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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
If I were forced to sum up the final Sandman Slim novel, “King Bullet,” in one word (okay, two) it would be “contractually obligated.”
I get it. After 12 books, maybe that well has dried up or venturing back into the gritty LA of Stark and gang might feel depressing (esp. given the current state of the world.) But I felt like Stark deserved a better send-off.
The pacing was breakneck and it felt like being dropped into a movie where I’d missed the first 15 minutes.
This book felt rushed from the first page as if Kadrey just wanted to get it finished so he could get back to writing something else. Threads were left dangling and the penultimate scenes were perfunctory at best.
I genuinely felt like the author had a checklist of all the characters he needed to work into the book so we could say goodbye but that they were added on a stream-of-consciousness basis.
I was bummed that we didn’t get to see Father Thomas again. He was one of my favorite characters.
And then he crammed them all into a single cramped and uncomfortable apartment which honestly felt like a metaphor for the whole book. By the end, I was starting to think Stark’s apartment must have resembled a clown car full of misfits and cast-offs.
I mean after he dies, we get a one-sentence description of what’s going on with his Scooby gang for whom he just gave up his life. He was so worried about saving them, he went through both literal and figurative hell on their behalf but when he goes back to see how they are, he barely cares.
These are people he’s died for more than once and as a reader I personally was invested in their fates enough that I wanted more detail and *I* didn’t die for them. You’d think Stark was a little more invested than me.
I hope that was done intentionally to show that Stark is letting go of his earthly worries but after “protecting his friends” was hammered into us as one of his only consistent character traits, but it was jarring to see him basically just say “peace out” and give zero fucks about them afterwords.
Is this a device to draw parallels between himself and Mr Muninn being an absent god once he got to heaven? I don’t know, but it’s a big change for the character. It’d be one thing if he was made to seem fully at peace in heaven. But he still jokes about leaving.
And if there’s one thing we know about how the world works in the series, it’s not like he couldn’t have a more active role in observing his friends once he arrived, so what gives? Candy has the key now. Can’t she visit?
Noir always has the protagonist get the shit knocked out of him. And throughout this journey poor James Stark has been absolutely put through the cosmic wringer.
But holy shit, this book felt like Kadrey had grown to hate Sandman Slim on a personal and visceral level. The things he does to his “hero” in this book feel unnecessarily cruel. The painful mental flagellation Stark feels as he begins to realize how no matter how much he tries to protect his friends, he’s the common denominator in their being in danger, and his reflection on his feelings for Candy juxtaposed with his feelings for Jane (a character I came to loathe by the end of the book--through no fault of their own) are ultimately unsatisfying. It’s like Kadrey finally lets him grow as a character just to kill him. Where was this introspective Stark in books 1-11?
But the mental toll on Stark is nothing compared to what Kadrey does to him physically in this book. The Kissi arm is like a walk in the park compared to this one. The scarification and mutilation he undergoes to prep for the final battle felt to me like an expression of hatred for the character.
I get that he’s martyring himself for his friends but goodness it felt so cruel. I kept imagining someone taking a pen and just angrily scribbling over a picture until the original image is totally destroyed and unrecognizable. It just felt spiteful to me. Like Kadrey had to destroy him on every level to let him go to heaven.
I also didn’t really understand the final battle between him and King Bullet. What happened to King Bullet after Stark tricked him? If he’s also a hybrid, wouldn’t King Bullet wind up in heaven too?
As a finale it certainly felt “final” but read more like a novella written because an editor asked for one last book to close out the series rather than a fully developed story.
I get it. After 12 books, maybe that well has dried up or venturing back into the gritty LA of Stark and gang might feel depressing (esp. given the current state of the world.) But I felt like Stark deserved a better send-off.
The pacing was breakneck and it felt like being dropped into a movie where I’d missed the first 15 minutes.
This book felt rushed from the first page as if Kadrey just wanted to get it finished so he could get back to writing something else. Threads were left dangling and the penultimate scenes were perfunctory at best.
I genuinely felt like the author had a checklist of all the characters he needed to work into the book so we could say goodbye but that they were added on a stream-of-consciousness basis.
