Dark Advent at The Quarter Mark

Dark Advent has a cover that belongs on a totally different book. What book that is I don't know for sure. Perhaps one that is a great deal cheesier, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is my second run through the book and so far Dark Advent is much closer to the story line of The Stand then Swan Song is. I'm about a quarter finished and the grade school children wading in the cave of demonic lava has yet to materialize. I'm still holding out hope for the red faced demon on the front however. A couple characters are contenders.


I scanned the inside so others could revel in the glory, but the in-law's dial up is not doing it. I'll post it a bit later. It is a sight to behold.

This book is very close to The Stand. I loved The Stand and as I mentioned before I lost count of the number of times I have read it. But I cannot be the only person who wonders what Flagg was doing all the time. I know I wondered what sort of evil shenanigans he was up to. Him and all his friends. The answer lays within the covers of this book. A school kid revenge by dragging. Random rape and murder is what they would've been up to if Mr. King hadn't pulled the punch. I hope even greater horrors are awaiting me. I read it so long ago I don't remember what exactly is in store.

... and then on to Dark Advent

Finished The Stand yesterday at my sub-job. Being a substitute teacher may be a soul killing job but at least if I choose wisely I can spend the day with my nose in a book and be paid $153 a day to do it. I feel that's a pretty fair trade off. And let me tell you yesterday was quite the day. The first four periods of the day I was supposed to have the lil' bastards read chapter 7 and 8 from Night by Elie Wiesel. Since the kids were reading for the first four periods then I could too. I had indeed chosen wisely. And as it happened the first class was rather fun. The kids were a bit chatty but for the most part they just read the book. I had to shush them a couple times but no biggy. Towards the end one of the class one of the students remarked 'This must be the worst class you've had, huh?' I looked at him for a second and it dawns on me. He is being serious. 'No', I tell him 'This is far from the worst class ever.' He asks me to tell the story. I think about it for a minute and then say 'If you guys keep reading silently (so I can continue to read) I will tell you the tale of my worst day ever, the last five minutes of class.'

They all settled in to read. And I regaled them with the fine anecdote of a profoundly bad day. Seventh grade science. Dissection. Sheep eyeballs. A class who hadn't done many dissections. A recipe for disaster? Yes, quite. Started off ok. Then the resident dillhole decides to make fake puking noises. This makes some of the seventh grade girls actually throw up. Gets worse. The same dillhole decides for no reason and completely unprompted that it would be a fantastic idea to LICK one of the years-old-formaldehyde-soaked eyeballs. It turned out poorly for him and the rest of the class when he began projectile vomiting. Now that, friends and neighbors is what you'd call a truly horrific day.

But yesterday was an altogether ok sort of day. The only tiny wrinkle was the third class. They decided Night was a very boring book. (I read it in the eighth grade, it is anything but dull. Stayed with me forever is what it did.) They also wanted to just talk the whole class. They also though I wouldn't do anything. Three randomly assigned detentions later they got the point. After that it was guerrilla warfare. Many kids in the class clearly had read the book Frindle by Andrew Clements. That is another very good book. So is the prank they pull on the teacher. Nicholas Allen reads about the blackbird and how when it chirps it is impossible to tell where it came from. (Doppler Effect I bet). It's true too. It not only works with bird chirps but with loud tongue clicks. So for the last twenty minutes of class I was subjected to loud peeps and clicks and I couldn't be sure who did them. Not the worst thing that can happen. But still annoying. (and also a bit funny).

But the important thing here is that during my tour of hell I was able to finish The Stand and then started Dark Advent by Brian Hodge. I am still only 30 pages into Advent more than 24 hours because well, I spent a good portion of my day punishing my liver.

So a bit about The Stand. I won't talk much about it because I intend (HA) to post about all three books at the same time. This time through I was waiting for the massive trip to Vegas and then the trip back. I remember it being looooong. It was my second favorite portion of the book (the best part is the beginning the filth and chaos). This time it just seemed short. It still has to be the longest dénouement of any book I've read ever. But this time I was able to read it in the time between telling mouth breathers to shut up and read.

