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[Patti (baconater)]

You had it since Christmas and you've not read it yet??

Wow. I could never do that with a King.

I would have locked myself in my bedroom to read it the minute I unwrapped it.

[Will]

I went through a phase when I would read every Stephen King I could lay my hands on. I absolutely adored the Stand and IT and his short stories.

But then I started to notice that he doesn't know how to finish a book. He says in "On Writing" that his style is to put interesting characters in an awful situation where he doesn't know how they will get out. And the problem with this is that it draws us into the story fantastically well but often doesn't give us a satisfactory ending.

So I'm afraid I've largely given up on him. Great at foreplay but fizzles out at the end.

[Patti (baconater)]

Alls I know is that I hate getting to the end of a King.

Bereft is the word.

[Kath]

Like Will, I'm one of the many 'used to be a King fan' people. Haven't bothered for many a year.

[Pam]

Will wrote: "I went through a phase when I would read every Stephen King I could lay my hands on. I absolutely adored the Stand and IT and his short stories.

But then I started to notice that he doesn't know ..."

I didn't actually like IT because he seemed to be recycling his own ideas. Other later ones I tried again had that air, e.g. from a Buick 8 doing a rework of Christine but absurdly.

[Will]

Yes, he does have a lot of common themes. I don't mind that so much as long as the story hangs together. I used to find that King was so good at some parts of writing that I forgave him for the other parts, such as struggling to write a good ending.

[Patti (baconater)]

Actually, guys, I've still not read the final Dark Tower book. Just remembered.

Dunno why not. I've looked at it many times. It's on my kindle.

Perhaps I'm subconsciously afraid it's gonna be a sucky ending to the series.

[Pam]

Finished Blish's final novel in the omnibus, A Case of Conscience
and Jonathan Carroll's Voice of Our Shadow .

Now reading Carroll's The Land of Laughs .

[Patti (baconater)]

You just made me sad, Charlie.

[Patti (baconater)]

That was a very Canadian-ish 'sorry', Charlie.

I approve. :D

[Pam]

Charlie wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "Actually, guys, I've still not read the final Dark Tower book. Just remembered.

Dunno why not. I've looked at it many times. It's on my kindle.

Perhaps I'm subconsciousl..."

I can't recall now how it ended having waded through the lot years ago pre GR and hence not having a record of what I thought of it. But I'm sure it seemed very dragged out.

[Patti (baconater)]

Was the final book written before or after his accident?

After, I think?

Wasn't one of the heartless concerns that he might die before finishing the dark tower?

Rather like whatisface maybe dying before writing the next game of thrones?

Which, in my most humble opinion, could be better written by a great number of our authors.

[Jim]

Perhaps you ought to suggest it to him Patti? Just have him draft out a rough story outline and we'll all take a bit and then Kath will just edit over any minor errors of continuity afterwards

Personally I think Will doing a banned underground section following MT giving it her special treatment would raise Game of Thrones out of the self reverential mire a lot of fans seem to have got lost in.

[Gingerlily - The Full Wild]

And Tallis would definitely add some class to the whole thing!

[Rosemary (grooving with the Picts)]

Consequences - The Novel. I like it.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Pam wrote: "Will wrote: "I went through a phase when I would read every Stephen King I could lay my hands on. I absolutely adored the Stand and IT and his short stories.

But then I started to notice that he ..."

I remember being really excited to get IT for Christmas and hating it! I'm another one behind on King, and most of my favourite Authors thanks to my kindle and some of our authors

[Patti (baconater)]

Desley, I love that you capitalised Authors, inadvertently or not.

[Adrian]

On the King thing, I was a constant reader of his earlier work growing up and loved most of them but did drift away eventually and there's many now I haven't read.
Since getting my kindle at Christmas I've decided to see what he's been up to in the last few years, and when I saw Mr Mercedes on sale on Amazon for 99p I bought it and lined it up as my first King novel, second time around. I was more than pleasantly surprised. I flew through the book and enjoyed every word of it. I'm onto the follow up Finders Keepers now and also enjoying it.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "Desley, I love that you capitalised Authors, inadvertently or not."

My phone does that on bizarre words like this - Ironically

[Read On!]

I read lots of Stephen King's early work as a young teenager up until Insomnia. I couldn't get enough - Firestarter, Cujo, IT, Misery, Needful Things etc.
The stuff he wrote in his drugged up days during the 80s was far better than his later work. I remember reading in an interview that he said he was so coked up when writing Cujo, he can't even remember doing it!
I've read Revival. I enjoyed it but its nothing like his early style and the ending is totally surreal.

[Gavin]

I've just finished (finally) Soul Meaning by A.D Starrling, which I downloaded a while back and have read intermittently when time allowed. I really like it and will be carrying on with the series when I get through my other books. I have just started The Unwilling Adventurer by Heidi Willard which looked intriguing.

[Lexie]

Just finished Recipes for Love and Murder, which I warmed to as it went along. Lots of heat and food and emotion, but it worked out well in the end.

[Pam]

Read Jonathan Carroll's The Land of Laughs and posted a review.

[Michael]

I've just finished reading Shane Stadler's' Exoskeleton and while it's a bit hit and miss in places, it's still a decent sci-fi horror:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/201...

