Horror, Fantasy, and other non-sci-fi genres...

[D_Davis]

I have The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon in my bag atm to start reading today. My 3rd King book (+ the short story 'The Jaunt'). Bought it for 10 cents.

"The Jaunt" is one of my all-time favorite stories. What a fucking amazing story that is. That ending! Holy hell....the horror.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is the book that got adult-me back into King. I hadn't read anything by him in about 15 years, and picked that one up for super cheap. Read it in a day and was hooked; I started to re-read everything with a fresh appreciation for his talents.

I highly recommend The Dark Tower series, and The Stand if you haven't read those.

[Winston*]

"The Jaunt" is one of my all-time favorite stories. What a fucking amazing story that is. That ending! Holy hell....the horror.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is the book that got adult-me back into King. I hadn't read anything by him in about 15 years, and picked that one up for super cheap. Read it in a day and was hooked; I started to re-read everything with a fresh appreciation for his talents.

I highly recommend The Dark Tower series, and The Stand if you haven't read those.

I've read The Long Walk and 'Salems Lot. I thought of giving The Dark Tower books a go at some point, but reading about all the King intertextuality turned me off.

[D_Davis]

I thought of giving The Dark Tower books a go at some point, but reading about all the King intertextuality turned me off.

That's the stuff I really like. King takes a big epic quest fantasy, and turns it into a personal story about art and the artist. He takes a bunch of genre tropes, and examines them in how they impacted his life, his fiction, and the worlds he created. It's quite remarkable, if you're into that kind of meta stuff, the relationship between the artist and the art - I know that some people aren't.

The Long Walk is masterful, as is 'Salem's Lot.

[megladon8]

Yeah, this discussion is going to get pretty heated if I continue.

Suffice it to say, I greatly disagree with the idea that one can be so very certain of one's superior tastes. That's pretty douchey.

Completely casting my opinion aside with "it just wasn't the right time for you to read it - don't worry, sometime you'll see how right I am!" is equally asinine.

[Irish]

Suffice it to say, I greatly disagree with the idea that one can be so very certain of one's superior tastes. That's pretty douchey.

By the same token, thinking one's opinion is valid, simply because it can be expressed out loud, is idiotic.

[Winston*]

That's the stuff I really like. King takes a big epic quest fantasy, and turns it into a personal story about art and the artist. He takes a bunch of genre tropes, and examines them in how they impacted his life, his fiction, and the worlds he created. It's quite remarkable, if you're into that kind of meta stuff, the relationship between the artist and the art - I know that some people aren't.


Don't have any problem with metatextuality. I'm a lit major after all. Just thought I wouldn't be able to appreciate that aspect of the series if I hadn't experienced much of Kings books.

[megladon8]

By the same token, thinking one's opinion is valid, simply because it can be expressed out loud, is idiotic.


If you can articulate reasons behind your opinion and its validity, there's nothing idiotic about having your own opinion.

We're not talking about opinions on human rights and ethics, here. We're talking about art and culture.

If someone can give a well-thought argument for their belief that Transformers is a better film than Citizen Kane, I see no reason why their opinion cannot be treated as valid.

When I was in Jiu Jitsu there was this kid 2 or 3 years older than me who, whenever someone said something that he didn't agree with, he would respond with "oh it's okay. Everyone has a right to their own opinion even when it's WRONG!"

[Winston*]

Read the first page of The Last Dragon on Amazon. Just ordered that shit, bros.

[D_Davis]

Completely casting my opinion aside with "it just wasn't the right time for you to read it - don't worry, sometime you'll see how right I am!" is equally asinine.

It's happened to me many, many times, and I never think that the person suggesting it is douchey, especially if they recommended me the thing in a thoughtful manner, and I usually discover that they were right.

[D_Davis]

Don't have any problem with metatextuality. I'm a lit major after all. Just thought I wouldn't be able to appreciate that aspect of the series if I hadn't experienced much of Kings books.

That makes sense, and I think you're right on that one.

[D_Davis]

Read the first page of The Last Dragon on Amazon. Just ordered that shit, bros.

Right on, dude.

LD has one of my favorite opening sentences; I was hooked from the very beginning. I'm going to re-read it this year. Such a beautiful and poetic fantasy, thick with atmosphere, mystery, and weirdness. It's the fantasy by which I measure all others.

McDermott also writes the absolute best female characters in genre fiction, regardless of medium. They're strong, not juvenile male fantasies, have interesting conversations about things not related to men and relationships, and are the driving force in many of his stories. As a matter of fact, I can't name another author that I've read who writes female characters with more conviction.

[D_Davis]

One thing I really like about Mistborn is the magic system. It is very, very cool.

But that dialog! YAK! Jesus....I can't recall a book with more on-the-nose, expository dialog.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Full Dark No Stars is excellent so far. I'm through "1922" (oof), "Big Driver" (agck), and the first bit of "Fair Extension" (hah!).

[D_Davis]

Full Dark No Stars is excellent so far. I'm through "1922" (oof), "Big Driver" (agck), and the first bit of "Fair Extension" (hah!).

It lives up to its title. I feel like 1922 is King's attempt at a Lansdale pastiche.

[Winston*]

Right on, dude.

LD has one of my favorite opening sentences; I was hooked from the very beginning. I'm going to re-read it this year. Such a beautiful and poetic fantasy, thick with atmosphere, mystery, and weirdness. It's the fantasy by which I measure all others.

McDermott also writes the absolute best female characters in genre fiction, regardless of medium. They're strong, not juvenile male fantasies, have interesting conversations about things not related to men and relationships, and are the driving force in many of his stories. As a matter of fact, I can't name another author that I've read who writes female characters with more conviction.

I wanted to buy The Divinity Student at the same time, but I can't find that book for less than $80 US.

[D_Davis]

I wanted to buy The Divinity Student at the same time, but I can't find that book for less than $80 US.

There is an omnibus version that contains the sequel as well:

http://www.amazon.com/San-Veneficio-Canon-Michael-Cisco/dp/1894815688/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373585269&sr=1-7

[D_Davis]

BTW, I was talking to McDermott this morning, and his new novel MAZE should be out this year, and the final part of the Dogsland trilogy will be out early next year. I've read a rough draft of MAZE and it was good (looking forward to reading the final draft), and the Dogsland books have been amazing so far - they are very, very low fantasy. I've compared them to The Wire, if The Wire was a very low urban fantasy. They're subtle and nuanced to the core - very small and quiet, punctuated with violence and phantasmagoria.

[Winston*]

There is an omnibus version that contains the sequel as well:

http://www.amazon.com/San-Veneficio-Canon-Michael-Cisco/dp/1894815688/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373585269&sr=1-7
Ah. Cheers. His website should make this more clear.

[D_Davis]

Ah. Cheers. His website should make this more clear.

I don't think he updates his website much. From what I gather, he's kind of a Luddite.

[D_Davis]

Gave up on Mistborn. Just couldn't stand another page of expository dialog.

And in preparation for Dr. Sleep, I started a re-read of The Shining. Goddamn this is a fantastic book. Haven't read it since I was in jr. high. So well written, and it gets so deep into the characters, their pathos, and their own trips into their personal hells.

[D_Davis]

New Michael Cisco this October! A novel called, Member.

Can't wait to see where he goes after Celebrant.

[megladon8]

I ordered the two first volumes of the "Dogsland" trilogy to give McDermott another shot.

[D_Davis]

Interested to see what you think of those. Very different than LD. Very small and personal.

[D_Davis]

Man, The Shining is fantastic.

[megladon8]

Interested to see what you think of those. Very different than LD. Very small and personal.


Me too. With "Last Dragon", I found his prose undeniably gorgeous, but the story itself just lost me about halfway.

I've been reading a lot of small press horror, sci fi and fantasy stuff lately. In a month or two I am going to make a little list of some author discoveries I've made. I hope you'll check them out!

[D_Davis]

McDermott is definitely more of a prose stylist than he is a story teller. I think he's more concerned with creating atmosphere and characters than he is the plot. This is one of the reasons why I think he's more literary than his contemporaries. Nothing much happens on the Dogsland books. They are slow and plodding, and almost entirely uneventful. But they're damn good.

Your list - Sounds great, especially if they offer Kindle versions. I've been out of the small press biz this year, so it'll be good to see what's up.

I'm about 1/2 through The Shining, a boy howdy is it kicking my ass. As much as I like the film - I really do - it just doesn't compare to psychological depths of character and the horror of the place found in the book. The way King gets into the heads of each of the three main characters is masterful. So glad I'm reading this again, and I'm really looking forward to Dr. Sleep.

[Winston*]

Wasn't that impressed by The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Feel like with such a small narrative, King's only real task was to relay the mindset of a 9 year old girl and I don't think he really achieved that.

[D_Davis]

Wasn't that impressed by The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Feel like with such a small narrative, King's only real task was to relay the mindset of a 9 year old girl and I don't think he really achieved that.

You could be right, it's been awhile since I read it. However, I remember liking it distinctly because of the way King wrote for the little girl. It rang true with me in the sense that he wrote her like a lot of children in literature; she was meant to represent the reader's memory of being a young person, and played upon the reader's imagination of being a young person in that situation.

Danny in The Shining is very similar, and I love his character. King portrays a character wiser in his years, and this is ultimately quite tragic because even though he knows things, he is still in a child's body, and is thus not able to act upon that advanced knowledge in an adult manner. Danny represents the hopelessness of the situation, of knowing what to do, but being unable to do it. This is shown clearly through his inability to read, and the fact that Tony is always pointing out signs to him.

King doesn't write children as children but instead writes them in the way that we remember being a child, filtered through all of our years of growth.

[D_Davis]

Jack's monologue about being on the wagon is so brilliantly written. Sometimes King comes up with some of the best metaphors and descriptions - he has a way of describing things that resonate deeply.

I think I'll do a re-read of The Dark Tower this year. Whenever I read King, my mind always gets drawn back to that.

[megladon8]

Jack's monologue about being on the wagon is so brilliantly written. Sometimes King comes up with some of the best metaphors and descriptions - he has a way of describing things that resonate deeply.

I think I'll do a re-read of The Dark Tower this year. Whenever I read King, my mind always gets drawn back to that.


I've been thinking of doing this since I started reading "It", and wanted to see all the Derry connections.

I also have a few King books on my shelf I have not read yet - "The Tommyknockers", "Duma Key", "Lisey's Story" - and would like to check out.

And I picked up "Joyland" so I have that one to read as well.

