The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

The Tommyknockers by Stephen King — 9781101138405 — ****

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction
Time To Read: 2 Months
Publication Date: 10 November 1987

Short Summary:
Bobbi Anderson is Haven, Maine’s local celebrity. The best selling author of Western novels lives on the farm she inherited from her uncle. The man was a little nutty, and Bobbi sometimes wonders if it came from living out here in this little town, but it’s quiet in Haven. The perfect place to escape from her cruel older sister’s claws and write her next best seller. One day, she is taking a walk in the woods behind the farm, her aging beagle Peter by her side, when she trips over something that is sticking out of the ground. Is it rock? No. It’s metal, but what is it? She begins to dig it up, but it’s huge. She doesn’t know how long she’s there digging before Peter brings her back to reality. They go back to the house, but Bobbie is now consumed with the need to dig, dig, dig.

James Eric Gardner (Gard ole Gard, as he often calles himself) is…was a renowned poet and professor of literature. Now he’s one of several poets participating in the New England Poetry Caravan, reading his poetry along side other writers for the free food and board and the stipend, so much as it is. That is, until he messes up and gets drunk. Now, he’s standing on the shore, a failed, drunken poet with no future and no hope. He’s ready to be done with it all. To jump into the sea and wash away with the rest of his career. But, suddenly, the feeling comes over him that Bobbi needs him. Bobbi Anderson, his one time student and lover and forever friend is in trouble. Deciding he can pick up his suicidal thoughts after he is sure that Bobbi is okay, he heads for Haven, where he finds that Bobbie, along with the rest of the small town, is different.

Haven is changing. Its residents are “becoming.” Becoming what? They don’t know, but it gives them power and insights beyond those any mere human could ever grasp. Telepathy, for one, and the ability to re-invent old junk wired with D-cell batteries into useful, and sometimes dangerous, tools for another. Whatever this Becoming is, it is making them more than human. They are consumed by it. They welcome it. Only Gard, Bobbi’s drunken old pal, seems immune. The metal plate in his head–a souvenir from a near-fatal skiing accident–is preventing him from becoming. Only he sees what’s really going on in Haven. If he puts down the bottle and opens his eyes, he could be dangerous. For now, he’s useful, and Bobbi likes him, so he stays. For now…

First off: It took me much longer than it should have to finish this book. I started it at the end of November, reading only on my breaks at work so I could work on my NaNoWriMo novel at home. Then it was holiday season at work. I was still writing at home, but my breaks at work became a time to recoup from the rush of the season, so I wasn’t doing much reading. After that, well, I was still doing no reading at home, so I just couln’t get through it fast. I could have, but I’m determined to write, so reading comes second right now. (A side note: I did read at least one book before this that I haven’t reviewed. May wait to review it until the next time I read it so it’s fresh in my mind)

The Tommyknockers, by Stephen King is, simply put, not simple to put. I read it  expecting “cheese” after having seen the mini-series as a kid, and have to say that I was, at first, disappointed that the mini-series didn’t follow it more closely. Then I was glad it strayed so far. Then I was relieved that the mini-series was only a vague resemblance of the novel. Stephen King is a builder. He starts off slow and relatively calm, then something happens in his plot, and it starts to build, getting more and more intense until your head wants to explode. The Tommyknockers holds true to that.

This novel is broken up into three parts: “Book I – The Ship in the Earth,” “Book II – Tales of Haven,” “Book III – The Tommyknockers.” Book I is, essentially, all about Bobbi’s discovery, and Gard’s arrival and involvement. By the time it ends, you’re already at the point where you feel like you’re going to lose it. Book II is about the people of Haven and the changes that are going on in the town. This part of the novel is a little bit of a break from the insanity of the rest. It starts off nearly as slow as the very beginning of the novel, and stays on a pretty even keel throughout, lulling you into the false belief that this is going to be the pace for the duration. Then Book III begins, and the plot takes off like a rocket, dragging you along screaming for the rest of the ride.

