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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
too many stories unrelated to the yellow mythos, and are in fact just slice of life, towards the end. Without them I'd give it a 4. I'm not sure why these wee all compiled together.
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
This starts off promisingly enough, but eventually it’s as though Chambers completely runs out of ideas for cosmic horror and just thinks, “Well, I guess I’ll just write vague microfiction¹... or maybe a war story?² Oh god, I still have so many pages to fill... uh... what about romance!³”
So, needless to say, shit goes off the rails pretty quickly. Chambers loses sight entirely of the central thread he’d been following; several stories in the second half of the collection feature no disturbing elements or references to The King in Yellow at all, which is a shame, because I love the idea of this eldritch book being a sort of mind virus that infects the subconscious of any who read it.
Skip this one. If you’d like a taste of the best Chambers has to offer, the only two stories worth reading are “The Mask” and “The Yellow Sign.”
____________________
¹ “The Prophets’ Paradise”
² “The Street of the First Shell”
³ “The Street of Our Lady of the Fields” and “Rue Barée”
So, needless to say, shit goes off the rails pretty quickly. Chambers loses sight entirely of the central thread he’d been following; several stories in the second half of the collection feature no disturbing elements or references to The King in Yellow at all, which is a shame, because I love the idea of this eldritch book being a sort of mind virus that infects the subconscious of any who read it.
Skip this one. If you’d like a taste of the best Chambers has to offer, the only two stories worth reading are “The Mask” and “The Yellow Sign.”
____________________
¹ “The Prophets’ Paradise”
² “The Street of the First Shell”
³ “The Street of Our Lady of the Fields” and “Rue Barée”
dark
mysterious
medium-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:
Yes
mysterious
fast-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:
Yes
This short story collection is the grandpappy of the Cosmic Horror Genre. Long before Lovecraft and even Hodgeson, Chambers crafted a beautifully terrifying world trying to battle the influence of a corrupted book/play called The King in Yellow. The stories are all very different, dealing with a variety of people that have the play come into their lives.
I did NOT expect the intense level of romanticism in some of these stories, and honestly I loved it. Where Lovecraft's writing can come off as dry and utterly uninterested in the lighter side of being human, intense love and feeling flows through many of Chambers' characters, especially in the story The Mask.
Definitely check out this book if you love cosmic horror and also want more gothic spooky stories with a deep twinge of romanticism.
If you've seen True Detective s1, this book is what inspired what I consider to be the best piece of television ever crafted.
*NOTE: The original book includes a number of stories that have no horror or supernatural elements, instead being about war or love or other parts of the human experience in the late 1800s. This review pertains specifically to the supernatural stories in this collection.
I did NOT expect the intense level of romanticism in some of these stories, and honestly I loved it. Where Lovecraft's writing can come off as dry and utterly uninterested in the lighter side of being human, intense love and feeling flows through many of Chambers' characters, especially in the story The Mask.
Definitely check out this book if you love cosmic horror and also want more gothic spooky stories with a deep twinge of romanticism.
If you've seen True Detective s1, this book is what inspired what I consider to be the best piece of television ever crafted.
*NOTE: The original book includes a number of stories that have no horror or supernatural elements, instead being about war or love or other parts of the human experience in the late 1800s. This review pertains specifically to the supernatural stories in this collection.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
La reseña completa en http://inthenevernever.blogspot.com.es/2015/07/resena-el-rey-de-amarillo.html
“La máscara del autoengaño ya no era una máscara sino una parte mía. La noche me la quitaba”.
El Rey de Amarillo esta compuesto por una serie de relatos independientes que tienen un denominador común, en todos aparece un libro maldito, capaz de producir todo tipo de desgracias a sus lectores; algunos pierden totalmente la razón, pero otros tienen un destino incluso aún peor. Si la idea de un libro malévolo les suena conocida, es porque el célebre Necronomicón creado por Lovecraft puede haber sido inspirado también por la obra de Chambers.
“La máscara del autoengaño ya no era una máscara sino una parte mía. La noche me la quitaba”.
El Rey de Amarillo esta compuesto por una serie de relatos independientes que tienen un denominador común, en todos aparece un libro maldito, capaz de producir todo tipo de desgracias a sus lectores; algunos pierden totalmente la razón, pero otros tienen un destino incluso aún peor. Si la idea de un libro malévolo les suena conocida, es porque el célebre Necronomicón creado por Lovecraft puede haber sido inspirado también por la obra de Chambers.
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes