Book Blog #224: Dune by Frank Herbert

Title: Dune
Author: Frank Herbert
# of Pages: 512 (paperback)
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the 'spice' melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.
Review: This is not the type of book that would usually draw my attention. In the past, I've read science fiction books, but these are more along the Divergent and Hunger Games variety. I've read some similar to Ender's Game (which I think has a similar writing style as used in the book I'm reviewing now), but I had very little interest in that.

I picked this book up because it was popular (so much for being hipster). I knew immediately after starting that it was going to take me a while to get through it (and I wasn't wrong). This is the type of book where the reader would most enjoy the story if it is read in big blocks of time (versus reading it for 10 minutes in between activities).

Part of what makes this book so difficult to read is because the reader is thrown straight into the world with very little context. The world Herbert created is so intricate, he had to include appendices (yup, multiple ones) just so the reader could keep up with the lingo.  The only character provided to the reader to learn about the strange-ties of this different world is Paul, the story's fifteen year old protagonist. Although he has already grown to adolescence in this world,  he is more ignorant than the other characters who's perspectives the reader gets to hear the story from (thankfully in third person). Most of the other characters (Jessica, his mother, or the Baron) are well-versed in certain sets of Dune specific vocabulary, it makes it difficult to stay immersed in the book because of the constant flipping to the appendices.

However, once having the time to sit down and read it, Dune was a very interesting book. Once getting past "Book 1" (after which I was mostly accustom to how the world operates), I was gripped up the tale of Paul as he grows up and struggles with those in power. The ending did not feel like an ending, but this is probably because there are other books in the series.

I would recommend this book to those who are interested but not to those who do not think they can handle a dense science fiction story.

Book Blog #223: Phantom by Dean Koontz

Title: Phantoms
Author: Dean Koontz
# of Pages: 425 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Suspense
Rating:★★★☆☆
Synopsis: They found the town silent, apparently abandoned. Then they found the first body strangely swollen and still warm. One hundred fifty were dead, 350 missing. But the terror had only begun in the tiny mountain town of Snowfield, California.
Review: I hate anything related to horror.

Stephen King's newest thriller? No thank you. Newly released horror movies just in time for Halloween? Forget about it.

I may be living under a rock in regards to the horror/thriller/suspense realm of media, but I only vaguely knew who Dean Koontz was (as in, his name sounded familiar, but I had no idea what kind of books he wrote). When I saw his book at the library, I thought I might as well give it a shot.

If I truly thought Phantoms was scary, I would have stopped reading it a long time ago. But Dean Koontz's writing, or at least in this book, is not that scary. Yes, he brings up some scary situations (he tries to get pretty crafty in the ways all of the people in Snowfield end up dead), but the way he describes these situations is pretty lackluster (and for that I am grateful, or I wouldn't be able to finish the book).

I wanted to be able to finish this book, so I was grateful for this mediocre thriller. However, the target audience would be searching for the thrill, the creepy elements that usually make me want to curl in ball and die. Readers won't get this from the book at all. I'm confident the movie is 10x more scary than the book because the book can only be as scary as the writer can get the reader's imagination to make it. In this case, I was very underwhelmed.

The problem was not only the writing style; the plot was mostly predictable. Sure, the cause of the death of the Snowfield residents may have not been so easy to guess, but the "jump scare" moments throughout the story was not that hard to predict. "That's part of what makes a jump scare a jump scare!" you might be thinking. While anticipation can make a scary scene even scary, when something is EXTREMELY predictable, it's not as freaky as the author would want it to be. And unfortunately for Koontz, it's a lot harder to write in a jump scare than it is to have one in a movie.

That being said, I wasn't haven't a good time reading this book since most of the events were unpleasant. I was intrigued enough to finish this book in two days, but this may have been partially from my fear of the book becoming scarier than it ever did (and not wanting to have to read the book late at night). Usually when I finish a book relatively quickly, it's a good read, but I wouldn't highly recommend this book most people. If a thrill/horror enthusiast is looking for a light, tame read, they should go for it. Otherwise, look elsewhere.