Book I was excellent. Book III was mind-blowing. I have to confess that I think Book II is the reason it took me so long to read the entire novel. While I was reading the first part, I was, as I said, trying to restrict my reading to at work only so I could get some serious writing done at home, but I snuck in a few hours here and there, because I needed to know what was happening. When it transitioned, however, I was content to read only on my breaks at work, even skipping days when I had a day off or when I found myself sharing the break room with one or more of my fellow employees. When Book III began to pick up, however, I had to read it to the conclusion, reading the last 40 pages and forgetting that the super bowl was on and my sister was enthusiastically cheering, then frustratingly jeering (her team lost, apparently) only four feet away from where I was reading. Of course, Book II was necessary. It introduced me to important characters that came into play at the end, and told me that Bobbi wasn’t the only one changing. It also is probably the only reason my head didn’t explode while I was reading this.

Overall, The Tommyknockers by Stephen King was more than I expected, and almost more than I could deal with without screaming (actually, a few times, I did have to put it down and let out a crazed “Aaah!” before I could continue). It isn’t a book for the faint of heart (or, on some occasions, the weak of stomach), but I recommend it to anyone who needs a little horror in their life.

Check out Stephen King’s website!

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The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury — 9780380973842 — ****

Genre: Science Fiction
Time to Read: Average 1 hour or less per story

Short Summary:
A young man on a walking tour of Wisconsin encounters a tall, powerful, tattooed–illustrated–man. The ink on the man’s skin tells of the future. Among the menagerie of art are tales of men on Mars, the rainy jungles of Venus, an Earth occupied by robots and a family that dreams of taking a trip into space. As the young traveler sits with the illustrated man, the latter shares his stories. The future is full of hope and horror, and the illustrated man knows it all.

The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury is a collection of short stories that are tied together with an introduction about an illustrated man sharing stories of the future with a young traveler and ending with the illustrated man’s own story. All of the stories in the collection are science fiction, but they are otherwise unconnected, making this a great “book between books” title. I’ve been reading it in morsels for quite a while, but some of the short stories still stay with me, even after having read them months ago. Ray Bradbury is my favorite author, and his style shines through in each word. He is a master of metaphor, and even a one-page short story resonates in the heart and mind of a reader. I did like some of the stories better than others, which is to be expected, but when taken as a whole, The Illustrated Man is an amazing collection, and a must-read for anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi and is looking for a really well-written book.

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Plague Ship by Andre Norton

Plague Ship (Solar Queen Series #2) by Andre Norton (aka. Andrew North; Andre Alice Norton; Alice Mary Norton; Allen Weston) — 2940011809583 – ****

Genre: Science Fiction
Time to Read: 6 Days

Short Summary:
The Free Traders of the ship the Solar Queen are on a mission to win trade with the newly discovered planet Sargol, which is inhabited by a feline-like race that holds closely to ceremony  and is slow to trust the humans. After arguments with a Company trade ship, a sunset hunt for the planet’s naval monsters and some tough negotiations, it is time to blast off. When the Solar Queen heads for home, however, her crew finds that they have left Sargol with more than they bargained for. As senior crew members begin to fall ill, the ship’s younger recruits–including the ship’s apprentice cargo master Dane Thorson–must find out what has caused this alien plague and stop it before the Solar Queen can be blasted from the sky as a plague ship.

To date, I haven’t read much space science fiction. I enjoy the genre on screen, but no books have really grabbed me. At least not until this one.

Plague Ship was a little slow to start, but as soon as it got rolling, I didn’t want to put it down. It was published in 1956, but it has none of the somewhat tiresome old-fashioned social stereotypes. This may be due to the fact that it had an all male cast (so no lone female had to be saved every time the main character turned around), or perhaps to the fact that it was written by a women under a masculine pen name, but for whatever the reason, Alice Mary Norton’s masterpiece has a classic feel without the strange narrative voice I tend to run into with books from that era or the eye-rolling remarks other writers of that period used to belittle any character that wasn’t a male human Caucasian. It is simply good writing. The rules of her characters’ “world” (universe, in actuality) are extremely well planned. The plot is full of twists that truly are twists. It is full of suspense that keeps you reading to the end, even if the first half of the book is more an exploration of an alien world than it is a story about a “plague ship.” It’s a good, quick read for anyone who likes science fiction, or for anyone looking to try it out.

