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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
I have a soft spot for books featuring strong relationships with dogs. However, this was the first king book I’ve ever read and it felt lackluster, somehow. The third fourth of the book was not my favorite.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Like every Stephen King novel, the writing is phenomenal. I really enjoyed the first half of the book. The middle slowed down for me quite a bit (if you know King, you know he can drag out some parts and become really wordy) but then the end picked back up. It’s a good read, likely 5 stars for those who personally love this genre. Fantasy can sometimes be a bit much for me.
Best new King book IMHO, a fresh escape from his usual horror that over followed since Night Shift came out.
It reminded me a bit of his work with the late, great Peter Straub who passed away this September.
This was one of my favorite novels of the year.
It reminded me a bit of his work with the late, great Peter Straub who passed away this September.
This was one of my favorite novels of the year.
dnf'd at 12h into the 25h book...it just, wasn't interesting. The book was always telling you what would happen next, and not in an intrigue building or 4th wall breaking kinda way, but in a lame suspense killing, putting-on-airs kinda way.
After struggling through page after page of our protagonist's obsession with a dog, I finally got to the fantasy world only to discover that it was crushingly lame and boring. There were all these horribly disfigured people, but instead of catching my emotions, the author somehow couldn't make me care.
I actually read Stephen King's On Writing a while back and though it had some excellent advice, so I was honestly shocked by how much I disliked this book.
After struggling through page after page of our protagonist's obsession with a dog, I finally got to the fantasy world only to discover that it was crushingly lame and boring. There were all these horribly disfigured people, but instead of catching my emotions, the author somehow couldn't make me care.
I actually read Stephen King's On Writing a while back and though it had some excellent advice, so I was honestly shocked by how much I disliked this book.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have to confess that I really like how Stephen King writes so normally, when it comes to his novels, they tend to be more hits than misses for me. He doesn’t write in a poetic way, and sometimes his prose can be dense, but his characters tend to be very fleshed out and the settings of his stories nearly tangible. I can even overlook some crude language that normally would take me out of the narration, because it helps build the characters and the reality of the novel.
So when I heard about a new novel, and a fantasy one, with a dog involved to top it all, I had to read it. I may not be fully objective with this review, because being the owner of a senior dog; this story touched me at times more than I would like to admit.
In a way the story starts slow, and for a fact, we don’t travel to the magic world during the first quarter of the novel. One could say that, therefore, this intro to the characters and the plot dragged for too long, but I found it engaging and necessary. Here is where Charlie and Radar come alive, and that made me care much more about his adventures and misfortunes. At the same time, and while the portal to the magic world is still not there, we get glimpses of it. The fact that Mr. Bowditch doesn’t share his story at once gives the whole intro an air of mystery.
Then we travel to the Other world, Empis, and I have to say that I was fascinated by it. Going by the title of the novel and what Charlie, as the narrator, tell us; I thought Empis was going to be a world where all the classic tales as we know them hang out together. Instead it was its own world with its own characters. I liked that there were little references to classic characters but for the most it was its own thing. I found the whole curse that affected the grey people and the surviving monarchy family terrifying, and that was so effective, it created an eerie atmosphere that accompanied really well the action. Also, given how crazy the story is it could have easily turned into the nonsense of Alice in Wonderland, but with the lingering darkness and with the undeniable cruelty reigning in Empis, the story once again became its own thing.
It’s kind of funny because this novel seems to be composed by two novels, or so I would say. Because we first have the story that involves saving Radar, aka the promised story, but then suddenly it turns into a story to save a whole kingdom. I barely noticed the change happening, but while Charlie was imprisoned and learning about the truth of what was going on in Empis, the idea of him rolling to take Radar to a magic clock seemed so distant. And the thing is that I can’t really tell which of this “two novels” I liked more, and that’s a good thing, because I enjoyed both so much.
Like I said I found Charlie to be a much fleshed out character; even I didn’t mind when he turned into the chosen one, which I normally find an overused plot device in fantasy novels. I have to say that one thing I liked is how Charlie wasn’t perfect, in fact there was a darkness inside him he was very well aware off; his confession of what he did with Bird or him learning the consequences of what he did to Polley really helped to cement this aspect of his personality. It may have made him less likeable, but also more human. I also liked how he left this adventure scarred, physically and mentally, because no one can go through what he did and walk to the other side being the same person as always.
There were other memorable characters, for good or for bad, but I’m not going to continue down this path because this review would be never-ending.
To finish I would say that this novel had a good world building with well thought characters. The action kept me entertained through what it’s quite a lengthy novel; but at the same time the action wasn’t over done so there were instances that allowed to bond with the characters as they became more complex and to enjoy the world of Empis and its lore. I never got the impression that the story wasn’t going anywhere, even when things got weird and the next step seemed surrounded by darkness for the reader. Basically I really enjoyed this novel and I would definitely recommend it.
So when I heard about a new novel, and a fantasy one, with a dog involved to top it all, I had to read it. I may not be fully objective with this review, because being the owner of a senior dog; this story touched me at times more than I would like to admit.
In a way the story starts slow, and for a fact, we don’t travel to the magic world during the first quarter of the novel. One could say that, therefore, this intro to the characters and the plot dragged for too long, but I found it engaging and necessary. Here is where Charlie and Radar come alive, and that made me care much more about his adventures and misfortunes. At the same time, and while the portal to the magic world is still not there, we get glimpses of it. The fact that Mr. Bowditch doesn’t share his story at once gives the whole intro an air of mystery.
Then we travel to the Other world, Empis, and I have to say that I was fascinated by it. Going by the title of the novel and what Charlie, as the narrator, tell us; I thought Empis was going to be a world where all the classic tales as we know them hang out together. Instead it was its own world with its own characters. I liked that there were little references to classic characters but for the most it was its own thing. I found the whole curse that affected the grey people and the surviving monarchy family terrifying, and that was so effective, it created an eerie atmosphere that accompanied really well the action. Also, given how crazy the story is it could have easily turned into the nonsense of Alice in Wonderland, but with the lingering darkness and with the undeniable cruelty reigning in Empis, the story once again became its own thing.
It’s kind of funny because this novel seems to be composed by two novels, or so I would say. Because we first have the story that involves saving Radar, aka the promised story, but then suddenly it turns into a story to save a whole kingdom. I barely noticed the change happening, but while Charlie was imprisoned and learning about the truth of what was going on in Empis, the idea of him rolling to take Radar to a magic clock seemed so distant. And the thing is that I can’t really tell which of this “two novels” I liked more, and that’s a good thing, because I enjoyed both so much.
Like I said I found Charlie to be a much fleshed out character; even I didn’t mind when he turned into the chosen one, which I normally find an overused plot device in fantasy novels. I have to say that one thing I liked is how Charlie wasn’t perfect, in fact there was a darkness inside him he was very well aware off; his confession of what he did with Bird or him learning the consequences of what he did to Polley really helped to cement this aspect of his personality. It may have made him less likeable, but also more human. I also liked how he left this adventure scarred, physically and mentally, because no one can go through what he did and walk to the other side being the same person as always.
There were other memorable characters, for good or for bad, but I’m not going to continue down this path because this review would be never-ending.
To finish I would say that this novel had a good world building with well thought characters. The action kept me entertained through what it’s quite a lengthy novel; but at the same time the action wasn’t over done so there were instances that allowed to bond with the characters as they became more complex and to enjoy the world of Empis and its lore. I never got the impression that the story wasn’t going anywhere, even when things got weird and the next step seemed surrounded by darkness for the reader. Basically I really enjoyed this novel and I would definitely recommend it.