Rating: 
Summary: exciting adult fairy tale
Review: Only twenty-seven, Thom Kindred needs time to recover from the debilitating stroke he recently suffered. He chooses to go back to his favorite place, Castle Bracken where he once lived in a nearby cottage as a little boy. Back in his wonderful salad days, his mother regaled Thom with tales of mythical creatures until she suddenly died. Upon her death, his father sent Thom away to school where his innocence and belief in these fairy tale beings were quickly stripped away.
However, Thom's current return home rouses a malevolent being out of his slumber. As strange happenings occur, Thom wonders if the stroke destroyed his mind more than the crippling of his body. As friend and foe arrive for the final battle, the two sides try to woo Thom to join them for deep in the recesses of his brain resides the knowledge that could save or destroy the secret world of the fairies and elves.
ONCE... is an exciting adult fairy tale that is at its best as Thom discovers his blood relationship to fairies even as he questions his sanity. Fans will either adulate or abhor the tale when James Herbert goes into incredible depth to describe the mythological society and includes several erotic excesses because the action goes dormant. Thom is a fine hero internally struggling between good and evil and his own sanity. Readers of adult fantasy with an emphasis on the thoughts of the cast will want to read James Herbert's tale, but the author's fans need to understand the action is more deliberate than in his previous novels. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: This was bad.
Review: Sometimes-not much I usually would have gave up-you just wish you had the time back you wasted reading a terrible novel. I tried,I really tried to like this novel. But it went nowhere,SLOW! What we have is Thom Kindred,after having a stroke,returns to his childhood home of castle bracken. After all kinds of weird going on,Thom starts to see faries.Then we are introduced to the faerefolkis. Now with names like rigwit and a semen stealing sucubus,we only know were this is heading. But Mr. Herbert tries to put a mystery behind it. Thom learns his father was part of the faerefolkis,Jonathan Bleeth. Jonathan was killed by an IRA bomb. Jonathan was son to Sir Russel. Extremely wealthy and now on his death bed. A wicked witch finds out that Thom is the sole aire to the fortune,so she plots with Sir Russel's bumbling son Hugo-who is not on the will-to rid Thom from the will.Throw in some faries and evil witches and you got yourself the novel Once. Of course everything works out in the end.
I really tried to like this. But after it was all said and done I wasnt to happy with myself. This is what gives fiction a bad name.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmm.... does Herbert still have the touch?
Review: This book makes me wonder. His recent works, like "48" and "Others" have all been pretty moribund dredges when compared to his older material, like "Fog," "Rats," "Ghosts of Sleath," "The Haunting," or "Moon." This book has the dashed-off, unpolished, pulpy feel of a John Saul novel, or dare I say... R. L. Stine? Horror authors have gotten seemingly lazy lately, thinking that by adding straight out old-school supernatural horror with pyschological complexities, you automatically have yourself a winner of a novel. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Anyway, Kindred returns to his old brooding house (Gods, is this an overused plotline). Once there he finds his heritage is not what it seems (another old gimmick, this was a favorite's of H.P. Lovecraft). There's some saucy dialogue and spicy scenes between him and a faerie... but eh, what's the use? This book is rote, run-of-the-mill, and you could see every "twist" (I use the word lightly) from a mile away. It is competently written, however. But with all the great books out there to read, I simply can't recommend this one, even to Herbert enthusiasts.
Rating: 
Summary: Once is enough..
Review: This book was worth the read, it had things in it
which i had never read and will probably never read
again. perplexing as it might be it was a joke for
me to read james herbert trying to incorporate this
fairy land mythology and god, its obvious he is one of those
people that has made up his own religion. the story is less real because of that since i am a christian and know he was off, it was funny i dont think it should turn you off towards buying the book. it was not a religious book i just thought his shallowness on the subject was pretty hillarious. another thing that was perplexing is how james put this
character thom kindred through so much right when he was supposedly recovering from a stroke, james herbert's way of rescuing his character through this marathon of sometimes bleak terror was to save him with ''little fairy sprinkles? and elf juice." this supposedly was to be like gatorade or something.
