Horns by Joe Hill | Book Review

This review is spoiler-free.

Horns was the second novel that Joe "the son of Stephen King" Hill wrote, and is the first of his books to get a big-screen adaptation. After a long wait since its festival premiere last Summer, Horns will finally be getting a cinema release in October. The film interested me with the casting of Daniel Radcliffe - an actor who has been picking his roles carefully since the end of his Harry Potter franchise - and so I picked up the book to get a glimpse of what was heading towards our screens. What I read surprised me. Horns is not a book for the faint hearted, with sexual content throughout, a few murders sprinkled in, and even some satanic preaching to an audience of snakes. Luckily, I have an open mind to weird stories such as this one and so I actually really enjoyed this journey.

Following Ig - the less successful younger brother to late-night TV star Terry Perrish - in the wake of his girlfriend Merrin's brutal murder, Horns is a dark journey into the mind of someone suffering with not just grief, but feelings of loneliness and injustice. Indeed to add more salt in the wound it is Ig who was accused of Merrin's murder, and even a year after he was found not guilty he is shunned in the small town he's lived in all his life. This is where the book begins, with the opening pages seeing Ig waking up to horns growing out of his head - horns that provoke people into telling their deepest, darkest secrets and desires.

The book sees Ig struggling to cope with this latest unfortunate development, as he pieces together last night's events and finds out at last who Merrin's true killer was. However while this is the main storyline of the book, Hill also spends time fleshing out events of years before. This involves flashing back to the first time Ig met Merrin, as well as other supporting characters Lee Tourneau, and Glenna Nicholson. At first this seems like an odd decision when the events of the main story are so thrilling - however, the further into the book you get, the more you discover how crucial these flashbacks are. Some make character motivations clearer, others clarify why some characters are the way they are, inducing a "so THAT'S why that happened" effect.
Another great technique Hill uses is repeating scenes more than once, but from the perspective of other characters. This is an inventive way of revealing some of the book's secrets and mysteries, which proves far more effective than if all the answers were laid out in just one version of a scene.

In Horns, Hill demonstrates that he is a master at developing characters, a skill that's carried through to his latest novel NOS4R2 and his comic book series Locke and Key. Hill really makes you feel for the characters in this story, sympathising for most, and loathing the rest. It's because of this great character development that it's somewhat disappointing the book ends a little ambiguously. This is a spoiler-free review so I won't go into any further details, but the ending did leave some questions unanswered. That's not to say it was an awful ending however, just flawed, and it shouldn't put you off giving this book a read.

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Metro 2033 Book Review

Metro 2033 is a very difficult book for me to review, and this is because while it had several features that I loved, it also had several that I disliked. What this does is put me in a very difficult position of trying to weigh up whether the good things can outweigh the bad or vice versa, and that has been a very difficult decison. Either way, I would still say Metro 2033 is worth reading, but be warned it is not an easy read.

Metro 2033 follows the last surviving Russian people who have exiled into the underground train system - the Metro - after a nuclear catastrophe has ravaged and poisoned the land above them. In the metro they have to deal with not just the occasional mutant, but also extremist groups of humans, keeping themselves fed, and keeping out of trouble.
The biggest thing that this book has going for it is how interesting the world is. I found it very interesting how some of the most dangerous things that lead character Artyom encounters are not the mutants, but his fellow humans. It provokes some powerful thoughts on what we become in extreme situations. When the game of survival gets serious, there's no limit to the atrocities a person will commit to stay alive. Additionally, author Dmitry Glukhovsky has clearly put a huge amount of thought into what his future looks like. There is so much history, and so many cultures living in the tunnels - each one is thought out to the last detail, despite the fact that few are significantly spotlighted. This is a testament to how dedicated Glukhovsky is to this book and it's wonderful to see.

Additionally, Glukhovsky has also put a lot of thought into his characters. Despite the fact that Artyom is the only character that stays in the book from start to finish, he may well be one of the least interesting. This is due to Glukhovsky bringing in a new character almost every chapter, developing them and then abandoning them for a new one and so on. However because we only get a small amount of time with each character introduced, it makes them far more interesting leaving some unanswered questions and a desire for more. The stand-out character of the whole book for me was Khan, a man who believes he is the reincarnation of Genghis Khan and has some very intriguing dialogue throughout the book.

