DNF
This is my second DNF in a matter of weeks, which has never happened in the two decades since I've been reviewing novels on the Hotlist. I was really intrigued by the Faustian premise of Joe Hill's King Sorrow, so this is a major disppointment.
The execution leaves a lot to be desired. The book is bloated in Sandersonesque fashion. Indeed, the plot is filled with superfluous scenes that bring little or nothing to the story. Unlike his father who has a knack for writing genuine kids/teenagers/young adults, Hill's cast never quite feel real and their banter sounds off and forced. I simply couldn't root for any of the characters. There are also a few anachronisms that just added to my annoyance.
I slogged through for 250 pages and elected to quit. There was no way I was going to persevere through 800 pages of this. I kind of want to discover how they'll ultimately outwit the dragon, but there's no way I could endure such a grind any longer. I had no choice but to put the book down.
Here's the blurb:
Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful buildings. But his idyll—and burgeoning romance with Gwen Underfoot—is shattered when a local drug dealer and her partner corner him into one of the worst crimes he can imagine: stealing rare books from the college library.
Trapped and desperate, Arthur turns to his closest friends for comfort and help. Together they dream up a wild, fantastical scheme to free Arthur from the cruel trap in which he finds himself. Wealthy, irrepressible Colin Wren suggests using the unnerving Crane journal (bound in the skin of its author) to summon a dragon to do their bidding. The others—brave, beautiful Alison Shiner; the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride; and brainy, bold Gwen—don’t hesitate to join Colin in an effort to smash reality and bring a creature of the impossible into our world.
But there’s nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and their pact to save Arthur becomes a terrifying bargain in which the six must choose a new sacrifice for King Sorrow every year—or become his next meal.
For more info about this title, follow this Amazon Associate link.
I agree with your reasons for not finishing King Sorrow, checking all the same boxes. This is my first Joe Hill book, so I’m not familiar with his writing style but aware of his ‘lineage’ which may have weight on my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThe anachronisms were annoying, seemingly placed so the reader knowing what happens further in history is forced to think of some future event and feel some sort of emotion.
Once the deal is done and the exchange occurs, the rest of the story becomes episodes featuring a selection of characters, their experience with King Sorrow and where they end up after. It’s as if the novel was intended on going straight to miniseries, packaged and produced in nice little bits to make it easy.
I also found many parallels to his father's work, including a couple direct grabs straight from his books. The opening of The Gunslinger was an early nod that took me out of the story and had me wondering if Hill's world took place in the All-World and King Sorrow would end up being the same type of entity as IT. Mama Nighswander became a shameless doppelganger/combination of Trashcan Man and Henry Bowers. There are others as well but it was jarring and made it difficult to stay focused.
Well that's discouraging. I'm still going to try it out at some point because I've enjoyed several of his other books, but in a bigger-picture sense, I've noticed in recent years that I've shelved some books unfinished instead of seeing them through 'til the end. Not sure when it began, but maybe it's a result of getting into my late-40's and having less leisure time where I feel like it's too valuable to spend not enjoying something, and that growing list includes some books by some of my favorite authors.
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