Saga continues to impress and shock. This series is definitely not for everyone and I feel like this issue went farther when it comes to controversialSaga continues to impress and shock. This series is definitely not for everyone and I feel like this issue went farther when it comes to controversial issues and content than any previous issue. It makes it one heck of a ride, but proceed with caution if you offend easily!
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For me, the controversial content (which I cannot specify without spoilers) is presented in a fascinating and moving way. It is not always easy to weave sensitive content into a story, but this volume handles two or three hot button topics pretty perfectly.
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The art continues to be fantastic: detailed, beautiful, at times grotesque, always wonderful to look at. I am so glad that this series has kept up a high standard of illustration through eight volumes.
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Graphic novel fans, sci-fi fans, fans of stories that do not hesitate to shock in order to make a statement - you must all read this series!
Merged review:
Saga continues to impress and shock. This series is definitely not for everyone and I feel like this issue went farther when it comes to controversial issues and content than any previous issue. It makes it one heck of a ride, but proceed with caution if you offend easily!
[image]
For me, the controversial content (which I cannot specify without spoilers) is presented in a fascinating and moving way. It is not always easy to weave sensitive content into a story, but this volume handles two or three hot button topics pretty perfectly.
[image]
The art continues to be fantastic: detailed, beautiful, at times grotesque, always wonderful to look at. I am so glad that this series has kept up a high standard of illustration through eight volumes.
[image]
Graphic novel fans, sci-fi fans, fans of stories that do not hesitate to shock in order to make a statement - you must all read this series!...more
3.9 Stars (Average of the star ratings I gave each story)
I am actually a little surprised that this came in at 3.9 stars as it felt a bit lukewarm ove3.9 Stars (Average of the star ratings I gave each story)
I am actually a little surprised that this came in at 3.9 stars as it felt a bit lukewarm overall as a collection to me. Not a bad collection but seemed like more “just okay” stories than “mind blowing” ones. I am glad to see that it came in higher than I expected but go in knowing that it felt like the gems were few and far between for me.
Below is my play by play for each story – it might look familiar if you were following my status updates while I was reading. While it was marketed (or at least felt like it was marketed) as plane-based horror stories, I felt like overall it was more about the potential peril, mystery, and claustrophobia you may encounter when setting a story in a metal tube shooting through the air at hundreds of miles per hour several miles off the ground (not just horror). Just think – its not like a car where you can pull over for a break or a building in a city where you can call in reinforcements.
Cargo - 4 Stars
A chilling flight based on real events. Makes you think about who deals with the aftermath of disaster.
The Horror of the Heights - 4.5 Stars
What is the most amazing thing about this story is that it was written shortly after flight first became a thing and people and only barely begun to grasp what might be in the air above us. Doyle - who normally regales us with adventures of Sherlock Holmes - probably did a pretty good job of scaring the bajesus out of people who were still not so sure about this new travel.
Nightmare at 20,000 Feet - 5 Stars
Probably the best-known flight-based horror story of all time. A little bit dated due to the changes in flight security since it was written, but still a very good, spooky tale of the anxieties of flying.
The Flying Machine - 3 Stars
Kind of hard to rate as it is only three paragraphs and half a page long. But, an amusingly cynical take on humanity's desire for flight that leads to throwing caution - in the face of obvious dangers - to the wind.
Lucifer! - 4.5 Stars
A very good "what if?" story. And it shows that maybe it is best not to mess with what you don't understand - especially if you have a dark side. Karma will get you in the end!
The Fifth Category - 3 Stars
I felt like this was a whole lot of complex build up for nothing. A sort of interesting premise, but not many answers to the question "why?" - at least, not enough to make me care all that much.
Two Minutes Forty-Five Seconds - 2 Stars
Seems kind of pointless and not all that interesting. Doesn't really succeed in telling a whole story in just a few pages. I am left with more questions than answers.
Diablitos - 4 Stars
Creepy artifacts are always good for a scary story. Smuggle them into your carry on, and you are asking for big trouble!
Air Raid - 4.5 Stars
A unique take on post-apocalyptic speculative Sci-fi. A bit confusing at first but will keep you on the edge of your seat as the plot becomes clear.
You Are Released - 5 Stars The best story in the collection so far. Very raw and real. Great characters and character development for a short story. I felt the suspense in my soul while reading.
Warbirds - 3 Stars
If you like WWII stories and/or have an interest in stories where the detailed and technical parts of combat are a main focus, this is the story for you. For me, there was a whole lot of cluttered build up for a sudden and somewhat odd payoff. Not bad, but not the best story from this book.
The Flying Machine - 5 Stars
Bradbury never needs many pages or many words to tell a great and impactful short story. He is a short story master! This is a tale of "Looks like we can, but should we?"
Zombies on a Plane - 3.5 Stars
Not a bad little story, but kind of a misleading title. If you are looking for a showdown between zombies and people on an aircraft, you will not find it here . . . maybe if there was a sequel, but not in this one.
They Shall Not Grow Old - 3.5 Stars
Decent story from Roald Dahl. I thought it was building to something bigger but didn't quite make it there. Very interesting story, though. One to make you think.
