April 2007

I recently received a review copy of this book after wandering through a series of blogs. I found out about this book from one such blog and thought to myself that it sounded really good. So I request a review copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though it was written for an audience somewhat younger than I am used to. I love Harry Potter, Leven Thumps, and other such novels that are written for that slightly older teen audience–the more versed groups. The Dark Dreamweaver is written, obviously for a much younger audience. The language, while at times a little advanced, is perfect for those 8-13 year olds.That being said, the story basically is as follows:David is a young boy from our world. He collects caterpillar eggs with his parents, pretends his a magician (the real kind, not tricks), and goes about life like any young boy does. Then one day one of his caterpillars starts talking to him. This is Houdin, a wizard who has been cursed into a constantly repeating life cycle as a caterpillar–growing, sprouting, dying, all repeated over and over. David soon learns that the dark dreams he keeps having and all the dark dreams plaguing the world are due to a dark wizard named Thane from the world of Remin, where Houdin comes from. Remin is the world of imagination, dreams, and spectrum–the curious magical glitter than allows select few people in Remin to do amazing things. Now David finds himself caught in a battle not only to save Remin from Thane’s destructive path, but also to cure Houdin of his curse and save his own world before it’s too late… I found the book to be delightful. It’s not a perfect book, and I think that won’t matter considering the audience it is meant for. Younger kids aren’t too concerned with scenes that move a little too quick. The magic of this world is really interesting too. The idea of having to ‘load’ wands with ‘spectrum’ the way you might load a gun is a neat little twist. Some of the characters are great too. Sir Head-a-lot is a guy who can change his appearance by switching his heads. Houdin, obviously, a little caterpillar. And there are more characters too, all lovable in their own way. I couldn’t help but find Houdin as my favorite–and I think that stems from reading Leven Thumps some time ago where one of the characters was a talking toothpick.One notice for this book as that it does have some dark sections to it. It is not so dark in the same sense that Stephen King is dark. There are mentions of some blood, which for me is perfectly fine, and themes that I think might be a little scary. Regardless, I think kids can handle it. It’s a powerfully driven tale with swift and well drawn action, interesting puzzles, and a well paced plot. Good work!

It took me a lot longer to get through than I had hoped, and that is not saying I didn’t enjoy the book. It was just a rocky last couple of weeks and now I’m behind on a lot of stuff. Cell is the only King book I have ever actually finished, and also the first book where I got through fifty pages before putting it down. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps it has something to do with my obsession with zombies and my desire to perhaps one day write the most chilling and thrilling of zombie epics to ever grace the metaphorical screen of literature.Having said that, Cell is not actually a ‘zombie story’ in the traditional sense. There isn’t much here that is actually cliche or common in such stories. Cell starts out setting you up with the main character–Clay. He’s an artist who has just struck a major publishing deal for his graphic novel and is on his way home to let his estranged wife and his son know that things are going to be better. Then chaos reigns. People start freaking out, biting, clawing, and killing themselves and others. Clay is caught in the middle. Here he meets Tom and together they manage to get away. From this point on it is an all out battle for survival. Clay and Tom–and Alice, a young teenage girl–set off to try to escape the fires and insane people that have consumed normal society. As time passes they realize that it wasn’t just some random event, but some sort of pulse, some sort of subliminal message that has made everyone who was listening or does listen go nuts, and, to make things far worse, they start to realize that the ‘Phonies’ are beginning to change…into something…else… I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I’m not just saying that because of my obsession with zombie stories. His writing is perfect for this. He doesn’t dawdle around on the issue, or wander in places he shouldn’t. He focuses immediately on the characters and draws you into their lives without destroying things with flashbacks and such. Half-way through the book I started to think that this would make an amazing mini-series on HBO or Showtime (not on Fox or one of those normal stations because those places tend to make series crappy after one season…and this book ends in such a point where there would HAVE to be a second season to clear up all the remaining questions).My only problem with this novel is the way it ends. It felt to me like King didn’t really want to finish the novel. Maybe he’s going to write another to follow this. Regardless, it leaves you completely wondering whether Clay succeeded in ‘finding’ his son. Other than this, Cell is an amazing, gripping, and thrilling novel. This is the perfect novel to read when you’re home alone and in a slightly dim room where your mind can wander and make you feel like perhaps this could really happen. Kudos to King!

(Quick note. I have decided to drop the whole ‘current reading list’ deal. I’m not even following it at this point. I’m jumping around as it is and I’ve just come into some review copies and the like that are going to take precedent over my reading list anyway. The only list that will remain constant is my awards list…)Philip K. Dick and his lovely work of art. This book is quite a treat. I’ve never read it before, but heard about it a dozen times. The story is about a bounty hunter named Rick Deckard. What does he hunt? Androids of course. The Earth, as it stands, has become a backwater world after a massive nuclear war that leaves cities in ruins and constant radioactive dust falling everywhere. The people who still live on Earth are lucky to stay alive without going insane, and those are aren’t so lucky to keep their normal brains aren’t even allowed to leave for other colonized worlds (Mars included). To add, humanoid androids are illegal on Earth. They come from Mars, usually going to extreme methods to escape servitude there to find a new life on the fallen Earth. Deckard hunts these androids to ‘retire’ them (which is a fancy way of saying ‘kill’). The story itself takes place when six androids come to Earth and Deckard is brought on to take care of them.This is a fantastic novel. It might come off as a little difficult for some to come by. Some things such as Mercerism (which is the new world religion of Earth) and the Empathy Box might be beyond a lot of you to really comprehend, as they were for me. I wasn’t sure what the whole deal with Mercerism was. Was it intended to be so bizarre that you couldn’t believe it? Or are you led to believe that perhaps the people of Earth have just gone so nuts from the radiation that this is the next step? It’s strange indeed.Still, I found the world Philip created to be quite enthralling. It is dystopic–something I am hoping to perhaps place some heavy study in come the next couple years at UCSC. The world is dark. People are not normal. Animals are so far and few between that to have one is a sign of prestige, of wealth, and to have a rare animal is even more prestigious. People are so driven to own an animal that some buy android animals just so they can mimic others.I recommend everyone read this. It is a staple in the scifi world, hands down.