I just finished Doctor Sleep.
Even though many people say that Mr. King "forgot" to write a horror story, I never really felt the necessity for Doctor Sleep to be a horror novel, or trying to compete or surmound the Shining in any way. I haven't found any particularly scarry or gruesome parts in the book either - well, compared to King's usual body count, where people are dropping like flies, suffering fates WORSE than death, this book has a rather calm and soothing tone. Seriously, the tension build-up comes in waves, rather than constantly escalating, like in its predecessor. This is not a bad thing. I also enjoyed how the shining was used regularly for communication, telekinesis and was purposefully utilized in many ways. And, apart from the dislikes-paragraph, I really liked the happy ending. It was a relief from Stephen King to read sumthin which actually ends well.
Alright, so these were the good news. Now for the bad news...
- My biggest problem, if y'could say that, is the ending. Compared to all giant battles between good vs. evil in previous Stephen King books, this one appears to be a weird mish-mash of half-baked ideas mixed together in a big hodgepodge. It's clear that Mr. King made Rose the Hat miserably weak, having absolutely no control above the events at all. Along comes Dan, unleashes the tainted steam which kills off the True Knot, then that spinning wheel-thingy, releasing Horace Derwent, Freeman smashing his truck against the lookout point, and even Jack Torrance's ghost joining the party...it is clear to me that Mr. King had several ideas how Rose could have be defeated, but for some reason, he didn't want to write a truly epic bossfight about all these possibilities, and just unleashed everything in a few pages.
I don't know 'bout you, but this is NOT how an ultimate evil mastermind is defeated. The showdown with the evil Jack in the previous book was awesome, and this...meh...I consider anything but. If Rose could "build up" places from images in the other person's mind, she could have recreate the dramatic events at the end of Shining. That would have been a gazillion times better. Well frankly, anything would have been better than this rushed butchery.
- The second part I disliked was how Crow Daddy kidnapped Abra, and then how Dan took over Abra's mind and killed Crow Daddy. No matter how many times I re-read it, it seems that this particular part is pretty shallow and half-made. A second raiding party sent by the True Knot and suffering the same fate would have been much better, perhaps this time Abra using her powers extensively. Seriously, seeing how she could cause a mini-quake, her power alone could easily vanquish the entire horde to kingdom come.
Just compare: If the Overlook Hotel could manifest drinkable alcohol, party guests real enough to open doors and strangle children, Abra could have been able to manifest a Devastator Tank and a blast from its twin plasma cannons would blow the Rose the Hat and her entire company to subatomic particles!
- The dying of the True Knot was also pretty unimaginitive. Disappearing-reappearing until they disappear forever...this is something which you'd see in an old 90s computer game (Golden Axe for instance), not something which'd fit in an exciting thriller novel.
- There were too many paragraphs about Dan and how he fights alcoholism. These parts were so frequent like alcoholism is a vital part of the story, but alas, it is not. I always felt that these paragraphs are just fillers, interludes and such. Don't get me wrong, I love King's interludes and intermezzos in his novels - as long as they have sumthin to add to the main storyline! If their sole purpose is making the chapters longer and longer, then...no-no-no-never.
All in all, Doctor Sleep is a good piece of work. Sure, it will never be that good the Shining was, especially because of these annoying little flukes, but if we don't expect a book is all about terror and bloodshed, then it's a pretty good effort. A keeper, that's for sure.
Alright, so these were the good news. Now for the bad news...
- My biggest problem, if y'could say that, is the ending. Compared to all giant battles between good vs. evil in previous Stephen King books, this one appears to be a weird mish-mash of half-baked ideas mixed together in a big hodgepodge. It's clear that Mr. King made Rose the Hat miserably weak, having absolutely no control above the events at all. Along comes Dan, unleashes the tainted steam which kills off the True Knot, then that spinning wheel-thingy, releasing Horace Derwent, Freeman smashing his truck against the lookout point, and even Jack Torrance's ghost joining the party...it is clear to me that Mr. King had several ideas how Rose could have be defeated, but for some reason, he didn't want to write a truly epic bossfight about all these possibilities, and just unleashed everything in a few pages.
I don't know 'bout you, but this is NOT how an ultimate evil mastermind is defeated. The showdown with the evil Jack in the previous book was awesome, and this...meh...I consider anything but. If Rose could "build up" places from images in the other person's mind, she could have recreate the dramatic events at the end of Shining. That would have been a gazillion times better. Well frankly, anything would have been better than this rushed butchery.
- The second part I disliked was how Crow Daddy kidnapped Abra, and then how Dan took over Abra's mind and killed Crow Daddy. No matter how many times I re-read it, it seems that this particular part is pretty shallow and half-made. A second raiding party sent by the True Knot and suffering the same fate would have been much better, perhaps this time Abra using her powers extensively. Seriously, seeing how she could cause a mini-quake, her power alone could easily vanquish the entire horde to kingdom come.
Just compare: If the Overlook Hotel could manifest drinkable alcohol, party guests real enough to open doors and strangle children, Abra could have been able to manifest a Devastator Tank and a blast from its twin plasma cannons would blow the Rose the Hat and her entire company to subatomic particles!
- The dying of the True Knot was also pretty unimaginitive. Disappearing-reappearing until they disappear forever...this is something which you'd see in an old 90s computer game (Golden Axe for instance), not something which'd fit in an exciting thriller novel.
- There were too many paragraphs about Dan and how he fights alcoholism. These parts were so frequent like alcoholism is a vital part of the story, but alas, it is not. I always felt that these paragraphs are just fillers, interludes and such. Don't get me wrong, I love King's interludes and intermezzos in his novels - as long as they have sumthin to add to the main storyline! If their sole purpose is making the chapters longer and longer, then...no-no-no-never.
All in all, Doctor Sleep is a good piece of work. Sure, it will never be that good the Shining was, especially because of these annoying little flukes, but if we don't expect a book is all about terror and bloodshed, then it's a pretty good effort. A keeper, that's for sure.
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