I was bummed that we didn’t get to see Father Thomas again. He was one of my favorite characters.
And then he crammed them all into a single cramped and uncomfortable apartment which honestly felt like a metaphor for the whole book. By the end, I was starting to think Stark’s apartment must have resembled a clown car full of misfits and cast-offs.
I mean after he dies, we get a one-sentence description of what’s going on with his Scooby gang for whom he just gave up his life. He was so worried about saving them, he went through both literal and figurative hell on their behalf but when he goes back to see how they are, he barely cares.
These are people he’s died for more than once and as a reader I personally was invested in their fates enough that I wanted more detail and *I* didn’t die for them. You’d think Stark was a little more invested than me.
I hope that was done intentionally to show that Stark is letting go of his earthly worries but after “protecting his friends” was hammered into us as one of his only consistent character traits, but it was jarring to see him basically just say “peace out” and give zero fucks about them afterwords.
Is this a device to draw parallels between himself and Mr Muninn being an absent god once he got to heaven? I don’t know, but it’s a big change for the character. It’d be one thing if he was made to seem fully at peace in heaven. But he still jokes about leaving.
And if there’s one thing we know about how the world works in the series, it’s not like he couldn’t have a more active role in observing his friends once he arrived, so what gives? Candy has the key now. Can’t she visit?
Noir always has the protagonist get the shit knocked out of him. And throughout this journey poor James Stark has been absolutely put through the cosmic wringer.
But holy shit, this book felt like Kadrey had grown to hate Sandman Slim on a personal and visceral level. The things he does to his “hero” in this book feel unnecessarily cruel. The painful mental flagellation Stark feels as he begins to realize how no matter how much he tries to protect his friends, he’s the common denominator in their being in danger, and his reflection on his feelings for Candy juxtaposed with his feelings for Jane (a character I came to loathe by the end of the book--through no fault of their own) are ultimately unsatisfying. It’s like Kadrey finally lets him grow as a character just to kill him. Where was this introspective Stark in books 1-11?
But the mental toll on Stark is nothing compared to what Kadrey does to him physically in this book. The Kissi arm is like a walk in the park compared to this one. The scarification and mutilation he undergoes to prep for the final battle felt to me like an expression of hatred for the character.
I get that he’s martyring himself for his friends but goodness it felt so cruel. I kept imagining someone taking a pen and just angrily scribbling over a picture until the original image is totally destroyed and unrecognizable. It just felt spiteful to me. Like Kadrey had to destroy him on every level to let him go to heaven.
I also didn’t really understand the final battle between him and King Bullet. What happened to King Bullet after Stark tricked him? If he’s also a hybrid, wouldn’t King Bullet wind up in heaven too?
As a finale it certainly felt “final” but read more like a novella written because an editor asked for one last book to close out the series rather than a fully developed story.
And so it ends...maybe.
The final go for James Stark aka Sandman Slim finds him still in LA where a new gang of mutilated autophagia loonies are running amok. Led by King Bullet the gang seems to revel in the chaos while the King himself only wants one thing, Sandman Slim. The King blames "The Monster Who Kills Monsters" for the ills of the world and wants him to suffer mentally as well as physically before he does him in.
Facing an enemy more like himself than ever, can Stark/Slim save humanity one last time? And is it worth it?
3.5/5, rounded up to 4/5. A more concrete ending would raise the rating but I also think I just don't want the series to end so I'm bummed this is it(again, maybe).
The final go for James Stark aka Sandman Slim finds him still in LA where a new gang of mutilated autophagia loonies are running amok. Led by King Bullet the gang seems to revel in the chaos while the King himself only wants one thing, Sandman Slim. The King blames "The Monster Who Kills Monsters" for the ills of the world and wants him to suffer mentally as well as physically before he does him in.
Facing an enemy more like himself than ever, can Stark/Slim save humanity one last time? And is it worth it?
3.5/5, rounded up to 4/5. A more concrete ending would raise the rating but I also think I just don't want the series to end so I'm bummed this is it(again, maybe).