Other thing I thought about. Who was the main character? As my college professor friend Gavin Keulks told me in English 101. 'To find the main character ask yourself who changes'. So if I understand it correctly Harold Emery Louder and Larry Underwood share the title. Larry changes from being a real asshole to being an ok guy. Harold Louder changes from being a douche to being an ok guy to being a total asshole. In other words Harold and Larry change places. Just the way I see it.

A side note here. This commitment to read The Stand, Dark Advent and Swan Song is KILLING me. Under the Dome is out. Hard to wait. I guess UTD will wait. Also Advent is great even 30 pages in. Maybe this time the red skinned demon and the flaming grade school children will appear in the book. Or perhaps the cover has nothing to do with the book whatsoever.

More updates as events warrant.

The Stand at the half way point ...

I don't even remember how many times I've read this book. It is and remains my very favorite book about the apocalypse. I am at the point however where the book gets a bit less interesting for me. I enjoy the whole 'society breaking down' bit but I find that I liked it best when all the people were by their onesome (Mother Abigail). The book seems to bog down a bit when they begin to get together. I'm at that point now. In my mind I see like the scene from T2 when the T-1000 gets frozen in liquid nitrogen then is shot. The pieces all separate and are far apart. I am at the point in The Stand where all little chunks clump up. The book is still fantastic, I just like it more when they are wandering and scavenging. Also since I've been through the book countless times I know good parts are coming up. They wander and scavenge on the way to Vegas and on the way back too. So I remember that it's worth it. Reading it with 36 year old eyes has been a richer experience then the 20 year old eyes that read it last time.


This trip through the book I've been reading a bit more carefully than I have ever done (I tweeted The Stand for a bit but got bored). I have found WAY more errors than the glaring one I wrote about long ago. It's been more than a year and Mr. King has yet to respond to the open letter. I won't hold my breath. More updates as events warrant.

The Hopkins Manuscript by R. C. Sherriff

I finished The Manuscript some time ago. I enjoyed it. It is on of those books that has sat for a bit on 'The Bookshelves of Doom.' With this book however I am not too terribly unhappy at myself for not getting to it sooner. This book was defiantly a 'literature' type book. In other words a book for more high brow reading. Still a good book even accounting for all its highfalutin words an' such.


I will try not to spoil anything for those who may want to read it sometime. The basic premise of the book is that the moon is somehow or other getting closer and closer to the Earth and will hit. The reason for the alteration of the moon's orbit is never given so once again I think the crafty 'Alien Space Bats' have been at work. They seem to appear in a lot of sci-fi books.


So the moon hits the earth. I understand that this book is both a satire and also pre-space flight but c'mon! If the moon hits the earth it will do plenty of damage. I'm nearly certain the moon is not mostly hollow and if it was where did all the metal come from?!?


All of that is not the most disturbing part though. I was amazed at how in the face of this global cataclysm the wealthy still treated the poor like garbage. 'Well everyone is dead .. tut tut. By jiggies look a survivor. Oh wait he's a gardener. Let's all not even talk to him.'


All that aside, I did enjoy this book a bunch. I did however enjoy Moonfall by Jack McDevitt better as well as Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Now don't get me wrong here. I did enjoy the Manuscript, it had that special charm only old books can pull off. I simply think the basic plot has been pulled off a bit better in other works.

It's Only Temporary

I pushed the 'pause button' on The Hopkins Manuscript and took this book with me on my sub-job today. I started it when the kids had study hall, continued it on my lunch break and finished it when kids were having silent reading. All-in-all I spent about 2 1/2 hours on it. It's Only Temporary was even better than I remember it being. It follows Sean for his last eight hours as he travels to see his ex-girlfriend and reads like a rocket sled going down hill with no brakes. Unstoppable in other words. Just a fantastic ride where the outcome has been set out from the beginning. Closest I remember to something like this is 13 reasons why by Jay Asher. Highest Recommendation. Read it and right now!