they might as well put a POWER BAR in his mouth. to top it off james almost kills thom kindred who is the main character's physical therapist. this book had its good points more than not, it was interesting but it never really finished off correctly.
well at least not how i would have liked at all. the imagination seemed to be the same or monotone throughout
the book, he always came up with new things but they began to
lack depth, perhaps it was just the way he told it. the last thing that was really sloppily handled was the
suggestion that thom was seemingly supposed to be jesus's christ replacement i mean common. this book was written by man and although some people are smart enough to get around it when it comes to strorytelling james herbert could not escape the
faults and errors of himself as a man coming into this book
in the telling. you cant try and explain things by being whimsical
james you sit there and eat a bag of doritos and want to explain the meaning of life. i know its a book but common bro..
Rating:
Summary: A bit boring, but with an awesome ending
Review: This is a great idea for a book, but the execution is boring. The ending though is awesome, so scary and evil...absolutely amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a childs book!
Review: This is considered to be in the Sci-Fi/Fanatsy category, but it's DEFINITELY not a fairy tale for a child. It has an errotic, sensual quality that an adult can most assuredly appreciate. I enjoyed this book very much and found it hard to put down. You have to be a fan of works such as this to fully appreciate Herbert's flowery English prose. But, he definitely transports you to a realm of unseen worlds and fascinating characters, leaving you breathless to find out what it all means.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, not great
Review: This is not one of Herbert's best, although not too bad. Harry Shannon's novel "Night of the Beast" handles a similar theme in a more driving, potent manner.Once is fine to add to your Herbert collection but not worth going out of the way for IMHO
Rating:
Summary: This little-understood novel is a masterpiece of knowledge
Review: This novel has in it an unmistakable undercurrent of pure passion and childish love. James still has something within him that most of us have lost or never known: wonder, reverence and even SEX with nature itself. James is almost unique as a man in that he actualy loves what he deosn't understand... at least for a while! Oh ye of little brains, don't buy this novel. You who remain true to pure fantasy of truth, buy it! Don't you think James knows how unreadable some of it is? He is giving it to you anyway, despite his reputation. Oh, what the hell: I love it, and I've read over two thousand fictional pieces. I am not undercultured. I appreciate this novel. One of the only stories I have ever read that can make me horny, repulsed, sad and happy all at the same time. But, is it just a story? That is its mystique... James YOU ARE A GENIUS!
Rating:
Summary: Once I started this I couldn;'t put it down:)
Review: Thom Kindred suffered a stroke, and in order to recuperate body and mind he returns to the land he grew up in, where he can refamilarize himself with the comforts of home.
However his surroundings are not exactly as he remembered them, for example he comes across a beautiful blonde in the forest who happens to be of the faerie folk. Just when he feels happiness at the magical realm around him Kindred discovers where there is wonder there also can be great evil, placing his life in peril for reasons he can not even fathom.
Herbert is truly a wordmeister extraordinairre writing a modern fable/fairy tale must be a challenge to any author. He meets the challenge and surpasses it using his own obvious sense of wonder as templates for the setting and characters in this novel. This novel is as stated for adults as some of the descriptions are a little risque. Capital B but here though it is an adult tale that's main appeal is to reach the inner child inside all of us, if scaring us in the meantime that would be any horror novelists bonus I would think.
Some true horror affeciandoes may complain that it is not that scary a tale, I would debate that it is so excellently written I can skip the frights for one novel.
Rating:
Summary: so bad, it's almost scary
Review: What was James Herbert thinking? This novel is part fantasy, part horror and with a chunk of soft porn thrown in as well. And none of it works. For a big book, there seems very little in it and you engage with none of the characters.
Disabled guy goes to live in cottage, falls in love with fairy, battles bad witch. The end (except for a rather terrible and unlikely suggestion at the end where it went all sloppy and mentioned sick children and changing the world).
James Herbert has been off his form for a while now and this is a clear step backwards. Best avoided.
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