New King novel

[oblivinoir]

Does anyone have any comment yet? Anyone up all night reading it or can critique even the first few pages?

[Zero]

i'm not willing to buy it - king has become a bit of a hack

[oblivinoir]

As was Shakespeare! When writers get off the gravy train, we sometimes get offerings like King's "The Colorado Kid", which I can just imagine he loved, but readers did not to the same degree. Arguably, King submitted this just to pull in some bucks when he was asked to do a book for the Hardcase Crime series. But he hardly needs dough! I thought "Kid" was well written, as are all King's works, but I didn't think it fit in the hardboiled crime genre. (It was as though in this instance "hardcase" meant a hard case to solve!). If King is writing potboilers, then he is at least trying to please his "constant readers".

[sabersword]

King has a new book? What is it called?

[RavageRitual]

Ive never read a king book in my life.

[oblivinoir]

Sabersword, the new book is called "The Cell", and it's about people becoming zombified through the use of cell phones. Violence naturally reigns, and those intrepid folks who didn't live with cells attached to their ears must battle the new threat! The amateur reviews on amazon.com vary a lot in their estimation, but one pro one claims that the book is a return to horror for King, and that sounds great to me!

[The_Return]

Originally posted by RavageRitual
Ive never read a king book in my life.

You're missing out. At the very least read The Shining, incredible book that's better than the movie. And I do love the movie, so that's saying alot.

[oblivinoir]

Yes, The Shining is really top-notch horror! Years ago, before King became famous, I picked up Salem's Lot in the grocery store because it looked scary (and was!!). Sometime later, I noticed The Shining in the same store, saw that it was by the same author, and bought it. Just about this time King really burst on the scene and became a sensation. I think "It" is also horrifically creepy, and the short-story books are among my favorites. Since I find werewolves terrifying, I also love King's works dealing with them.
Speaking of such frighteners, a non-King book I found really scary is The Wolfen by Whitley Shreiber. It doesn't concern werewolves--rather a clandestine breed of animals--but it's enough to give you the creeps for weeks! The movie was uttlerly silly compared to the book, however, because it used real wolves!
"Dog Soldiers", though--SCARY!!

[urgeok]

Originally posted by RavageRitual
Ive never read a king book in my life.

in my opinion .. Salems Lot is the only one worth reading ...

[jenna26]

I don't know anything about the new King novel, but I do have to say that I have been very disappointed with his more recent works. I will still read it of course, I am a big fan of his older stuff. In my opinion, the last good book he wrote was Bag of Bones, which I do happen to like a lot.

Urge: you don't even think the stories in Night Shift or Different Seasons are worth a read?

[urgeok]

Originally posted by jenna26
I don't know anything about the new King novel, but I do have to say that I have been very disappointed with his more recent works. I will still read it of course, I am a big fan of his older stuff. In my opinion, the last good book he wrote was Bag of Bones, which I do happen to like a lot.

Urge: you don't even think the stories in Night Shift or Different Seasons are worth a read?

i owned them all at one time ...
when i was reading them i thought they were ok ...
but in time i got sick of his style and it spoiled the
experience of reading the things i liked at one time ..
There are several authors i thought were ok when i was younger that i cant bear to read now ... blame the better authors on that one :)

Salems Lot still has things that bug me but i think it's his most
readable novel..(for me now)


edit : in all honesty - i think horror fiction is lousy for the most part.

[PsychoSKfan]

I haven't gotten to "Cell" yet, although I heard it was really good.
Once I read it I'll come back with my opinion. :)

-Liz

[AUSTIN316426808]

Originally posted by oblivinoir
As was Shakespeare!


That's one of the most one sided comparisons I've ever seen.

[horrifying]

oh please another king book, i wouldn't waste my time on it.

[jedicow]

i am about halfway through it and i must say i am very impressed. the style of it reminds me of some of his better stuff like pet sematary and the stand.

i would (and am) reccommend it.

