Support NeoGAF

[0neAnd0nly]

Higson’s Young bond series is ok. Not a good as Fleming novels are by any stretch, but an interesting look inside Bond’s younger years. Currently reading more of these.

The Harbinger books are Christian mystery books with a premise somewhat reminiscent of the DaVinci Code… but these are IMO better. He sources every single thing in the book that is a claim/ connection: Bible verses, speeches by politicians, photos / videos you can look up. Interesting series I am glad I read. Even if you are not a person of faith, a good and solid read I suggest.



About to start reading this graphic novel:

 

[BadBurger]

Oh, that sounds awesome. I think this will be my next book.

 

[IDKFA]

Just finishing up Shield of Thunder, which is book 2 in David Gemmell's epic Troy trilogy. Although David Gemmell made his name writing fantasy, this is a historical epic of the build up and eventually the siege of Troy.

Wow. Just wow. The series is just so incredible and epic. What makes it interesting is that both there isn't a side to cheer for. Both sides have interesting and likeable characters with allies eventually forced to fight against each other. It's not that the Greeks are heroes and the Trojans are villains and vice versa. In fact, I'd say both opposing leaders, Priam and Agamemnon, are the antagonists of this story (Achilles is also a giant dick so far).

Anyway, I'd probably move to nonfiction after this, but then I'm into book 3. Seriously, if you have not read this series then you're missing out on a true epic.

 

[BadBurger]

Could you let me know how this turns out? I'm curious but not to the point of bumping one of the other books out of my backlog.

On chapter ten.

The first six chapters (of 32) are slow and dedicated to fleshing out the handful of characters that appear within the first ten chapters. It doesn't feel wasted, but it's slow. Chapters seven and eight begin to open things up with a dash of character development and foreshadowing. Chapter nine is where the promise of the premise first begins to truly emerge.

King returns to one of his familiar tropes: a teen protagonist who is wise and worldly beyond their years befriending an elderly and mysterious friend. In fact, this may be the most precocious kid protag I can remember him writing.

I can't say I'd suggest the book this early in, but aside from the first three very slow and predictable chapters I am enjoying it.

 

[V1LÆM]

I read the light novels Your Name and Weathering With You. Always wanted to read them but haven't been reading a lot so needed something short to warm me up.

Also read Where The Crawdads Sing. Well i went between the kindle and audible version.

I'll probably read the latest Strike novel by JK Rowling next. It came out in August but it's so long and I know it'll take me forever. The next book is out this year so I should really hurry up!

 

[Happosai]

On chapter ten.

The first six chapters (of 32) are slow and dedicated to fleshing out the handful of characters that appear within the first ten chapters. It doesn't feel wasted, but it's slow. Chapters seven and eight begin to open things up with a dash of character development and foreshadowing. Chapter nine is where the promise of the premise first begins to truly emerge.

King returns to one of his familiar tropes: a teen protagonist who is wise and worldly beyond their years befriending an elderly and mysterious friend. In fact, this may be the most precocious kid protag I can remember him writing.

I can't say I'd suggest the book this early in, but aside from the first three very slow and predictable chapters I am enjoying it.

I can probably handle the pacing. The last novel I re-read of King's was Pet Sematary (which it's a shame the two movie adaptations missed the scariest scenes from the book completely). I went back to reading his short story compilation books. Read Night Shift if you haven't already and you get an idea of how his writing style changes from Strawberry Spring to later writings like Grey Matter or Children of the Corn. Grey Matter deserved a film too...one of those which you read and say "how did this not get picked up years ago and made into a major movie?" Anyway, I'm reading Everything's Eventual at the moment.

 

[BadBurger]

I can probably handle the pacing. The last novel I re-read of King's was Pet Sematary (which it's a shame the two movie adaptations missed the scariest scenes from the book completely). I went back to reading his short story compilation books. Read Night Shift if you haven't already and you get an idea of how his writing style changes from Strawberry Spring to later writings like Grey Matter or Children of the Corn. Grey Matter deserved a film too...one of those which you read and say "how did this not get picked up years ago and made into a major movie?" Anyway, I'm reading Everything's Eventual at the moment.