While Glukhovsky's world-building and character work is absolutely outstanding, as I said in the first paragraph I did have a few problems with the book as well, and these problems actually made the book quite hard for me to finish. First, while Glukhovsky's future was beautifully thought out, it was also a very sad and depressing future that by the end of the book was genuinely getting me down a little. This I have no doubt was intended as the book has very strong anti-nuclear, pro-environment messages throughout. The whole thing reads as a severe warning that if we send our nuclear warheads to action the outcome could be more disastrous than any previous war. While this is a message that I strongly agree with, and I love the fact that the book has a message and isn't meaningless, by the end of the book I couldn't help but feel a sense of hopelessness of our impending doom.

Also, the book did seem to drag on a little by the end. While it was interesting to see the cultures of Glukhovsky's creation, by the time I was around 3/4 of the way through the book, I really just wanted it to end. This may be due to the aforementioned depressing feeling that accompanies Glukhovsky's future, but it wasn't helped by the huge word count of the book. Metro 2033 is deceivingly long. While at first glance the book appears a fairly average length, when you open the book and see the size of the text and the very filled pages you will be able to understand that the book is not going to be a quick, nor an easy read.

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Necronomicon: Review in Progress

HP Lovecraft has long been regarded as a master of literary horror, with his many notable works which include the Call of Cthulu and At The Mountains of Madness, still very relevant and influential to modern horror stories. The man inspired the likes of Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman and recently I picked up his 1,000 page bibliography of short stories: The Necronomicon.

Initially I was going to wait until I had read the entire book and then review the whole thing, however with so many pages and stories I knew I would forget some of the key points by the time I had gotten round to finishing the book. And so instead you have this, a review in progress. I will update this post after I read each short story, and will give each story a score out of ten. This will culminate in a few months time in an overall score for the book, once I have read all the stories.

Now, without further ado let's start talking about the stories.

Story No. 1: Dagon

The first story in this anthology is titled "Dagon" and is the last accounts of a man driven mad by his encounters in the middle of a hellish, dried-up ocean. Ship-wrecked and on his own, he saw a creature that he insists was horrific beyond imagination, however I have to say this story doesn't quite have a grasp on the horror its main character was subjected to. While the story is entertaining and an interesting insight into how a man can be driven mad by unexplainable phenomena, it was not what I would call scary and this caused some of the descriptions to seem more tedious than terrifying.

Story No. 2: The Statement of Randolph Carter

The Statement of Randolph Carter was a much stronger story than the first in the book. It is in this story that a traumatised Randolph Carter gives us his account of the events that occured between him and Harley Warren at the ominously described Big Cypress Swamp. Lovecraft's story-telling skills are put to much better use here, as he describes through Carter the feeling of fear and isolation felt as Warren met his fate that night. This story has no description of any hellish creatures, but this works in the story's favour as rather than long-winded and slightly ineffective descriptions as seen in "Dagon," the description of the beings found in the hole of the pair's creation is left only to the vague and terrified cries of Warren himself.

As a story-telling device this works much better than a standard description, as Lovecraft instead leaves the reader's mind to wonder what horrors could be causing this terrified reaction. Add a chilling ending and you have a story that is the strongest Lovecraftian tale yet and, despite being only four pages long, leaves a lasting impact on the reader for nights to come.

Story No. 3: The Doom That Came to Sarnath

The third story in the Necronomicon, The Doom That Came to Sarnath was a little disappointing, and quite frankly bizarre. Lovecraft spends a long time describing Sarnath - the once magnificent city that was completely destroyed years after the men of the city slaughtered the strange beings of Ib - but never really builds any sense of tension. The beings are slaughtered, the town is described, the town is destroyed. There are some moments of creepy imagery thrown in, but these moments are rare. Overall, this story does not seem representative of Lovecraft's best work, and appears to be a simple morality tale of "What goes around, comes around."

