Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons Summary and Reviews
|
Our Price: $10.01 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Carrion Comfort
Book Review: I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE ONE OF BEST
Summary: 3 Stars
In the first 200-300 pages, I thought this might possibly be the best book I ever read. Then, the book turned from a horror book to a predictable "clive cussler" adventure - without the genius writing. The last 500 pages were truly boring. The author had a great thing going - at least for a while.Book Review: I put down 5 stars only because that's as far as they let me
Summary: 5 Stars
I was appalled to hear that there was even a single person out there who did not enjoy this book to the fullest. I first read this book in 1995. It blew me away. Ever since then I have not found a single book, past or present, that reached Carrion Comfort's level. I beleive all those people out there who claim it was boring, are the same people who think that Rambo is the best movie and that Titanic "sucks". Carrion Comfort took the right elements of Horror and Science Fiction and blended them flawlessly to create a believable epic tale. It frightened me when I read it. ANd it's not the kind of fright that makes one afraid to sleep with the lights off. More of a grander fright. It's realism made one afraid that Dan Simmons knows more about what's truly going on out there than we'd like to think. In conclusion, I'll say that whoever thought Carrion Comfort was boring, didn't understand the story.Book Review: If this is what horror fiction is then I pass
Summary: 2 Stars
I read Simmons other work of Horror "Song of Kali" and thought that it was ok. So I tried another one of his works. Carrion Comfort was supposed to be a magnum opus and at over 800 pages it was certainly an opus. Unfortunately the book, while having a great premise devolves into predictable and repeated acts involving knives, guns, and body parts to the point of nausia. The first use of each of these devices is clever and interesting however repeated use dulls the effect and drags the story out too long. This would have been a superior 300 page book if only the author and the editor could control themselves. While not the Heavens Gate of books, a very weak, predictable ending and too much racist overtones -- yes racist -- makes this book one to pass on. I am finished reading Simmons, now and for a long time. If this is what passes for the genre, then you can keep it. Sorry to be harsh but I would not waste your time here.
Book Review: Ignore the naysayers - CARRION COMFORT is amazing.
Summary: 5 Stars
I am amazed to find that there is such a schism regarding CARRION COMFORT. It seems to be a real love/hate book. Which surprises me because it's one of the most compulsively readable novels I've ever read. I would prefer not to give away anything to the first time reader (other reviewers have not been so considerate) but I will say that Simmons takes a fabulous premise and works it until your eyes pop. I really can't see how anyone decided that this story was boring -- unless they simply didn't have the patience for a long novel. But if you're waffling on reading it as a result of these mixed reviews I strongly encourage you to pick it up.Book Review: It's a meaty book
Summary: 5 Stars
Normally when people see a book this size, they think to themselves, "Wow what a great paperweight" but that shouldn't be the case here. Dan Simmons continues to prove that horror fiction is just as much his plaything as science fiction, crafting a big, ambitious novel that succeeds in just about every aspect. It's scary, it's intimidating, it's complex, it's funny, it's full of characters that you're going to either or love but will be unable to ignore. Simmons takes the basic concept of vampires and goes in a slightly different direction here, instead of the typical bloodsucking stuff, here we've got psychic vampires who can infilrate the mind and do many unpleasant things. For the most part the vampires are utterly amoral, using and abusing people with no other impulse other than instant gratification. Until some people try to get revenge. Here we've got Saul, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust who makes it a near obsession to find the monster that invaded his mind in a concentration camp during World War II. Or Natalie, who is motivated by a tragedy touches her personal life by way of vampires who see people as only pawns in a game. And then there's Sheriff Rob Gentry, trying to solve a mystery involving a bunch of dead people who apparently went crazy for no apparent reason, murders that seem to be part of a subtle, but disturbing pattern. These are the building blocks that make up the foundation of the rest of the epic . . . needless to say there are more than enough other characters, and subplots and surprises and intrigue and even horror to keep the reader occupied for many an hour. To even add to the excitement, a bunch of sections are told from the point of view of one of the vampires and her utterly amoral useage of the people she encounters all the while justifying it with no problem for her own twisted pleasure has to be one of the most horrific aspects to the book, the gap between the reality she perceives and the reality that exists is frightening indeed. Not that the book is perfect, it probably is a little too long, if you read it in small chunks you're okay but Simmons is very meticulous in his detail, something long time readers are probably used to. Some things aren't really explained either, one of the vampires is apparently ridiculously more powerful than the others but no one ever says why (but I guess that's horror for you, plus no one really gets the time sit down and discuss it), the concept of "Feeding" he never really goes into even though everyone talks about it, but those are minor complaints indeed. Where it's supposed to work it does, the action is thrilling, the emotional payoffs are staggering, the truimphs are earned even as the defeats will keep you on the edge of the chair. If you've got anything more than a passing interest in Dan Simmons or horror, you owe it to yourself to set a week aside and devour this book. You'll be glad you did.