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I grabbed House of Small Shadows based on the recommendations in the thread, and I am loving it, enough that I've put down the third Southern Reach book in favor of finishing it. Also it's a library book so I kind of have to. I'm roughly halfway through, and I really dig Nevill's writing style. Very creepy and atmospheric, but not in a ponderous, heavy way. I recently read a bunch of "haunted house" novels because a friend of mine was designing a board game around the concept, and I think House of Small Shadows fits really well in with similar books of that style, like The Haunting of Hill House or Hell House. I will say that even being halfway through, I'm curious how much it will develop in the direction I'm expecting. I feel like it makes it kind of obvious what's (probably?) going on in the house, but I'm assuming there will be a lot of twists and misdirection in the second half, otherwise it would seem like the book plateaued early. The obvious thing would be that the puppets are possessed or actually made from human remains and are haunted or something, and that Catherine is being held at the house to participate in some kind of ritual. The last big moment I read in the book was when she walked into the workshop to find a wooden mannequin, which I assume is intended to replace her or become her or something. I'm not sure how her childhood and visions/flashbacks connect to that though, beyond that the cripple/ghost children she saw as a kid seem like they were actually the puppets based on the descriptions. But that said, I could be completely off the mark and have no idea. I get the impression that Adam Nevill's a good enough writer that it's totally in the realm of possibility that he's intentionally leading me down the primrose path in this book.
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Aug 22, 2015 07:17
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ravenkult posted:Hey, someone played Darkest Dungeon. That was my first thought as well however, all three of those classes are classic character types from lovecraft. Everybody knows the poor scientists just can't nethack it.
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Aug 22, 2015 23:05
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coyo7e posted:That was my first thought as well however, all three of those classes are classic character types from lovecraft. Everybody knows the poor scientists just can't nethack it. Nah, it was mostly this Helical Nightmares posted:Enter a darkened room without a light source or see a cosmic being, you gain shock. Wait too long around a level and you will begin to accrue shock as well. Once shock reaches 100% you have a minor mental breakdown that can be anything from making noise because you are gibbering to having shadows appear and stalk you. Upon reaching 100% shock resets to 0% and Insanity increases by a certain amount. If insanity reaches 100%, you die. Reach the stairs for the next level however and your shock meter is set to zero, encouraging you to explore efficiently. Which is pretty much identical.
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Aug 24, 2015 00:24
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ravenkult posted:Nah, it was mostly this  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Cthulhu_(role-playing_game)quote:The players take the roles of ordinary people drawn into the realm of the mysterious: detectives, criminals, scholars, artists, war veterans, etc. Often, happenings begin innocently enough, until more and more of the workings behind the scenes are revealed. As the characters learn more of the true horrors of the world and the irrelevance of humanity, their sanity (represented by "Sanity Points", abbreviated SAN) inevitably withers away. The game includes a mechanism for determining how damaged a character's sanity is at any given point; encountering the horrific beings usually triggers a loss of SAN points. To gain the tools they need to defeat the horrors – mystic knowledge and magic – the characters may end up losing some of their sanity, though other means such as pure firepower or simply outsmarting one's opponents also exist. Call of Cthulhu has a reputation as a game in which it is quite common for a player character to die in gruesome circumstances or end up in a mental institution. Eventual triumph of the players is not assumed.
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Aug 24, 2015 07:25
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coyo7e posted:
Yeah, the sanity mechanic is pretty classic. There is no light/dark mechanic.
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Aug 24, 2015 13:09
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Just finished House of Small Shadows. I agree with other assessments of it; the fact that Nevill never comes right out and explains what's going on only adds to the terrifying nature of what's happening. I also appreciate that it leaves a lot of rooms for pet theories as to what actually drove the whole sequence of events.
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Aug 27, 2015 01:26
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MockingQuantum posted:Just finished House of Small Shadows. I agree with other assessments of it; the fact that Nevill never comes right out and explains what's going on only adds to the terrifying nature of what's happening. I also appreciate that it leaves a lot of rooms for pet theories as to what actually drove the whole sequence of events. I mainly want to know who all the people living in the village were. Were they kids that the Master of Revels and his mates had given the reverse-Pinocchio treatment? Because I thought only three or so kids had disappeared since MH Mason had dug up the MoR et al in 1940 or whenever, and they'd been buried for hundreds of years before that.
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Aug 27, 2015 04:33
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Clipperton posted:I mainly want to know who all the people living in the village were. Were they kids that the Master of Revels and his mates had given the reverse-Pinocchio treatment? Because I thought only three or so kids had disappeared since MH Mason had dug up the MoR et al in 1940 or whenever, and they'd been buried for hundreds of years before that. Well it does describe the townspeople as having worn very period dress, and there are three or four other Martyrs mentioned throughout the book, so I took it to mean that the townspeople were other victims/saved individuals from the time of Henry Strader or the other two. Also I wasn't sure whether the kids from Ellyl Field were taken by Mason or Leonard. The fact that Leonard had the green van that's mentioned implies he's the one that took the three or four girls, so they couldn't be Mason's victims. Then again, I was distracted a lot while reading it, maybe I missed something.