Murder in the Air - 4 Stars
Whodunnit in the air. Poirot fans will be pleased.
The Turbulence Expert - 4.5 Stars
A very good story from the King. Fascinating "What If" scenario - not scary but thought provoking.
Falling - 3.5 Stars
A poem based on a real-life situation where a flight attendant was sucked out of a plane. Interesting, but kind of an odd poetic structure. Still pretty good! ...more
The tales in here are true. The stories are mind-blowing. The events are not from a time Every second of this book is enthralling!
EVERY.
SINGLE.
SECOND.
The tales in here are true. The stories are mind-blowing. The events are not from a time long ago - they happened in the past 20 years! You will have to keep reminding yourself of that because the mindset and ideas discussed sound antiquated, but they are alive and kicking . . . and that is just crazy!
One thing that brought this story close to home is that at the time a lot of the events in this book we're taking place, I was living in Yellowstone National Park and frequently travelled to or through Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Salt Lake City and all points in between. This means I could have been mere miles away from the events in this book while they were taking place! Again, this seems impossible to me and I had to keep reminding myself that this was happening in my neck of the woods! And, because of this, my mind was repeatedly blown.
I suppose I should mention what might be a trigger warning for some. Most of the men and some of the women in this book are described doing crazy and abusive things. I swear that every few minutes I had to stop, collect my thoughts, and say, "Wow!" While none of us were there to witness this and the author even says there are many who will deny the events and say that her version of the events are driven by the devil himself, they are shocking and will get your mind churning! I feel her frustration and so many times I wanted to reach into the pages and tell her, "It doesn't have to be like this!"
Also, another trigger warning, if you work for OSHA or help maintain OSHA workplace safety standards, you are going to probably throw this book across the room or at least slam it in disgust a few times.
This book is amazing and I highly recommend it - I am driven to follow this up by hunting down interviews with the author....more
Started at 5 stars . . . held there for quite a while!
About a third of the way in, it started to drop.
It became repetitive, drawn out, confusing, and Started at 5 stars . . . held there for quite a while!
About a third of the way in, it started to drop.
It became repetitive, drawn out, confusing, and kind of boring. So much happened in the first third that was really cool and creative. The world building was interesting and all the characters were fascinating.
Then, it became a different book . . .
Falling stars . . . 5 to 4.5 to 4
Lots of long scenes with long discussions and not much progress.
Suddenly there were scenes where it felt like the author was just thinking “Let’s see if I can shock the eyeballs out of their heads with disturbing gruesomeness” (view spoiler)[There is a description of some enemy soldiers basically practicing baseball. But instead of a bat, they have a sword, and instead of a ball, they use babies (hide spoiler)]. I have had discussions on other books about shock value and received a variety of responses about how people feel about it. I mainly include these types of disclaimers so people know what they are getting into – you can choose if it bothers you or not. It doesn’t bother me, per se, but stands out as gratuitous when I cannot find a whole lot of purpose for it other than to shock. At least it does serve to make you really hate the people who do it!
4 to 3.5 to 3
Also, the main character was very frustrating to me. It felt like she was just whining and complaining all the time while repeatedly ignoring advice and making bad decisions. I am not sure she had a single discussion where she was not arguing or being disrespectful. Maybe that is going to be her character all the way through the series or there might be some character development away from this in the next book. But, every time she started talking I thought “Here we go again” and it got very old very fast. Some may not be bothered by this when they read this book, but I found it to be annoying and distracting.
I was excited to read this book as it had quite a bit of hype. Lots of my Goodreads buddies gave it 5 stars. But, alas, I have jumped off the hype train and landed on 2.3 to 3 stars. I am still on the fence as to whether I will continue with book two and give it more of a chance.
Maybe if I had participated in the drug consumption that was a frequent pastime of the main characters I would have enjoyed this more! ...more
After a couple of recent monsters (both size of book and characters within), King gives us a novella that reads quickly and could easily been a part oAfter a couple of recent monsters (both size of book and characters within), King gives us a novella that reads quickly and could easily been a part of a short story collection. In fact, I think it is considerably shorter than several of the novellas in his collections like Four Past Midnight and Different Seasons. But, it is a decent little mysterious story if you need a King fix.
Let’s set the record straight on something right up front – this is very far from being a horror story. I have seen it designated as horror and nominated as horror in the Goodreads Choice Awards (where I have now voted for it, even though it is not really horror, because I have not read any of the other selections). It is a good little story, but you really cannot automatically send King to the Horror category anymore! In fact, I see that The Outsider was nominated in the Mystery and Thriller category. Elevation is much more of a Mystery/Thriller while The Outsider is definitely horror. Oh well!
Now that that is out of the way, thoughts on the book itself! It is very well written and a very quick read. If you are on hold at the library for this you shouldn’t have to wait long as I think many people will be able to finish it in one sitting. It reminds me a bit of some early King stories (Thinner comes to mind, and you will see why when you read it!). Also, I think this is his first official Castle Rock story in a long time. At one point he was talking about retiring Castle Rock as a location (with Needful Things, I think), but this book is 100% Castle Rock!