One thing, I forgot that Audible carves up the books into more chapters. I am using the Whispersync feature or whatever it’s called - syncs the audio book with Kindle progress and vice versa. If you’re just reading the book/text, the story actually starts moving in chapter five and takes off in chapter six.

 

[BadBurger]

If anyone was looking for some Forgotten Realms stuff, an Ed Greenwood book is on sale for $1.99 (Kindle edition). Looks to be an Elminster story.

Amazon.com: Spellstorm (Forgotten Realms) eBook : Greenwood, Ed: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Spellstorm (Forgotten Realms) eBook : Greenwood, Ed: Kindle Store

www.amazon.com

 

[Happosai]

One thing, I forgot that Audible carves up the books into more chapters. I am using the Whispersync feature or whatever it’s called - syncs the audio book with Kindle progress and vice versa. If you’re just reading the book/text, the story actually starts moving in chapter five and takes off in chapter six.

I haven't used much of whisper sync. I'm on my 6th Kindle and only recently started working the customizable formatting filters.

Off-topic, but it'd be great to have King narrate something like Salem's lot or a short story like The Mangler. Not something he'd do and it surprises me how much he's written since nearly retiring after being hit by a car decades ago.

 

[Dithadder]

https://www.blackgate.com/2020/11/15/vintage-treasures-the-black-grail-by-damien-broderick/

My friend gave me this book many years ago. He said the cover was too intense for him. Its sort of like a shorter, trashier Dune: very Eastern philosophical, very poignant, with some sci fi tableaux so alien and well described that theyve stuck in my mind forever. I just read it again for the 4th, 5th, 6th (?) time.

 

[Sidney Prescott]

My first proper time reading through it. So far, it's shaping up to be one of my favourite horror books, we'll see if I prefer it over Misery by the end.

 

[flying_sq]

Juggling some books as usual, but I am focusing on a two volume set. They are "The Annotated Sherlock Holmes" by William S. Baring-Gould. I have been on and off with them, stopping after I finish a short story or novel. I Highly reccomend them, currently reading "The Engineer's Thumb". I also just started "The Explorer's Club" which has been sitting on my bookshelf since it was released. Think Indiana Jones style adventure collection book. Would be very good for kids.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

H.P. Lovecraft’s At the mountains of madness is still a fantastic read, 90 years after the guy wrote it.
It’s terribly slow, yes, but the fascination of a story about discovering the relics of ancient alien races in Antarctica in the early 1930s is incredible. That’s the strength of stories written before technology pretty much allowed us to chart every nook and cranny of good ol’ Earth - there were huge, unexplored regions of this planet you could phantasize about freely. And Lovecraft lived in just the right time to be able to put more than a touch of actual science in his tales, which made the mixture of modern skepticism and old superstition that much more effective.

I actually read the entirety of HPL’s works in my teens, and a few years ago I re-read some of them, but for some reason I seem to remember very, very little of it. I recommend checking it out if you haven’t, it’s powerful stuff even today.

 

[BadBurger]

I haven't used much of whisper sync. I'm on my 6th Kindle and only recently started working the customizable formatting filters.

Off-topic, but it'd be great to have King narrate something like Salem's lot or a short story like The Mangler. Not something he'd do and it surprises me how much he's written since nearly retiring after being hit by a car decades ago.

Over halfway through, time for an update. In short I'd recommend this to any fan of modern fantasy, fan of King or not.

First off, aside from the aforementioned precocious protag and the occasional weird King-isms like slang no one would ever actually utter out loud, it is the least King-like story he's written (or at least that I've read) in a long time. In a good way. It feels more original.

Pretty strong spoilers regarding the setting - read at your own peril:

Spoiler

I know King doesn't play games himself, but his son Joe Hill does. And the fairy tale world and its inhabitants are cursed in a manner that is hautning in the same way the world of Elden Ring is. I can't help but wonder if Joe Hill described the setting of Elden Ring to his father at some point, and the idea took root in King's imagination and this blossomed from it. Seriously, it reads very much like if a talented author sat down and tried to reimagine Elden Ring's world in a more coherent yet just as melancholy and haunting way.