As a side-note, this is book two of a series called Solar Queen, but it doesn’t seem like reading the books out of order will be a problem. This one volume contains the full plot of the story, so you aren’t jumping in somewhere in the middle, and you don’t have to scramble for the next book right away. That being said, I am hoping to locate the other books in this series in the future, simply because I enjoyed Plague Ship so much, and because I have read that her characters get even better as the books progress.

Check out Andre Norton’s website (and learn more about her life) here!
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In the Courts of the Sun by Brian D’Amato

In the Courts of the Sun by Brian D’Amato — 9780525950516 — *

Genre: Science Fiction
Time to Read: 24 Days

Short Description:
The year is 2011, and the countdown to December 21, 2012 is well underway. Despite his Maya heritage, Jed DeLanda doesn’t believe in the 2012 doomsday prediction, but millions throughout the world do. One day, the stock-market-made millionaire is on his computer adding to his fortune when he comes across an article that catches his eye. A college professor, with whom he once worked with on a special project based around an ancient Maya game that was used to predict possible future events, has been working on decoding a recently discovered Mayan codex that holds clues to the upcoming apocalypse, and the sacrifice game is part of the project. His ego bruised (He’s using the Sacrifice Game without the best living player on board?), Jed contacts his former mentor and inserts himself into the project. A visit to Marena Park, the woman who has her hands on the pages of the Codex that talk about the sacrifice game that predicted the 2012 doomsday, solidifies his involvement. His task is to use the sacrifice game to try and discover the nature of the person they believe is behind the upcoming disaster. The problem? The sacrifice game’s proper method of play was never written down, and they need to learn to use the same nine-stone game that originally predicted the 2012 disaster to discover who is behind it so he can be stopped. The solution: The team that has been working on the game has also been working out a way to send someone back to 664 AD to learn the game first-hand from its first player. All they need is a volunteer. Jed begs his way into the “time machine,” which will send a copy of his consciousness back to the chosen date and into the body of an ancient Mayan king, which he will take over and use to learn the game. Only, things go horribly wrong, and Jed finds himself in a struggle to survive long enough to learn the game and bury the clues so his friends back in 2011 can dig them up and use them to save the world.

*Please note that this review is one person’s personal opinion. An internet search will reveal several reviewers whose feelings about this book differ from my own. If you wish to read this book and form your own opinion, I encourage you to do so!*

–Spoilers may follow–

In the Courts of the Sun by Brian D’Amato sounds like it should be an excellent book. It should be exciting, full of interesting historical information, and downright awesome, like Michael Crichton meets Dan Brown. The prologue was exciting: A great jump-off point for what is touted as a historical science fiction thriller. I have to say, I was extremely disappointed.

Reading this book first reminded me of a genetics class I took in college. The professor was so knowledgeable about the topic that we would ask him questions and he couldn’t understand our questions because he couldn’t comprehend the fact that his students weren’t grasping the information. He’d re-explain, making things worse, them move on. Only, Jed (the main character who also narrates the novel) doesn’t do it in the kindly teaching-manner. He’s snarky as he explains the Sacrifice game, comparing it to Go and Chess, and not bothering to clarify it for people who don’t play Go or Chess. As though he thinks–knows–that he is better than anyone who doesn’t play highly mathematical or complicated games, so it isn’t worth trying to explaining it all to amateurs, anyway. He just throws out pages of mathematical equations and scientific information that I, a person with a good grasp on science, can’t comprehend, and continues on with a mightier-than-though attitude that no one wants to deal with in reality, never mind in a work of fiction they are reading for enjoyment.

Still, I read on, hoping things would get better.

Then I came across the Ashley issue. There are three characters in this book, all by the name of Ashley. Jed refers to them as A₁, Ashley2 and Ashley3 respectively. I’m not quite sure which one is which, aside from Ashley2,who seems to have a bigger role than the other two. One of the Ashleys might have been a man, but I wasn’t quite clear. I may have gotten him/her confused with Lindsay, who was definitely a man.