I will say, without opinion or agenda, just laying it out there, that this book definitely has a lot of undertones related to the current climate in America. This is not surprising as King is very vocal on Twitter about how he feels about things, so it seems pretty obvious that it is likely to seep into his writing. If you are someone who likes to keep politics out of your reading, this may be distracting for you. But, I think it also may be unnoticeable by some – it just depends on the personality of the reader. For me, it was fine.
I didn’t go in looking for King’s best as it is a shorter book and it didn’t really have a lot of fanfare that I saw prior to its release (the library didn’t even realize it was coming out until I went to ask if I could put it on hold!), so I just went for it like I do with all Stephen King. What I found was an entertaining, almost cute, story that has a little inspiration, some heart string pulling, lots of mystery, might get a few synapses firing in your brain, and will definitely leave you wondering . . . ...more
If I were to give this book a one word review, it would be:
Overwritten
This book, in my opinion tries WAY too hard. What it tries way too hard to do, IIf I were to give this book a one word review, it would be:
Overwritten
This book, in my opinion tries WAY too hard. What it tries way too hard to do, I am not quite sure, but I was starting to get a headache trying to keep up with all the stuff it was throwing my way. It seemed like every sentence had to have a punchline. Every description came with a built in footnote story. It was delivered under what seemed like the influence of 1000 energy drinks. The fact that the content was so out there and bizarre did not help.
In reading some other reviews, I see several mentions of this book trying to be like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – and that is exactly right. But, it takes the spirit and delivery of that book and raises it to the millionth degree. All I felt with every sentence was the author winking at me and saying “Goodness me, aren’t I creative and witty!?”
I do give it some props for creativity. It is a very unique and original concept and the author spent a lot of time fleshing out the details. While this came out as stream of consciousness drivel, it still had some pretty interesting ideas.
I am not quite sure who I recommend it to. If you like the works of Douglas Adams, you may like this or be appalled at the attempt to be like Adams. If you like your sci-fi straight forward, this is not for you. If you like your comedy extremely outlandish and have the patience to deal with hundreds of pages of non-sensical dialogue, this might just be the book for you! ...more
While I was in the middle of reading The Last Time I Lied, I got into a discussion on my friend Dita's review of The Wife Between Us. She was not veryWhile I was in the middle of reading The Last Time I Lied, I got into a discussion on my friend Dita's review of The Wife Between Us. She was not very happy with it, so I mentioned the fact that it seems like books with "Girl", "Woman", or "Wife" in the title have been abundant lately and, more often than not, are mediocre. Someone else responded that "Lie" should be included in that list. Here I am reading a book with "Lied" in the title that is a follow up to a book with "Girls" in the title! You would think that this book would be doomed to be mediocre.
However, I actually liked it quite a bit. Sure, I have become convinced that authors have found a word processing program that takes what they write and puts it into a format that fits the mold of this genre. But, every so often there is a diamond in the rough. In the case of The Last Time I Lied, the creativity of the storyline overrode any cheesy, clichéd tropes. I think my biggest complaint is that were a few parts of the plot that seemed so convenient and unlikely that I did a bit of eye rolling. (view spoiler)[I really have no idea why they invited the main character back to the camp. (hide spoiler)]. Another issue I had was with the time jumping. Sometimes it was clear, other times I suddenly realized I had been 15 years in the past for a few pages.
I described this book to people while I was reading it as Mean Girls go to summer camp. It has just about as many skeletons in the closet as the movie had . . . but this time it is actual skeletons!😉 If you like a bit of teen drama combined with creepy woods and shady characters, this is the book for you. It may not become your favorite book ever, but it is good for a few hours of entertainment....more
I think this is Sedaris’s finest work to date. While sticking with his usual humor and cynical delivery, he gets raw talking about topics like suicideI think this is Sedaris’s finest work to date. While sticking with his usual humor and cynical delivery, he gets raw talking about topics like suicide, alcoholism, the afterlife, aging, etc. I found myself very emotionally engaged throughout the book and wanted to reach into it and give him a hug from time to time (which, no doubt, he would find disturbing and certainly have something to say about!)
If you have not read Sedaris before, I think he is one of the best memoir-ists of our time. While his stories are almost always his viewpoint on events that happened to him, it is very easy for the reader to find them relatable. I can’t imagine making the stories from my day to day as interesting as he does. His delivery and timing are perfect with just the right amount of shock value. Not all fans of a genre like stand-up comedy will find him amusing, but he definitely fits that genre and takes it up another level.
As mentioned above, this is the real-est I have ever seen Sedaris – and, generally he seems pretty real. But, I just don’t remember in the past starting off on one of his stories laughing and then finding myself near tears a few moments later. It is, without a better way to describe it, perfect Sedaris. That is it – he has honed his skills over the years and perfected them with this collection.
Do yourself a favor – no matter who you are – check out Sedaris. If you are already a Sedaris fan, check this out ASAP. It is truly awesome!...more
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