Story No. 4: The Cats of Ulthar

 

The Cats of Ulthar is another morality tale, this time explaining why it's against the law to kill a cat in the land of Ulthar. This story, while still not one of Lovecraft's best, is more entertaining than The Doom That Came to Sarnath for many reasons. First, Lovecraft has omitted the unnecessarily detailed descriptions that bogged down the Sarnath story, and as a result the entire tale is shorter but still manages to leave more of an impact than the previous story. Lovecraft explores human evils in this story, while keeping in touch with his mysterious side particularly at the end. While this story isn't outstanding, it was certainly more entertaining than the previous story in the book and overall an interesting read.

Story No. 5: The Nameless City

The fifth story in the Necronomicon is another leap in quality, even if we're yet to reach the very impressive, "Statement of Randolph Carter" standard. The Nameless City sees a lone explorer wandering through the remains of a long abandoned city of mysterious origin. Who - or what - once lived here? What is it that they did? Why did they leave? These questions are answered to varying extents within the story, however the lack of answers is made up for in the nice build-up of tension and eerie descriptions throughout. This is the first story since "Randolph Carter" that I found genuinely creepy, which was great to see.

Unfortunately, the story does have a slightly anti-climatic ending which tainted the tale just slightly for me. Additionally, the ending wasn't even particularly well explained so I left the story more puzzled than frightened. However, overall this was an enjoyable read and a promising sign that things are looking up for this so far disappointing compilation.

Story No. 6: Herbert West - Reanimator

 

By far the longest story in this compilation so far, Herbert West - Reanimator is also by far the strongest. Lovecraft tells the chilling tale of Herbert West from the perspective of his research partner. West is a man whose research involves bringing people back from the dead through the use of a medical serum, but soon this research becomes a grotesque obsession and West slowly descends into madness.

My previous experiences with longer Lovecraft tales has been very negative, and so honestly I was dreading having to read through his longer stories. However, Herbert West has squashed that dread and replaced it with optimism as Herbert West was actually very easy to read - a trait I wouldn't give to many of Lovecraft's other stories. Not only was it easy to read but it was also quite unsettling, with many creepy and tense moments.

While I did feel it started to lag slightly towards the end, for the most part Herbert West - Reanimator is a beautifully written, well-paced and scary ride through a world of weird science and the dangers of playing God.

Story No. 7: The Music of Erich Zann

 

Story number seven in Lovecraft's anthology I am delighted to say is another hit! The Music of Erich Zann is a story from the perspective of a man disturbed by the sound of Erich Zann's peculiar music, and the experiences that have accompanied it. In this story Lovecraft creates a very eerie tone which escalates into a truly chaotic and heart-stopping climax. Additionally, Lovecraft describes the abnormal street of Rue d'Auseil expertly, and in a way that is very easy for the reader to understand even 100 years after it was written.

The Music of Erich Zann is one of my favourite Lovecraft tales yet for how tense and enthralled it made me feel. I just hope that the impact of these shorter stories are not lost as Lovecraft makes the transition to far longer stories later in the anthology.

Story No. 8: The Lurking Fear

After taking a break from Lovecraft's stories these past couple of months, I wasn't sure what to expect as jumped back in to the Necronomicon with story number eight, The Lurking Fear. Surprisingly though, I found my transition from modern books back into Lovecraft's stories very easy, thanks to The Lurking Fear being one of the most compelling stories yet in this compilation.

The Lurking Fear follows the story of a man attempting to uncover the mystery behind the being that has been terrorising villages surrounding Tempest Mountain, leaving gruesome murders in its wake. He also aims to find the link the being has to the ill-fated Martense family that once lived in a mansion house atop the mountain. The story was gripping, once I had begun I struggled to put the book down as each chapter in the tale ended on a more haunting note than the previous one. While Lovecraft's descriptions of the geographical aspects of the Mountain and its proximity with local villages was at times confusing, his firm grasp on his main character and the ominous descriptions of the body's left by the Lurking Fear more than made up for this.

Ultimately where The Lurking Fear falters is the ending. This is something I have noticed with a few of Lovecraft's tales now, that often the endings leave me feeling unsatisfied. Here it was again a case of some confusing descriptions, and a feeling that nothing was explained to the extent that I would have liked. However, perhaps I am missing the point of Lovecraft's stories as he aims to bring to life horrors that simply cannot be explained. Even with the disappointing conclusion and some confusing descriptions this was still a very entertaining read and another great story in this anthology.