Like most of the books in this series, I couldn't put it down. They are really solid popcorn, lots of fighting and gore, lots of magical combat -- the series starts out like a modern urban fantasy/noir, but it grows to more cosmic scope and then shrinks back for the last few books. This was a good wrap-up to the series with a satisfying conclusion and some good new alternate-universe movies.
There's probably no other way Sandman Slim could have ended. The book made me feel dread from start to almost finish, and that's okay.
King Bullet, the last book in the Sandman Slim series, is a pandemic baby, and you know it. It is steeped in isolation, anxiety, and the futile desire for simple answers in the face of complex problems. And it’s James Stark, so there’s violence, mayhem, hidden Hollywood, and heavenly hosts.
James Stark was sent to hell alive by his magician friends who were jealous of his powers. While there, he became Sandman Slim, the monster who kills monsters. Stark escaped from Hell to wreak vengeance on the magicians that sent him there, and caused the death of the girlfriend he left behind. Since then he’s almost destroyed the universe, but chose not to, become friendly-ish with one of the aspects of God, become Lucifer, quit being Lucifer, pissed off a lot of angels, died, come back to life, taken down a lot of really bad people, opened the gates of heaven to every soul, found the love of his life and lost her. He’s moved on from being the monster who kills monsters and has quit being anyone’s attack dog. But growth is hard because there will always be people who don’t want you to change.
The Sandman Slim series is at it’s best when Stark is in Los Angeles. Now Los Angeles is falling apart, the garbage is piling up, and the city is in danger of being over run by a madman and his gangs of henchmen. King Bullet knows who Sandman Slim is and wants to burn down everything Stark has ever loved. Stark wants to protect his people and his places, figure out his relationship with Janet, and find some peace. After forcing the machinery of the Universe to play fair, what antagonist could be worthy of Stark’s last outing? Kadrey goes Shakespearean. King Bullet gives a nice Saint Crispen’s Day speech.
“We few, we happy few, we band of horrors. For they today who shed their blood with me shall be my brothers, my sisters, my blessed beasts. Now. Go forth and make creation weep.”
King Bullet is the loneliest Stark has ever seemed. For all that he is surrounded by his friends, he is so aware of the impact that he has on the people around him. For the whole series, people have been telling Stark that what he does impacts others, and he has changed and evolved, sometimes reluctantly, and become someone who cares about the welfare of others, not just the people he loves. King Bullet weaponizes that care and punishes Stark with his own evolution.
Now that I’ve finished the series, I’ll be going back to the beginning and reading it all again. And when the audiobook is released, I’ll buy that and let MacLeod Andrews narrate Sandman Slim’s final chapter. Kadrey kind of maybe leaves the door open for more Stark.
I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
James Stark was sent to hell alive by his magician friends who were jealous of his powers. While there, he became Sandman Slim, the monster who kills monsters. Stark escaped from Hell to wreak vengeance on the magicians that sent him there, and caused the death of the girlfriend he left behind. Since then he’s almost destroyed the universe, but chose not to, become friendly-ish with one of the aspects of God, become Lucifer, quit being Lucifer, pissed off a lot of angels, died, come back to life, taken down a lot of really bad people, opened the gates of heaven to every soul, found the love of his life and lost her. He’s moved on from being the monster who kills monsters and has quit being anyone’s attack dog. But growth is hard because there will always be people who don’t want you to change.
The Sandman Slim series is at it’s best when Stark is in Los Angeles. Now Los Angeles is falling apart, the garbage is piling up, and the city is in danger of being over run by a madman and his gangs of henchmen. King Bullet knows who Sandman Slim is and wants to burn down everything Stark has ever loved. Stark wants to protect his people and his places, figure out his relationship with Janet, and find some peace. After forcing the machinery of the Universe to play fair, what antagonist could be worthy of Stark’s last outing? Kadrey goes Shakespearean. King Bullet gives a nice Saint Crispen’s Day speech.
“We few, we happy few, we band of horrors. For they today who shed their blood with me shall be my brothers, my sisters, my blessed beasts. Now. Go forth and make creation weep.”
