Stephen King – Finious's Folly

Review: The Wind Through the Keyhole

The Wind Through the Keyhole
by Stephen King
The Dark Tower series #4.5
View book info on GoodReads

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
First Published: April 24th, 2012
Read from: July 1 – 7, 2019

A Storyteller’s Tale

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve read any Stephen King. Not sure why, as I’ve always loved his work. I read the Dark Tower series several years ago, and enjoyed it for the most part. With the books of the series ranging from 3 to 4 stars of 5 and at least one a definite 5. Anyway, for whatever reason I have managed to pick up other authors’ works instead of King over the last few years, and somehow never managed to read this story added after The Dark Tower series was concluded. I’m glad I finally picked it up and read it, as it is one of the best tales by an author who is undeniably one of the best story-tellers of our day.
Read the Full Review

Short Story: Red Friday

I’ve been working on this short story off and on for about a month and a half. I just now finished it and am scrambling to publish it here today as it is of course very appropriate for the “season”. The original idea came from another writing exercise from my local writer’s group. The group was to meet this time just before Halloween, so the organizer decided we should all write a story that had to incorporate a specific quote from Stephen King. The quote in question made me immediately think of… well, Black Friday. The reason why is another story entirely.

But hopefully you will enjoy this story. It’s a bit of a tribute to Stephen King, the Evil Dead series, and basically incorporates the way I feel about the commercial nightmares the holiday seasons have become. Read the Short Story

Review: The Einstein Intersection

The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany
View book info on GoodReads

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
First Published: 1967
Read from: February 22 to March 08, 2014

Can’t You Just Let a Story Be a Story?

“The Einstein Intersection” by Samuel R. Delany won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1967 and was nominated for the Hugo Award for 1968. I had read some things that piqued my interest in this novel so I managed to get a copy through an inter-library loan — strangely my huge local library system did not have a copy of their own.

Sadly, this book continues a trend I’ve noticed recently where many “award-winning classics” are not really all that good. It seems that genre novels that do something for the first time — whether it is for artistic effect, to state their often biased opinion on current political or sociological trends, or to capitalize on some popular fad of the time — books that do stuff like that so often become award winners… whether or not there is actually a decent or engaging story wrapped around all that “stuff”. Read My Full Review →

Did I “Diss” the Dome?

Under the Dome Handprint — Talk to the hand...

When I got to work this morning, everyone it seemed was talking about the CBS TV series of Stephen King’s Under the Dome that I gave an opinionated “review” of in my previous post. I also read a “professional” review that gave it a better shake than I did. That got me thinking… Did I “Disrespect the Dome?” Have I become so inured that I was failing to perceive something that others were enjoying?

After some thought, I have decided: No, the pilot of the Dome really did suck. Continue reading Did I “Diss” the Dome?

‘Under The Dome’ Very Underwhelming

I kind of expected it, but I must say I found the CBS TV adaptation of Stephen King’s Under the Dome very underwhelming. While the book was okay (until the end) it was similar to, but not as good as so many other King novels which explore (at least in part) a group of ‘small town’ characters under the pressure of some mysterious threat. Such novels as ‘Salems Lot, Needful Things, The Tommyknockers, It, and much more. The only thing I found vaguely intriguing about the novel was the mystery of the dome itself, and the final reveal of that mystery I felt was disappointing. Continue reading ‘Under The Dome’ Very Underwhelming