Rating: Summary: This book is seriously creepy! Review: Hmm...let's see. The title of this book is SHADOWLAND. Sound's creepy. Well, I don't know if I should buy it. Well, the main setting of the story is in a deep dark forest where a young boy's uncle lives, an uncle who happens to be a magician and gets drunk often. CREEPY YET! So you have never heard of this guy: Peter Straub So.....WHAT! I'VE NEVER READ A BOOK IN MY ENTIRE LIFE SO CREEPY AND WELL-WRITTEN! Part 1 Tom, a young boy who starts high school. He meets Del, who is studying magic. They have many mishappenings, and, while defending Del from bullies, Tom learns that the school itself is part of Shadowland. When I finished Part 1 I rolled right along to Part 2. Part 2 Del and Tom go spend the summer at Del's uncle's house, IN THE WOODS. Tom already suspects Del's uncle when he tells Tom never to go into certain rooms. (HMMMM) During this time Tom is also taught the basics of magic, and he comes to realize that magic is not made up of illusions, but it is real. Tom also falls in love with Rose, a girl he meets there who is controlled by Del's uncle. Part 3 Del, Tom, and Rose decide to leave. But during their escape, they get caught and sent back to the house for their punishments. Del's punishment: Getting beaten up by his uncle's massive servants. Extremely strong. Tom's punishment: Crucifixion. With nails. Read the book to find out what happens next. I highly recomment it! JUST LOOK AT THE FRONT COVER OF THE BOOK!
Rating: Summary: Superb, captivating, and haunting Review: Like many other reviews for this book, it has been several years since I first found this book in my attic. My first attempt at reading it was not entirely successfuly, given that I was quite young then. In a subsequent attempt, I found this book otherwise. It has been one of the books that I consider milestones in reading; books that take you to a higher level. To summarize, it has a captivating story, complex charater portrayals, and a seemingly timeless 'feel' to it. Peter Straub takes you on an adventure which has few parallels. I strongly recommend this book.
Rating: Summary: A tangible, earth-shattering journey into magic Review: Peter Straub weaves a mind-blowing web of horror and emotion in this unsettling tale of darkest magic. As with his subsequent novel, The Talisman co-written with Stephen King, Straub demonstrates his unnervingly clear vision of magic at its most real, devastating and climactic potency. Quite simply, this is a book that can be re-read just to absorb Peter Straub's mastery of story telling and literary atmosphere.
Rating: Summary: Another suspenseful and interesting but disappointing effort Review: Peter Straub always has some interesting ideas but I don't think he handles them all that well! Others disagree... This novel about a couple of schoolboys who discover the secret of the heir to a lineage of wizardry has good suspense and some haunting moments, but the ending is VERY disappointing. This would actually have been a better novel WITHOUT the magical aspect, which is largely irrelevant! The brutalized-by-WWI explanation is a bit weak too, IMHO.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant, disturbing, hallucinogenic and mythopoeic Review: I agree with most of what the previous reviewer said about SHADOWLAND's feeling of unreality. Straub tells a straightforward yet allegorical tale of loss of innocence, friendship and sacrifice in such a way that the entire book seems like a "fever dream," like some enchantment cast upon a knight of the Round Table by Morgan LeFay. The effect is unsettling and disturbing. This is certainly one of the most haunting, complex and downright literary "horror" novels ever written. Straub manages to say more about the human condition through "that battered old sword of storytelling," as Tim Underhill would say, than other writers of this genre would ever dream.
Rating: Summary: Interesting story with a disappointing ending Review: Before I read "Shadowland" I went through some of Amazon's review finding comment like "SHADOWLAND at first seems utterly confusing, but by the end everything comes together in ways that will amaze and delite" and "unlike many novels of this genre, the ending is not simplistic or disapointing" I also think that the story is confusing here and there but I was hoping that there was to come the promised not-disapointing ending. Unfortunately I was the one to be disapointed. I must admit the story really keeps you in suspense, however, maybe I didn't get the message, but in my opinion the ending ain't one of the strongest. While reading I had some supposition how the plot would develop and I how things would come out in the end but -as mentioned above- the ending left too many things open (e. g. who/what is Rose?). Though "Shadowland" is entertaining, in the end I felt like having wasted my time cos it wasn't worth it. Well, there surely are books much worse than "Shadowland" but if you have a better one, don't hesitate to read that one first!
Rating: Summary: Unforgettable Review: I first read Shadowland about thirteen years ago. I have read it twice since and there is always some detail that I missed during my previous read(s). Shadowland is a page turner...a truly magical tale.
Rating: Summary: hmmm Review: A story that builds up very slowly, but has an ending which still lingers in my head today...The book is very strong.
Rating: Summary: A classic for lovers of the horror genre... Review: I first picked up a horror novel when I was 11 (King's "Nightshift" collection)-almost 20 years ago, and "Shawdowland" is one of my all time favorites. It has something for everyone: horror, suspense, mystery, and even a little romance thrown in for good measure. It is such an all around "good book" that I am still recommending it to friends over 15 years after I first read it.
Rating: Summary: ENTHRALLING Review: ANOTHE EXAMPLE OF A MASTER AT WORK. SUBTLETIES THAT KING WILL NEVER KNOW, A FABLE AS WELL AS A HORROR NOVEL. SUPERB EXAMPLE OF HOW A BOOK CAN PULL YOU IN WITH ITS CHARACTERS AND TAKE YOU FOR A WILD AND SATISFYING RIDE!
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