 

[Happosai]

Over halfway through, time for an update. In short I'd recommend this to any fan of modern fantasy, fan of King or not.

First off, aside from the aforementioned precocious protag and the occasional weird King-isms like slang no one would ever actually utter out loud, it is the least King-like story he's written (or at least that I've read) in a long time. In a good way. It feels more original.

Pretty strong spoilers regarding the setting - read at your own peril:

Spoiler

I know King doesn't play games himself, but his son Joe Hill does. And the fairy tale world and its inhabitants are cursed in a manner that is hautning in the same way the world of Elden Ring is. I can't help but wonder if Joe Hill described the setting of Elden Ring to his father at some point, and the idea took root in King's imagination and this blossomed from it. Seriously, it reads very much like if a talented author sat down and tried to reimagine Elden Ring's world in a more coherent yet just as melancholy and haunting way.

I'll give it that it will be interesting to see how this all turns out. Interestingly King-isms are typically removed from movie adaptations. I'd like to see someone make a movie adaptation with the dialogue you'd read from the books. Which I'll admit I like too. However, there was an IT miniseries and the (imo awful) Hollywood movies. None of them really came close to covering what was in the book. I've always joked that Dreamcatch (the movie) was closer to the book IT in film.

Spoiler

Maybe King threw away Joe or his brother's comics and they purposely gave him an Elden Ring influence as a form of voodoo punishment. Yup, that is Joe 'Hill' King as a kid in 1982's Creepshow lol

 

[BadBurger]

I'll give it that it will be interesting to see how this all turns out. Interestingly King-isms are typically removed from movie adaptations. I'd like to see someone make a movie adaptation with the dialogue you'd read from the books. Which I'll admit I like too. However, there was an IT miniseries and the (imo awful) Hollywood movies. None of them really came close to covering what was in the book. I've always joked that Dreamcatch (the movie) was closer to the book IT in film.

Spoiler

Maybe King threw away Joe or his brother's comics and they purposely gave him an Elden Ring influence as a form of voodoo punishment. Yup, that is Joe 'Hill' King as a kid in 1982's Creepshow lol

Indeed, Beaver in the film adaptation is a walking talking King slang generator. Even some of the other characters join in a few times.

 

[BadBurger]

I just finished Fairy Tale by King - great book. King took a long time minding to wrap up every loose end possible in the final act but it was worth it. Bittersweet. I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it.

Now onto The Road to Neverwinter - prequel to the D&D movie.

 

[DrFigs]

I just finished Tad William's "The Dragonbone Chair".

Really good book. I was impressed with the prose. And even though the pacing was super slow, I was never bored with it. Having said that though, I do feel like I need a break before reading the next book in the series.

Also there's a ton of similarities to A Song of Ice and Fire. It's definitely beyond coincidence. It does seem like George lifted a lot of the series' ideas from even just this first book.

 

[Toons]

Mostly of the comic variety.

 

[Happosai]

I just finished Fairy Tale by King - great book. King took a long time minding to wrap up every loose end possible in the final act but it was worth it. Bittersweet. I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it.

Now onto The Road to Neverwinter - prequel to the D&D movie.

If it's worth the read I'll pick it up. It usually takes me awhile to get through King novels. I'll often top to take in certain details.

It may be dated but not sure if you'd consider reading Miles, Mystery and Mayhem to likewise get in line with something with a D & D feel.

 

[Northeastmonk]

I hope I can claim audiobooks here because I’ve got more time during the day to listen to my books. I recently picked up two. I’m half way through Cliff Bleszinski’s “Control Freak”. I’ll be honest. It made me shed a tear listening to his life. He had some very tragic things happen to him. Stuff I can relate to and stuff I dream never happens to my children. Stuff that wasn’t his fault (Good Will Hunting reference, no joke). I lost my father during my late teen years and as the listener, it was as if I could feel his pain from my own perspective. I feel like he made a better life for himself. I feel like for some people, their hurt follows them forever, and they never see themselves as a better person or achieve success for themselves. It changed my entire perspective of him. I also got Bag of Bones by Stephen King.