[D_Davis]

I also have a few King books on my shelf I have not read yet - "The Tommyknockers", "Duma Key", "Lisey's Story" - and would like to check out.


Unfortunately, I can't say much good for any of those.

Forgot about Joyland...although I pre-ordered it, so it should have been shipped to me. Need to check!

I forget, meg, have you read The Dark Tower?

[megladon8]

Unfortunately, I can't say much good for any of those.

Forgot about Joyland...although I pre-ordered it, so it should have been shipped to me. Need to check!

I forget, meg, have you read The Dark Tower?


Yes. Quite possibly my favorite book series ever.

I found "Wolves of the Calla" a bit tedious due to its basically repeating everything that happened before it, but other than that, every single book was masterful.

Just the amount of imagination and planning that went into weaving that single series together was incredible, but then taking into consideration how they act as the center of a wheel, with King's other work connecting to it all like spokes - it's mind-blowing.

He should have received a Nobel Price in Awesomeness.

[D_Davis]

Nice! Don't know what I forgot all that.

Wolves is my favorite of the series, but I agree with everything else you said.

[megladon8]

Nice! Don't know what I forgot all that.

Wolves is my favorite of the series, but I agree with everything else you said.


Well maybe I'm remembering incorrectly - was it "Wolves" or "Wizard and Glass" in which King basically spent about 300 pages summarizing everything that had happened so far?

It's been a good 6 years since I read them so I may be getting them mixed up.

[D_Davis]

WaG had the 400 page flashback - easily my least favorite of the series. Although I do love the beginning and ending parts on Blain the Train.

Wolves is Seven Samurai.

[megladon8]

WaG had the 400 page flashback - easily my least favorite of the series. Although I do love the beginning and ending parts on Blain the Train.

Wolves is Seven Samurai.


Okay, apologies then. It's "Wizard and Glass" that I found the weakest of them all.

"Wolves" was awesome.

[D_Davis]

Wolves is when they protect the village from the army of Dr. Doom robot wolves with the Harry Potter grenades and spinning plate shuriken. So bad ass.

My favorite parts of that novel are all the palavers with Roland and the ka-tet.

[D_Davis]

Dammit, I can't wait to read these again. Just talking about them floods my mind with awesome memories.

Love the return of Father Callahan. Damn, that is so awesome.

[megladon8]

I've always loved that phrase used throughout the series, "you have forgotten the face of your father."

Awesome stuff.

[megladon8]

D have you ever had the chance to check out some Mieville?

I picked up a hardcover copy of "Embassytown" for $6 yesterday.

I find him consistently interesting, even when his stories don't quite succeed. His prose are incredible.

[D_Davis]

I tried reading Peridio (sp?) Street Station many years ago, and I didn't like it at all.

However, that was long before I got into Cisco, Ligotti, and McDermott, or any of the new weird.

So I plan on giving him another shoot in the near future. I have a feeling I'll get along well with his stuff now.

[Winston*]

I tried reading Peridio (sp?) Street Station many years ago, and I didn't like it at all.

However, that was long before I got into Cisco, Ligotti, and McDermott, or any of the new weird.

So I plan on giving him another shoot in the near future. I have a feeling I'll get along well with his stuff now.

Read The City and the City. Masterpiece.

[D_Davis]

Read The City and the City. Masterpiece.

That sounds very cool.

[megladon8]

"It" continues to astound.

Nearing the halfway point. The adults have come back to Derry, and just opened their fortune cookies in the Chinese restaurant.

Is there anyone else in literature who can write an enormous cast of characters and have them so clearly and richly illustrated that a character list is not needed?

I've read fantasy books with half the characters of some of King's books ("Needful Things" and "'Salem's Lot", to name two with particularly large character counts) and I wasn't able to keep names straight. I felt like I needed a graph.

King can write an entire town, and I am never caught wondering "wait...who was this guy again?" or "was she the one who did this, or this?" and I never have to backtrack.

Anyways, I'm loving reading this book as a bittersweet examination of childhood nostalgia. The power of the memories we make and the bonds we forge in those early years. King captures that sweet paid of remembering so well.

[D_Davis]

Yes! King is a master of the ensemble, and I prefer his epic works to his more personal ones. Before reading a King story, I can pretty much guess how much I'm going to like it based on how many characters it has - the more characters, the more I'll like it. Typically.

The part in It when the adults return to Derry is my favorite. I love how broken they all are.

[Winston*]

Is there anyone else in literature who can write an enormous cast of characters and have them so clearly and richly illustrated that a character list is not needed?

Dickens?

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'd nominate George R.R. Martin as well.

[D_Davis]

Dan Simmons does good ensemble pieces, as does Clive Barker.

My absolute favorite is Larry McMurtry with the Lonesome Dove series. Dozens and dozens of characters, and each is as alive and vibrant as the next. Just a phenomenal example of fiction.

[Irish]

Dickens?

+ Alexandre Dumas

[D_Davis]

I need to read Dumas.

[megladon8]

Received my copy of Lansdale's "Deadman's Road" today. I pre-ordered it and it is listed as having an August 1st release, but it came today!

Looks great. I really need to read more Lansdale in general - I've read frightfully little.

[D_Davis]

Good collection. Still need to read a couple of the stories in it.

The main story, Dead in the West, is great.

Got his two upcoming ones on pre-order as well. A huge 400+ page collection of new stories, and another mainstream novel. I'm giving his mainstream stuff one more chance before I call it quits. He really needs to find a new muse.

[megladon8]

Good collection. Still need to read a couple of the stories in it.

The main story, Dead in the West, is great.

Got his two upcoming ones on pre-order as well. A huge 400+ page collection of new stories, and another mainstream novel. I'm giving his mainstream stuff one more chance before I call it quits. He really needs to find a new muse.


Are you talking about "Bleeding Shadows" and "The Thicket", respectively? I have both of those pre-ordered as well :)

I have yet to get into any of his Hap & Leonard novels. I am averse to entering new series'. More often than not I find authors' standalone fiction much more interesting than series' that almost unanimously run way too long, and end up succumbing to fan pressures.

Also, I have little interest in Lansdale's crime fiction. I'm much more interested in is horror and western stuff.

[D_Davis]

Those are them.

Although I just canceled The Thicket in favor of the Kindle version. He hasn't written a good mainstream novel in a very long time (since A Fine Dark Line).

The Thicket isn't horror - it's another mainstream coming of age novel with light crime/suspense, similar to A Fine Dark Line; All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky; The Bottoms; Lost Echoes; and Edge of Dark Water.

The Hap and Leonard books are his best stuff, beyond A Fine Dark Line and The Bottoms. The last two, Vanilla Ride and Devil Red, are both fantastic. It's really the only stuff I look forward to from Lansdale anymore.

[megladon8]

Ah, well, that cancels "The Thicket" for me then. Man, Amazon's categorizations are terrible sometimes - I jumped on that one because they had it categorized in "new horror fiction".

So the Hap & Leonard novels are actually worth a damn?

[D_Davis]

So the Hap & Leonard novels are actually worth a damn?

Some of the best, most fun novels I've ever read. Kick ass adventure coupled with two of the best characters in all of genre fiction, along with social commentary on race, poverty, and sexual orientation. Some are better than others, but overall they're awesome, with more than half of them being outstanding. They're also only loosely a series. Each one is kind of a caper of the week episode, but with some on going character development and jokes. The last two are probably the most related. I'd say it's worth reading them all just to get up to Vanilla Ride - that book kicks so much ass.

The Thicket is being called a cross between Stand By Me and True Grit, a kind of urban western, set in East Texas, of course. Don't know why it would be classified as horror, unless it has something hidden in it. It's listed in the US stores as Mystery Thriller/Crime Fiction.

I'm pretty sure The Drive in books are the only horror novels he's written. Everything else horror related is either a short story or a novella.

His crime stuff is awesome - you gotta read Cold in July and Freezer Burn. Oh man, so good. He's actually more of a crime writer than he is a horror writer.

[megladon8]

I know he writes more crime than horror, but I always thought his crime stuff was all the mainstream, pandering blandy stuff. That's why I never really took interest in the Hap & Leonard novels.

I was under the impression his horror stuff was really the only worthwhile stuff he'd written.

Hmmm...I'll have to check out some more.

But yeah, "The Thicket" does not sound like my cup of tea.

[D_Davis]

A Fine Dark Line and The Bottoms are my two favorite Lansdale things. Both mainstream crime.


his short stories are where he tends to get ultra dark and brutal. Have you read "Drive In Date?"

[megladon8]

About 200 pages left in "It" and I hope to finish it tomorrow.

Absolutely loving it. It would have to take a real nosedive at this point for me to think less of it.

Sven - I am so very curious. What part scared you so badly? I have a few ideas, but I'd rather hear it from you :)

[Dead & Messed Up]

It would have to take a real nosedive at this point for me to think less of it.

Yeah... no nosedive, but it gets weird.

[megladon8]

One thing I will say has...hmm...irked me a bit?

Did anyone else notice while reading that Bev is portrayed as an enormous horndog, while the boys (and even grown men) are fairly innocent? When she is flying back to Derry after escaping from her husband, she sits next to an attractive young man and finds herself daydreaming about his cock.

In the flashbacks to 1958, Ben and Bill have innocent young boy crushes on her, while she is the one always thinking about their dicks and wanting to touch their balls.

I don't doubt that girls of 11 or 12 years old have often begun to become conscious of their bodies and curious about the bodies of boys...but that the boys of the same age, on the other hand, are still so oblivious seemed strange.

I know that I, for one, was curious and attracted to girls since grade 1 or 2 (age 7-8).

[D_Davis]

I think it's just part of her character.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts after you're done with the book.

[megladon8]

Yeah, that was brilliant. Spent a good chunk of the last 50 or so pages crying.

I had absolutely no problems whatsoever with their confrontation and defeat of It. I found it kind of incredible, really. The scope of their plight, the realization of the truth behind It's motivations and existence.

I'm anxious to re-read The Dark Tower books and see how it all ties together.

But yeah...that was a showstopper. Brilliant stuff.

[megladon8]

I'm still really anxious to hear about Sven's experience with a terrifying part of the book that involved nothing at all supernatural.

[D_Davis]

I really like how the last section is structured - the way the past and present are connected. It really shows how masterfully King handles plot. The only time I think he's been better is in the opening 200 or so pages of Under the Dome.

Just about finished with The Shining. My god, what a fantastic novel.

