Review: Never Flinch

Never Flinch by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a 4-star review which is a solid estimate of my experience.

Anyone who has read Stephen King's works knows how it goes. You take a couple of people who have "issues", wind them up, and let them wreak havoc on the world. Toss in some protagonists who have their own character flaws. Present it with all of the deft character and social representation/commentary that Stephen King is known for writing.

And the reader gets to experience the anticipation of seeing who actually ends up being the hero at the end of the day. As is typical for a King novel, there weren't many heroes but there were a lot of victims. And one or two villains get away scot-free.

As King books go, this was a very "mid" Stephen King book. A "mid" Stephen King novel is still above average and worth the experience. There aren't any fantasy elements to this book. It's just a straight-up character exploration of normal (for a certain range of normal) characters.

If you are into the Holly Gibney series, then you'll enjoy this. Knock yourself out. If I had read this book, then it would be a 3.5 star review and I might have rounded down.

But...I listened to this book via Spotify. The narrator is fantastic. She not only reads the book, she orates, she performs, and she is spectacular.

Also, a shout-out to Spotify. Their audiobook software keeps track of where you are in the book so you can go listen to music for a while and not lose your place when you come back to the book. I wish they put that much effort into the music portion of their app.

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Review: The Saint of Bright Doors

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a 2-star review which is a reasonable estimate of my experience.

I read this book as part of last year's Hugo Awards. This was nominated for "Best Novel".

This book is a classic example of how badly the ideological capture of the Hugo Awards has damaged the reputation of the awards.

I made it halfway through the book. Nothing really happened to move the plot forward. Lots of angst. Lots of "setup" and not much "pay off". Many unanswered questions that didn't look to have answers forthcoming.

This book came in below "no award" on my ballot, but not at the bottom of my ballot. I wouldn't have made it halfway through except I wanted to give my fellow nominators the respect due their nominations. Give the book a chance to live up to the reputation of the Hugo name.

[edited - grammar, erg.]



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