I just finished Cell, Stephen King's homage to George A. Romero's zombie movies. This was the first book he wrote since he "retired" in 2004; it's also his first since finishing his magnificent Dark Tower series. I don't know if it was finishing that series, finally, some thirty-odd years after he started it, but the writing style is much more energetic and excited than many of King's older books. The premise is very simple--one day, out of nowhere, somebody (we don't know who) broadcasts a signal over the world's cell phone networks. This signal wipes the minds of anyone who hears it and they are transformed into mindless zombies (although that word is scoffed at by one of the characters, in favor of "phone crazies," or, later, simply "phoners"). A small group of survivors comes together to stay alive and to look for word of their loved ones.
It's close to 500 pages long, but it was a quick read. King typically has a hard time writing believable endings, a problem that manifests itself more clearly in his longer books (which is one of the reasons his short story collections are so great), but I liked the ending to this one. Browsing reader reviews on Amazon and elsewhere, I see that many people didn't.
Overall, a fun read. Not as epic and well-done as The Stand, another end-of-the-world story, but that's hardly damning praise.
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2 comments:
You would also really really like Margaret Atwood's _Oryx and Crake_, if you're into apocalyptic end-of-the-world dystopia novels. I couldn't put it down. There's something so satisfying in reading an account of how we could, conceivably, wreak some pretty horrifying havoc on ourselves. I've gotta tell Chris about it too, since genetic engineering (gone horrifyingly wrong) plays a pretty big part in it.
Amy
Excellent, I will do that. I do, indeed, enjoy those types of scenarios.
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