[megladon8]

Have begun reading "Kin" by Kealan Patrick Burke.

40 pages in. Already grabbed me.

[D_Davis]

Have begun reading "Kin" by Kealan Patrick Burke.

40 pages in. Already grabbed me.

He's pretty much Stephen King Jr. Haven't read Kin (have it) but I've liked everything else I've read by him.

[D_Davis]

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

My favorite opening line, and damn it's good to be back in Mid-World.

My favorite part about re-reading a great book/series, is thinking ahead to all of the great stuff that will happen, all of the happy times, and all of the sad times. Meeting Oy, Jake's return, the rose, the Ka Corporation, Blaine the Train, Shardik...The Dark Tower is simply overflowing with great things.

[D_Davis]

What I'm finding most remarkable about The Gunslinger is, well, a couple of things. First, it's such a confident piece of work of such a young author. This is a work of a seasoned veteran, one who holds a complete mastery over character and place. Secondly, even though I know that King hadn't worked out all (much? any?) of the big plot when this was written, he alluded to and touched upon all of the major themes in the first 50 pages, and I'm not even reading the revised edition.

[megladon8]

"Kin" was quite something. Burke has a great storyteller's voice, and the pace, beats and ending all felt natural, organic.

It's one of the most interesting, well-thought examinations of revenge I've encountered in any medium. It also happens to be a fascinating look at post 9/11 America.

Really enjoyed this. Read it in two sittings. I can't wait to read more from Burke (I have his "Master of the Moors" on my shelf, and it has just jumped up pretty high on my "to read" list).

[D_Davis]

The Gunslinger is so good.

[D_Davis]

The Drawing of the Three has got to have the single bravest opening of any fantasy ever written.

[D_Davis]

So many great moments in the first part of The Drawing of the Three. King does a remarkable job of illustrating Roland's and Eddie's bond. And what's more, these first ~200 pages are super intense - it's like one extended suspense sequence with a fantastic, bloody, and violent climax. The action in the Dark Tower series is some of the best I've read.

[megladon8]

About 3/4 through Brett J. Talley's "The Void", which is pretty much Event Horizon - The Book.

I really like Talley - his writing is imperfect but loaded with personality and a love for cosmic horror. But this book is jusy a little too derivative.

The idea of the "dreams" had during hyper sleep is novel, but I wish it was used a little more in the actual narrative, rather than essentially remaking a '90s sci fi horror film.

It's OK, but Talley's previous novel, "That Which Should Not Be", was much better.

[D_Davis]

About 3/4 through Brett J. Talley's "The Void", which is pretty much Event Horizon - The Book.


Sounds kind of cool. Have you read Sean Paul Russo's Ship of Fools? It's a religious-themed SF book that reminded me a little of Even Horizon, but it was more serious in its explorations of theology. It's really quite good.

I'm about 60 pages into The Waste Land, and I'm loving this third re-read of King's Dark Tower more than any of my previous times spent with the ka-tet. I'm so super excited at each and every page, like a kid in a toy store. Coming up to some of my favorite moments in the entire series - the drawing of Jake, Eddie's key, and the start of the mythology of the rose, tortoise, beams, and Guardians. This is, simply, and I'm happy to confirm again, the greatest of all epic fantasy stories. It's fantasy for people who love fantasy, for people who love mythology, for people who love to examine the connections between our world and our fantastic worlds, for people who love to examine the relationships between the creator, the creation, and the people who consume the art.

And as happy as I am, I'm also a little sad, because I know it's going to end again, and, what's more, I know that there is absolutely nothing else out there that is even remotely like it or as good. Or if there is, I still haven't discovered it. I hope there is, though.

[megladon8]

D - no, I have not read "Ship of Fools", but I recently discovered a fascinating sci-fi trilogy, on which I will share more thoughts when I have completed it.


"The Void" went down the toilet fast.

Talley's writing...I dunno, "imperfect" might be a bit too kind. "Bad" (at times) might be more accurate.

I also feel awkward posting my thoughts on GoodReads because he is a regular poster (and on my friends list, no less).

The writing devolves into cliché really darn fast, and he almost seems lacking confidence that he is communicating his ideas clearly enough, and so he over-writes everything. Not in a verbose manner ala Lovecraft, but repeating things over and over.

I feel he could have easily trimmed this to a 100 page novella and it would have been much better.

[D_Davis]

D - no, I have not read "Ship of Fools", but I recently discovered a fascinating sci-fi trilogy, on which I will share more thoughts when I have completed it.

I also feel awkward posting my thoughts on GoodReads because he is a regular poster (and on my friends list, no less).



What's the name of the trilogy?

Also, I wouldn't let that bother you about posting comments. I gave a very negative review to the 3rd Merkabah Rider book, and the author and I have have been internet friends for a couple of years. He responded, and agreed with some of my criticisms. Also, a lot of my criticisms were of how the book was published (poor quality, pages falling out, too expensive, etc.) and its lack of editing, and because we were "friends" he took this criticism to heart and switched publishers/editors for the 4th and final book.

[D_Davis]

The writing devolves into cliché really darn fast, and he almost seems lacking confidence that he is communicating his ideas clearly enough, and so he over-writes everything. Not in a verbose manner ala Lovecraft, but repeating things over and over.


Oh god, sounds the Del Toro's The Stain. Exactly. God that book is terrible. I'll never forget the Canary Team, and in case you were confused as to why a first-response team would be called the Canary Team, Del Toro goes on to fully explain the metaphor of the miners using canaries to test air quality. And the book is full of things like that. Yuk.

[megladon8]

It's the "Kefahuchi Tract Trilogy" written by M. John Harrison.

Three volumes - "Light", "Nova Swing" and "Empty Space".

[D_Davis]

It's the "Kefahuchi Tract Trilogy" written by M. John Harrison.

Three volumes - "Light", "Nova Swing" and "Empty Space".

Ah - unfortantely I don't like Harrison. I read Light and Nova Swing, or, more accurately, tried to read each of them twice, along with a couple of his other books (another collection of four related novellas, Vericonium, or something like that). To me, it felt like he was trying to disguise the fact that his ideas weren't all that great (even though he tried to pass them off as such) with extreme over-writing, poorly written sex and taboo-busting subjects, and a lot of pretentious nonsense. He has some of the language of the new weird, but lacks the understanding of how and why that kind of language should be used.

He reminded me of an early Michael Moorcock or Harlan Ellison, but without the raw talent to be genuinely brave and exciting.

I know a lot of people like him, though, so maybe you'll get along with his stuff better than I did. Definitely gave him a good go. I bought about 5 of his books at once because I thought for sure I'd love him. He and I are simply and different wavelengths.

[megladon8]

Tom Piccirilli's "The Walls of the Castle" is an intense, mystifying noir/horror novella.

The story follows Kasteel, a man so grief-stricken by the death of his son that he has been unable to leave the confines of the hospital in which the boy died. Throughout the story's 90 pages, he encounters a handful of characters on either side of the moral spectrum, and through his handling of these situations (avenging the wife and son of a physically abusive man, and visiting a dying woman who insists the Biblical demon, Abaddon, is trying to eat her soul, to name a couple), he tries to both redeem his own troubled past, and free himself of the confines of "The Castle".

Piccirilli has become a favorite, and "The Walls of the Castle" is one of the best things I've read by him so far.

[megladon8]

I'm typically very un-interested in the relatively recent outpouring of "urban fantasy" novels, outside of authors like China Miéville. They typically fall into one of two categories:

1.) trying to be Neil Gaiman

2.) main target audience is 13 year old girls (and trying to be Neil Gaiman)

But Stina Leicht's "Of Blood and Honey" seems to be something closer to the weirdness and political allegory of Miéville.

Set in the early 1970s and among the height of The Troubles in Ireland, it follows Liam Kelly, a young man arrested by the BA and held in a camp where he is abused, tortured and raped by guards and prisoners alike. Through these events and the reappearance of his estranged father, he learns of his true family lineage which is embroiled in a centuries old religious war.

Enjoying it so far. Leicht has beautiful prose.

Also discovered that it's published by the same publisher doing J.M. McDermott's work.

[D_Davis]

But Stina Leicht's "Of Blood and Honey" seems to be something closer to the weirdness and political allegory of Miéville.

Set in the early 1970s and among the height of The Troubles in Ireland, it follows Liam Kelly, a young man arrested by the BA and held in a camp where he is abused, tortured and raped by guards and prisoners alike. Through these events and the reappearance of his estranged father, he learns of his true family lineage which is embroiled in a centuries old religious war.

Enjoying it so far. Leicht has beautiful prose.

Also discovered that it's published by the same publisher doing J.M. McDermott's work.

McDermott actually sent me an extra copy of that he had. It's one of his favorite novels.

[megladon8]

Did you ever read it?

[D_Davis]

Did you ever read it?

I have not, yet.

[megladon8]

It's very good. I've read almost 1/3 of it already (started it this aft.). May read a bit more before I hit the hay.

[D_Davis]

It's very good. I've read almost 1/3 of it already (started it this aft.). May read a bit more before I hit the hay.

That's great. I've heard nothing but good things.

[D_Davis]

Almost finished with The Waste Lands. It's a tremendous quest novel. It details my favorite part of most quest stories, and that's that what I call "The Great Journey" part, or the part of the quest during which the characters travel a great distance, and encounter many strange lands and people. Everything about this novel is amazing - from Jake being drawn into the ka-tet, to the encounter with Shardik, the meeting of the old timers, the battle with the Tick-Tock man, and that damn cliffhanger ending. I also love all of the thematic elements it sets up: the beams, the turtle, the rose, the book store, and the fusing of different worlds. And finally we get the first big palaver of the series, memorable moments all.

[D_Davis]

Finished The Waste Lands.

Started Wizard and Glass. I'm really going to try to enjoy the flashback this time.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Hope you like the flashback more this time around.

And yeah, The Waste Lands is just bursting with imagination. Love it. After the more focused first two chapters, it's a fun change of pace.

[D_Davis]

And yeah, The Waste Lands is just bursting with imagination. Love it. After the more focused first two chapters, it's a fun change of pace.

It really is one of the most imaginative fantasy novels I've ever read, and perfectly represents what I love about and look for in the genre. It's wildly imaginative, totally weird, and brimming with crazy encounters that serve a purpose to both the plot and the characters (not to mention how these things also serve The Beam, and further illustrate the true thematic nature of the series - it is a work about fiction itself). In contrast, I've always thought of Game of Thrones as a fantasy for people who really don't like fantasy (the plot could be set in any time and place because it deals more with politics and soap opera conventions), where as The Waste Lands is a fantasy for people who love fantasy - it is truly fantastique, a monumental work of an unbridled imagination, and the plot could only work in such a fantastic setting.

