I really loved this book. I didn't know anything going into it, other than that it was weird, so that's all I'll give you.
I think it's worth your time...moreI really loved this book. I didn't know anything going into it, other than that it was weird, so that's all I'll give you.
If you want a really good, insightful review of House of Leaves (that I didn't write), go read this one from Aerin.
If you want to read mine, here you...moreIf you want a really good, insightful review of House of Leaves (that I didn't write), go read this one from Aerin.
If you want to read mine, here you go:
House of Leaves isn't one of those tidy little things that holds your hand and wipes your bottom and tells you that you're special. It makes you work, and what you get out of it depends largely on how much work you're willing to do. House of Leaves is difficult at times, incredibly complex, occasionally pretentious, and (view spoiler)[ it doesn't neatly wrap up some of the biggest questions it raises (hide spoiler)].
When I finished it, I thought I was unsatisfied with (view spoiler)[the ending (hide spoiler)], but it lived in me long after I closed the book. I could not stop thinking about the characters, the puzzles, my various theories about the nature of the story and (view spoiler)[ whether Zampano existed at all, or was just invented by Johnny Truant. (hide spoiler)]
Here's the thing about House of Leaves: you can enjoy it simply as a horrifying story that could possibly be true. You could enjoy it as a love story on a number of different levels. You can enjoy it as a whole bunch of puzzles and codes and ciphers. You can enjoy it as a unique reading experience that will make you fall back in love with actual paper books.
But however you choose to enjoy it, you've got to just commit to it. Let the book's reality capture you, and ride it out until you finish the book. When you're done, you'll probably find that the House has taken up some space inside you, and you'll wonder if the nightmares will actually come, assuming they haven't already.
You'll go back to the beginning, and you'll reread sections large and small. You'll take a magnifying glass to the pictures and you'll spend a long time reading message boards that haven't been updated since 2004. You'll grab that copy of Poe's Haunted that you bought before you knew House of Leaves existed, and you'll listen to it again in an entirely new way.
You'll discover that you live at the end of a five and a half minute hallway.
...
Or maybe you won't. Maybe it won't live in you the way it lives in me... but it's worth your time to find out. (less)
I loved Sandman Slim so much, I picked this up the instant I finished it, and did not put it down until I had finished it. (In fact, I read it so quic...moreI loved Sandman Slim so much, I picked this up the instant I finished it, and did not put it down until I had finished it. (In fact, I read it so quickly, I didn't have a chance to put an entry here and track progress. I devoured it in 3 or 4 days.)
Kill the Dead doesn't exactly pick up where Sandman Slim left off. Instead, it's a while later, and we get to see what Stark's been doing since we last saw him. Richard Kadrey weaves an even more sinister and complex -- but ultimately satisfying -- story this time around ... and there are zombies.
If you enjoyed Sandman Slim, I think you'll be glad you read Kill the Dead. It has all the dark urban fantasy elements, and is even more of a classic noir tale than its predecessor.(less)
Everything you've heard about I Am Legend is true: it's scary, the way Matheson conveys Neville's descent into madness is brilliant, the post-apocalyp...moreEverything you've heard about I Am Legend is true: it's scary, the way Matheson conveys Neville's descent into madness is brilliant, the post-apocalyptic world is well-crafted, none of the movies inspired by it do it justice ... and the whole thing feels very dated. This isn't to say that it isn't enjoyable, but if your friends have built this up like it's one of the greatest stories ever told, I'd adjust your expectations quite a bit. It is a great story, an in an historical context, it's pretty impressive and important - it was one of the first times (maybe the first time) a medical explanation was given for vampirism - but it feels like it was written in the 1950s, which may not go over very well with some readers.
The volume I read contained some of Matheson's other stories, in addition to I Am Legend, which was a pretty quick read at 170 pages. A couple are real standouts: Buried Talents, The Near Departed, Prey, and Witch War were great, and if the book had just stopped with them, I would have given it 4 or even 5 stars.
Ultimately, though, this book is too long, and it overstays its welcome. Matheson has a very distinctive voice, and as much as I enjoyed his storytelling, by the time I got to The Mad House (a story that I would have loved if it was half as long) I'd had enough, and I put it back on the shelf without reading the last few stories.(less)
I was so excited for this book, because I loved [Book: Monster Island]. Monster Island is so fantastic, I've used it as an infection vector (har) to g...moreI was so excited for this book, because I loved [Book: Monster Island]. Monster Island is so fantastic, I've used it as an infection vector (har) to get several of my friends who aren't into zombies to give the genre a try.
The sequel, [Book: Monster Nation], wasn't nearly as good, but was still an enjoyable romp that struck the right notes for me.
Now, there's Monster Planet, a book that, though it shares title and some characters in common with its predecessors bears little resemblance to them in tone, story, and enjoyment. I couldn't even finish it, giving up about halfway through because it just drove me crazy.
David Wellington is a fine author, and I adore his other work, but Monster Planet just isn't at the same level as his other novels. It very much feels like a publisher wanted a trilogy, he agreed to give them a trilogy, and then realized that there really wasn't a third book in the arc. Or maybe he decided to challenge himself and do something completely different from the first two (which would have been a bad idea. Imagine [Book: Return of the King] with spaceships instead of Nazgul.) Whatever the reason, the result is a lot of crazy supernatural stuff that is so convoluted it strains suspension of disbelief (yes, even in a novel that's about the living dead), and was a major disappointment to me, especially considering how much I loved the first two books in the series.
Skip this, and if you really want to read more zombie stories, give World War Z a try instead.(less)
Without getting into any spoilers: this is a fictionalized account of the doomed Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage in 1845. It is abou...moreWithout getting into any spoilers: this is a fictionalized account of the doomed Franklin expedition to find the Northwest Passage in 1845. It is about hubris, greed, strength during unspeakable adversity, and possibly redemption.
Oh, there's also a terrifying monster that they call The Thing on The Ice which is slowly killing everyone aboard the two ships.
It's Dan Simmons, so he takes his time getting into the meat of the story (my dad said that he was telling three stories when he could have told one) but I consider that to be a feature of his writing, rather than a bug.
I absolutely loved this novel. In fact, I loved it so much, I read most of it during JoCoCruiseCrazy in the beginning of 2011, because I just couldn't put it down, even though I was in the middle of the Caribbean on an amazing cruise.(less)
Huston brings his signature noir style to a dark, urban fantasy Manhattan where the protagonist is a vampire.
I liked the first half of the book better...moreHuston brings his signature noir style to a dark, urban fantasy Manhattan where the protagonist is a vampire.
I liked the first half of the book better than the second, mostly because I found one of the characters (a teenage girl) speaking in a voice that didn't sound as authentic as the rest of Huston's characters. Everything else in the book is so well-crafted and so interesting, it was very jarring to me.
I wasn't surprised very often, maybe because I read so much Huston I can sense when things are being set up. This didn't bother me at all, though, because I found Joe Pitt such an incredibly compelling character, even if he's no Henry Thompson (an unfair comparison, but since I'm such a fan of Huston's other works, it's one I can't help but make.)
It's imperfect, but I still felt it was time well-spent, and a welcome reintroduction (for me) not only to vampire novels, but to dark urban fantasy, as well.(less)
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