Books

[Killer Bees]

I like Stephen King's works but I could barely make it a quarter of the way through Cell.
So far, it's absolutely awful!   

I bought the hardcover edition when it was released, read a bit, put it down and have yet to pick it back up.
The characters are bland and the action is lame.
It comes across as something Uwe Boll might make into a movie.  Seriously.

I have to agree that the idea is a good one.
A "pulse" that instantly turns everyone using a cell phone into a raging zombie.
But the execution so far is all wrong.

Take 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead and populate them with characters you don't care about and action scenes that totally suck and you have Cell.

Since I paid $26.95, I suppose I'll finish it.  It's obligatory.
But never before have I felt such disappointment in a novel when I delved into the zombie world of Cell.   

That's a real shame, Ash.  I haven't read any of King's stuff since the late 90s.  I read so much over the years that I really got sick of him.  All that navel gazing and endless internal tangents the characters go off on, it addled my brain after a while.

I borrowed my Cell copy from the library.  The hardcover is on sale here for $12.99 and I nearly bought it and put the library copy back.  But I figured if I like it then I'll spend the money.  It doesn't seem too bad right now. 

I'll keep you posted.

[Susan]

The Cell was readable, for modern King. I fell away from his writing in the past decade myself. He tends to ramble too much and usually the endings get ridiculous (I really hated Dreamcatcher) but his short stories are more entertaining. King is one of those authors that if you get turned on to him early you tend to stick to reading him, sometimes only him. That can be bad.

I've gone to the bookstore in recent months picking up other books to try other authors. Anything from the "Incredible Shrinking Man" to my "Rosemary's Baby" which i still haven't read because it's a first edition first printing i paid less than $10 for and i don't wanna ruin. lol 

Earth Abides is a great read - i'm into the post apocalyptic stuff

[flackbait]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I read it a few years ago and it was EXCELLENT!  It's a very funny book and I would advise it for anyone who just loves a good British comedy.


Monty Python British not old classic kind of British.

You might like the book Starship Titantic It was written by one of the monty python guys, I believe it was Eric Idle, with Douglas Adams. Altough its much less cycnical then Douglas Adams.

[Patient7]

Karma for you, flackbait, I'll look into it.

[flackbait]

Karma for you, flackbait, I'll look into it.

Thank you, and I was wrong on the author It was Terry Jones.

[Killer Bees]

Currently I'm reading Bad Men by John Connolly.  After my much enjoyed reading of his book The Book Of Lost Things, I decided to try some more of Connolly's books.  This one is a supernatural thirller and very different from TBOLT.

I must say I'm enjoying it immensely.

I'm also part way through Return To Mars by Ben Bova.  Trouble is, it's reading kind of familiar, but not so much as well.  I've read so much of his stuff over the years, I've forgotten most of it.

I'm also quarter way through The Taking by Dean Koontz.  I really love Koontz's stuff.  All the books are different, even though they come under the one subject of supernatural/horror.  He's like a less verbose Stephen King.

I also have a heap of other books to read as well, some fiction, some none fiction. 

[KYGOTC]

Meessa reading:

Dragonball vol.8

Left hand of Darkness (Boooorrrrriiinnngg!!!!)

And a classic, Dracula.

[Patient7]

Bees, that's really weird, the only other time I've heard anyone mention Dean Koontz is when my Grandma saw that I was reading Stephen King and she suggested him.  She's done that to my brother too.

[RCMerchant]

Bees, that's really weird, the only other time I've heard anyone mention Dean Koontz is when my Grandma saw that I was reading Stephen King and she suggested him.  She's done that to my brother too.

I gotta agree with Bees on this one...I find Dean Koontz's books to be VERY entertaing. Try his FRANKENSTEIN series....weird and wild!!!

[Ash]

I've read several of Koontz's books and most of them are pretty good.
Some that stand out for me are Dark Rivers of the Heart, Intensity, Ticktock, Twilight Eyes and Darkfall.

Phantoms was an awesome book.  Too bad the movie sucked big time.

The only bad thing about Koontz is that he tends to overdescribe things with way too much detail.
Sometimes I like to leave it to my imagination...you know?

[Patient7]

I just want to clear this up, I've never read any Koontz books.  I just thought it was weird that I heard about him a couple of years ago from my grandma, and I haven't heard about him since, now I see his name on Badmovies.org of all places.  Doesn't anybody else find it awkward.

[Killer Bees]

Bees, that's really weird, the only other time I've heard anyone mention Dean Koontz is when my Grandma saw that I was reading Stephen King and she suggested him.  She's done that to my brother too.

Years ago, I read one Koontz book and loved it and then read another and hated it.  And I abandoned him for the longest time.  Then I bought one a few months ago and loved it, so I'm back on track again.

I find him highly entertaining.  I enjoyed the Odd Thomas stories and I'm reading The Taking and By The Light Of The Moon.  So far, I highly recommend both books.  Although in the latter one, he's a little more wordy than I prefer but I'm going to persevere and hopefully my annoyance level will subside.

I've also read The Husband which wasn't a supernatural just a good old fashioned thriller/mystery story.  I also watched a telemovie called Black River based on one of his stories starring Jay Mohr and Lisa Edelstein.  It was a good Saturday afternoon time waster, but I'd like to read the original to see the difference.  And I'm part way through his newest one, The Darkest Evening Of The Year.

He doesn't really have any obvious style that I can discern.  He doesn't seem to repeat standard phrases or grammar styles and if I didn't  know beforehand, I would swear that all his books were written by different authors.  I like that quality about him.  Because then I know that each story will be different and not just variations on a theme.

The same goes for his over descriptiveness.  Sometimes it happens others not.  And sometimes it bothers me, but sometimes it doesn't.  There doesn't seem to be any pattern for my tolerance of his verbosity.  I guess it just depends on whether the story needs it or not.

Overall, I would recommend him to everyone.  He is the most consistent good writer I've come across in a long time.  And it looks like his income will be helped along quite well by me purchasing as many of his works as I can get my hands on.

[Shadow]

Phantoms was an awesome book.  Too bad the movie sucked big time.

I totally agree. Phantoms was the first Koontz book I ever read and I got so absorbed in it that I read it in a single sitting. It was the first book to ever give me a creepy vibe. I so wanted the movie to be good and eagerly went to see it in the theater, but man was I disappointed.

I've read about 20 to 25 Koontz books. For the most part I have greatly enjoyed them, though one or two were a little dull in spots.

[RCMerchant]

Won these 3 books off of ebay last week...should be in sometime soon...!

I read the Richard Cremer bio back in the 70's. EXCELLENT!!!! Been trying to get an affordable copy for years...the whole set sat me back $31 dollars and change...worth it!

 

[indianasmith]

Dean Koontz books are my favorite literary junk food - I buy them, read till 2 AM, and finish them the same day!!  I find King's works more meaty and enjoyable - I tend to linger over them and savor them - but I will say this:  when the man is off, he's WAY off.  INSOMNIA,  HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, and DREAMCATCHER did nothing for me.  But CELL, FROM A BUICK 8, and, most recently, LISEY'S STORY were incredible.

Right now I am reading a neat history book called SEA OF GLORY: THE U. S. EXPLORING EXPEDITION, 1838-1842.  A gripping account of an event I knew nothing about before picking up the book.