Rating: 
Summary: Summer of Boredom
Review: I gave this novel a try and regretted it. It was quite a chore to finish its 600 pages. An ancient evil is overtaking a small town (don't worry about its origin, you'll travel through the painstaking history) and it's up to a group of kids to thwart it. There's your plotline. Now it's up to the novelist to create a compelling tale to go along with it. He doesn't. We have giant earth-digging eels, gooey zombies; but most of all, we have a silly, tedious, windbag of a story. Simmons is continually detouring onto tangent, side stories, which are not only uninteresting, but lose momentum that the main theme should be gathering. Instead of a concise, gripping narrative, he gives us a rambling yarn that seems to go on forever, and loses steam with every page.
Rating: 
Summary: An Adequate Novel
Review: Before I start this review I'd like the eventual reader to know that I consider myself a Simmons fan I've read almost everything he wrote and I admire the fact that he almost always excels in the genre he choses. This book is one of his lesser entries, I tried to like this book but i found myself really liking only three of the characters : Duane, Dale and Mike. I thought the others were either poorly drawn (Kevin) or unlikable (Harlan). As for the story itself well it's pretty much the same old gang of boys against an evil entity thing. I did like the link to the Borgias and the tunnels under the town. Other than that it is only o.k. having a few scares and a few moments of truth the description of a young one's summer. This basically feeels as if Simmons is doing a ''cover'' of a Stephen King book but with less agility than King. The book is not bad or excellent, i usually expect more original work from Simmons. Or at least a very good entry in that conforms to genre rules while bending them like Hardcase. This one is a bit too generic and feels more like an attempt at greater sales figures. But if you like Simmons or this kind of storyy, give it a try - you might like it more than I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Masterfully chilling and suspenseful
Review: I started reading Dan Simmons' Hyperion books and he instantly became one of my favorite authors. Summer of Night lived up to my expectations in many ways, and even exceeded some of them. Some compared this book to King's It, but I think it's much better. I found this book much more chilling and suspenseful not to mention having a great ending (I hated the ending of It). Unlike It, there's actually a little history to the plot, not some deus ex machina thrown in at the end. One of the most interesting aspects of this story is the transformation the boys undergo. I honestly don't understand how some people felt that this story was too slow. Simmons is very adept at revealing pieces of the mystery while building the suspense. To paraphrase, this book made me stay up many nights because I couldn't put it down, and because of what might be under my bed.
Rating: 
Summary: Approaches King's level
Review: The problem I've had in the past with such "horror" writers as Dean Koontz and John Saul was the fact that their protagonists were just too one dimensional. There was no emotional attachment and, thus, no tension to the book. Stephen King, on the other hand, fleshes out his characters so well that the reader feels like they know them intimately. This, in turn, gives the reader an emotional stake in what happens to them. Dan Simmons, while not quite on King's level (then again, who is?), accomplishes this quite well. There were times in the book that I was moaning out loud in fear that something bad would happen to one of the six young boys that Simmons had gotten me to care about. What made the book more compelling is that no one was safe. It was painful to see the surviving boys attempting to deal with what happened. There was a definite emotional investment on my part. The one problem I had was that Simmons introduced all six protagonists in the first 3 or 4 pages. It was too quick for me to get a handle on any of them until a good 50 pages into the book. Again like King, Simmons uses the setting and environment to great effect. One problem that I had, however, was the fact that, in attempting to describe the layout of the city and how all the streets and roads interconnected, I became pretty much confused. A map of the town in the front of the book would have been very useful. Other than that, Simmons makes very good use of the smallness of the town, it's isolated location in the midwest, and the summer weather as crucial components in the story. Very enjoyable book and well worth the read. Pretty much as soon as I had finished it, I ordered the sequel, A WINTER HAUNTING. I am eager to find out what has happened to the characters in the intervening years. Simmons has done an excellent job here in making me care about his characters, which makes for a very involving read.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!! Serious page turner!!!
Review: A creepy, scary, fear inducing, terror filled ride - Summer of Night is a great read for anyone who loves their horror!!!! Simmons does a great job of introducing all the main characters and ratcheting up the suspense with each page. I love the scenes where all the boys are hanging out together and acting just like "boys enjoying the summer", but I was quite shocked and upset at the death of my favorite...
Great novel - I just listened to Mr. Simmons speak and he's a very down to earth, funny "superstar author!! and I bought Carrion Comfort and Song of Kali - all classics by Simmons that I can't wait to read!!
Rating:
Summary: Not that good
Review: I must beg to differ with all the glowing reviews. I did not think this book was that great! It is certainly nowhere near as scary as It. It does not create a real mood like Stephen King's novels. The writing is passable, but I found myself skipping over A LOT. It is very very tedious and repetitive at places, and he often goes through really round-about ways to present information. Example: did we REALLY need an extra 10 or 20 pages just to somehow get Duane's notebooks? Did we have to go through all that boring set up to get his uncle's notes? Someone did not edit this book well, that's the main problem. So much was just not necessary. I've tried a few of this guy's books and I think he is merely average--and could never have written any of this without the example of Stephen King.
Rating:
Summary: I'm getting the chills during the day.
Review: I'm only half way through the book and I can't wait to get home and finish it! This has to be the best horror movie book I've ever read. It's not a movie, but it keeps playing behind my eyelids at night. Simmons plays on all your childhood fears and creates characters you used to play with when you were a kid.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I loved this book. What makes horror and coming of age mix so well? I dont know but Dan Simmons does. This book reminds me alot of "it" but remains the better book. He recently did a sequel
Rating:
Summary: childhhod tisted with unspeakable horror
Review: i loved this book. dan dimmons captures chidhood so perfectly in this that it almost feels like it was your's. the horror in this book is far more psychological than blood and gore stab 'em up horror that is so prevelant in todays reading. the characters in this book are so real and life-like that you can really forget that it's just a book. all in all it's really up to par with his previous work and i hope he continues in this fashion for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Horror Book, Up there w/King's Best
Review: This was my first Dan Simmons book and I really enjoyed it. Like Stephen King at his best (long time ago), Simmon's really makes you remember what it's like to be a little kid. How you think, feel and see the world. It all comes alive in this book about a group of 11 year old boys and the strange happenings in their small town. The book is long and wordy, but well very well written. If you are a fan of horror novels, this one will not disappoint you.
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