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A review by axhlo
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
4.0
General content warnings about the book: includes child abuse/endangerment, rape, drug use, alcohol abuse, and a bit of gory death (but this is horror, not to mention Stephen King, so... we shouldn't really be surprised by that last one right?)
Now... this was nothing like I expected. It's been a while since I read The Shining, so when I found out he'd written a sequel I was curious. However I'm ever the skeptic, and figured the sequel wouldn't be nearly as dark and painful (just how I like it!) as the first. As it turns out, this one was still great, and an excellent follow-up to The Shining. In addition, Stephen King fills in the (relevant) details from the prequel well enough that if you haven't read the first book in a while (or ever), you'll still be good to go. HOWEVER: if you've only watched Kubrick's film adaptation of The Shining, you may be confused about some things. Just note that Doctor Sleep follows the canon of its book prequel (which King describes as "the True History of the Torrance Family"), not the film.
While Jack Torrance was completely destroyed by his alcohol addiction in The Shining, Doctor Sleep goes in a completely different direction with Torrance's son Dan. Rather than becoming consumed by his own alcohol and drug problems, Dan winds up going to AA and working at a hospice, where his "shining" talents allow him to sympathize with and help those patients that have reached their end. While the circumstances that have lead to Dan being in these places are dark, it's actually strangely positive and hopeful how he ends up turning his life around in a way his father could not.
As for the overarching plot, I'll admit that it does sound cheesy: quasi-immortal, vampire-like, monsters who call themselves the "True Knot" and feed off of the shining produced by young children (yeah, creepy). But it is actually very interesting and suspenseful. These are creatures capable of masking their true age, meaning they can blend into society without most people even really noticing them. Until, of course, Abra: a young girl with an incredible ability to shine, which of course makes her a huge target for the True Knot. Together with Dan, they make a strong pair with tremendous powers (Abra moreso than Dan, though she helps him a lot when she can).
I did had some issues with the novel. (Minor spoilers) The start is kind of slow. Some characters go by a name including a racial slur ("The Chink"), which could be rationalized by the fact that the True Knot are very old and "come from a different time," but I wish King could have just used a little creativity in giving them more interesting names without turning down that path. Also, as soon as we're introduced to another character, Andi, we're told two things: she doesn't like men and was raped by her father. The two details come up side by side and kind of gives the impression that her well-established attraction and love for women is the result of her father and the harm he did to her. That really rubbed me the wrong way, as I'm always wishing for more characters who are women who love women, without any unnecessary/traumatizing BS to "justify" it and make their stories "more interesting."
Overall though, I'd say it's a pretty great one for the Constant Reader, especially if you were hesitant about it (as I was) after the high expectations he'd set with the likes of [b:11/22/63|10644930|11/22/63|Stephen King|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327876792s/10644930.jpg|15553789] or [b:Joyland|13596166|Joyland|Stephen King|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348154483s/13596166.jpg|19185026]. Definitely check it out, regardless of when (if ever) you last read/watched The Shining!
Now... this was nothing like I expected. It's been a while since I read The Shining, so when I found out he'd written a sequel I was curious. However I'm ever the skeptic, and figured the sequel wouldn't be nearly as dark and painful (just how I like it!) as the first. As it turns out, this one was still great, and an excellent follow-up to The Shining. In addition, Stephen King fills in the (relevant) details from the prequel well enough that if you haven't read the first book in a while (or ever), you'll still be good to go. HOWEVER: if you've only watched Kubrick's film adaptation of The Shining, you may be confused about some things. Just note that Doctor Sleep follows the canon of its book prequel (which King describes as "the True History of the Torrance Family"), not the film.
While Jack Torrance was completely destroyed by his alcohol addiction in The Shining, Doctor Sleep goes in a completely different direction with Torrance's son Dan. Rather than becoming consumed by his own alcohol and drug problems, Dan winds up going to AA and working at a hospice, where his "shining" talents allow him to sympathize with and help those patients that have reached their end. While the circumstances that have lead to Dan being in these places are dark, it's actually strangely positive and hopeful how he ends up turning his life around in a way his father could not.
As for the overarching plot, I'll admit that it does sound cheesy: quasi-immortal, vampire-like, monsters who call themselves the "True Knot" and feed off of the shining produced by young children (yeah, creepy). But it is actually very interesting and suspenseful. These are creatures capable of masking their true age, meaning they can blend into society without most people even really noticing them. Until, of course, Abra: a young girl with an incredible ability to shine, which of course makes her a huge target for the True Knot. Together with Dan, they make a strong pair with tremendous powers (Abra moreso than Dan, though she helps him a lot when she can).
I did had some issues with the novel. (Minor spoilers) The start is kind of slow. Some characters go by a name including a racial slur ("The Chink"), which could be rationalized by the fact that the True Knot are very old and "come from a different time," but I wish King could have just used a little creativity in giving them more interesting names without turning down that path. Also, as soon as we're introduced to another character, Andi, we're told two things: she doesn't like men and was raped by her father. The two details come up side by side and kind of gives the impression that her well-established attraction and love for women is the result of her father and the harm he did to her. That really rubbed me the wrong way, as I'm always wishing for more characters who are women who love women, without any unnecessary/traumatizing BS to "justify" it and make their stories "more interesting."
Overall though, I'd say it's a pretty great one for the Constant Reader, especially if you were hesitant about it (as I was) after the high expectations he'd set with the likes of [b:11/22/63|10644930|11/22/63|Stephen King|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327876792s/10644930.jpg|15553789] or [b:Joyland|13596166|Joyland|Stephen King|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348154483s/13596166.jpg|19185026]. Definitely check it out, regardless of when (if ever) you last read/watched The Shining!