[Kath]

Just finished The Art of Staying Dead by Joel Hames. Stonking yarn.

http://www.ignitebooks.blogspot.co.uk...

[Alicia]

Charlie wrote: "Fire in the hole by Elmore Leonard was good, another collection of short stories. I especially liked the Raylan one..."

I hope you are aware of the US TV show Justified - which is based on Fire in the Hole, and follows Raylan Gibbons and the whole bunch for 7 or 8 seasons. I love what they did with language, Harlan County Kentucky is a place with deep coal mining roots that I knew about because my son did his senior thesis on it, and the acting is top notch.

We watched the whole thing on one of the streaming services over the past years.

[Michael]

I can second Justified as an excellent watch.

[Alicia]

Charlie wrote: "I suppose I ought to read the book first though...."

There is no book; it's based on the one short story, and that is the only credit from Leonard, though I believe either he or his son was a producer for the show.

It goes in an interesting direction every season, and ends reasonably well - hope you get to see it. I've re-watched a fair amount because it is good.

[Patti (baconater)]

Oh, we watched a few Justified. Shortly after we watched Deadwood.

Gave up on it cuz Mr Stiff Neck does my head in.

I'm looking forward to the Deadwood film, though!

Have you seen Deadwood, Alicia?

[Alicia]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "I'm looking forward to the Deadwood film, though!

Have you seen Deadwood, Alicia?"

I have not. Thanks for the recommendation - I'll go look it up. We are running out of things which suit us as a couple - and that is available from Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu - our usual sources. We even still get BlueRays and DVDs of thing we can't get otherwise.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Just finished The Activist by John Grisham, it was ok. Trying to get into Words to the wise, and I have two paperbacks to read for challenges

[Patti (baconater)]

Alicia wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "I'm looking forward to the Deadwood film, though!

Have you seen Deadwood, Alicia?"

I have not. Thanks for the recommendation - I'll go look it up. We are running out of ..."

I think you'll both enjoy Deadwood. Look for Carnivale as well, if you've not seen it.

Dave and I are also running out of things to watch together of an evening.

[David]

We are adicted to Sons of Anarchy at the moment, Patti. Have you seen that. It's a boxset series on Netflix.

[Patti (baconater)]

Yep, seen it.

[Kath]

Just finished, over the weekend, Today, a novella by Andrew Webber. A nice, thoughtful little book. Enjoyed it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Also, an anthology of stories based on 'What if...' - What if history had not gone exactly as it did - in a parallel universe, if it split off at a certain point, what would have happened? This is a question rich with possibilities. Alt.History 102 I received an ARC of this book.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Both very sound four star books, by my classification.

[Pam]

Just finished Ben-Harran's Castle and have now started The Scapegoat

[Geoff (G. Robbins) (merda constat variat altitudo)]

Finished reading The Martian this evening. I wasn't sure at the start but as the tension increased I found myself unable to put it down. Great ending, kept it tight all the way to the end.

[Patti (baconater)]

About time, Geoff.

You may now watch the film.

[Adrian]

The Martian is on sale today on Amazon.co.uk
£1.99. Picked it up earlier today.

[Geoff (G. Robbins) (merda constat variat altitudo)]

Patti (baconater) wrote: "About time, Geoff.

You may now watch the film."

How very generous, thank you.

[Patti (baconater)]

Well done, Adrian.

Now read it.

[Patti (baconater)]

Geoff (G. Robbins) (The noisy passionfruit) wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "About time, Geoff.

You may now watch the film."

How very generous, thank you."

Generous to a fault, me.

[Kath]

Just finished Michael Brookes' The Church of Virtual Saints which follows on from his Faust 2.0. You really need to have tread that first. It carries on with the alarming to gripping ideas from the first book but - and a biggie for me - it had a cliff-hanger ending. Nevertheless, I found it engrossing.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Michael]

Kath wrote: "Just finished Michael Brookes' The Church of Virtual Saints which follows on from his Faust 2.0. You really need to have tread that first. It carries on with the alarming to grippin..."

Thanks Kath! I'll try to make the next one less cliff hangery :-)

[Kath]

Glad to hear it! I'll be biting my nails for six months now!

[Pam]

Finished The Scapegoat and now reading The Water Room , second in the Bryant and May series of eccentric detective novels.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

Struggling with Words to the wise, so putting it on hold and starting a non fiction, a boom about unsolved Christmas murders

[David]

Just finished Finders Keepers , which I thought was damn fine. A bit of a King ending, but his yarns for me are more about the journey, including the jaunts down the side alleys and the meanders down the country lanes, than the destination.

Just started Buried yet another (6th I think) in the series about Irish detective Katie Maguire, which I do like a hell of a lot. Although mainly known as a horror writer, Masterton can get gory at times. So these are not cosy mysteries.

[Michael]

David wrote: "Just finished Finders Keepers , which I thought was damn fine. A bit of a King ending, but his yarns for me are more about the journey, including..."

Sums up King's books up perfectly.

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

David wrote: "Just finished Finders Keepers , which I thought was damn fine. A bit of a King ending, but his yarns for me are more about the journey, including..."

Ooh, I have a couple of his Katie Maguires books