Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I came into this book thinking it was mainly going to be weird tales and involve strictly the King in Yellow. However, about halfway through the book shifts to other stories, and while they were good, it was hard to stay engaged when the weird transitions to normal.
I wanted to like it more.. some interesting passages others were hopeless. Lore acquired I guess.
mysterious
medium-paced
Les premiers nouvelles font vraiment échos aux nouvelles de H.P.Lovecraft mais les suivantes y sont très éloignées et j'ai de la peine à comprendre leur signification dans ce livre.
this edition doesn't have every story in the collection...so i'm moving over to the illustrious Kenneth Hite version
tense
fast-paced
Even when I didn't know what was happening, the prose alone was enough to at the very least leave me discomforted. Only the first 4 or so stories are "horror" - the rest are military tales or romance - but honestly I think I found those more interesting than the horror stories.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
A mixed bag, which is something I always find with short stories. I enjoyed the first four stories the most and loved the link with the mysterious play they all shared. The latter half of the book was more romantically inclined and not quite to my taste, but I did feel like they shared a quality with the first four stories that felt like another side to the same coin, so to speak. The first four were overtly linked whereas the latter stories were more subtle with their symbolism, but I came away feeling as though they were all aspects of The King in Yellow (the entity/concept/whatever you envision it to be).
I started here at the source with the intention of going on to read more weird fiction that features The King in Yellow, and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the book, but as I say, the more overtly ominous stories just resonate with me and my tastes more strongly.
I started here at the source with the intention of going on to read more weird fiction that features The King in Yellow, and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the book, but as I say, the more overtly ominous stories just resonate with me and my tastes more strongly.
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I picked up a nice hardbound copy at a secondhand shop years ago and finally got around to reading it, this book was a lot better than I expected. I think a lot of people come to The King in Yellow via Lovecraft, and that probably sets up a lot of incorrect expectations for the book. It's not especially similar to Lovecraft's works beyond the fact that they're both early weird horror. The stories in this collection are a lot more psychological, the horror primarily comes from how the strange events effect the minds of the narrators, and not in in the "I saw a big scary monster and went insane" sort of way.