 

Story No. 9: The Hound

 

I'm unsure of exactly how long it has been since my last venture into Lovecraftian territory, but I would hazard a guess of around a year and a half. Maybe longer. Either way my extended break from this iconic writer had made me forget just how intense a good Lovecraft story can be. The Hound ranks as one of my favourite entries in the Necronomicon to date. Telling the story of two men who, dissatisfied by what life had offered them, were driven to the unspeakable act of grave-robbing this is a brief story which packs a real punch.

 

The brevity of the tale allows Lovecraft to adopt a fast pace, as the unnamed narrator reveals just why he is mere moments away from killing himself. The reveal of what exactly he and his companion (known only as St John) uncovered in that fateful grave in Holland, is as thrilling as it is terrifying with Lovecraft's vivid descriptions painting the most horrid of pictures in the reader's brain.

 

So far, it has been the Necronomicon's shorter offerings that have truly left a mark on my mind, and so I'm intrigued to reach the longer tales of terror that await me and see if they affect me in the way they have so many readers before me. It's been a long time Mr. Lovecraft, but if the quality stays this high then I'm glad to be back.

 

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The Power of Five: Evil Star Review

Anthony Horowitz became my favourite author a few years ago due to his incredible Alex Rider series. A little while ago I picked up Ravens Gate, the first book in another series of his called, The Power of Five. I was pleasantly surprised I must say, and it didn't take me long to find book two, Evil Star. But, can it live up to the previous book's greatness? Not really, but it's still an entertaining read.

For those of you who don't know, this series centres around Matt, a teenage boy who seems to have some form of supernatural power. It is written in prophecies that an evil, ancient race known as the Old Ones will emerge from so-called "gates" and will bring about the end of the world. Matt is what's known as a "gatekeeper" and he is one of "the five."
If you haven't heard of this series before, you really need to read the first book - the aforementioned Ravens Gate - before this one.

Evil Star picks up a short while after the events of Ravens Gate, and opens fantastically with a disturbing, yet exciting few chapters centering around Gwenda Davis, Matt's Aunt, no spoilers but it leads to some awesome events that hooks you in to the story nicely.

The story itself is good, although not quite as strong as Ravens Gate. It still has the imaginative, three-dimensional characters that are expected from one of Horowitz' books, but it suffers from some pacing problems mid-way which is a real shame, and I recommend readers who share my opinion to stick with it as things do pick up again.

However, I have to say the ending to this book isn't quite as good as previous Horowitz work either. But, I believe this to be because this book seems to be laying down groundwork for a bigger story, and any loose ends I'm sure will be tied up in the third entry in this series. However, if your not interested in a third book and just want a stand-alone read, then this book probably isn't for you.

I'm sure those people are the minority though, and if you're looking to keep with this series to its climax, then you'll like this book, and I recommend it. Overall, Evil Star is a flawed, but exciting read.

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Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising Review

I'm a real Alex Rider fan - always have been. I've read all of the previous books (which I think is fairly important if your reading this one) and now here we are at the final mission. Was it a worthy end to the series? A resounding yes.

Anthony Horowitz continues his fantastic descriptive, yet action packed writing in Scorpia Rising. We open with Scorpia being hired by a rich old Greek man who wants the Elgin Marbles, (which have been homed at the British Museum for years), returned to Greece. And so Scorpia builds a genius plan circulating around Alex Rider and a twin of his who last made an appearance in Point Blanc (Book two of the Alex Rider series).


It's hard to say any more without spoiling things, but what I can say is that the writing is gripping - not once did I get bored of Horowitz' tremendous techniques! The book is also fast-paced which makes everything feel so relentless on the hero that it becomes hard to put down.

Everything about this last Alex Rider book is well done - the writing is great and so is the story. We see new sides to long-term characters like Jack Starbright, Smithers, Mrs. Jones and Alex himself! And the final few chapters are just as dramatic as you'd expect from one of Horowitz' books.

Scorpia Rising is definitely a fantastic end to a series that has always been entertaining, and one that I will miss. If you're really aching for some more Alex Rider after this, then I've heard that Horowitz is working on a new series based on the adventures of Yassen Gregorovich (Long-term readers will know who that is). If you've read the past Alex Rider books you have to get this one, if not then you should definitely read the previous one's first - but either way, make sure you don't miss this book.

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