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.
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.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
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.
Quoting D_Davis (view post)
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.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
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.
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?
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
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.
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.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
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
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
Yeah... no nosedive, but it gets weird.
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).
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I'll be curious to hear your thoughts after you're done with the book.
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.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
I'm still really anxious to hear about Sven's experience with a terrifying part of the book that involved nothing at all supernatural.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
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.
Have begun reading "Kin" by Kealan Patrick Burke.
40 pages in. Already grabbed me.
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
He's pretty much Stephen King Jr. Haven't read Kin (have it) but I've liked everything else I've read by him.
"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.
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.
"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).
"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"
"Rick...it's a flamethrower."
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.
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.
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