Dreamcatcher

Rating:
Summary: Not the old Steve, but still remarkable.
Review: I just got done reading DreamCatcher. It was excellent. Dreamcatcher is about life and it's meaning, about governmental conspiracy and constitutional betrayal, about friendship, and about the continuing battle with our foes from outer space.

Stephen King has mastered his skill of character development. I related to some of his main characters, while others, I've actually met--even the psychopaths. Incredible.

You would think the guy would have ran out of ideas by now, but his use of symbolism hasn't spoiled. Yes, DreamCatcher has much symbolism that makes the story complex and hard to understand off hand, which some might find distasteful, but it is genuine and profound nonetheless. The symbolism, in fact, is the basis of this thought provocative story.

Readers who prefer original King might find the story a struggle, but you can still see him here and there. There are a lot of wonderfully made visual effects in this story, that are quite gory and painful. And the way some parts were written was far from anything John Irving. This book contains a ton of profanity, makes lewd remarks, and explains how boy children loose their innocence rather rapidly. This story would most certainly make upscale morality freaks cringe...unless their curious and want to explore a little.

I hear a lot of people complain that this story is just a re-make of his book TommyKnockers. It is not. It's a continuation, almost, in the same way Insomnia is a subdivision to his Dark Tower series. All his books, in fact, are linked in one way or another, and that's more a attribute than it is a flaw, because it makes all his stories into a single entity, and that shows good character with a lot of game. Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: Typical New King
Review: I found this novel to be consistent with most of King's work since 1992. I'm not sure what it is, but he seems to always start out extremely strong with excellent plot and character development only to fizzle out by the end of the book with a sub-par ending. This holds true for such books as Rose Madder, Insomnia, and Desperation. In Dreamcathcer, I was 300 pages in and still hooked, anxiously trying to determine where this story was taking me and the fate of the masterly-developed characters. By the end of the novel, the chase was on and I had lost interest and was desperately trying just to finish the book. Personally, I find King's best work to be those in which he doesn't stray to far from the norm.

Rating:
Summary: great read from the start
Review: Its been a while since I read a Stephen King book this good (I've read them all). It does not take long for this story to get going. I couldn't put it down from almost the very beginning. I loved this book!

Rating:
Summary: Aliens and Gas-X
Review: A comment on the cover of the book describes it as a multilayered nightmare. I'll agree it's multilayered, but not a nightmare. If you like Stephen King's other books, you may find this one strangely different, and perhaps rightly so: This is the book King wrote as he was recovering from being hit by the van as he was walking.

Dreamcatcher is a pretty complex book with lots of characters; I really think I would need to reread it to completely understand all the connections. It's not horror, not frightening. Certainly not a "nightmare". It does have some suspense, but tends to drone on unnecessarily from the middle of the book on (where Kurtz, crazed military guy, is pursuing Owen, guy who dared to indirectly insult crazed military guy), but generally I always find King's books could use a few thousand words fewer. An okay read with some interesting parts, mostly in the first few chapters.

Rating:
Summary: Wicked good read!!!
Review: I was hooked from page one. As always with Stephen King, the characters are rich, the dialogue witty and on target. What I enjoyed most of all however is the involved storyline that sweeps you along to a climax that delivers. While I dared to read this at night, I did not dare read this book while alone.
With this book you'll laugh out loud, you may cry and you'll most definitely experience ye olde chills up and down the spine. Your scalp will prickle, your pulse quicken and I guarantee that for a while at least, you'll look suspiciously at anyone who farts, noisily and or noxiously. Three cheers for the human race and the Dream-Catcher that binds us all!

Rating:
Summary: Definitely leans toward Sci-Fi.
Review: King has the ability to employ a variety of styles, and his works range from personal, heartwarming tales, to far-fetched Sci Fi. This book is in the latter extreme. Until 1/2 way through, I could not put it down. From mid-point, I had trouble making myself pick it up.

Frankly, I am bit tired of the Derry atmosphere and the inter-novel tie-ins.

Rating:
Summary: Everything in life happens for a reason
Review: If you read this book and dislike it in any way then I have to wonder if you are in fact human in the first place. I will admit I was a little concerned about the greater meaning of the book in the beginning, but as I began to delve deeper into the book I was painted a crystal clear picture of what the Dreamcatcher ultimately represents. I have read several Stephen King books and I like so many other fans have discovered that he can often times get off on tangents that can create a lull in the plot. However, this book starts out relatively slow and then takes off with supersonic speed and never slows down, no lulls whatsoever. I was actually kind of disappointed that the book had to end. What is the true meaning of this book? The answer to that question is obviously very subjective and I assume that would be just how Stephen King would like it to be. The question this book raises is this: Are we really in control of our lives, or are we controlled by a greater power? Who knows, we may never know, but I will say this, if you take the time to sit down and look at the things that have happened to you throughout your lifetime, whether good or bad, you will see that ironically most of these happenings have had a positive impact on your life. Buy it or borrow it from a friend, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Mr. King's Wild Ride
Review: It's unfair to call Dreamcatcher a return to form for Stephen King. His last few books, particularly Bag of Bones and Hearts in Atlantis, have been pretty great. But Dreamcatcher plays to his particular strengths (a minimalist setting, near telephatic rapport with his characters) while downplaying his more annoying mannerisms (endless pop culture name dropping, literal deus ex machina). The end result is an incredibly disgusting, breathlessly exciting, and suprisingly moving combination of horror, sci-fi, action, and pathos that recalls his glory days of a decade or more ago.

The shocks start early and never let up, King's imagination firing on overdrive to create two intriguing mysteries, the nature of his alien Grays and the powerful telepathic link between his heroes, that will be revealed in a single hellish night. One could argue that the book runs a little long, but we don't read King for concision -- here he provides the same exhilarating, cinematic experience with which he first made his name.

Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: Stephen King has written an excellent book that tells a story with a complex plot and some very interesting characters. So why have I only given it 3 stars? There are a few continuity bumps with one or two flashbacks, and he (Stephen King) seemed to have added some of the graphic gore for gores' sake. The "Big Bad Black Ops Soldier" being sooooo torn up over a childhood incident was a little bit of a reach, and only worked to show some semblance of a conscience. A little less than Mr. King's best, but that still makes it head and shoulders over most in this genre.

Rating:
Summary: Below par by normal standards.............
Review: If you are a die hard fan of King's work, then this book will be familiar and well trodden ground with plenty of humour and well paced, well plotted action.
If not, you might find this a bit of an anodine hit. Many of the themes and ideas are old ones resprayed as new. Missing teeth smack of The Tommyknockers, and the "Big childhood secret revisited in later life" is hardly a diversion for him. Kurtz may be a name that King admits his military pantomime villain borrowed from Apocalypse Now, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a silly, infantile choice.
Having said all that, it's still light years better than most sci-fi horror you'll pick up in the bargain bin of your local bookstore. It's certainly very funny (I laughed out loud at least three times) and the end is fast, violent and philosophical.
It's not in the same league as The Shining, Firestarter and some of his other seminal stuff, but then they were a pretty high bar to have to clear every time.
Maybe he's getting old, and losing it.
I sincerely hope not.