This is my 3rd time reading it, and I think I liked it best this time.

(I'm not using the above to talk shit on GoT, just as an example illustrating how one is and one is not for me. These two works live at opposite ends of the fantasy spectrum, and I simply gravitate more towards the weirder side of things)

[D_Davis]

One of my biggest problems with the flashback in Wizard and Glass is a matter of framing and form. It's supposed to be a tale told by Roland, and yet there are so many parts of the story in which there would be absolutely no way for Roland to have known what happened or what was said. It simply doesn't work as a flashback from Roland's point of view, unless we are to assume that he was simply making up a large portion of it, and if this is the case then what's the point at all?

Another problem I have with it is that I simply don't care about any of the characters in the flashback except for Roland. I don't care about his old ka-tet, because I haven't spent any time with them.

It might be a good story as a stand alone fable, or something, but in context to the quest at hand it just doesn't fit.

[megladon8]

Nearly finished "Of Blood and Honey".

It's really wonderful. I have about 70 pages left and will definitely finish it tomorrow.

Leicht's writing is beautiful.

[Winston*]

Last Dragon was really, really good.

[D_Davis]

Last Dragon was really, really good.

Yes!

McDermott is pretty amazing. Glad you liked it. Everything he's written has been fantastic.

[D_Davis]

Hope you liked LD enough to check out more McDermott. His short story collection is incredible.

[D_Davis]

Wizard and Glass - still not a huge fan, although I liked it more this third time. The flashback still feels entirely unnecessary. We don't learn anything more about Roland than we should have pieced together already. While it is an enjoyable story, one filled with romance and action, it just doesn't belong where King puts it. It should have been a stand-alone book, told has a side story. The present day stuff bookending the flashback is fantastic, and should have been included at the end of book three as a proper conclusion.

Looking forward to book five, my favorite of the series. Hopefully I'll have time to finish it before Doctor Sleep comes out.

[D_Davis]

After starting Wolves of the Calla, and thinking about nearing the conclusion of the Dark Tower, and all that that entails for Roland's kat-tet, I felt a sense of excitement and sadness. There really is nothing else like this series in all the realms of fantasy, and if there is, please, SOMEONE, tell me what, because I want more. I want more creativity of this caliber; I want another epic quest of this caliber; I want a story as personal to the author of this caliber; and I want a fantasy that touche upon the grand themes of myth and legend of this caliber. Maybe nothing else will impact me the same way, and I should just face that fact. Perhaps the Dark Tower series is, metaphorically, my own Dark Tower, and rather being like Roland - always searching for what's next in the hopes of finding it - I should be more like the others of the ka-tet and just enjoy it without needing something else.


I keep thinking about the Lonesome Dove series, and how close that got to getting me to that Dark Tower state of mind. I think I should reread that one again, soon, even though I just did so last year.

[D_Davis]

Man, how fucking bad ass is Father Callahan?

God this book is just amazing.

[D_Davis]

DAMU - did you read the DT comics?

[Dead & Messed Up]

DAMU - did you read the DT comics?

I read the first two runs ("The Gunslinger Born" and "The Long Road Home"). The art was gorgeous, but the dialogue and story development felt a little flat. The little myth-building fables at the end of each issue was a cute addition, although I can't remember any of them for the life of me.

Yourself?

[MadMan]

I love Wizard and Glass.

Oh and I'm almost finished with Stephen King's Night Shift. Will try and post a proper review covering it at some point when I'm finally done.

[D_Davis]

I read the first two runs ("The Gunslinger Born" and "The Long Road Home"). The art was gorgeous, but the dialogue and story development felt a little flat. The little myth-building fables at the end of each issue was a cute addition, although I can't remember any of them for the life of me.

Yourself?

Only the first - didn't care for it. I was wondering if the others are worth reading.

In other news....goddamn - Wolves of the Calla is just brilliant. I love the hell out of this book.

[D_Davis]

Third time through Wolves of the Calla, and it is still my favorite of the series. Just an absolutely brilliant book. It's hard to put into words just how good it is.

[megladon8]

I've started reading "The Shining", preparing for a one-two of this and "Doctor Sleep".

[D_Davis]

I'm going to start Doctor Sleep today.

[megladon8]

Did you already read "Member"?

[D_Davis]

Did you already read "Member"?

Not yet. Not in the mood for something that dense right now.

[D_Davis]

Actually, I decided to hold off on Doctor Sleep until I'm finished with the Dark Tower. Started book VII this morning. Knowing what's coming makes me so sad.

[Winston*]

Started reading Book of the New Sun. First book Shadow of the Torturer was cool, though becomes a bit less compelling in the second half once it leaves the torturers guild.

Will read The Claw of the Conciliator soon. I don't understand why Gene Wolfe titled all his books to sound like World of Warcraft expansions.

[Winston*]

Reading through my libraries monthly fantasy and science fiction purchase updates.

Codex born / Jim C. Hines.

http://www.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780756408169/mc.gif&upc=&oclc=&client=wellingtoncl
“The second book in the Magic ex libris series. Isaac Vainio belongs to a group of mages known as the Porters, an organization founded by Johannes Gutenberg to protect the innocent from wrongly used magic. As a libriomancer, Vainio has the power to pull creatures and objects from books. When he becomes involved in the search for the killer of a wendigo, type of werewolf, in a town claimed as werewolf territory, Vainio realizes that the killer actually seeks to capture Lena Greenwood, Vainio’s dryad lover and part of a love triangle that includes their psychiatrist Nidhi Shah, herself a Porter. As further complications arise, Vainio learns truths about his order and its still-living founder that make him question everything he knows about magic and about the Porters themselves.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

[Winston*]

Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess: a Girl genius novel / Phil & Kaja Foglio.
“With the help of Krosp Emperor of All Cats, Agatha has escaped the floating Castle Wulfenbach, but in so doing she has crash-landed directly into the Wastelands. Her goal is Mechanicsburg, the ancestral home of her family, and to reach it in one piece she will join up with Master Payne’s Circus of Adventure. But nothing is ever as easy as the stories make it seem. Her travel will be interrupted as she is sought by fierce Jagermonsters, enigmatic Geisterdamen, the Wulfenbach Empire, as well as the terrifying Other itself.” (adapted from Syndetics summary)

[Winston*]

Vampire warlords / Andy Remic. “ In book 3 of The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles series, llegendary warrior Kell must choose to flee the conquered land of Falanor, or fight for its people. Even now it may be too late, that all is lost for the Vachine invaders have called upon their ancient rulers, semi-immortal bloodsuckers who dwell on the edges between life and death. The vampire warlords have returned, and they will feed.” (adapted from Amazon.com)

[Winston*]

Sea of ghosts / Alan Campbell.
“Thrown out of the Graveyard corps by a corrupt and weak emperor, Granger has to turn to running his own prison. It’s not a lucrative business but if he keeps his head down, doesn’t succumb to pity or morals then he may just survive. But when two unexpected prisoners enter his life then his world is turned upside down. Ianthe is young, blind and deaf, she can only see or hear through other people’s senses. This makes her unique in a world held to ransom by the powerful Haurstaf, a sisterhood of telepaths who consider the young girl a threat to their power. She’s also Granger’s daughter.” (adapted from Amazon.co.uk)

[D_Davis]

Sounds like you got a lot of really great new things to choose from!

[Dead & Messed Up]

Read a short story called "The Challenge of Sleep. (http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cb.aspx)"

It's kinda neat. Not a great story but fun for its free-wheeling invention. A round-robin short story written by five different weird fiction authors including Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. The seams really show. E.g. Lovecraft's exposition on ancient cabals and alien transfiguration cuts off, and Howard picks up the baton by grabbing the nearest sharp thing and ripping open alien skins and spilling gruey guts everywhere, because fuck talking let's get busy. :lol:

[D_Davis]

Doctor Sleep is very good so far.

[D_Davis]

1/2 thru Doctor Sleep - it's excellent.

Totally reminds me of Insomnia. It's tense, with a good, small cast of characters, and reflects a lot on life, death, and family. It does some neat things with putting Dan in Holloran's shoes (Dan get's blasted by a young shiner just like he blasted Halloran), and it really does remind me of a version of The Shining told from Hollaran's point of view. Dan is out living his life, fighting his own personal demons, and this is what the story focuses on (for the first half), while a young girl with the shine is living thru a horror story.

[D_Davis]

“I thought you might like to know that THE SCARLET GOSPELS, a large novel which sets Harry D’Amour against the Hell Priest Pinhead,is finished, and has been delivered to my agent. I don’t yet have a publication date for it, but as soon as I do you’ll be the first to know. I won’t say anything about the narrative except this: it’s a HORROR NOVEL with the graphic violence and perverse eroticism of the most intense tales from the Books Of Blood. Please feel free to share this news with any friends who might have been wondering about the book: THE SCARLET GOSPELS ARE FINISHED.”

[Dead & Messed Up]

Aw yiss.

Motha

fuckin

Barker

horror.

[D_Davis]

That's been my most anticipated novel for the last couple of years. Here's hoping to 2014.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Isn't it supposed to be of a beastly size, though? I distantly remember Barker talking about thousands of manuscript pages.

[D_Davis]

Isn't it supposed to be of a beastly size, though? I distantly remember Barker talking about thousands of manuscript pages.

Yeah - it's huge. Like ~1,000 pages or something.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's gonna take time, but I'll read all those pages.

[D_Davis]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42P8ky_xu8w

[D_Davis]

Finished Doctor Sleep this morning, and it is very good. It doesn't have the heft that The Shining has - it's more of a romp, more of an action-packed thriller. Tonally, it reminds me of a mix between Cell and Insomnia, two of my favorite King novels. So it stands to reason that I like it quite a bit. That's not to say, though, that book completely lacks weight, because it doesn't. There are a few moments that are genuinely moving, especially Dan's progress through AA, his battle with alcoholism, and his ability to help the dying die in peace. I wish there was more spent on the later - this could have easily been a very small and quiet book, all about death and dying. But instead, King used that aspect as a plot device to fuel a big epic psychic battle at the book's exciting climax.

It's not top-tier King, but it's solidly in the middle. As far as post Cell stuff goes, I like it more than Lisey's Tale and 11/22/63, and less than Under the Dome.