Still, though it annoyed me, I figured that the author was trying to add a little reality to his book. I know a few people named Ashley. Of course, I can distinguish between them, since I know what they look like, their personalities, etc, but it isn’t uncommon to run into a few people by the same name in the real world. In a book, things get difficult, and it may have been prudent to give them nicknames instead of numbers, but, in the whole scheme of things, it was a minor issue. Sort of. I kept reading: The prologue was good, and I still wasn’t to the going back in time part…

Which turned out not to be actually going back in time. Jed sat in a chair. Marena asked him some questions. He revealed a painful memory from his childhood. The scientist in the other room said: “That’s enough. The information is transmitting.” He got out of the chair, they went to find the information the copy of himself buried for them. He had no memory of what happened when “he” went back in time. He had no connection to the copy of himself. The real Jed was never in any mortal danger.

Of course, it is a little more exciting than that. Upon transmission, the reader gets to follow Jed2 back to 664 AD and watch his ordeal unfold. It’s even almost exciting. It would have been awesome, if it hadn’t been so drawn-out.

Redundancy is one of my pet peeves. That is, I hate it when a writer repeats himself. What I mean by that is, it drives me crazy when an author keeps saying the same exact think over and over using different language, as though it adds to the impact, but really, it just washes everything down and makes me, the reader, frustrated. Brian D’Amato is the master of redundancy. I’ve never come across the term: “As I think I said before” so many times in one book. In fact, I know I have never come across it before. That is, no writer I have ever read has felt the need to repeat himself over and over throughout his entire book. In other words: Generally, authors seem to assume their readers were paying attention the first time they said it and won’t re-state unless there is a real need (foreshadowing in the beginning revisited at the end, for example). Brian D’Amato, as I think I said before, seems to enjoy repeating himself unnecessarily. Throughout the entire 679 page tome. It drove me crazy…as I think I said before.

Despite all of this, there were a few redeeming qualities to the book. A few parts here and there that were genuinely exciting. None as good as the prologue, unfortunately, but the good parts came in waves. The prologue was good, things went down hill until I almost put it away, then things slowly improved to a point, then fell, and so on. At first, I kept reading because I hoped it would get better. Then I got to the point where I was reading it to see how it would end. Then I was reading it in hopes that the main character might die at the end. The ending, however, was on one of the downgrades.

Usually, when I finish a book, I feel some sort of satisfaction or excitement. Something. Even if the rest of the book was kinda blah, the ending redeems it a little. Not so here. The ending of this book dragged worse than any other before. The main character was literally detached from the action, watching it on windows-turned-TV-screens. He never confronts the bad guy. He doesn’t involve himself in the excitement. He just…watches. But the book doesn’t end when the bad guy is caught. They have to move forward a few weeks, first so the girl he likes can tell him he’s not the settling down type she needs and he can spout his own personal philosophy on the 2012 doom they have supposedly avoided. Or have they?

The end of book one? That ended in more of a let-down than a cliff hanger. I think I’ll skip book two.

I think it goes without saying that I don’t recommend this book. If you want to try it, anyway, kudos to you! But if you find yourself 1/4 of the way in and reading in hopes that it will get better, put it down and walk away. It isn’t worth it.

Visit Brian D’Amato’s website here.

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Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne — ISBN 9781435115552 — ****

Genre: Science Fiction
Time to Read: Six Days

Short Summary:

Journey to the Center of the Earth is a book about three men who attempt the impossible. It is set in 1863, Germany. One day, the eccentric professor Otto Lindenbrock discovers a note in an old journal that once belonged to the celebrated scientist Arne Saknussemm. After translating the note, he learns that Saknusseumm once found a path that lead to the center of the Earth. Thrilled with his find, and with the prospect of discovering the way and documenting it for science, Herr Lindenbrock drags his more cautious nephew (and the narrator of the story) Axel to Iceland, where the extinct volcano that is to act as the gateway waits. There, they meet Hans, the stoic Icelander, who agrees to guide them to the volcano then assist them on their journey. Together, the three men face great adventure and peril as they journey to the center of the Earth, Professor Lindenbrock taking scientific notes and readings, Hans keeping the exuberant Otto out of harm, and Axel wondering all the while if they will ever return to Germany, where his beloved fiancée Graüben awaits his return.

