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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow because it was a stated influence on the first season of one of my favorite tv shows-- True Detective. Indeed, while reading the four short stories that make up this collection, my mind continued to wander back to True Detective and how its vague references to Carcosa, black stars and so on, were actually quite in line with the vague references to the same esoteric material in these four short stories. I got the sense that a version of the events portayed in the tv show could find a home in this collection. I have seen some complaints that these weird tales lacked the promised cosmic horror and were rather mundane slice of life stories, which is kind of funny since I recall hearing the same complaints about True Detective, but nevertheles I think this book' material was charming, moody and short enough to warrant a read. I particularly liked "Repairer of Reputations" and "The Yellow Sign." It felt like reading a series of spooky stories and I was reminded a lot of The Woman in Black, Don't Look Now (1973) and The Void (2016).
Previous to this particular collection I had a strange version of The King in Yellow which must have been a quick buck money grab from the public domain, with super small font, no spacing between stories, and everything crammed together. That version of this had more stories included, but was basically unreadable. This edition has large text and was a rather cozy read by comparison. I think it's a worthwhile read for anyone with a taste for early 20th century horror stories -- stories that are less outright scary and more moody and macabre.
Previous to this particular collection I had a strange version of The King in Yellow which must have been a quick buck money grab from the public domain, with super small font, no spacing between stories, and everything crammed together. That version of this had more stories included, but was basically unreadable. This edition has large text and was a rather cozy read by comparison. I think it's a worthwhile read for anyone with a taste for early 20th century horror stories -- stories that are less outright scary and more moody and macabre.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
slow-paced
Great ideas but I found it so slow.
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
The King in Yellow is famous from H.P. Lovecraft's later stories as well as books, movies, games and TV shows based on Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Honestly this is what drew me to the book in the first place; after losing many games of Arkham Horror to that god damned play, I finally wanted to see what the fuss was about for myself.
The book of the same name is actually a collection of ten short stories, about half of which have some kind of connection to the in-universe book of the same name, The King in Yellow. The in-universe book was a massively popular telling of the story of the Tattered King, and his lost world of Carcosa. The book also had the side effect of making everyone who read it insane, and as a result was banned.
In all honesty I should probably do two reviews of the book, one for the first half and one for the second. The first half contains five wonderfully inventive stories of weird cosmic horror. We get government sanctioned suicide chambers, insane would be kings, mad alchemists who can turn living tissue into marble, a man who is haunted by a demonic church organ player and a bunch of other extremely cool ideas and stories. Many of the stories tend to feel a bit rushed and end very suddenly, but they still work quite well and I can immediately see why they were so important in shaping the writings of Lovecraft and other early 20th century weird fiction writers.
And then we get to the second half of the book. The weird fiction, hints of cosmic horror and other lovecraftian elements disappear into the ether, and we're left with not amazing poetry and romance. I am not averse to poetry or romance, but it feels like Chambers' talents were definitely in other areas, as the results in this book are not amazing.
Overall it shows that The King in Yellow is now close to 130 years old, and as such a progenitor of a genre that has evolved and grown with the years. It can't help but feel a bit primitive and more like a first draft of something that could become truly amazing with more editing passes, but it's still worth reading for the historical value alone.
The book of the same name is actually a collection of ten short stories, about half of which have some kind of connection to the in-universe book of the same name, The King in Yellow. The in-universe book was a massively popular telling of the story of the Tattered King, and his lost world of Carcosa. The book also had the side effect of making everyone who read it insane, and as a result was banned.
In all honesty I should probably do two reviews of the book, one for the first half and one for the second. The first half contains five wonderfully inventive stories of weird cosmic horror. We get government sanctioned suicide chambers, insane would be kings, mad alchemists who can turn living tissue into marble, a man who is haunted by a demonic church organ player and a bunch of other extremely cool ideas and stories. Many of the stories tend to feel a bit rushed and end very suddenly, but they still work quite well and I can immediately see why they were so important in shaping the writings of Lovecraft and other early 20th century weird fiction writers.
And then we get to the second half of the book. The weird fiction, hints of cosmic horror and other lovecraftian elements disappear into the ether, and we're left with not amazing poetry and romance. I am not averse to poetry or romance, but it feels like Chambers' talents were definitely in other areas, as the results in this book are not amazing.
Overall it shows that The King in Yellow is now close to 130 years old, and as such a progenitor of a genre that has evolved and grown with the years. It can't help but feel a bit primitive and more like a first draft of something that could become truly amazing with more editing passes, but it's still worth reading for the historical value alone.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Meh. Lovecraft precursor, but even slower and with fewer monsters/mysteries. Has a few quasi-romantic overtones, but the sense of dread/terror isn't there.