zwrobertson's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
snugwugs's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
alisonordnung's review against another edition
4.0
A quality horror/sci-fi epic that references many historical events from the late 20th century. The heroes, Saul and Natalie, are unique and sympathetic, as well as brave, strong and wise. It is massively long but very well paced; you don't feel you need to push yourself to persevere.
timeaisis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
God damn.
charlibirb's review against another edition
3.0
Not my favorite Dan Simmons. Good premise, kind of meh overall.
cdurbzz's review against another edition
3.0
painfully indulgent, self-serious supernatural horror that doesn't even come close to justifying its absolutely BIBLICAL length at 900 pages. couches what ultimately amounts to 4 or 5 bloated action set-pieces in a thin veneer of social commentary re: humanity's propensity to inflict suffering, wasting no opportunity to project the author's frankly inscrutable politics onto each of the characters, for better or for worse. the narration is third-person omniscient, going so far as to reflect the attitudes of a given character in the narrator's editorializing. ultimately results in some bizarre prose when a section's focal character is, for example, a nazi, and the objective narrator, in what is ostensibly the author's voice, uses epithets to describe black and jewish characters. weird choice!
anyway i liked all the gore. clearly this guy wanted to make an action-horror film and settled on a novel instead.
anyway i liked all the gore. clearly this guy wanted to make an action-horror film and settled on a novel instead.
cherylsarnoski's review against another edition
3.0
Reads like a detective novel or as an action thriller. Barely horror at all. I found this book plodding and cheesy but to be honest action thrillers and detective anything is not my vibe.