 

[DrFigs]

Finished the Stone of Farewell. Tad William's followup to the Dragonbone Chair. It's definitely faster paced than the first book, but the story wasn't as interesting. Also the ending comes very abruptly. Still a very good book, though.

 

[DrFigs]

Also Finished Green Angel Tower. loved the first half - where there are some great character moments and big fight scenes, but everything slowed to a crawl towards the end. Even more than usual for Tad's writing style. Some stories never clicked with me and the payoffs for those stories were not worth it, given how many pages were dedicated to them. But then at the very end when everything was being wrapped up, I did start to tear up - which is a first for me from reading a book. So clearly he did something right. Not my favorite book of the Memory, Sorrow, Thorn trilogy, but it's a satisfying ending.

 

[V1LÆM]

Started "The Ink Black Heart" by J.K Rowling.

Not sure I'm going to get through it. I loved the previous books but this one is the longest yet. It's bigger than any of the Harry Potter books. That's not really an issue itself but I feel confused with how many different characters there are and I'm trying to remember who is who. Also, there are chapters where it's like chat transcripts or Twitter conversations and it's just dull and cringe. I don't know if I can't skip those chapters or not. That's probably why the book is so long because of all that shit.

I'll see how far I can get.

Have also bought The Silmarillion but in audiobook. The one with Andy Serkis. I'll probably start that next.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

I read "Vita Nostra", described as Russian Harry Potter with a psychonautical bent, and that's exactly what it was.

Planned to be a trilogy, the husband and wife writing team only wrote the first two before the husband passed away, so who knows if the third will be written.

I really liked the ending to Vita Nostra, and thought the story was going to go a certain direction in the sequel, but that's not the case. I think I'll skip the sequel and go with my personal headcanon.

 

[0neAnd0nly]

About to start reading this graphic novel:

Forgot to update this.

The Last Ronin was good, but I don't think it was great.

I consider myself a big Turtle fan. This book was a nice, more adult-centered closure of the story arch of the beloved heroes in a half shell.

Not perfect though. Graphic novels, I don't read a ton of - but when I do I tend to compare them to the best one (IMO) I ever read; The Long Halloween.

The writing in The Last Ronin just doesn't hold up as well. Major jumps and leaps in the story that just happen, but a read I still suggest - especially if you are a TMNT fan in general.

Moving on...

I also read the newest Bond novel, On His Majesty's Secret Service. A book penned by, funny enough, the author of the Young Bond novels, Charlie Higson, which I mentioned in my prior post. I am not a huge fan of his young Bond novels, but as a MASSIVE Bond fan, I tend to be critical as I actually enjoy Fleming's books.

OHisMSS starts off strong, but quickly falls off a cliff. I much compare it's trajectory to the most recent film, NTTD. The best part of both is the openings, and they both quickly nose dive after that.

This book was nothing more than a way to interject rabid modernity into a classic hero. Bond mentions "situationships", Instagram, gender identities, etc. This isn't a statement on how one feels on the issues so much as it is just extremely jarring to see so much current political and social content in a BOND book. And Higson uses the book as a shield to preach about his ideas of modern... American... politics.... for some reason... as the book takes place in Europe.

Anyhow, there you go. Have a great rest of your weekend!

 

[IDKFA]

Just finished the third book in this epic trilogy and........wow.

Not only the work David Gemmell produced, but probably the best historical fiction series I've ever laid eyes on.

Epic doesn't do it justice. Wow.

Now moving to nonfiction.

I've read Paul Cartledge's Alexander biography and his history of Thebes. He's also probably the greatest expert on Sparta outside of Greece, so I'm looking forward to starting this one tonight.

 

[IDKFA]

Just finished the third book in this epic trilogy and........wow.

Not only the work David Gemmell produced, but probably the best historical fiction series I've ever laid eyes on.

Epic doesn't do it justice. Wow.

