I'm not sure I would go as far as to say that Dan Simmons' Summer Of Night is a "must read" for all horror fiction fans. I made it forty years before I'm not sure I would go as far as to say that Dan Simmons' Summer Of Night is a "must read" for all horror fiction fans. I made it forty years before ever hearing about it. What I will say is that I find it almost criminal that this coming of age horror tale is so obscure. I am thankful for the freinds I have on Goodreads for cluing me in on Simmons.The first one of his books I read was the astonishingly complex and brilliant Carrion Comfort, which is a "must read." This one should be read by anyone who enjoyed It, Boy's Life, Something Wicked This Way Comes and their ilk. I have to say that this is a slow-paced novel, more atmospheric than action-packed, but the pacing felt perfect for me, and there is plenty of creepiness throughout. The last 100 pages were relentlessly exciting. I loved ot....more
I like long books, and Carrion Comfort is very long. Clocking in at 886 pages, it isn't the longest I have read, either. The tiny typeface may have shI like long books, and Carrion Comfort is very long. Clocking in at 886 pages, it isn't the longest I have read, either. The tiny typeface may have shortened the page count, though. I would love to find out the word count of this book. I say all this not to criticize the book (as you can see, I rated it 5 stars) but to explain why it took forever to read it. I almost dropped a star because there is some extraneous material here that could have been excised and the mind-blowing story would not have suffered, but I savored every one of the words, so I feel that would be wrong. This was my first Dan Simmons book and I had no real idea what to expect. I did know from friends warning me, to ignore the cover blurb comparing this to King's The Stand, so I was not disappointed to find the two are worlds apart, but both are epic in scope and flawlessly executed. I don't remember who first recommended this book to me, but thanks a lot whoever you are. I was lost in this story as soon as I opened it. The horror is not in your face here, but takes a backseat to more action and suspense than I expected. You get monsters, but they are not what you expect at all, at least that is how I feel. The antagonists, and there are too many to count, are some of the most sadistic, vile and racist bunch I have encountered. I can' t help but compare the True Knot from Doctor Sleep to this group, only severely watered down and nowhere near as creepy. Maybe it is due to having read King's newest while I read this one. Not sure, but there are similarities. I could go on forever but I finished this at 3 am and I have to stop. I don't want to spoil anything but I will say that Saul was my favorite character. He was so well written, I never doubted his authenticity one bit. Rob Gentry and Natalie Preston were equally good. As I mentioned, the bad guys are EVIL, and we even get a first person account from one of them, while the rest is told in third. That was interesting, and Melanie's scenes damn near steal the book. This one gets a big well deseved 5 from me. I will be reading more Simmons for sure....more
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