Rating: 
Summary: Not your average Vampire story....
Review: Carrion Comfort is an amazingly complex and thorough story about "mind vampires". The mind vampires really share very little in common with what most people would think of in terms of vampires -- they don't turn into bats, suck people's blood, or need a stake through the heart to kill them. The sole defining criteria of a mind vampire is that they have the ability to control people's behavior. The book concerns itself with about a half dozen powerful mind vampires. These vampires range from those who use their "ability" for wealth and power, to complete psychopaths who kill innocent people simply because they are bored. The book gets started with a power struggle between the mind vampires, which engulfs a trio of human protagonists: a former concentration camp survivor, the daughter of one of the mind vampire's victims, and a small town sheriff. This book's strength is in the development of the characters. They all seem very real and lifelike, and a lot of effort is made to explore each of the mind vampire's psyches and understand their dark motivations. The one fault I had with the book is just that it's so darn long -- almost 900 pages. You'd better clear a week of your schedule just to read the thing! I've read several of Dan Simmons' books, and I have to say this is one of his best . I enjoyed it more than Summer of Night and A Winter Haunting because I felt the story seemed somehow more realistic.
Rating:
Summary: Simmons is a world above most authors
Review: Simmons is one of the literary world's great treasures. He moves with ease between numerous genres, completely at home in each. "Carrion Comfort" was the first book I read by this author. I enjoyed it immensely. Because of it, I read "Hyperion", which is something, because I despise Science Fiction, by and by. Simmons is different. His "Hyperion" series is much more than typical space opera, with phaser guns and funny aliens. He creates stories of immense depth and feeling. He started that for me in "Carrion Comfort", and continues to this day. I look forward to reading "Ilium" with great anticipation. "Carrion Comfort" is the story of psychic vampires, people who can control others with their minds. Years of this power has bored them to the point where they do it for sport. This started as a novella in one of Simmons's collections and he realized it fully in this novel. Cover blurb compares it to "The Stand" by King. It is only like "The Stand" in length and scope. The stories couldn't be more different. Read McCammon's "Swan Song" if you want "The Stand". "Carrion Comfort" is something completely different by one of America's most brilliant writers. Bravo.
Rating: 
Summary: Tough On Kids...
Review: You can get most of the information you need on this book in the other reviews. There is one thing, however, that I found particularly disturbing (not in a good horror novel way, but in a really unpleasant way) about this book. And that's the unrelenting violence against children.
It begins with graphic descriptions of the treatment of children in Nazi death camps. Progresses to children being shot, thrown down stairs, having wires inserted in their brains through their eyes, being killed in a gang fight against the villains ... and I've still got 400 pages yet to go.
That's right, I haven't even finished the book yet. And frankly I don't know if I want to. The passage I just finished (and the one that caused me to write this review) alluded to the fact that one of the author's "mind vampires" has eliminated several of a family's children because she found them a nuisance to her co-opting the parents to her devices.
And the fact is, children are completely irrelevant to the plot. Simmons just seems to revel in throwing them in for the shock value of having his monsters mistreat them. It's a visceral device that is completely -- and unnecessarily -- overused in this book.
I have read good books where children have been in danger. I have read good books where children have been unfortunate victims of evil. But I have never seen this book's equal for using excessive victimization of children as a crutch in its attempt to create antipathy for the antagonists.
It's mostly a good book. Simmons didn't need to be so heavyhanded with this device.
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Summary: Now THAT's a horror novel, Mr. King
Review: I was telling a friend that I read King's "The Stand" and later "Insomnia" but I was disappointed by the simple fact that neither book was very frightening. Yes, the overall situations get horrific and tense, but I wanted something that could hit me in the gut. So my friend handed me Carrion Comfort. Let me just say that Mr. King leads you to the edge of the cliff, finally lets you look over, then pulls you back. By contrast, Simmons sends you over the edge via a viscious kick in the back then when you hit bottom, he's waiting there to grab the scruff of your neck and rub your face in it. Terrific.
Rating:
Summary: Simmons is a world above most authors
Review: Simmons is one of the literary world's great treasures. He moves with ease between numerous genres, completely at home in each. "Carrion Comfort" was the first book I read by this author. I enjoyed it immensely. Because of it, I read "Hyperion", which is something, because I despise Science Fiction, by and by. Simmons is different. His "Hyperion" series is much more than typical space opera, with phaser guns and funny aliens. He creates stories of immense depth and feeling. He started that for me in "Carrion Comfort", and continues to this day. I look forward to reading "Ilium" with great anticipation. "Carrion Comfort" is the story of psychic vampires, people who can control others with their minds. Years of this power has bored them to the point where they do it for sport. This started as a novella in one of Simmons's collections and he realized it fully in this novel. Cover blurb compares it to "The Stand" by King. It is only like "The Stand" in length and scope. The stories couldn't be more different. Read McCammon's "Swan Song" if you want "The Stand". "Carrion Comfort" is something completely different by one of America's most brilliant writers. Bravo.
Rating:
Summary: Well written but a disapointing story.
Review: What an excellent book. This is a brilliant concept and story line, kind of a smart man's horror read. What if the outrages that have happened in this world, (i.e. war, Hitler, murders, etc.) have been a direct result of mind vampires? People with super powers who can manipulate others to do their bidding. What if these people get into their own war with each other? This is the basis for this book. I was so impressed with the depth of this book, the complex characters and the vivid descriptions. Simmons writing reminds me of Stephen King, only better. Highly recommend this book for an interesting, exciting read!
Rating: 
Summary: My eighth and last DS book. I give up. -20
Review: It's a tribute to the writing skills of Dan Simmons that "Carrion Comfort" manages to hold your interest in spite of its almost 900 pages, and it's wandering development. The concept of "mind vampires" is quite unique, and the shifting points of view, along with the first person narrative of Melanie Fuller, combine to make an almost perfect horror novel. There are some marvelous characters including the sheriff, Rob Gentry; the heroine, Natalie Preston; and even the over-used Saul Latski. I say overused only because Simmons employs a little too much reminiscing and self-pity in dealing with Saul. Indeed, most of the flashbacks incurred by the characters, tends to slow the pace down, making you want the author to get back to what's going on now. For instance, the first human chess games is novel and tense; when we go to the climaxing chess game, it seems very repetitive, tedious, and not as gripping as I imagine Simmons wanted it to be. There are tons of villains, and at times, it's hard to keep up with them. The main villain, the Oberest, Willie Borden, is such a shadow figure that when we finally meet him again, he doesn't truly live up to the expectations you have of him. The character of Tony Harod, the movie producer, is so despicable that you want him out of the book long before he gets his just desserts.
But, if you stick with it, persevere with the immensity of the book itself, it is a rather major accomplishment. The ending is sort of a surprise, and it's open-endedness smelled of a sequel, which I don't think Simmons ever gave us?
Anyway, plan to spend a few days with this book.
RECOMMENDED
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