No moving to nonfiction.

I've read Paul Cartledge's Alexander biography and his history of Thebes. He's also probably the greatest expert on Sparta outside of Greece, so I'm looking forward to starting this one tonight.

Great history of the Spartans. A bit dry in places (Paul Cartledge isn't the most exciting writer), but overall a nice short history of Sparta.

I'm keeping with nonfiction and moving onto a short book about Time.

 

[Humdinger]

I'll mention a few that have stood out to me recently.

Stoner, by John Williams. No, it's not about a stoner. It was written in the 60s, I believe, and concerns a down-and-out farm boy turned English professor. It's a wonderful character study of several people, especially the main character, who is quiet, troubled, inept, submissive and yet somehow noble. I was surprised that I found a book with so little plot to be so engaging. I picked it up because I was looking for modern classics that were relatively short. I thought it was great.

Revolutionary Road, by Richard Yates. Another fantastic character study, this one about a husband and wife, both struggling with "the American dream," image vs. reality. Yates has a fantastic ability to describe psychological states/dynamics from the inside. It was made into a movie, but there's no way the movie could do justice to the novel.

Way Station, by Clifford Simak. This is a science fiction novel, written in the 60s. I used to read SF when I was younger, but I never read any Simak. I missed out. He's good. Very clear prose, well paced story, good characters. More warmth and humanity that you find in most SF. The story concerns an ordinary man who lives in a house that functions as a way station for alien travel. The themes get larger as the story progresses, and it's both entertaining and emotionally satisfying in the end. I was surprised. I'm going to pick up his most famous novel, City, next.

 

[Nobody_Important]

Currently going through the Dark Imperium 40k series.


Love how they have taken a Primarch who is a demigod son of the Emperor in Guilliman and made him relatable.

 

[Synless]

In the process of reading the newest (maybe last?) chapter in the red rising series, Light Bringer.

Pretty decent series if you haven’t read them before.

 

[marcincz]

Few hours ago started Fahrenheit 451.

 

[SirTerry-T]

Just finished re-reading this for what seems the gazillionth time.

Still fucking awesome...."arctic training" still has me rolling.
If you haven't read it, grab it from somewhere, it's an incredibly entertaining read.

 

[SirTerry-T]

Just finished the third book in this epic trilogy and........wow.

Not only the work David Gemmell produced, but probably the best historical fiction series I've ever laid eyes on.

Epic doesn't do it justice. Wow.

Now moving to nonfiction.

I've read Paul Cartledge's Alexander biography and his history of Thebes. He's also probably the greatest expert on Sparta outside of Greece, so I'm looking forward to starting this one tonight.

Have you read Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Fire"? Worth a read if you haven't already.

His "Killing Rommel" is bloody great too.

 

[BadBurger]

All the Light We Cannot See

One of the best novels I've ever read. It effortlessly ties together numerous story threads. So well written.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Been reading The Power of your Subconscious Mind and thought it was a fascinating read, especially in combination with all the other psychology book I’ve read already.

Also Everything is fucked from Mark Manson. I have to admit I love his writing style. Very entertaining to read. Also gave me some nice thoughts.

Now I’m reading The Power of Now from Eckart Tolle. I do like the basic thought it tries to convey but find it to be a bit too esoteric and preachy.

 

[95mellow]

Aight, we're bringing this back. Few highlights recently:


1. 2666 by Bolano. First book that's a modern classic to me - incredible, dense, dark. The scale, the attention to detail, endlessly challenging. Loved reading and will enjoy re-reading for years to come.

2. Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. Wanted to read this for a long time but sort of disappointed with it. Feels like a product of its time.

3. Dialogues and Essays by Seneca. Some really good reflections in here. Others not so much. Stoicism strikes me as a tool to be used more than an all-encompassing philosophy, but damn - this guy was wise. On Providence is something I'll think about for a while.

 

[Toots]

Read Neuromancer again.
Did not remember how disjointed it can be, how hard it is to understand what's happening sometimes (Riviera's introduction in Turkey is a good exemple)
Still a great read especially when playing cyberpunk 2077 on the side.

