Tag: Writing

Stephen King: #55 – Cycle of the Werewolf

On By Luke FlorenceIn Books, Lists, Stephen King, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

#55 – Cycle of the Werewolf

Plot

Terror began in January – by the light of the full moon. The first scream came from the snowbound railway man who felt the werewolf’s fangs ripping at his throat. The next month there was a scream of ecstatic agony from the woman attacked in her cozy bedroom.

Now scenes of unbelievable horror unfold each time the full moon shines on the isolated Maine town of Tarker’s Mills. No one knows who will be attacked next. But one thing is sure. When the full moon rises, a paralyzing fear sweeps through Tarker’s Mills.

Review

July 30, 2020, is the one day in my 36+ year history where I finished two Stephen King books. After finishing Pet Sematary on a Thursday night I decided to open up Cycle of the Werewolf. Noticing how thin it was compared to most King novels, I fought off sleep and finished it in one sitting.

Cycle of the Werewolf is just a fun – and light – novel about how a werewolf is terrorizing a small Maine town. King spends each chapter describing a brand-new werewolf killing and how it affects Marty, the 10-year-old protagonist.

There is no deep and thoughtful meaning behind this story. It’s just pure horror and story-telling – two things King does better than anyone. The illustrations provided by Bernie Wrightson are a tremendous value-add.

Details

Pages: 128

Dates Read: July 30, 2020

Quote: “There is nothing of God or Light in that heartless sound – it is all black winter and dark ice.”

Best Part: Endings typically don’t matter in books like this, but King absolutely nails this one.

Hint for #54: Lots of people name their cars – but if you name your car this title, I’m not getting in.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #56 – Lisey’s Story

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#56 – Lisey’s Story

Plot

Lisey Debusher Landon lost her husband, Scott, two years ago, after a twenty-five-year marriage of the most profound and sometimes frightening intimacy. Scott was an award-winning, bestselling novelist and a very complicated man.

Early in their relationship, before they married, Lisey had to learn from him about books and blood and bools. Later, she understood that there was a place Scott went–a place that both terrified and healed him, that could eat him alive or give him the ideas he needed in order to live. Now it’s Lisey’s turn to face Scott’s demons, Lisey’s turn to go to Boo’ya Moon.

Review

This is the first book on this list I gave a “three-star” rating on Goodreads, which uses a five-star system. Every book from here on out will have earned three stars or more. Of the 64 Stephen King novels on this list, a staggering 24 of them garnered a five-star review from this Constant Reader.

Lisey’s Story could have made for an unbelievable novel if it would have been 300 pages. But the first 200+ pages of this book are excruciatingly slow. Granted, this was likely deliberate on King’s part to demonstrate the incredible grief Lisey was experiencing, but it made for a painfully deliberate start.

The concept and plot behind Lisey’s Story are incredible. Imagining a physical place – outside our universe – where a writer goes to craft ideas for stories was powerful. In perfect King irony – this fantasy land is filled with terrors and nightmares.

Lisey’s Story touches on mental health, love, death, grief, and one’s ability to move-on. There were moments of this novel that were quite powerful – but others that were cumbersome and needlessly lengthy.

Details

Pages: 513

Dates Read: August – September 2015

Quote: “The harder you had to work to open a package, the less you ended up caring about what was inside.”

Best Part: Lisey recalls several stories of her past, and the one where she saves her husband from a crazed fan was well done.

Hint for #55: The shortest Stephen King novel – at 127 pages – and one that includes comic illustrations throughout.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #57 – The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

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#57 – The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands

Plot

Several months have passed, and Roland’s two new tet-mates have become proficient gunslingers. Eddie Dean has given up heroin, and Odetta’s two selves have joined, becoming the stronger and more balanced personality of Susannah Dean. But while battling The Pusher in 1977 New York, Roland altered ka by saving the life of Jake Chambers, a boy who—in Roland’s where and when—has already died.

Now Roland and Jake exist in different worlds, but they are joined by the same madness: the paradox of double memories. Roland, Susannah, and Eddie must draw Jake into Mid-World then follow the Path of the Beam all the way to the Dark Tower.

Review

As we go on this journey you will discover that some of these books were difficult to accurately rank. This is the first of those novels. The Waste Lands is an excellent fantasy tale. It brings the band back together (Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake) with compelling dialogue and dynamic scene setting. However, the two biggest drawbacks were the ending and Blaine The Mono.