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Aug 27, 2015 07:09
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MockingQuantum posted:Well it does describe the townspeople as having worn very period dress, and there are three or four other Martyrs mentioned throughout the book, so I took it to mean that the townspeople were other victims/saved individuals from the time of Henry Strader or the other two. Also I wasn't sure whether the kids from Ellyl Field were taken by Mason or Leonard. The fact that Leonard had the green van that's mentioned implies he's the one that took the three or four girls, so they couldn't be Mason's victims. Then again, I was distracted a lot while reading it, maybe I missed something. Yeah that makes the most sense, it's just that when Catherine attends the pageant in the village she sees some villagers wearing clothes from a century ago, and I'd though at that point the Master of Revels and hare-head and the others had still been buried. I'm sure I'm missing something though.
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Aug 27, 2015 16:39
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Well the book reveals that Leonard is the leader of a cult surrounding the Red House and if there's a cult leader, there's got to be cult followers. I assumed the villagers were a bunch of creepy old weirdos who periodically meet up to hang out and be undead puppets together, sort of thing. At this stage of the book though, it's also heavily implied that things are going a bit Silent Hill and reality's becoming frayed round the edges so idk.
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Aug 27, 2015 23:01
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Read The Beautiful Bureaucrat the other day. I think it fits here for the most part, it definitely is weird with lots of religious symbolism and I'd say fairly unsettling for the most part. Although I'd say the last 1/4 where everything comes together is where it stops being unsettling, unless the philosophical free will/determinism theme worries you.
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Aug 30, 2015 13:21
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Reading The Book of Cthulhu II at the moment, not as good as I but a bunch of middling stories with a couple of great ones. Just got to Michael Chabon's The God of Dark Laughter and it owns. Did he write any more horror stuff? Or was it one and done?
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Sep 6, 2015 22:45
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Finished No One Gets Out Alive. Britain is haunted by an evil entity who promises prosperity in exchange for human sacrifices. Its name is Maggie. Heh.
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Sep 14, 2015 09:59
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Forgall posted:Finished No One Gets Out Alive. Britain is haunted by an evil entity who promises prosperity in exchange for human sacrifices. Its name is Maggie. Heh. About as subtle as the scifi series I read with the small mute grey aliens named in their own language Ross'ell
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Sep 14, 2015 15:20
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Forgall posted:Finished No One Gets Out Alive. Britain is haunted by an evil entity who promises prosperity in exchange for human sacrifices. Its name is Maggie. Heh. I suspect this local legend was at least part of the author's inspiration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis
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Sep 15, 2015 21:05
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Evfedu posted:Just got to Michael Chabon's The God of Dark Laughter and it owns. It was pretty good, but it ended so quickly! I wanted more. It's free to read online, btw.
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Sep 16, 2015 01:34
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Pistol_Pete posted:I suspect this local legend was at least part of the author's inspiration:  Although it's interesting how in all of his books which I've read so far characters become trapped in horrible situations due to being poor.
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Sep 17, 2015 14:56
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Simmon's The Terror is really loving slow. Did an editor never look at it or what.
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Sep 17, 2015 15:00
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ravenkult posted:Simmon's The Terror is really loving slow. Did an editor never look at it or what. Drood is like that too, unfortunately.
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Sep 17, 2015 15:22
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I liked it. All the excruciating detail helps to provide the realism that contrasts with what starts going on. The main question of why the gently caress would you call your ships Erebus and Terror remains unanswered, though. Drood really has no excuse. I wanted to like that book so much but it just doesn't work. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Sep 17, 2015 |
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Sep 17, 2015 18:35
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They were war ships before being repurposed for exploration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Terror_%281813%29
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Sep 17, 2015 20:02
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The Terror has its moments but I felt Simmons didn't have to include every tidbit he came across in his research. Also, this may affect your reading enjoyment but try keeping an eye on how often people say something "softly" in that book. Urgh.
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Sep 17, 2015 22:54
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Cut that book in half and it'd be great instead of nearly OK.
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Sep 18, 2015 02:55
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I think it would have been just as interesting without the monster killing people.
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Sep 18, 2015 15:36
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Forgall posted:
I kind of like that: it gives them realistic motivations. Like in Last Days, the protagonist sticks things out, not because he's some ex-SAS badass who's been hired to get a job done come what may but because he's a struggling film maker who really, desperately needs the money that's been dangled in front of him. ravenkult posted:Simmon's The Terror is really loving slow. Did an editor never look at it or what. Yeah, Simmon's worst flaw is that his books are far too long. He could easily have cut a few hundred pages from The Terror without interfering with the slowly mounting suspense or whatever.
