Metal Reviews

i tried and tried to get into Ernest Hemingway, but i just can't. the stories all probably have a hidden meaning behind them, but that's not what i look for in a book.

Squee! by Jhonen Vasquez

The Scourge of God by William Dietrich

just finished Magician by Raymond E. Feist. this is the sort of stuff I shouldn't like but do anyway..

The Gunslinger (Dark Tower series)

So far, so surreal. I'm enjoying it. I know the series is supposed to turn to shit as it goes on, but I couldn't help myself.

I loved that series. I'd place it number one, even above Miller's Dark Knight.

Not at all, Book 1 is just a wierd western, as you know. Book 2 is a time-travelling type fantasy and is very good. Book 3 is science fiction and it's awesome. Book 4 is a romance and....I hate it. Books 5, 6 and 7 are all fantasy stylee and are all good, save for the ending of the series, which happens to be the penultimate anti-climax in the history of the world.

The problem I've heard is that they essentially turn into adverts for King's other books, and that you need to have read books unconnected to the series to get the full gist of what's going on. That plus the fact that there's a 'directors cut' of the book I'm currently reading pisses me off somewhat.

And, unfortunately, I already know at least part of what the great let-down is.

Well, they are easily understanmdable without the other books, you just won't have as great a back-drop to characters introduced later on. For me, the only TRUE downfall of the series is book 4, which the critics loved, and I hated.

Yes, its been extremely awesome so far (about halfway through). Very reminiscent of Miller's Dark Knight, but thus far, as you said, even better.



Nah, you don't need to read the other books to understand the series in itself; mainly just some background information, involving characters you'll never meet in the main series (with three exceptions, but you don't need to read the other books). I also find the claims that the later books suck questionable; although I'd say the best book is Book 3, I enjoyed them all quite a lot and found the last one to probably be my second favourite. I also completely loved the ending; but to each his own, I guess. And yes, the director's cut thing is bullshit, as some stuff in the later books makes no sense if you have not read it, and that definitely detracted from my enjoyment, considering I had read the original version of the Gunslinger.

:x That's so gay.

Actually now I think of it I'm not sure if I'm reading the original or the expanded one, but since its only 200some pages i assume its an old verion.

Both of them are around the same size- its not a question of him adding stuff to what was already there, its more him changing things he didn't like 20 years later, which is even worse. If you recently bought it, though, chances are that its the revised version.

1997 edition.

Ahh, probably not then. In any case, enjoy the story and know that a few things will make absoloutely no sense around Book 6 and 7.

Damn you Stephen King. Damn you with your dreamlike, stilted prose.

Catch-22. Holy M*A*S*H version 0.999!

Damn you read a lot dude.