[D_Davis]

Next up is some old-school weirdness.

http://www.billleonebookseller.com/pictures/70675.jpg

[Dead & Messed Up]

The House on the Borderland was pretty radical, both as an interesting look at pre-weird-fiction weird fiction, and also as its own self-contained anything-goes narrative. The book feels a little disjointed at times, as it fuses siege horror, dream travelogues, and even touches of body horror, but there's a bit of cohesion in how those elements interrelate, and, more importantly, it's a fast-paced read that lovingly details the impossible. There's an extended sequence towards the end that details the death of the solar system and the emergence of a sort of sci-fi-spiritual celestial makeup that's oddball and lovely. I was really taken with this one.

[D_Davis]

The House on the Borderland was pretty radical, both as an interesting look at pre-weird-fiction weird fiction, and also as its own self-contained anything-goes narrative. The book feels a little disjointed at times, as it fuses siege horror, dream travelogues, and even touches of body horror, but there's a bit of cohesion in how those elements interrelate, and, more importantly, it's a fast-paced read that lovingly details the impossible. There's an extended sequence towards the end that details the death of the solar system and the emergence of a sort of sci-fi-spiritual celestial makeup that's oddball and lovely. I was really taken with this one.

I love the first half, and then felt that it meanders a bit after that. Would have made a brilliant 100-page novella.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I love the first half, and then felt that it meanders a bit after that. Would have made a brilliant 100-page novella.

The solar-system-death stuff does go on longer than needed.

[D_Davis]

The solar-system-death stuff does go on longer than needed.

Yeah - I feel like that part was a huge influence on Clark Ashton Smith.

The book is definitely ahead of its time.

[megladon8]

Just received my signed, numbered leather-bound edition of Ramsey Campbell's new short story collection, "Holes for Faces".

I really like Dark Regions Press. They're a great label.

[D_Davis]

Do you really like Campbell?

[megladon8]

Do you really like Campbell?


Honestly don't know that I've read anything by him. It was a total impulse buy.

I take it you don't? :lol:

[D_Davis]

I've tried a couple collections and a novel, and I find the dude completely impenetrable. I have to read the same passages over and over again, just to understand what's going on. And I'm not talking about complex thematic stuff, I'm talking about basic actions and scene set-up. I swear there was a part in one story that talked about a guy walking from his car to the front door of his house, but Campbell wrote it in such a way that I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

I know he is highly respected by critics and readers, and that many people like him. He's just not for me.

Maybe you'll be on his wavelength. I wish I was because of all the great things I've read about him, and he seems like a really smart guy as well. I have read a couple of introductions to other books he has written, and I've enjoyed those.

[D_Davis]

New Lansdale novella, Hot in December (if he's name checking one of his best - Cold in July - it's gonna have a lot to live up to) out on DRP. The back states that it's a "psychological thriller in the vein of Dean R. Koontz and Lee Child."

Uh....how about no?

It's a psychological thriller in the vein of of Lansdale. First of all, Koontz and Child don't have a vein, unless they mean totally generic thriller. In that case, I don't want to read it. Secondly, Lansdale only writes in his own vein, and if he were to write in the vein of another author, it definitely wouldn't be Koonts or Child.

What a terrible thing to say about a great author.

[D_Davis]

Newest J.M. McDermott novel, Maze, now up for pre-order. 50 signed copies will be sent out early, and include an e-version. Will be shipping this month.

http://www.apexbookcompany.com/2013/12/maze-by-jm-mcdermott-early-50-orders-have-opened/

These have been available since December. It's sad that there are still copies available. One of the best authors of fantasy working today can't even get 50 people to pre-order his book.

[D_Davis]

New Lansdale book arrived today. It's called The Ape Man's Brother, and it's a memoir from the POV the Cheetah, Tarzan's sidekick.

[kuehnepips]

Reading The Dirty Streets of Heaven (Tad Williams). I like this Bobby Dollar Marlowe.

[D_Davis]

The most shocking thing about Member, the newest from Michael Cisco, is how straight forward it is. It's practically just a narrative story, albeit one with a lot of weird things going on. I'm really liking it so far.

[D_Davis]

Cyclonopedia, by Reza Negarestani

At once a horror fiction, a work of speculative theology, an atlas of demonology, a political samizdat, and a philosophic grimoire, Cyclonopedia is a work of theory-fiction on the Middle East, where horror is restlessly heaped upon horror.

"Incomparable. post-genre horror, apocalypse theology and the philosophy of oil, crossbred in a new and necessary codex." - China Mieviile

This sounds awesome.

And I randomly turned to page 44 to find Lovecraft's name and mention of the mythos in one of the documents created for the book. Tying the wars in the Middle East and oil industry to the mythos? Yes - this is going to be good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reza_Negarestani

And I googled "Theory-Fiction" only to find Lovecraft's name mentioned again.

http://thepublicschool.org/node/27510

It's like a whole new rabbit hole.

[D_Davis]

OK - so I take back what I said about Member. I have no idea what's going on or what it's about, but it's completely mesmerizing. The prose and style is Cisco's most straight forward since The Tyrant, but narratively-speaking it's on about the same level Celebrant, only not as obviously-puzzle-like in its presentation. As a matter of fact, the main character, who is also trying to figure out what is going on, is told that this isn't the kind of thing that will make sense and so he's not to waste time looking for symbolism and a Rosetta Stone.

It has - without a doubt - the best descriptions of other worldly places I've ever read. A lot of the book reads like a travel diary. Cisco even gives Clark Ashton Smith a run for his money in this department.

[megladon8]

About 80 pages into Tom Piccirilli's "November Mourns".

D - ever read any of his stuff? He's pretty great.

[D_Davis]

About 80 pages into Tom Piccirilli's "November Mourns".

D - ever read any of his stuff? He's pretty great.

I've read a couple of things, and liked them well enough, but not enough to start pouring over his back catalog.

[D_Davis]

I've never witnessed a more drastic improvement between two sequential books in a series than I have with the first two Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books by Fritz Leiber. Leiber's classic stories of these two roguish heroes have been the basis for so much modern fantasy that it's kind of ridiculous, and so I knew I should like them, or at least respect them for setting the stage for so many of things I love. However, a few years ago I tried reading the first book and was completely disappointed. No - not just disappointed. It's simply not good; I hated it. But goddammit, that second book! Holy shit, is it ever remarkable. Truly one of the most kick ass and enjoyable things I have ever read, and probably ever will read. Each of the stories is practically a blueprint for all of the fantasy tropes and conventions authors are still exploring today, but not a single one of them has ever done it as well as Leiber did nearly 70 years ago. Really looking forward to reading the rest.

[megladon8]

I've read a couple of things, and liked them well enough, but not enough to start pouring over his back catalog.


If I may recommend the title "The Walls of the Castle"? It's a one-sitting read - about 80 pages. Very weird, dark fiction about a guy named Casteel (German for "castle"!) stuck in a castle-like hospital.

Came out last year. I think you'd dig it.

[D_Davis]

New Thomas Ligotti up for pre-order.

http://www.amazon.com/Spectral-Link-Thomas-Ligotti/dp/1596066504/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394818527&sr=1-3&keywords=thomas+ligotti

[D_Davis]

Fans of Lansdale, Huston, and dark neo-noir, I think you're going to want to remember this name:

Heath Lowrance

http://psychonoir.blogspot.com/

[D_Davis]

Started Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight duology last night. It's very good so far.

[Winston*]

Started Gene Wolfe's The Wizard Knight duology last night. It's very good so far.

Finished the second part of Book of the New Sun the other day.

[D_Davis]

Are you liking it? I was a bit underwhelmed by it, but I want to read it again this year to see if it does anything more for me. It was a victim of it's own popularity. I was expecting life shattering experience, something truly remarkable, and what I got was something very good.

[Winston*]

I am liking it though I agree it's not a life shattering experience (possibly partly because I've already read later writers that take high fantasy even further into left field). Wolfe is really good at packing his narrative with odd bits of world building and weird set-pieces while keeping the books quite lean.

Definitely not without its problems though, not the least of which is the Game of Thronesy fantasy sexism/wish fulfillment.

[D_Davis]

I am liking it though I agree it's not a life shattering experience (possibly partly because I've already read later writers that take high fantasy even further into left field). Wolfe is really good at packing his narrative with odd bits of world building and weird set-pieces while keeping the books quite lean.


Same for me. I had already been exposed to authors who were inspired by Wolfe (namely Cisco and McDermot), and who expanded upon what Wolfe had done.

There are definitely some images that have stuck with me, though.

[D_Davis]

Half way through The Knight, and it is tremendous. Liking it a lot more than Book of the New Sun. This is totally my kind of fantasy - poetic, weird, and overflowing with mythology, and it totally embraces its genre conventions all while Wolfe deftly subverts them. It's fantasy for people who love fantasy, but who also yearn for something with more nuance and symbolism in their quest adventures. And it's also, not surprisingly, incredibly well written. It's sometimes easy to forget that Wolfe is such a great writer, but with each page I am reminded of the fact that he is.

[D_Davis]

I can already tell that I'm going to need to re-read The Knight. So many things are going over my head. There is a lot going on here, and Wolfe piles the symbolism and myth on thickly. The best thing is that, even on a surface level, I'm loving it.

[D_Davis]

Gene Wolfe has the uncanny ability to predict exactly what I'm thinking. Every time I think about a certain character or event, wondering what happened to them/it because they/it haven't/hasn't been mentioned in awhile, they/it reappear(s), and usually one of the main characters will make a comment about that thing being forgotten or lost for awhile. Because this entire narrative seems to be some kind of deconstruction of the fantasy genre, I'm wondering if Wolfe is doing this as a kind of jab at lesser, pop-fantasy authors who often forget about plot threads and characters in their massive, never ending series. I feel like this is a book that should be studied as much as it is read. I'm really getting a lot out of it - it's the perfect book for me right now.

[D_Davis]

Almost done with The Knight, and I'll probably move straight on to The Wizard. I really wish something like this could enjoy the same success and popularity as ASOIAF does. The depth of mythology and symbolism and its full embrace of the fantastic and weird, coupled with Wolfe's masterful command of the English language, makes for a spectacular read; it's as well written as any book I've ever read, and contains some absolutely gorgeous passages. I don't like it as much as Last Dragon (still my landmark of literary fantasy), but it's up there. I'd love to see this kind of fantasy get the television and cinema treatment.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I've tried a couple collections and a novel, and I find the dude completely impenetrable. I have to read the same passages over and over again, just to understand what's going on. And I'm not talking about complex thematic stuff, I'm talking about basic actions and scene set-up. I swear there was a part in one story that talked about a guy walking from his car to the front door of his house, but Campbell wrote it in such a way that I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

I know he is highly respected by critics and readers, and that many people like him. He's just not for me.

