carrionkid's Reviews (86)

The Vampire Lestat

5.0

There were so many fantastic and visceral components to this book that even though it was a bit lackluster as a composite whole, I have to give it 5 stars. I think the framing device of it being Lestat's autobiography falls short of its intended goal, as it goes underutilized to truly justify the callback to Interview. But, it's a very intense, emotional book although I'd urge readers to be mindful of the trigger warnings.

Content Warnings

Interview with the Vampire

Anne Rice

5.0

Even before I read this book, it was extremely formative to me as my mom has been obsessed with Lestat since she was 14 and read this when it came out. That being said, it's a deeply visceral and emotional book, slow burning and tense. For all the author's flaws, this book remains an excellent piece of vampire fiction and definitely a touchstone of the lore as it currently exists.

Content Warnings

The Only Good Indians

Stephen Graham Jones

5.0

Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read. The pacing is absolutely impeccable, the slow, creeping dread is so possessive and oppressive that I couldn't stop until I'd seen the whole book through. It's visceral and raw and bloody and disquieting and oh so hopeful at the end. An absolute must read for anyone who loves horror.

Content Warnings

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Gawain Poet

5.0

Love me some medieval poetry. This was visceral and had a very satisfying structure. The translation flowed well without losing the format typical to works in this time period.

It's a short work, but one well worth reading, especially with the structure during the hunt scenes and the lyrical quality of it.

God Emperor of Dune

Frank Herbert

3.0

This book is a wayyy different breed than the first 3 books of the dune series and it was a lot harder to get into than the first half of the series. I fully would've rated this 2 stars if it weren't for how visceral and satisfying the ending was.

For every good scene in this book, there's 5 scenes talking about whether or not Leto's grotesque wormy body can have sex, why the military encourages latent homosexuality, the usage of people as breeding studs, nonsexual acts being described as causing orgasms, and just straight up lesbophobia. It's a lot to slog through.

Content Warnings

Children of Dune

Frank Herbert

4.5

A very strong finish to the first half of the Dune series. Tensely emotional and a perfect end point to the story that began with the first book. It's more of a tragedy than the other books in the series, which is a hard thing to beat, and the ending of it is just haunting...

Content Warnings

Dune Messiah

Frank Herbert

4.5

This was a perfect follow-up to dune and I adored how it followed the aftermath of deification, how Paul had to humanize himself once again to get out from under the shadow he was trying so desperately to avoid. It's an interesting work of ethics and morality and continued to expand upon the rich world established in the first book.

Once again, it's very much a product of its time, accompanied with prevailing attitudes of the era, so tread with caution. But overall, I very much enjoyed it.

Content Warnings

The Strain

Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan

4.5

A fantastic take on the vampire mythos, with an extremely tense, burning build up along the way. I expected nothing less from Guillermo del Toro.

The multiple viewpoints and interweaving threads are juggled impeccably and the whole thing pieces itself together in a way that never gets boring. It's an excellent work of modern horror.

Content Warnings

Acceptance

Jeff VanderMeer

5.0

Jeff Vandermeer does it once again, this conclusion is equal parts haunting and satisfying and manages to tie up all the loose threads while leaving you with much to ruminate on. An absolute perfect trilogy, and one that should be ranked among the masters of speculative fiction.

Content Warnings

Dune

Frank Herbert

4.0

The perfect novel if you love inane lore, specific details, ecology, world building, political drama, etc. As much as I do.

Lost a star for the inherent racism of 1960s era sci-fi by white men and exactly how far Frank Herbert took it when he came to stealing other cultures for his space opera.

Content Warnings

More...