[sabersword]

Is the cell vintage King, you know his brand of humor along with the horror? Also, sence I LOVE to give my opinion, I recamend Desperation, It, Black house, if you read the gunslinger books,and the Talisman. Oh,Oh and....well, hell, there all good.

[oblivinoir]

I still haven't had a chance to read it. The only writings by King I couldn't get into were the Gunslinger, dragon, and collaboration works. And I don't like the "alternate universe" stuff in general anywhere as much as the supernatural scary stuff like Salem's Lot.

[Posher778]

quoting family guy


"so mr king have you got your new book ready yet? what's it about?"

*looks around* *sees lamp*


UHHHH there's this couple in a house in the woods, and they're attacked by a... uhhhh. umm a demon LAMP MONSTER!! yeahh. ooooooh oooooooooh... raa raa.

[oblivinoir]

I'd love a book about a demon lamp monster!!!!

[sabersword]

I am about half way through it myself.It is not going to be epic like the stand or anything,but so far it has all the king earmarks. It is hard to belive that its less than fourhundred pages long though.HA!

[alkytrio666]

Originally posted by horrifying
oh please another king book, i wouldn't waste my time on it.

Well I'm sure Mr. King will be terribly upset.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Indighost]

Hmm, haven;t ready in King in a while, prefer Clive barker.

[chainleen]

Originally posted by oblivinoir
I'd love a book about a demon lamp monster!!!!

I have a lamp he can borrow for inspiration...my mom seems to think I like these ugly lamps she picks up at yard sales....I swear the one talks to me at night.

[chainleen]

Anyhow...I will probably read it eventually, not all of his stuff is my favorite but I really enjoy the majority of his stuff, it's unfortunate most of his books don't translate into movies so well. The Langoliers reel should be shot into the sun and never heard from again.

[hauntedohio]

I loved the cell..thought it was classic king...but then again i love all his books...even "On Writing"...lol

[ABnormaL]

I've never been a big Stephen King fan and only read him occasionally. I have a couple of his books that I like ( Carrie, The Shinning) and have recently finished Cell. I thought it was really good and well worth a read if you want something thats fun and scary especially since theres so many mobile phones in the World...:eek:

[evilreign]

Cell is really good, though it really isnt scary and it relies a lot on gore. THe characterazation as expected from a King book is fantastic. King found a way to make the zombie post-apoctlyptic setting different. Many people complain that the ending didnt tie up the loose ends or even the main plot. I thought it was good, just open ended. I read a statement from King though that says that you realize everything turns out all right with the rebooting the brain. You will know waht that means at the end of the book.

[Haunted]

The Cell did what most recent King (horror- as I am not counting The Dark Tower series) novels have been doing for a long time. They start off with ferocity. You get interested. It's good. It's going. Finally, it's the end of the book aaaaannnddd....it's total shit. Total shit.

So, to put it another way, I thought The Cell was really great at first, but ended really bad. Desperation was the same way. It started with good creepy vibe, but got dumber and dumber as the pages turned.

Urge, if you see this, what bugged you about Salem's Lot? I'm curious, because I liked that book as well. I want to see if the things that bothered you bothered me too.

[urgeok]

Originally posted by Haunted
Urge, if you see this, what bugged you about Salem's Lot? I'm curious, because I liked that book as well. I want to see if the things that bothered you bothered me too.

nothing i can think of bugged me about salems lot .. i think its his one decent book.

[evilreign]

That book isn't just decent, that book is good.

[urgeok]

Originally posted by evilreign
That book isn't just decent, that book is good.

oddly enough - i'm not a big fan of horror literature although i keep trying it out. (i read a ton as a younger fellow and soon came to the realization that i personally find it lacking)

Salems Lot was an ok story in my opinion ... it was a vampire story - not terribly origional... the characters were ok .. i thought it was ok..but not great.

high praise from me if you knew how much i hate Kings other work.