Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by crookedtreehouse
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
3.0
One of the reasons I enjoy Stephen King as a writer, is that he doesn't have one set approach to narrators. Or two approaches. Or three. I would have no problem believing that [b:The Eyes of the Dragon|10611|The Eyes of the Dragon|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1430121758s/10611.jpg|3083085], [b:Misery|10614|Misery|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1270545451s/10614.jpg|3230869], and [b:The Gunslinger|43615|The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375776480s/43615.jpg|46575] were written by three different authors. Sometimes, even his short story collections could believably be anthologies by dozens of writers. And in Hearts Of Atlantis, King writes four stories with overlapping characters,and it feels like a four person writers' group was given the task of telling a story. They were given a very vague outline, and complete creative freedom. It's almost cool.
The first story of this book, and to a slightly lesser degree, the final story, are the real heart of this book, which is tightly connected to The Dark Tower, despite featuring no familiar characters or locations. It's a coming of age story that features a built-in readers guide, as the two main characters discuss books. It makes up almost half of the book, and it's easily a five star story.
The second, third, and fourth sections of the book aren't bad. But we're introduced to new perspective characters, and I spent each of those sections waiting to see how they'd lead back into the main story rather than being engrossed by the characters and being pleasantly surprised when they wove back into the first story.
The fifth and final section does make the read worth it, as all the events do align and give us a satisfactory ending.
I believe one of the reasons I found the changes in narrative voice and character perspectives so disappointing, is that I just finished [b:Wizard and Glass|5096|Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327946510s/5096.jpg|750558] before this, where King flawlessly changes narrative voices and genre, mid-book.
The first story of this book, and to a slightly lesser degree, the final story, are the real heart of this book, which is tightly connected to The Dark Tower, despite featuring no familiar characters or locations. It's a coming of age story that features a built-in readers guide, as the two main characters discuss books. It makes up almost half of the book, and it's easily a five star story.
The second, third, and fourth sections of the book aren't bad. But we're introduced to new perspective characters, and I spent each of those sections waiting to see how they'd lead back into the main story rather than being engrossed by the characters and being pleasantly surprised when they wove back into the first story.
The fifth and final section does make the read worth it, as all the events do align and give us a satisfactory ending.
I believe one of the reasons I found the changes in narrative voice and character perspectives so disappointing, is that I just finished [b:Wizard and Glass|5096|Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327946510s/5096.jpg|750558] before this, where King flawlessly changes narrative voices and genre, mid-book.