Maybe you'll be on his wavelength. I wish I was because of all the great things I've read about him, and he seems like a really smart guy as well. I have read a couple of introductions to other books he has written, and I've enjoyed those.

I'm reading Strange Things and Stranger Places, one of his collections, and yeah, all I can offer up is a big fat "meh." The situations are sometimes clever, although this collection skews in favor of classic horror tropes like the mummy, the frankenstein monster, and so on. But I've been trying to figure out why nothing's working for me, since the pieces all seem to be there. The circumstances, the escalation, the Lovecraftian leave-the-story-peaking endings.

I think the big thing is that his prose is so soft and doughy. Example:


I had meant to go downstairs, but down there or in my ears lay a faint ominous hiss, quite unlike the threshing of the leaves above the garden.

This sentence offers almost no sense of disruption. "Oh, I meant to, but there was this whole thing." There's a passive streak to everything, in terms of how long he takes to say things, and how poor he is at making them vivid. Also, he wrote this sentence.


Outside the bedroom window cars whirred lingeringly by.

"Lingeringly." What. Who would ever. And why. Ugh.

[D_Davis]

Got about 50 pages left on my 3rd re-read of the Dark Tower series.

I still like the last three books the best.

I still love book 7, and the ending.

I liked book 4 more this time.

It's still my favorite series.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The ending of the series is magnificent.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Finished Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Think I liked it a bit more than Horns. A little warmer, a little more hope. Between the two books, the guy has a real interest in how past sins overshadow our present. More heavily explored in Horns, but present as well in Box. Trying to decide if I'll do Locke and Key or NOS4A2 next. He's talented.

Starting now on The Island of Dr. Moreau and Forever Odd, the sequel to Odd Thomas, a book I enjoyed despite myself.

[D_Davis]

the sequel to Odd Thomas, a book I enjoyed despite myself.

I've actually been curious about these. They sound interesting, but Koontz....man, I just can't bring myself to read him.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I've actually been curious about these. They sound interesting, but Koontz....man, I just can't bring myself to read him.

Not a fan, eh? I liked him as a teenager during my gobble-up-all-horror phase, but I didn't read a thing of his for maybe 7 or 8 years. Read Odd Thomas at the behest of my father and didn't hate it, although the prose was pretty hackneyed. It helped that an EW article a number of years ago essentially called him out for his absurd, tacky prose and suggested he was a satirist in disguise, which he agreed with in a letter to the editor (which might've been a Wiseau-ian ass-cover).

Listening to Forever Odd (book on CD), there was already one bit where I laughed out loud at a tedious paragraph that kept describing a man in terms of a snake and capped with: "Before he could think of another serpentine analogy, the snaky man attacked." The snaky man! Hah! God almighty...

[megladon8]

I always found Koontz to be a guy who could come up with an interesting story and some good characters, but couldn't come up with an ending to save his life.

I've read maybe 5 of his books. Of those 5, 3 of them were genuinely intriguing, but not 1 of them had a decent finale.

I don't really have any interest in reading more of his work.

Same thing goes for Peter Straub, almost verbatim.

[D_Davis]

Like a lot of readers, I discovered Koontz along with King in the library. However, King grew up with me, and became a constant presence in my life, while Koontz didn't.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Like a lot of readers, I discovered Koontz along with King in the library. However, King grew up with me, and became a constant presence in my life, while Koontz didn't.

Same. Full disclosure, this was also an issue of "what's available on audio CD at the library."

[D_Davis]

Didn't they recently make a movie of the first book?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Didn't they recently make a movie of the first book?

Yep. It was eh. Yelchin was good as odd, but the short runtime made the book's wackiness too wacky. Slipped past the event horizon of acceptable wacky. Then again, Stephen Sommers, so there ya go. Interesting monster design.

http://dawningcreates.files.wordpress .com/2014/05/creatures-odd-thomas-2.jpg

[D_Davis]

BTW, I did not like the new Thomas Ligotti book. Two quick storesi, neither of them memorable.

I will be reading the new collection of interviews, though.

[D_Davis]

Started reading Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy this morning, with the first book Annihilation. It is awesome.

First things first - this is how you release a series. Back, to back, to back. The entire trilogy is done, and all the books are releasing within the same freaking year. Authors and publishers take note. DO NOT START PUBLISHING a series until it is done and the author can deliver each subsequent volume in a timely manner.

On with the book. So far it's a combination of Roadside Picnic and At the Mountains of Madness. Now, that is of course a reductive comparison, but an apt one to wet the appetite of readers into those kinds of stories. It is also a testament to VanderMeer's writing and imagination that these two similar works come to mind.

It's a story about exploring a weird place.

It focuses on four female protagonists: The Biologist, The Surveyor, The Psychologist, and The Anthropologist. The narrative is told from the POV of the Biologist, and details the group's expedition into an alien area known only as Area X. Many, countless expeditions have gone into Area X to explore for a governing agency, and something has happened to each. Sometimes the groups of people disappear, and then reappear back in their normal lives without any explanation. Sometimes even more mysterious things happens. Not much is clear. What is clear is that there are two levels of study going on - the group of women are exploring Area X, and the government agency is studying the effect of the area on the women.

Really looking forward to the rest.

[D_Davis]

Annihilation is SO good. Incredibly tense, and increasingly weird.

[megladon8]

These have been recommended to me pretty much daily on Amazon. Guess I'll have to check them out!

[D_Davis]

Best version of D&D since 2nd edition.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NfZATvHIzW0/U3oQZ0ys0cI/AAAAAAAAIeY/5Vhmf09cr84/s1600/dnd_products_dndacc_playershan dbook_pic3_en.jpg

Really nice book, too.

[Gittes]

Is anyone here familiar with the Algernon Blackwood short story, The Willows (or any of his other work)? I read it during my undergraduate studies a few years ago and I was really struck by the sense of mounting, enveloping dread and the distinctly achieved horror. It's a remarkably creepy story. It was unlike anything else I had ever read and it is still one of the most unnerving pieces of fiction I have come across.

It also received H.P. Lovecraft's imprimatur:



Here art and restraint in narrative reach their very highest development, and an impression of lasting poignancy is produced without a single strained passage or a single false note.

S.T. Joshi prepared a new Blackwood anthology that was released in May of this year. I'm going to pick that up as soon as possible.

[D_Davis]

Yep. Longtime fan of weird fiction in general. Blackwood is great.

No reason to spend money on Blackwoods stuff, though. It's all in public Doman. Same with Lovecraft, James, Hodgson, etc.

[D_Davis]

A. Merritt's "The People of the Pit" is probably my favorite weird fiction short story. Just amazing.

[D_Davis]

There's also a really nice reading of The Willows on the vintage horror radio podcast. I believe this one is actually read by Blackwood.

https://gpodder.net/podcast/vintage-horror-radio-old-time-radio-horror/40

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yep. Longtime fan of weird fiction in general. Blackwood is great.

No reason to spend money on Blackwoods stuff, though. It's all in public Doman. Same with Lovecraft, James, Hodgson, etc.

I'm very glad I spent money on the Penguin paperbacks of Lovecraft's works. The Joshi notes are fantastic.

[D_Davis]

I'm not a big fan of Joshi, but I'm a huge fan of public domain literature. :)

[Gittes]

There's also a really nice reading of The Willows on the vintage horror radio podcast. I believe this one is actually read by Blackwood.

https://gpodder.net/podcast/vintage-horror-radio-old-time-radio-horror/40

Thanks for this. Sounds good.

Do you have any specific Blackwood recommendations? Also, out of curiosity, what is it that you don't like about Joshi?

[D_Davis]

It's not that I dislike Joshi, I'm just not enamored with him like so many other weird fiction readers are.

I think he's a little full of himself, and we don't see eye to eye on many things, especially in the realms of religion and spirituality, and it goes beyond a simple disagreement as he tends to (in more than a handful of cases) dismiss a writer's work because he or she happens to believe in a god (he is a staunch anti-theist). I appreciate his scholarly work with the genre in that he's helped to cultivate and keep the genre alive, but I rarely gather a lot of insight from what he has to say outside of the general facts he presents, which are good in their own right. I think we just approach and look for different things.

He knows a ton of trivia about the genre and its authors, but I get little to nothing from his literary criticism (like the stuff found in his book The Modern Weird Tale).

In other words, his annotations are not enough to get me to buy something that is already in the public domain and released for free.

I've only read the Penguin collection of Blackwood, along with a scattering of other stories. Just about everything in that collection is good to great.

I highly recommend an anthology called The Weird, edited by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer. It's an exhaustive collection of weird fiction from past to present, and is an absolute treasure. It's got a story from any author you would ever care to read in the genre.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Weird-Compendium-Strange-Stories/dp/0765333627

My favorite modern weird author is Michael Cisco, and author who is criminally under read, and one who I believe will find his place in the canon in the next couple of decades. As far as I'm concerned, he's the modern Kafka, and he's become a literary force of which I know no equal. He has an incredible short story in The Weird collection.

[Gittes]

Great reply. I'm not familiar with Joshi outside of a vague sense of his scholarly reputation, so those details are interesting.

Thanks for the link to that anthology, as well (I noticed Angela Carter is on the cover; she's another author I was introduced to during university. I read and enjoyed The Bloody Chamber). Your effusive praise for Cisco has me very intrigued.

[D_Davis]

I'd encourage you to read some of his stuff. He might jive with you better than he has with me.

I actually found a few of the posters over at the science fiction and fantasy forum to be more insightful with their literary criticism. One in particular, who went by the name JD Worthington, was an amazing source for all kinds of great insight into the genre and it's authors.


another problem I have with Joshi is that people often turn to him as the ultimate opinion on things regarding the genre. As if his opinion is the right one, and everything else is wrong. That doesn't really have much to do with him, but I find that kind of appeal to authority to be a little boring and troublesome.

[megladon8]

I find it very difficult to find quality modern weird fiction. I'm constantly going back to Lovecraft.

Laird Barron is quite good, as is Ligotti. Not sure if Michael Cisco is a part of this subgenre, but I would certainly say he's tops if he is.

Other than that, though, I've tried so much and found so little.

For one, the relatively new wave of "bizarro fiction" is utter trash. Authors like Carlton Mellick III and Jeremy Robert Johnson have little to no writing talent at all IMO. It's awful stuff, completely shallow and uninteresting. A writing movement I just don't get.

[D_Davis]

Some great modern weird/new weird authors:

Jeff and Ann Verdermeer
Ligotti
Cisco
Barron
Catherine M. Valente
McDermott
Ken Asamatsu
KJ Bishop


I'm sure there are more, but we'll just have to wait for the good to rise to the top with more anthologies.

And I agree - that bizarro stuff is mostly garbage.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I'm not a big fan of Joshi, but I'm a huge fan of public domain literature. :)

I'm similarly a big fan of public domain and not a big fan of Joshi's broader personality and opinions. I just really like his specific notes in that specific edition.

[D_Davis]

I'm similarly a big fan of public domain and not a big fan of Joshi's broader personality and opinions. I just really like his specific notes in that specific edition.

Which one is it? Maybe I should take a look.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Which one is it? Maybe I should take a look.

The Penguin paperback editions. Three books total covering most of his work. The end-notes, if I recall correctly, focus on the geographic context, literary influence, and publication history of each story. He offers brief opinions on the works, but mostly deals with the facts of the case.

[kuehnepips]

Anyone read or reading this new vampire thing: The Passage by Justin Cronin? ...

Yes. Just finished the follower The Twelve, waiting for the third one.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Matheson's The Incredible Shrinking Man was a damn good time, sometimes a bit obvious with its messaging - if you aren't wise to the idea that his shrinking is emblematic of how we all have a due date, or that the spider chasing him is emblematic of all his fears, he explains it, albeit quickly enough that it's more of an "I get it, bro" instead of a "Good God, stop talking!" I've seen the movie (and kinda loved it), so it was interesting that the book constantly intercuts between Carey's battles with the spider and flashbacks to his diminution. The movie's much more linear.

That decision feels artificial, obviously, but the structural choice works, promising the reader plenty o fun spider action if they can just hang tight through Carey's psychological struggles. It also helps that the book's a brisk 200 pages, focusing mostly on either the momentum of tiny Carey's basement adventures or vital flagpost moments in his downward journey. One odd sequence involves him lusting after a teenage babysitter while in hiding, but contextually it makes some sense - he sees little of his wife anymore, and his complete inability to satisfy his sexual drive with anyone has only increased his appetite.

With that, I've read Shrinking Man, I Am Legend, Hell House, and roughly a dozen of Matheson's short stories. I'm not sure where to go next, but I'm thinking either Bid Time Return or A Stir of Echoes.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I absolutely love the film, but haven't read the story. I'm planning on reading a lot of short horror fiction this Halloween, including selections from The Weird and giving Lovecraft another go. I should add this to the list.

[D_Davis]

I highly recommend Cisco's story in The Weird, "The Genius of Assassins. " It's incredible.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I absolutely love the film, but haven't read the story. I'm planning on reading a lot of short horror fiction this Halloween, including selections from The Weird and giving Lovecraft another go. I should add this to the list.

It is short novel size, whatever your thresholds are. I remember "Born of Man and Woman" being one of his most effective short stories.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I highly recommend Cisco's story in The Weird, "The Genius of Assassins. " It's incredible.

It is on my must read list, along with Ligotti's selection.


It is short novel size, whatever your thresholds are. I remember "Born of Man and Woman" being one of his most effective short stories.

No thresholds, I just have a lot of short horror fiction in anthologies and collections, and it's about time I started reading them more often. I'll check to see if that's in the Matheson book I own.

[D_Davis]

Cool - the Ligotti is is good, too.

What else do you have planned for October?

[Kurosawa Fan]

Cool - the Ligotti is is good, too.

What else do you have planned for October?

I'm not sure. I want to read a lot of The Weird. I've neglected it for too long. I also am going to give Lovecraft a fair shot. I feel like I haven't done that yet. I have a Matheson book in which I've only read "I am Legend" and would like to read much more. I also have The Exorcist, which I've always meant to read.

I'm in an early Halloween mood and want to take advantage.

[D_Davis]

Nice. Let me know what stories from The Weird you're going to read. If I haven't read them, I'll join you.

Good call on The Exorcist. Fucking brilliant. Blatty rules. So we'll written. It'll probably shock you with how funny it is.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Nice. Let me know what stories from The Weird you're going to read. If I haven't read them, I'll join you.

Good call on The Exorcist. Fucking brilliant. Blatty rules. So we'll written. It'll probably shock you with how funny it is.

I'll be picking stories on a whim so I won't be able to give much notice, but I'll let you know as soon as I start on one, or just finish. It'd be great to be able to discuss them with you.

[D_Davis]

Another one I recommend is A. Merritt's "The People of the Pit "

Next to Chamber's "The Repairer of Reputations," it's my favorite weird story. It's in The Weird as well.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Another one I recommend is A. Merritt's "The People of the Pit "

Next to Chamber's "The Repairer of Reputations," it's my favorite weird story. It's in The Weird as well.

If you haven't read it yet, read "Details" by China Mieville. Holy heck was that good! I'm prioritizing his novels immediately.

I also read "The God of Dark Laughter" by Chabon, which a disappointment. Stumbled through an interesting premise and squandered some nice details along the way.

[D_Davis]

Nice - I'll read that Mieville story. I, too, plan on reading some of his novels next year. I tried reading his stuff about 8 years ago, but I couldn't get into it. I have a feeling I'll like him more now.

I re-read Cisco's "The Genius of Assassins" the other night. My god is it ever bleak and brutal. I had forgotten that about it - it's probably the darkest things he's done. Made me feel very uneasy, and just not good.

A great review of the story can be found here. (http://weirdfictionreview.com/2013/09/101-weird-writers-29-michael-cisco/)


“The Genius of Assassins” is not the kind of story you want to think too much about, the way we’re going to do now. The sheer magnitude of its negativity is a test of character that requires a swift conversion to misanthropy in order to survive its sinkholes of scenarios that are to the human spirit what black holes are to light particles. This story snatches away the will to live. It makes you feel ill with the realisation that the episodes depicted in its pages might actually happen — that the weirdness they convey is weirder still for potentially being real. It is one of the most harrowing stories you’re ever likely to read and, by the same token, one of the best and most memorable.

[Kurosawa Fan]

The Cisco is up next. Very excited. Then I'll move on to the Ligotti. From there, I'm either reading things from authors I recognize, or reading titles that intrigue me.

[D_Davis]

YYYYEEEESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Scarlet-Gospels-Clive-Barker/dp/1250055806/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZHNNN5JJG83BXS7SMV2

[Sven]

Mr. Davis, sorry I've had your Cisco for so long. I've actually been done for a couple of weeks. I like where the man is coming from, imaginatively. He's a fine storyteller, and I assume that as his books progress, his prose becomes a bit more confidently styled...? I was a little put off by his florid cliches. Lots of predictable turns of phrase and flat descriptors.

But as I said, the stories themselves had power. The Golem was better, but both burrowed deep in my brain, and I'd love to read more.

[D_Davis]

Nice, glad you enjoyed it.

And yes, his style get's much more refined and confident. He's almost an entirely different author now than he was when Divinity Student was written. I'd even go as far to say that DS reads like juvenilia when compared to The Great Lover and Celebrant.

What I love most about The Divinity Student is it's bold imagination, and sense of total other-worldliness.

[Sven]

Nice, glad you enjoyed it.

And yes, his style get's much more refined and confident. He's almost an entirely different author now than he was when Divinity Student was written. I'd even go as far to say that DS reads like juvenilia when compared to The Great Lover and Celebrant.

What I love most about The Divinity Student is it's bold imagination, and sense of total other-worldliness.

Really good to hear. I'm definitely pumped. You're right, the other-worldliness was uncanny at points.

[D_Davis]

Finished up a re-read of The Hellbound Heart, and finally started Everville, both by Clive Barker.

Not quite sure why I never read Everville before, especially considering how much I love The Great and Secret Show. It is incredible so far. I really like Barker's brand of horror and fantasy.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Deviated big time from my plan after getting totally sucked into Bird Box by Josh Malerman. It was recommended to me by the owner of an independent book shop in Petoskey, a place I take my family every year for vacation. The guy has never steered me wrong, and he proved reliable once again. Bird Box is one of the tensest reads I've experience in a while. Some mysterious global event is occurring, in which people see something and instantly lose their sanity, becoming violent to people around them and to themselves. No one still alive knows what exactly these people are seeing, as they can't describe it and all end up dead. The survivors are forced to live in boarded up houses, and when forced to go outside, they have to do so blindfolded, as even a glimpse of the outdoors can trigger the madness. Malerman is masterful at taking that conceit and using it to drive the reader to a maddening level of suspense and anxiety. The book is not without its flaws, for sure, but it is well worth reading, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a horror novel you can't put down. It's only about 260 pages, but I read it in almost 24 hours.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Final horror novel for the Halloween season was Pet Sematary. It took me this long because, frankly, it wasn't very good. King's sophomoric writing is just too much for me. His plotting might be excellent, but his turns of phrase are often so off-putting I can practically see him sitting at his typewriter grinning in satisfaction as he spins his latest ill-timed punch of humor or regurgitated song lyric in what should be a tense or terrifying moment. The folksy, rural atmosphere he establishes here is so fucking corny it reads like parody most of the time, and his juvenile pairing of sex and violence is embarrassing. The book was at its best when it was dealing with real trauma, like Pascow's emergence in the medical center and the chaos that ensues, and his retelling of Gage's accident and the handling of grief. Beyond that, everything here either fell flat, or actually made me want to stop reading. The last hundred pages or so are page-turning, but still not appropriately horrifying considering what is taking place on the page because his lack of nuance consistently derails the mood. I'm not a King hater, at least I didn't think I was, but the last few things I've read by him have been bad, and they've been some of his more revered work.

[D_Davis]

I re-read it last year and was bored with it. I've always consider it lower tier King.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I re-read it last year and was bored with it. I've always consider it lower tier King.

Dammit. I thought it was highly thought of, but between you here and meg giving it only 3 stars on Goodreads and a less than favorable review, perhaps I'm wrong? It was listed very highly by many sites as one of his scariest novels.

[D_Davis]

I like some of it, mainly the stuff between Louis and Jud (because I think King writes great male friendships, especially when using a mentor/apprentice trope), but I don't remember it ever being all that engaging. The part where they first walk into the woods is pretty cool, and there are some good moments, but it's not anywhere near my top 10 King, not even in my top 20.