King Bullet is the loneliest Stark has ever seemed. For all that he is surrounded by his friends, he is so aware of the impact that he has on the people around him. For the whole series, people have been telling Stark that what he does impacts others, and he has changed and evolved, sometimes reluctantly, and become someone who cares about the welfare of others, not just the people he loves. King Bullet weaponizes that care and punishes Stark with his own evolution.
Now that I’ve finished the series, I’ll be going back to the beginning and reading it all again. And when the audiobook is released, I’ll buy that and let MacLeod Andrews narrate Sandman Slim’s final chapter. Kadrey kind of maybe leaves the door open for more Stark.
I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
It's hard to believe that this is the final book of the Sandman Slim series. The series finale finds Stark in the midst of a viral pandemic where everyone is wearing masks. LA is in chaos. And in the midst is gang leader King Bullet, who seems to have a vendetta for Stark. Hold on to your hats because the train is barreling into the station and there's no one at the helm.
This is a welcome change as the last book in the series, Ballistic Kiss, definitely felt like one of the slower books. Kadrey put a lot more emotion into Stark, with more introspection than the kick-ass action that I have come to know and love from him. King Bullet takes us back to everything that the Sandman Slim series has been. Once again, there is a very eccentric villain (King Bullet) that Stark has been tasked with taking care of. He's questioning why exactly he was tasked with it, lending credence to the idea that Abbott has not been on the up and up with him.
This pandemic is no COVID, as terrible as that has been. This one causes autophagia, the consumption of your own body. Yes, these people are chewing their lips and fingers, and...ugh. Disgusting. In a lot of ways, it's a parallel of a lot of what's happened since COVID. Businesses are shuttered, masks have to be worn everywhere, and for other reasons, riots have happened. Honestly, I read to escape the real world, so reading a story about a novel pandemic in the midst of a novel pandemic wasn't really my cup of tea.
Kadrey certainly wraps up all the loose ends with this finale. All the character arcs are settled without feeling like they were quickly tied up for the sake of completion. I think most fans will be happy with the fulfillment of the Sandman Slim series. Don't think we can completely count Stark out though. That ending might just leave the tiniest bit of wiggle room.
This is a welcome change as the last book in the series, Ballistic Kiss, definitely felt like one of the slower books. Kadrey put a lot more emotion into Stark, with more introspection than the kick-ass action that I have come to know and love from him. King Bullet takes us back to everything that the Sandman Slim series has been. Once again, there is a very eccentric villain (King Bullet) that Stark has been tasked with taking care of. He's questioning why exactly he was tasked with it, lending credence to the idea that Abbott has not been on the up and up with him.
This pandemic is no COVID, as terrible as that has been. This one causes autophagia, the consumption of your own body. Yes, these people are chewing their lips and fingers, and...ugh. Disgusting. In a lot of ways, it's a parallel of a lot of what's happened since COVID. Businesses are shuttered, masks have to be worn everywhere, and for other reasons, riots have happened. Honestly, I read to escape the real world, so reading a story about a novel pandemic in the midst of a novel pandemic wasn't really my cup of tea.
Kadrey certainly wraps up all the loose ends with this finale. All the character arcs are settled without feeling like they were quickly tied up for the sake of completion. I think most fans will be happy with the fulfillment of the Sandman Slim series. Don't think we can completely count Stark out though. That ending might just leave the tiniest bit of wiggle room.
quick read and pure joy slipping back into this universe.
but is anyone really happy with the way this ended? almost feels like a "star wars medal ceremony" tacked onto the end of whatever story preceded it. not thrilled with that but was a fun ride nonetheless...
but is anyone really happy with the way this ended? almost feels like a "star wars medal ceremony" tacked onto the end of whatever story preceded it. not thrilled with that but was a fun ride nonetheless...
Man. Pretty good. Not the best wrap up it could be but it’s definitely a Sandman Slim novel. Not a waste of time.
Really enjoyed it and I think the conclusion is worthy of him. I’ve been reading these books in real time, as they came out, so I have a lot of time invested here.
Thanks RK. These books were great!
Really enjoyed it and I think the conclusion is worthy of him. I’ve been reading these books in real time, as they came out, so I have a lot of time invested here.
Thanks RK. These books were great!
adventurous
dark
fast-paced