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Sep 20, 2015 09:34
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Pistol_Pete posted:Yeah, Simmon's worst flaw is that his books are far too long. He could easily have cut a few hundred pages from The Terror without interfering with the slowly mounting suspense or whatever. I wouldn't call that the man's worst flaw by a long shot, but yeah it doesn't do The Terror any favors. I swear I caught him repeating the same passages, as if he forgot what he'd already written.
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Sep 20, 2015 15:47
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If you're looking for an excuse to get off Simmons forever, go read The Abomination. I've said it in here before: I actually enjoyed the mountaineering aspect of the novel, but when he revealed the macguffin, I actually threw it across the room in disgust, and I never treat books that way. Here's the Amazon summary: quote:It's 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers -- a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American -- find a way to take their shot at the top. They arrange funding from the grieving Lady Bromley, whose son also disappeared on Mt. Everest in 1924. Young Bromley must be dead, but his mother refuses to believe it and pays the trio to bring him home. Sounds cool, huh? Only read this spoiler if you have no plans to ever read this book -- it turns out that the "abominable secret" is photographs of Hitler loving little boys. I'm not loving kidding. I almost drove to Dan Simmons' house to ask for my money back.
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Sep 20, 2015 16:07
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mdemone posted:If you're looking for an excuse to get off Simmons forever, go read The Abomination. I've said it in here before: I actually enjoyed the mountaineering aspect of the novel, but when he revealed the macguffin, I actually threw it across the room in disgust, and I never treat books that way. What the gently caress.
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Sep 20, 2015 16:12
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I can't say I'd recommend The Terror to anyone. I mean it's like a creature feature, not really a mounting horror kind of thing. There's no need for it to be this long. Also it's kinda weird that the one gay guy (I mean, I assume) on the ship is a piece of poo poo.
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Sep 20, 2015 17:55
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Must be a homophobe, burn all his books.
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Sep 20, 2015 20:52
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hopterque posted:What the gently caress. It gets worse. The denouement of the novel is that the "secret" winds up safely in British hands, where Winston Churchill can use it decades later as blackmail to get Hitler to secretly agree not to invade the British isles.
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Sep 20, 2015 20:53
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thehomemaster posted:Must be a homophobe, burn all his books. Do you trawl all the threads to defend racists and bigots or just the Book Barn? Not saying Simmons is either, but holy poo poo if that character isn't cartoonishly evil.
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Sep 20, 2015 21:36
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ravenkult posted:I can't say I'd recommend The Terror to anyone. I mean it's like a creature feature, not really a mounting horror kind of thing. There's no need for it to be this long. Also it's kinda weird that the one gay guy (I mean, I assume) on the ship is a piece of poo poo. I seem to remember that there's THREE gay guys on the ship. Two that are BADDIES (and who are loving each other) and one who's really nice and generous and who I strongly suspect was only included in the novel to balance out the Bad gays.
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Sep 20, 2015 21:49
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mdemone posted:It gets worse. The denouement of the novel is that the "secret" winds up safely in British hands, where Winston Churchill can use it decades later as blackmail to get Hitler to secretly agree not to invade the British isles. That's almost unbelievably stupid.
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Sep 20, 2015 21:55
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That's hilarious and I hope you cherish the intense emotional impact you got that most books surely fail to evoke.
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Sep 20, 2015 22:49
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ravenkult posted:Do you trawl all the threads to defend racists and bigots or just the Book Barn? e: Seriously, I understand the notion but just... no. There's no reason to trawl for exploitative subtext in everything you see. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 10:50 on Sep 21, 2015 |
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Sep 21, 2015 10:39
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End Of Worlds posted:Austin Grossman's Crooked is a lot of fun and y'all should read it. It's a first-person account by Richard M. Nixon of the secret war behind the Cold War; a war fought with black magic and eldritch abominations. It's really funny and pretty smart, and you can burn through it in like a day probably. Took a look at Amazon's sample of it, realised that the same guy wrote Soon I Will Be Invincible and brought it.
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Sep 21, 2015 12:21
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LashLightning posted:Took a look at Amazon's sample of it, realised that the same guy wrote Soon I Will Be Invincible and brought it. Yeah, I just read the first three pages of Crooked and realized it is extremely my jam. I'm a politics junkie and a sucker for eldritch stories, and you couldn't hope to create a better character than Nixon for this.
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Sep 22, 2015 04:10
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It's much better than Soon I Will Be Invincible.
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Sep 22, 2015 14:20
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The best Simmons is about Obama's Muslim Caliphate taking over the U.S.
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Sep 22, 2015 14:51
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