This book had no ending. It just stops. Specifically, it ends right in the middle of a cliffhanger. And sue me, after nearly 600 pages I expect some resolution. The Waste Lands gives Constant Readers zero. The Waste Lands also gives us one of the most annoying antagonists in Blaine The Mono.

Without giving away too much, Blaine is a sentient train who is now insane and suicidal. But get this – he loves riddles. And the only way Roland and crew can escape is by solving a series of them. The premise is beyond silly, and the execution was dreadful.

There is a universe where I re-read The Dark Tower series and The Waste Lands races up this list. Until then, it resides near the bottom.

Details

Pages: 590

Dates Read: Pre 2012

Quote: “Wow. This makes grand central look like a bus stop in Buttfuck, Nebraska.”

Best Part: One of my favorite Stephen King characters – Oy – is introduced.

Hint for #56: Apple TV premiered a TV show based off this book in June of 2021, starring Julianne Moore.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #58 – Desperation

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#58 – Desperation

Plot

Nevada is mostly a long stretch of desert you cross on the way to somewhere else. And with someone else, if you’re lucky … because it’s a scary place. Headed down Route 50 in the brutal summer heat are people who are never going to reach their destinations.

Review

When I finished The Dark Tower series I did not have any action plan for tackling the remainder of Stephen King’s bibliography. The system I eventually found relied heavily on friends and family members’ recommendations plus whatever bargains I could find at Half Price book-stores. A friend of mine suggested Desperation and we are no longer friends.

This massively long book was published at the exact same time as its “mirror” novel, The Regulators. Had I known that at the time, it may have impacted this ranking – but not by much. King paints an outstanding backdrop but fills it with lengthy internal monologues and overly religious tones.

Characterization is such a strong suit of King, but it is nowhere to be found in this horror novel. Yes, at times King takes us along on a twisted-scary-demented journey, but the meat-and-potatoes of this story were sour-tasting.

Details

Pages: 690

Dates Read: Pre 2012

Quote: “You have the right to remain silent,’ the big cop said in his robot’s voice. ‘If you do not choose to remain silent, anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. I’m going to kill you. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand your rights as I have explained them to you?”

Best Part: Our introduction to police officer Collie Entragian.

Hint for #57: This novel shares its title with a famous poem by T.S Eliot.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.

Stephen King: #59 – The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

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#59 – The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

Plot

Susannah Dean’s body has been usurped by a demon named Mia who wants to use Susannah’s mortal form to bear a demon child. Stealing Black Thirteen, Mia has traveled through the Unfound Door to 1999 New York where she plans to give birth to her chap, a child born of two mothers and two fathers who will grow up to be Roland’s nemesis.

With the help of the time-traveling Manni, Roland and Eddie plan to follow Susannah while Father Callahan and Jake find Calvin Tower, owner of the vacant lot where a magical rose grows: a rose that must be saved at all costs.

Review

After I finished reading The Stand, I moved on to The Dark Tower series. No specific reasoning behind that decision, but I liked how my next seven books were pre-determined. In retrospect, this was a horrible decision. The better move would have been to read The Dark Tower last as the entire series intertwines with pre-existing Stephen King characters (including the author himself). It would have been a richer experience had I first accumulated some prior background details.

The penultimate book deals with demons and duality, as Mia (the demon) takes over Susannah (a good guy) in hopes of birthing a child that will ultimately take down Roland (THE good guy). King published both VI and VII (The Dark Tower) in 2004, but it certainly felt like he rushed VI to get one book closer to the end.

The Dark Tower series is fantastic – an absolute epic in every meaning of the word. However, Song of Susannah drags throughout and doesn’t have a complete ending – it’s a massive cliffhanger that is resolved early in VII. The best part about this series was that every book – except for this one – was great on its own. Song of Susannah basically acts as a 400-page preamble to the series finale.

Details

Pages: 544

Dates Read: Pre 2012

Quote: “Anger is the most useless emotion,” Henchick intoned, “destructive to the mind and hurtful to the heart.”

Best Part: Roland visiting Stephen King’s house. This was meta before Meta was a thing.

Hint for #58: Webster defines this title as a state that results in rash or extreme behavior.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.