Author Extraordinaire Dan Simmons
Book Reviews for Summer of Night and Carrion Comfort
I uesed to read a lot of novels back in the day. There are so many books out there i dont read anything unless its highly recommended by someone or a site. My favorite novels overall are the horror genre. Most everyone thinks of Stephen King or Dean Koontz when you say horror but there are a lot more and better authors then those two. Dan Simmons is one of them. The dudes writing just flies off the page into your imagination. His writing is so entertaining but never gets to the point where its unnecessary detailing or trying to be too smart for its own good. The dialogue he's written seems so realistic and fun its hard to believe he doesnt also write movie screenplays. He mainly writes science fiction and fantasy novels but these are the only ones ive read so far.
Summer of Night is about a bunch of kids one summer in 1960 in a town in Illinois that get together and have to battle this evil presence thats taken over the town. Theres an evil bell, the Egyptian death god Osiris and the apocalypse they have to deal with. Somewhat similar in style to "It" but i like this better. The kids dialogue with each other is totally believable and classic. Not completely original but told in a refreshing way that just captivates you till the very end.
Carrion Comfort is right up there with my favorite one or two novels ive ever read. Its epic. Over 1000 pages and could only be filmed into a mini series. All the characters are fully realized once again without ever been boring. Locations covered are Nazi Germany, Hollywood, Philadelphia, South America and finally to a hidden island.
Its about these "mind" vampires who cantrol complety someones actions till they make them perform sick acts of violence. 3 of these vampires get toghether every year to compare notable kills and gain points for their demented game. There is also a literal game of chess with human pawns thats played with innocent victims of their will. Needless to say something goes wrong and finally the world is at stake. Real events such as Reagans assination attempt and John Lennon's death are interwoven into the story perfectly.
The book is an engaging read over all 1000 pages and if you are a chess fan there is an awesome in depth sequeence at the end of the book regarding that live human chess match. Its up there with my favorite horror novels ever along with the "B" level trash horror novel Toy Cemetary by William W. Johnstone.