There has been a whole lotta starts and finishes going on around here. I started the new semester at school (crowd cheers "Yay" in sarcastic chant), I finished Duma Key (crowd boos), and finished The World Ends in Hickory Hollow (crowd "Aws"). Duma was a great read. I don't read too many page turners, and this one was really great. There was just enough supernatural stuff going on to keep me interested. Say what you want about King, people, and I'll defend him with my dying breath. He is this generations Edgar Allan Poe. The man makes tennis balls scary. That said, and this is coming from a true book snob, the real genius of King's work has always been the voice. I don't believe he wrote all of the books his name is printed on. There is this tone and character type that are original to his work and some of the stuff that came out in the late eighties, early nineties is written in completely different voices.
In Duma Key, the main character is extremely likable and if you find you can't get into the world of Edgar the rest of the story is not going to flow well for you. Here is a guy who barely escapes death, has his wife dump his while he is recouping, only to end up on a key in Florida fighting mystical powers with only a paintbrush (well, and two sidekicks). The damn shame is that this is THE perfect beach read, and I read it in twenty degree weather, but what are you gonna do? As an added bonus, the Duma Key weighs in at an impressive 592 pages, so take that! Chunkster Challenge, my first one is done.
The second book I finished was Hickery Hollow. I don't even remember why I ordered this book, but it came in for me at the library and I was into it before I could even think about it. I love fiction that takes place at the end of the world, and this is a nice little edition to my collection of EOTW titles (my faves are still: Into The Forest, The Stand, and Swan Song). This reads more like a how-to manual. If you want to survive the end of the world (it is never explained what actually happened) one must live in Texas on a fully functioning farm, have mad farming and shooting skills, stocked food and medicine, and an overly optimistic attitude. Not once does the main character in this story ever seem upset that the civilization is destroyed. Nope, as long as she had back issues of Mother Earth News on hand she's good to go. (Not that I'm bashing Mother Earth News- I love it too, especially since I have a fantasy about living in a yurt). The best part is that there is a wild bunch of alcoholic whores roaming the woods and attacking survivors. Good times. It was quirky and quick and I think my hat is off to the writer.
So I must go pack, but I'm taking The Invention of Everything with me. Oh, and the new Bust. Ciao!
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