up with how poor the prose is. I felt insulted by the authors and their inability to trust me to get things. I only finished about 1/2 the book, but 3/4 of those ~250 pages were nothing by needless explanations about stupid things.

I cannot believe that this book has received the critical and fan-based praise that it has.

For my vampire kicks I'll stick to 'Salem's Lot, Some of Your Blood, and the Joe Pitt books.

Ezee E

08-13-2010, 11:30 PM

megladon8

08-13-2010, 11:52 PM

Salem's Lot is such a big book. Is it an easy read?

Yes it is. King's prose are beautiful and layered but also straight-forward and uncomplicated.

"'Salem's Lot" is the very best example of Stephen King weaving a tale of a community. Of small-town America. And that's what I've found he is very best at. His story-telling ability on this scale is really second to none.

On a different note, I finished "Hater" last night. One of the quickest reads I've ever had - read it in two sittings of about 90 minutes each. The prose are really nothing special. In fact at times the book isn't very well written at all. But the story is quite interesting, and for a quick, genuinely tense chiller it was a good read.

The final 30 pages of so are very tense.

I would definitely read the second entry in the series.

Kurosawa Fan

08-14-2010, 01:16 AM

Salem's Lot is such a big book. Is it an easy read?

Yes, it's a quick read, and totally worth it. And this is coming from someone who thinks, in most cases, King gets worse the more pages he adds to a novel.

megladon8

08-14-2010, 07:02 PM

Any Christopher Moore fans here?

megladon8

08-14-2010, 09:14 PM

I read the first 65 pages of Christopher Moore's "A Dirty Job" and am really enjoying it so far. He's quite a good writer, and his sense of humor - particularly with dialogue - is fantastic.

The only other Moore book I've read is "Lamb" which was similarly very funny. I have three or four of his books on my shelf I should really get to.

Winston*

08-14-2010, 10:16 PM

Any Christopher Moore fans here?

I liked Lamb a lot for the first half, less when it got into the actual Bible story.

D_Davis

08-16-2010, 04:34 PM

Reading Clive Barker's Cabal (aka Nightbreed). Really good.

megladon8

08-16-2010, 04:54 PM

Reading Clive Barker's Cabal (aka Nightbreed). Really good.

Is that a short story within a book of short stories titled "Cabal"?

I thought the book "Cabal" was a book of shorts. Perhaps I'm remembering wrong.

D_Davis

08-16-2010, 05:07 PM

Is that a short story within a book of short stories titled "Cabal"?

I thought the book "Cabal" was a book of shorts. Perhaps I'm remembering wrong.

Yes. Cabal is a novella, coupled with 4 short stories in the book.

megladon8

08-16-2010, 10:05 PM

30 pages to go in "A Dirty Job".

Man, I'm just drinking books up lately.

megladon8

08-16-2010, 10:56 PM

"A Dirty Job" was just hilarious. I am really looking forward to reading more by Moore. I actually thought this was better than his oft-touted "best" book "Lamb".

Funny, emotional, exciting. What an incredible imagination that man has.

D_Davis

08-16-2010, 11:12 PM

I need to read Moore. I've got a couple of his books. I'm pretty sure I'll like him. I also need to read Matt Ruff and Tom Robbins. I think all three are kind of similar in tone.

megladon8

08-17-2010, 12:12 AM

I need to read Moore. I've got a couple of his books. I'm pretty sure I'll like him. I also need to read Matt Ruff and Tom Robbins. I think all three are kind of similar in tone.

Which Moore books do you have?

I hope you like him when you get around to his work. He's a surprisingly good writer - very, very funny, and touching at times.

Like I said about, I actually preferred "A Dirty Job" to "Lamb" (which is usually considered his best).

megladon8

08-17-2010, 01:23 AM

Moving onto "Shambling Towards Hiroshima" by James Morrow.

Read the first chapter tonight. Seems quite good.

D_Davis

08-17-2010, 01:29 AM

Moving onto "Shambling Towards Hiroshima" by James Morrow.

Read the first chapter tonight. Seems quite good.

An amazing book. You're going to love it.

megladon8

08-19-2010, 12:49 AM

Really enjoying "Shambling Towards Hiroshima".

About half through it now.

Morrow is quite a wonderful writer. His prose are elegant and funny.

D_Davis

08-19-2010, 12:58 AM

Really enjoying "Shambling Towards Hiroshima".

About half through it now.

Morrow is quite a wonderful writer. His prose are elegant and funny.

It's a brilliant little book. One of those that I'd like to buy for dozens of people I know, including many Match Cutters.

megladon8

08-19-2010, 01:02 AM

It's a brilliant little book. One of those that I'd like to buy for dozens of people I know, including many Match Cutters.

I actually had a few tears run down my cheeks when...

...Tiffany, the prostitute visits him. And leaves him that note.

What a wonderful little scene that was.

D_Davis

08-19-2010, 03:12 PM

I actually had a few tears run down my cheeks when...

...Tiffany, the prostitute visits him. And leaves him that note.

What a wonderful little scene that was.

Totally.

megladon8

08-20-2010, 04:26 AM

Finished it.

It was wonderful. Morrow is quite the writer, if this book is any indication of his career as a whole. I'm really looking forward to reading more of his work.

MadMan

08-20-2010, 05:52 AM

Speaking of Salem's Lot, I finally finished it (hey what can I say? I take my time with books these days, and I procrastinate of course :P). Anyways, its a great tale, and the last half is incredibly freaky, yet eerily plausible in every single way. I do love that he took Dracula and placed the story in modern times, giving it his own unique spin. Easily one of the best horror novels I've read, and now I'm curious to check out the two adaptations.

I think I'll try and find The Shinning somewhere, although if I can't I'll either read Christine or Insomnia instead.

megladon8

08-23-2010, 09:22 PM

So...I've begun reading Theodore Sturgeon's "More than Human" and am, well, taken aback by just how incredible this man's writing talent is.

It almost seems blasphemous for this man's work to be lumped into the sci-fi section of the bookstore along all those terribly melodramatic space operas with the cover art of scantily-clad women fighting giant intergalactic space lizards.

His prose are breath-taking.

I'm just 22 pages in and it already has me floored how beautifully he weaves the story and characters.

How very human his writing is.

I need to read more Sturgeon.

D_Davis

08-23-2010, 09:34 PM

megladon8

08-24-2010, 12:20 AM

Yeah - it's an amazing book, and Sturgeon is an incredibly author.

More Than Human should be required reading. Too bad so many will overlook it because it's SF. Whenever I see this book for sale, I buy a copy for someone. So far, I've done this 5 times.

How did you interpret Sturgeon's descriptions of "the idiot" at the beginning of the book?

When he describes his protruding bones and skeletal frame, did you see it as just malnourishment and poverty? Or was he physically..."different" looking?

I almost saw giant, skin-covered skeleton.