 

[RJMacready73]

Started reading..

And so far so typical Micheal Cricton even though I believe this was finished by James as he sadly passed a few years back, enjoyable enough romp so far and makes for a perfect holiday book imo, reads like yer typical summer blockbuster disaster type movie

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Read Neuromancer again.
Did not remember how disjointed it can be, how hard it is to understand what's happening sometimes (Riviera's introduction in Turkey is a good exemple)
Still a great read especially when playing cyberpunk 2077 on the side.

I'm reading all three of those books later this year. I'm really looking forward to it

 

[DenchDeckard]

I'm going through a big Stephen King binge.

4 down so far.
IT
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
The Stand

Loved them all. He has a way with characters and his writing that really works for me.

Great stuff.

 

[jason10mm]

I'm going through a big Stephen King binge.

4 down so far.
IT
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
The Stand

Loved them all. He has a way with characters and his writing that really works for me.

Great stuff.

I used to CONSUME King, for decades, but somewhere around Duma Key/Under the Dome/the end of Gunslinger I fell off HARD and now he has reams of books I've never even been aware of. Even another gunslinger book, apparently! Not really sure why, I think he just lost some consistency and his books become more about mental state than a defined monster and how to beat it. Of course his social media ramblings don't help, but he's an old coked out opioid user so that isn't too surprising.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I used to CONSUME King, for decades, but somewhere around Duma Key/Under the Dome/the end of Gunslinger I fell off HARD and now he has reams of books I've never even been aware of. Even another gunslinger book, apparently! Not really sure why, I think he just lost some consistency and his books become more about mental state than a defined monster and how to beat it. Of course his social media ramblings don't help, but he's an old coked out opioid user so that isn't too surprising.

For King I try to read at least 2 to 4 books of his per year

I'm reading these King books over the next four to five years

The Talisman/Black House
The Wind Through The Keyhole
Christine
Skeleton Crew
Bill Hodges Trilogy
The Outsider
The Institute
Fairy Tale
11/22/63

I already read through

Pet Semetary
It
The Stand
Different Season
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
The Dark Half
The Dark Tower 7 Book Series
Nightmare And Dreamscapes
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

I would say Apt Pupil is my favorite Stephen King story

 

[jason10mm]

I just finished Arturo Perez-Reverte's "The Club Dumas", which was the inspiration for the Johnny Depp film "The Ninth Gate".

which, if you can look past Roman Polanski directing it, it a pretty great distillation of the better parts of the book (all the devil stuff) and basically ignoring all the "Club Dumas" stuff about the life and times of Alexander Dumas (of The Three Musketeers fame). Much like his The Flanders Panel it skips between laborious history of some thing (chess and rennaissance art in the case of TFP) and a crime that often kinda fizzles out with a "you killed people for THAT?" kinda reveal at the end. Very much a "journey, not the destination" type author I think, or something is lost in translation. Still, the books are wonderful travelogues of the 80s-90s europe and tend to be full of sex and casual debauchery that makes you long for the days of pounding whisky and chain smoking to get by

Moving on to Jack Carr's "In the Blood". Carr is a bit of a mixed bag. He certainly has the pedigree for lone wolf thrillers, but his obsession with marketing and name dropping the brands of shoes, belts, guns, holsters, knives, cars, coffee, wine, hell, probably hair gel, underwear, and toothpaste eventually does make the books read more like a mens catalogue than a novel. It's built him a pretty fanatical fan base and sponsorship though, so no arguing with success.

 

[jason10mm]

For King I try to read at least 2 to 4 books of his per year

I'm reading these King books over the next four to five years

The Talisman/Black House
The Wind Through The Keyhole
Christine
Skeleton Crew
Bill Hodges Trilogy
The Outsider
The Institute
Fairy Tale
11/22/63

I already read through

Pet Semetary
It
The Stand
Different Season
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
The Dark Half
The Dark Tower 7 Book Series
Nightmare And Dreamscapes
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

I would say Apt Pupil is my favorite Stephen King story

See, for my money you are skipping a lot of his actual GOOD STUFF, like Salem's Lot, Christine, Cujo, Dead Zone, and Firestarter. Those are much more condensed reading experiences.