[D_Davis]

Here's what I said in 2012 for my re-read.


Pet Sematary, by Stephen King

As part of my goal to re-read the King books I read when I was a kid as an adult, I re-read Pet Sematary recently.

As a youngster, all I cared about was the gross and scary stuff, and Pet Sematary has some good scares and some great gore (I've never forgotten the guy who gets his head crushed in at the beginning).

But what this novel contains even more of is a serious examination of death, grieving, and the lengths people will go to remember and forget. Jud is one of Stephen King's most memorable and well-written characters, and I immensely enjoyed reading his conversations with Louis. King is a great writer of male relationships, and I think this is one of his best examples.

The novel does fail to be one of King's GREAT NOVELS though, and mainly because it is a tad long for the plot, and, what's worse, it feels long.

But once again I've found that I've enjoyed a King read far more as an adult because I am able to get more out if it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Well, I might have still read it based on that writeup. Disagree on Jud, who I couldn't stand. He was the main target of my "folksy" complaint in my initial post. Didn't care much for Louis either. Just bland, corny character work.

[D_Davis]

I'm a huge fan of folksy writing, and so I really like King when he gets all folksy. At my core I'm a sentimental, sincere sap and a sucker for nostalgia and folksy charm.

I would hesitate to recommend much King to someone who doesn't like folksy writing; that's like recommending Lovecraft to someone who doesn't like purple prose. :)

I like King best when he gets real folksy, like in so much of the Dark Tower, especially in my favorite King novel The Wolves of the Calla.

[Kurosawa Fan]

That could be why the King that has wowed me the most was 'Salem's Lot, which I don't remember being folksy at all (though it's been years since I read it, so I could be wrong). That and the first three quarters of Gerald's Game.

[D_Davis]

Just googling "Stephen King folksy" yields a whole bunch of results. He's not always super folksy, but I would use that word to describe his style in general, and I think it's why he's appealed to so many readers, especially American readers. If he were a more intellectual writer, with a more intellectual style, I doubt he'd be so popular with the masses, but he'd probably be more popular with academia and the literati.

He's a modern, old-timey yarn spinner, with a dark streak and a mastery of poking at the fears and imagination of blue collar America.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I remember liking Pet Sematary for its emotional gut-punches, especially that ending, the last line of which I still remember vividly.

"Darling," it croaked.

Ughbudhgjh.

I don't know where it'd rank. Somewhere in the middle, with its last few chapters among King's more dreadfully impactful endings.

Sometimes I'm down with the folksiness, sometimes I find it unbearable. For whatever reason, I'm always a sucker for his proper-voiced God-fearing villains. When Wilkes says "cock-a-doodie," or when Big Jim Rennie talks about how someone recently deceased is "up in Heaven eating turkey and mashed potatoes with Jesus - with extra gravy!"

Extra gravy!

:lol:

[D_Davis]

God. How many times did you want to punch Big Jim in the face?

[Dead & Messed Up]

God. How many times did you want to punch Big Jim in the face?

All the times, but I wanted to outright kill Junior and Thibodeau.

[Winston*]

That could be why the King that has wowed me the most was 'Salem's Lot, which I don't remember being folksy at all (though it's been years since I read it, so I could be wrong).

First paragraph of chapter one:

"It was September 5, 1975 and summer was enjoying her final grand fling. The trees were bursting with green, the sky was a high soft blue and just over the Falmouth town line he saw two boys walking a road parallel to the expressway with fishing rods settled on their shoulders like carbines."

[Kurosawa Fan]

First paragraph of chapter one:

"It was September 5, 1975 and summer was enjoying her final grand fling. The trees were bursting with green, the sky was a high soft blue and just over the Falmouth town line he saw two boys walking a road parallel to the expressway with fishing rods settled on their shoulders like carbines."

Yeah, folksier than I remember, but not the absurdly corny folksy that riddles most of Pet Sematary. Still, I have a feeling I would like 'Salem's Lot much less if I reread it now.

And I don't think it has anything to do with it not meeting some academic or high lit standard. It's just, well, corny. And repetitive. And phony.

[Dead & Messed Up]

And repetitive.

[Kurosawa Fan]

And repetitive.

Hey ho, let's go.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Repetition is the essence of professionalism.

A math teacher told me that once, so there you have it.

Anyway, I haven't read 'salem's Lot since it blew my mind at age 15, so I wonder how it would hold up.

[Skitch]

The thing that bothered me most about Pet Cemetery was the description of the boy's hat post-accident. Ugh.

[D_Davis]

So far, about 1/3 of the way through, Stephen King's Revival is very, very good. It's a really slow burn - there hasn't been a hint of horror or the supernatural yet. It feels like a companion piece to 11/22/63 in the way that it celebrates nostalgia, and it also touches upon two themes very near to my heart: religion and music. I have no idea where it's going to go, nor how it's going to get there, and I like that.

[Dead & Messed Up]

"Read" an audiobook of Island of Dr. Moreau today while I was baking for Thanksgiving. Fun! Thought its subject matter was gonna head in a Frankenstein-ian "tampered in God's domain" type of message, but realized halfway through it was almost a satire of a man confronted with mankind's own primal desires and the efforts of society to tame them ("the Law," the hero giving the monsters the idea of an afterlife). Thought of the works of Jack London, especially The Sea Wolf. The last chapter puts a little too neat of a button on that theme, though. Wish I could say more on the craft, but audiobooks sometimes make it tough to recall passages or notice the ebb and flow of a paragraph, etc., but the sequences of suspense still carry a raw stalk-and-slash urgency all these years later.

Wells really was some kind of something.

[D_Davis]

Stephen King's Revival is very good. It's a sloth-slow build up to what might be King's best ending; to say it's deliberately paced is an understatement, but it's better for it and never drags. For some that might not be saying much, since King is often accused of dropping the ball at the last moment, but any author would be envious of the way King punctuates his dramatic story. The final truth is dark and bleak; it reaches Lovecraftian depths of despair. And speaking of Lovecraft, (Revival was partially inspired by HPL, and more specifically by Arthur Machen's masterpiece The Great God Pan), Revival has it's roots firmly planted in the conventions and tropes of the weird fiction genre. It also happens to be full of those great little human-drama moments that King is so great at illustrating. It's not quite top-tier King, but it's solidly middle-tier.

[D_Davis]

Revival has been on my mind a lot during the last couple of days. It has staying power.

[D_Davis]

Started Fritz Leiber's Swords in the Mist, the 3rd collection of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories, and it is great. The first story, "The Cloud of Hate," tells the story of a cult creating a toxic cloud that travels around the city of Lankhmar, turning all of those it touches into ruthless, hateful creatures. Of course the cloud has no effect on the Mouser (he's already selfish and evil) and Fafhrd (perhaps too into violence to be influenced thus), and then the two have to fight off a gang of assassins and an Eldritch horror. It's short, extremely well written, and, like most of these stories, developers the two main characters with the skill of a great master.

Fafhrd and Gray Mouser are two of the most interesting characters in all of fantasy literature. They're complex, nuanced, and always entertaining. I love how they each serve a demonic alien entity, and how they don't really like each other much, but they tolerate each other because it serves their purposes.

Highly recommended for fans of sword and sorcery and weird fiction. It's as good as the genre gets.

[megladon8]

"Bird Box" was a great read. Have some reservations about the ending, but it was a very entertaining horror tale.

[megladon8]

D - I sent you a pm, but I will just ask here.

I have two copies of Lansdale's latest, "Prisoner 489". Would you like one?

[D_Davis]

Sure - I'll buy one off you. Thought I responded to your PM.

I ordered it, but it never shipped, apparently.

Maybe mine shipped to your address! :)

[megladon8]

No I never got a reply.

You don't have to pay for it, I got it for free. That would be a dick move on my part.

[D_Davis]

Well then I'll send you something for it.

We can book-swap.

[megladon8]

Would you mind firing me a PM with your current mailing address?

[D_Davis]

Do you have the Hap and Leonard novel Rumble Tumble?

[megladon8]

No I have not. I have the first one or two Hap & Leonard books but have yet to read either of them.

[D_Davis]

Alright, I'll send Rumble Tumble your way.

[D_Davis]

About a hundred pages into House of Leaves....loving it.

[D_Davis]

Taking a little break from House of Leaves (still loving it), to read one of my most anticipated novels in recent memory: Clive Barker's Scarlet Gospels. When I first saw the book, I was a little disappointed. This is his first major adult work in over 12 years, and I was expecting a massive epic on par with Imajica. However, it is a relatively slim volume, just over 300 pages. I really, really wanted epic Barker on this.

But that issue aside, it is very good and very nasty. This is Barker at his most gleefully-gruesome.

[megladon8]

Wait, what?

I read several articles leading up to the release of The Scarlet Gospels saying that it was nearly 2000 pages.

It ended up just being 300??

[D_Davis]

Maybe he got a really, really good editor. :)

[megladon8]

This is the one where D'Amour and Hell Priest (Pinhead) cross paths, right?

[D_Davis]

Yep! The opening scene with Pinhead is supremely gory.

And D'Amour has just discovered a puzzle box.

[D_Davis]

Scarlet Gospels is a pretty big disappointment. Of course, that's probably due to my own expectations. While reading about it the last few-many years, I imagined a much more significant and weighty tome, something more along the lines of Imajica, Weaveworld and The Great and Secret Show, something with some real meat and meaning. What it is, is a super action-packed (complete with action set pieces and one-liners) B-movie of a book, that reads more like Barker wanted to make a modern horror-action film/video game than a piece of literary body horror. The whole thing so slight and insignificant. There is a point about 1/2 through that I thought it was going to take a major twist, and become something incredibly awesome and different. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen, and instead what we get is typical action-film fair in which the villain kidnaps the protagonist's best friend and then the protagonist has to assemble a team of bad-asses to infiltrate the villain's layer. YAWN. And Pinhead is nothing more than a mustache-twirling superhero villain.

Joe R. Lansdale's At the Drive In has more gravitas.

I'm wondering if Barker has spent too long in YA land, because it reads like a YA adventure, just with more gore and sex talk.

[D_Davis]

New Hap and Leonard novel - Honky Tonk Samurai - coming next February. Also, coming to Sundance TV a Hap and Leonard series.

[D_Davis]

Finished Lansdales Prisoner 489. Pretty good little story. I wish he'd work with horror more often now, and leave the coming of age tales behind.