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ppkfs's Reviews (152)
Yet another excellent Pullman book. The worry with these kind of extended universe/prequel/sequels to finished works is that they feel forced or retcon, but none of those issues here. The tale of Malcolm, Lyra, Alice still has the wonderful sense of adventure and magic that the original HDM trilogy had with Lyra.
Is it quite as good as HDM? No, it lacks a bit of the magic. Is it still a 5 star book I greatly enjoyed? Absolutely.
Is it quite as good as HDM? No, it lacks a bit of the magic. Is it still a 5 star book I greatly enjoyed? Absolutely.
It was...fine, I suppose. It sort of ended up being quite a generic King novel. He has a wonderful way with setting up this feeling of suspense, that the protagonist is being chased by this evil that will stop at nothing. You're constantly on the edge of your seat, worrying for their mental state, worrying what will happen to them, with this constant feel that something paranormal or supernatural is just looming over the edge..
But that's about it. The suspense is there, but it feels so generic. Rosie's always looking over her shoulder but you, as a reader, can basically imagine how the entire plot will unfold just based off tropes.
It reminded me of Lisey's Story to some degree; the paranormal feels forced. It's not pet Sematary, or Carrie, or Salem's Lot - where there's this bizarre otherwordly goings on. It's just this local "nobody else knows about it and nobody else will ever know except the protagonist so it might as well be their imagination".
But that's about it. The suspense is there, but it feels so generic. Rosie's always looking over her shoulder but you, as a reader, can basically imagine how the entire plot will unfold just based off tropes.
It reminded me of Lisey's Story to some degree; the paranormal feels forced. It's not pet Sematary, or Carrie, or Salem's Lot - where there's this bizarre otherwordly goings on. It's just this local "nobody else knows about it and nobody else will ever know except the protagonist so it might as well be their imagination".
For a book I finished reading and realised I had no idea what had happened, I found myself very enthralled by this.
It reminded me of a mix of House of Leaves, Hard-Boiled Wonderland, and Pale Fire. The narrative style is easily the most original and interesting I've ever read; it sounds silly, but Calvino's incredibly long winding sentences really added something to this..I remember reading something about how the style of Foucault's Pendulum was meant to confuse the reader to make them feel included in the conspiracy; something similar here.
I think if I was better versed in the philosophy, history, literary *stuff* that's clearly here I would absolutely have loved this, but I still found it a very neat read.
Also, one of the best "OHHHH" ending moments.
It reminded me of a mix of House of Leaves, Hard-Boiled Wonderland, and Pale Fire. The narrative style is easily the most original and interesting I've ever read; it sounds silly, but Calvino's incredibly long winding sentences really added something to this..I remember reading something about how the style of Foucault's Pendulum was meant to confuse the reader to make them feel included in the conspiracy; something similar here.
I think if I was better versed in the philosophy, history, literary *stuff* that's clearly here I would absolutely have loved this, but I still found it a very neat read.
Also, one of the best "OHHHH" ending moments.
I couldn't quite work out what to rate this. My eventual rating was based off my gut feeling, rather than working things through.
The book itself is fine. It's Stephen King fine, which is closer to a normal great; the man has the whole "thriller about something vaguely paranormal meddling with things beyond the protagonists' paygrades" spiel down to a tee. But that has its downsides that it's...kinda generic. It doesn't have the draw of The Shining or the epic feel of The Stand. It's almost sloppy - for instance Tim is introduced as the first character, then ignored for some 200 plus pages. Everything is fairly predictable.
But there's just something about the book that I can't shake. I felt such a connection to the kids. It's weird to say that now, having read the book; it's quite clearly meant as a horror-slash-thriller not some kind of emotional thing, and I can't point to an aspect that "oh yes, the way Luke/Avery/Kalisha/Nicky is personnified here really makes you relate to them". But...I was. Maybe their TK got to me.
So yeah. I don't know why I feel so strongly about this; it was perhaps the last 100 pages that did something to make this not just another Stephen King novel, but there damn well was something.
The book itself is fine. It's Stephen King fine, which is closer to a normal great; the man has the whole "thriller about something vaguely paranormal meddling with things beyond the protagonists' paygrades" spiel down to a tee. But that has its downsides that it's...kinda generic. It doesn't have the draw of The Shining or the epic feel of The Stand. It's almost sloppy - for instance Tim is introduced as the first character, then ignored for some 200 plus pages. Everything is fairly predictable.
But there's just something about the book that I can't shake. I felt such a connection to the kids. It's weird to say that now, having read the book; it's quite clearly meant as a horror-slash-thriller not some kind of emotional thing, and I can't point to an aspect that "oh yes, the way Luke/Avery/Kalisha/Nicky is personnified here really makes you relate to them". But...I was. Maybe their TK got to me.
So yeah. I don't know why I feel so strongly about this; it was perhaps the last 100 pages that did something to make this not just another Stephen King novel, but there damn well was something.