Though I think Talisman and IT are his best works, the shorter novels are the ones I think about the most.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

In the middle of:

Wot book 7 - pretty good so far, about halfway, taking a break though to do other books, kinda forgetting whats going on with where im at.
Three body problem book 1 - over halfway, god damn its slow, really hope it picks up and gets entertaining… im beginning to wonder if somethings wrong with me due to how much its acclaimed and how little im interested.
The last ronin - pretty early in it, not much substance yet to make an opinion…

Have zero fail, hyperion, and heir to the empire queued up…. Might do zero fail next as its outside my typical fantasy/sci fi fiction

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

I just finished Arturo Perez-Reverte's "The Club Dumas", which was the inspiration for the Johnny Depp film "The Ninth Gate".

which, if you can look past Roman Polanski directing it, it a pretty great distillation of the better parts of the book (all the devil stuff) and basically ignoring all the "Club Dumas" stuff about the life and times of Alexander Dumas (of The Three Musketeers fame). Much like his The Flanders Panel it skips between laborious history of some thing (chess and rennaissance art in the case of TFP) and a crime that often kinda fizzles out with a "you killed people for THAT?" kinda reveal at the end. Very much a "journey, not the destination" type author I think, or something is lost in translation. Still, the books are wonderful travelogues of the 80s-90s europe and tend to be full of sex and casual debauchery that makes you long for the days of pounding whisky and chain smoking to get by

Moving on to Jack Carr's "In the Blood". Carr is a bit of a mixed bag. He certainly has the pedigree for lone wolf thrillers, but his obsession with marketing and name dropping the brands of shoes, belts, guns, holsters, knives, cars, coffee, wine, hell, probably hair gel, underwear, and toothpaste eventually does make the books read more like a mens catalogue than a novel. It's built him a pretty fanatical fan base and sponsorship though, so no arguing with success.

I watched The Ninth Gate and LOVED it. I didn't know it was based off a book I have to read it sometime

See, for my money you are skipping a lot of his actual GOOD STUFF, like Salem's Lot, Christine, Cujo, Dead Zone, and Firestarter. Those are much more condensed reading experiences.

Though I think Talisman and IT are his best works, the shorter novels are the ones I think about the most.

I'm not skipping those books you mentioned. I'm going to be reading those after I finish all the current Stephen King books I'm planning on reading for the next 4 to 5 years. Also Christine is for next year. I mostly read alot of his most famous books

Also I keep a list of all the Stephen King books I want to read and those you mentioned are all on my list.

As for the horror genre itself I'm going to try to read more outside of King. I love Stephen King but he monopolizes the Horror genre. One of my favorite Horror books is I Am Legend by Richard Matheson and The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. I'm reading Blackwater by Micheal McDowell since I heard a ton of great things about it. For me I'm mostly going to do a mixture of King, Barker, Matheson and McDowell (If he wrote anything else other than Blackwater) for these next 5 to 10 years

Right now, I'm not sure when I'm going to start it but going to read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier And Clay by Micheal Chabon next. I heard lot of good things about it

 

[Vyse]

Just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch who wrote the Wayward Pines Trilogy. Great book and just found out it’s a new Apple Series.

 

[jason10mm]

Just finished Dark Matter by Black Crouch who wrote the Wayward Pines Trilogy. Great book and just found out it’s a new Apple Series.

Great book. Can't wait for it to be incredibly dumbed down for TV audiences

There was a shirt lived tv show (I think only a pilot they worked into a movie...maybe?) about some folks who found a BUILDING that shifted dimensions. Kind of a geographically locked version of Sliders.


Sliders......damn, what a great show.

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Just finished Dark Matter by Black Crouch who wrote the Wayward Pines Trilogy. Great book and just found out it’s a new Apple Series.

Blake Crouch is another author I want to get into. I might read Dark Matter in 2025. Lot of people that read his books compare him to Michael Crichton