First off, I have to admit I was a little unsure about my decision to read Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. I always loved the old 1959 movie as a child, and was vaguely familiar with the story and excited to read it as Jules Verne had written it, but I wasn’t confident in my ability to enjoy reading a book that was published in 1864. The language in older books isn’t always something I enjoy, and the fact that to original manuscript was written in French made me even less certain. It did take me a few chapters to grow accustomed to Jules Verne’s style of writing, but I truly did end up fully enjoying the book. The chapters are extremely short (average 3 pages in my copy, which is actually a compilation that also contains Around the World in 80 Days and 20,000 Leagues under the Sea), so it’s easy to read a chapter or two, then set it down. As someone who hates putting a book down mid-chapter, I fully appreciated this. The 1st person narration was conversational and easy to follow. I could easily picture Axel telling the story to me. The description is excellent, but not over done, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the characters, especially Lindenbrock, who I came to think of as the Nutty Professor. There is a lot of old science included, which I can see as a potential turn-off to some, but it’s not so overly technical that it’s difficult to follow (though much of it has been disproved since 1864).

Over all, I enjoyed reading Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was very easy to get caught up in the story, especially since Axel is so easy to connect with as he tells his account of the events of their journey. I can understand how a person who is uninterested in geology, or who is so interested in modern science that they would be driven crazy by the defunct old science within the book, might not like it, but it is otherwise an excellent read. Maybe not as easy as some of the other books I have reviewed so far, but worth picking up.

[A warning to any students who might think they'll try watching the 1959 movie instead of reading the book for class: Don't bother trying. The differences between the movie and the book are huge. I could probably write a whole paper on them. The movie is great, if a little hokey, but it adds characters to the story and leaves out quite a bit and changes much of the rest. For example, there is no duck named Gertrude in the book. Don't let the fact that this is a classic intimidate you. Journey to the Center of the Earth really is a great read.]

Check out more Jules Verne books on his official publisher page!

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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury — ISBN 9780345410016 — ****

Genre: Science Fiction
Time to Read: One day

Short Summary:

Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic novella about a man named Guy Montag. Guy is a fireman, but not in the way we think of firemen today. In his world, homes are fireproofed and firefighters aren’t needed. Instead, his job is to burn books along with the homes of the book owners. The futuristic society in which he lives has rejected books. People hate them, they fear them, and few have ever even read them. In the beginning, Guy enjoys his job, but then he meets a teenage girl who opens his eyes and his mind to the possibility of a better, happier world. Guy’s life is quickly turned upside down, and he finds himself talking with a retired professor and wondering if, perhaps, there is something in the books he has been burning that is worth reading.

I want to start by saying that I am a huge Ray Bradbury fan, but up to this point I have somehow missed this little gem. Fahrenheit 451 isn’t a long book–my copy is 165 pages–but is is a good example of what booksellers mean when they tell teens who are in for summer reading books that the shortest isn’t necessarily the easiest. I’m not saying this book was a hard read, but it isn’t popcorn by any means. It takes a little time to acclimate (that really is what you have to do in the beginning), but once you’re familiar with the world in the book, it’s a good read that requires a good deal of thought, but demands your attention so that you have to find out how it ends.

The best word I can think to describe Fahrenheit 451 is “profound.” In this modern world–probably close to the time this book is set, if not shortly after–of eReaders and computers, video games, television, movies, 3-D entertainment and all the rest, it makes one think about the importance of literature and all that we’re losing as we let children spend more time playing Pokemon, watching whatever it is that children watch on t.v. these days, texting and “socializing” on facebook than they spend reading a book. Maybe our new eReaders will help keep the younger generation interested in books, so Bradbury’s future won’t come to pass, but with eReaders already adding web browsers and turning into handheld computers, who knows?

If you’re here looking for a summer reading recommendation, please read this book. Not only is there a ton of material in here for you to write an awesome paper for school, but it really does have an important message to share. I think this is a book that everyone should read. If you’ve already read it, read it again and think about the world today and the world between its pages. How different is our reality? Not different enough, if you ask me.

Check out Ray Bradbury’s website!

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