Alan
I love these books. The imagination is fantastic but more importantly the language is just so delicious and satisfying. King may always be known as the master of horror but I feel Barkers rich syllabic gravy makes King feel like the fast food of horror. Yeah fast food is great but and you can devour it by the bucketload but when you get a juicy slab of well prepared seitan you can't help but hail it. Barker is gourmet horror.
Jason X, Leprechaun 4 and Hellraiser Bloodline all went to space, were ridiculed for it and yet were all better told and more thoughtful stories than Gwendy's Final Task. The first Gwendy adventure was a fun little short that did a lot with its limited length. Her second outing was pretty bland so I was looking forward to King getting back on board for the third one but I think its actually worse than The Magic Feather. It is packed to the brim with King fan service but its none the better for it. The majority is just daft, in a bad way.
Its not the worst thing Kings ever put out, in a world where End Of Watch exists its going to be real hard to limbo under that bar, but it is incredibly mediocre. It also feels like its not from the same universe as the other books and I think that's because of the shoehorning of real political figures into her already fictitious political landscape. We all know Trumps a dobber, theres no need for immortalising him further.
Jings. A book about adults acting like children, written by a child (with the eloquence of a child) who thinks she is both the hero and the martyr. I don't think there is a named person here that should not have just been a wank.
Ok, confession. I like to avoid spoilers as much as possible so only partially reading about this I was expecting a light and whimsical story about a young girl with possible magical powers and a plush alien hedgehog. I was not prepared for how dark and how heartbreaking it actually was. The complete innocence of the main character just makes it all the more impactful. Its an interesting way to show stunted development due to trauma/abuse. Its not all bad dark, its also darkly comical too and made me laugh quite a number of times.
I did think it was a great little book and its conclusion is certainly a thing! I'd recommend it but with a big trigger warning caveat.
Now I have to keep it short because the factory is coming to get me.....
The first half is enthralling, masterfully crafted and just King as his best really. It sets up a case that had me dying to find out just how it would resolve and what confluence of events fit with the facts. Up to the courthouse steps it was one of the best things I have read in a long time.
Ok boy did it take a nose dive in the second half. I went from being unable to put it down to being almost unable to pick it up. I came very close to just stopping. It's certainly not as bad as End Of Watch but it have me the same sinking feeling of disappointment when I realized where he was taking the story.
I'd be lying if I didn't say I smiled at the finale but that was a bit of a chore to get there.
Want to write a sympathetic female character? Why not give her a backstory of child abuse? I think King is a great writer of dialogue, characters and world building but as I read more of his books I read the more annoyed I get that child abuse is almost a Stephen King trope. Drinking game, pick a random King novel and if it has child abuse take a shot! Hey why you lying on the floor already?
Geralds Game made me more angry than annoyed because it's almost written as if the girl wanted it and it's not a big deal. Almost like the scene was written more like a power fantasy than a horrific psychological scar. Maybe I've read it completely wrong but especially between this and the satnav scene in “It” I'm making bad assumptions of the writer.
Worst of all it didn't even have any real bearing on the plot or outcome. Just an easy trope so you would feel for the main character.
Also the final 20% should have been left on the editing floor. It would have made a better novella.
Just to be succinct, this is one of the most disappointing books I have ever read. The supernatural bent is some of the worst King has written and going that direction in what has been a grounded series just feels like he didn't have any good grounded ideas. If that were the case I wish he had left Hodges till he could write him a story he deserved. From the tablets and the fish to and out of the blue climax resolution that hack filmmakers would say no to. King can do much better and Hodges deserved better.
I really can't overstate my dislike for this book.