The Waste Lands, by Stephen King: a Review

The Waste Lands by Stephen King

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Deus ex Machina, only more like Demon ex Machina in this case, is a plot device of which I'm quite weary. The items which make it difficult for me to say "I liked it," are the gratuitous rape scene, the puppet-like quality to all characters encountered by our ka-tet, and the utter lack of originality in terms of the nomenclature of rudeness. I still think Mid-World is some extremely distant future version of our own world, but that doesn't mean that cultures can't be far enough removed from the here and now, on occasion, that maybe a vulgar cretin addressing a woman rudely might not immediately fall back on slurs regarding her reproductive organs or the use thereof. When the same characters are talking to men in a similar tone, they're not referred to as, now I must stop myself, is there a word quite as vulgar and offensive as the "C Word" for describing the male anatomy. I suppose there isn't, and if the men in this book were addressed by it, I'd obviously have learned it. Similarly, the men aren't insulted by labels of sexual appetite, and I felt that even if the characters in this otherwhenly world are sexist jerks, King could have at least been more creative with it.
This book also stirred up some cognitive dissonance with the issue of equating mental illness with danger. That's an overdone theme, and an inaccurate one. Most mentally ill individuals are not dangerous. Yes, specific mental illnesses carry greater propensity toward actions which endanger others, King's series seems to be going quite overboard with this theme.
I want to know if Roland makes it to the Dark Tower. I really do. There were parts of this book that I found deeply compelling, but King is making it hard for me to like the journey.
One final criticism- Eddie's character, after they begin meeting other MidWorld inhabitants, seems hasty and sloppy. He seems to be falling apart, slipping from full bodied character down into illogically driven occasional plot device.

Dearly, Beloved - by Lia Habel: a Review

Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes. Lia Habel's high tech with a Victorian twist world, rife with holographic edifices reminiscent of the world before the second ice age, took on a broader life in Dearly, Beloved that left me smiling for hours. The Characters from Dearly, Departed are here given the freedom to interact in new environments and blossom into themselves. Because the plot in the second book of the Gone with the Respiration series is less immediately catastrophic than the kidnapping plus zombie apocalypse scenario set forth in the first, the reader gets to see the characters in their daily lives and learn more about their world.

Of course, true to form, Habel doesn't leave anyone's world in tact for long. All too soon the fissures in the calm facade begin to show. Pamela's panic attacks prove to be not only merited, but nearly prophetic - Nora's independence leads her back into danger - Dr. Dearly's solution to the Laz proves to be too little to quell tensions between the living and the dead. Characters like Michael, who at first seemed simply callous, grow into full fledged villain-worthy unlikability while the seemingly vapid Vespertine blossoms into a deep woman with intricate motivations. Habel's approach to Bram in Dearly, Beloved is far more entertaining. Gone is the tired "I'm no good for you, I'm too dangerous," droning, replaced instead with a young man who doesn't pretend that he knows what's best for Nora at every turn, but instead allows her to make her own decisions. Sure, he continues to weigh in on her options, and she continues to at least consider the words coming out of his cold lips, but the dynamic morphs into something far more healthy and rather beautiful.

Although my experience with the zombie genre is limited to perhaps a dozen books, Dearly, Beloved has proved to be the most enjoyable. I look forward to the saga's conclusion, which can not come soon enough.