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In literature you'll find that some people are fan-boys for authors, the type of people who even if their favourite author has lost their way and churned out some total dross recently, they'll still buy all the books that author writes, and in many cases they'll buy the hard-back copy rather than waiting for the paperback release, and when it comes to Stephen King - that's me.
His recent Dark Tower series in my eyes at least has left a lot to be desired compared to his previous writings, the classic tales of the 70's, 80's and 90's that made him the household name he is now. On reading pre-release reviews of 'Cell' it appeared that King had turned it around and released another classic tale, some people went as far as saying it was his best work since 'The Stand' (which is my own personal favourite Stephen King novel), however I don't agree, in fact the title of this review says it all - its 'The Stand.... Lite'.
The general basis of the storyline is that of a post-apocalyptic America, Clay Riddell is an out of luck Comic Book Artist who's finally hit it big and had 2 Graphic
Novels accepted for publishing when the whole world changes, Day becomes night, Night becomes day, people who were normal start going crazy, some of them become savages and things that were taken for granted are no longer. In the middle of all this he has fears that his ex-wife and son are caught up in all of this and decides that he has to get home to Kent Pond in Maine (Reviewer's note - all Stephen King's books have a reference to Maine, its where he lives) to see what's happened to them.
Along the way he meets up with Tom a middle-aged gay man and Alice a young teenager both of whom fear that their families have been caught up in the madness that the worlds turned to, not long the survivors get an idea that what's happened to the crazy people is something to do with the mobile phone's they were carrying when everything went wrong.
One place where this book didn't seem right for me was the story-building - it was a bit shocking for me when within 5 pages of the first chapter the horror had started already, don't get me wrong it didn't hinder the story too much, but it just seemed that there wasn't any build up, you get a couple of pages of normal life which only cover a couple of minutes and then bang, the worlds gone crazy, that in itself didn't sit well with me. However after that, the story-telling does have an air of old-school Stephen King about it, the anti-hero taking charge, a mysterious and eerie quiet in the world and an impending sense of a world-changing incident about to happen.
The thing that I enjoy about Stephen Kings writing in tales of this ilk is that they have an air of 'could it happen to us' about them - yes the tale's are a bit far-fetched, however King leaves you considering the possibilities of it all and plants that seed of doubt in your mind so well and its that kind of horror that's kept his fans interested.
The characters do have an air of development to them as well - each character reveals different parts about themselves throughout the book, and at times you could see it coming but at others it does throw you off course for a couple of pages, until it then settles in to your mind and you get used to the idea, but then King will throw another branch your way that once again leaves you questioning your ideas at what's going on - this is what I found kept me going throughout the book, even at the hard spells where it just felt like King was padding the book out
My only problem with the characters was that I didn't find myself feeling for their plight, they didn't engross me in the tale as much as I'd like from a book that I've just paid £18 for. What doesn't help is that hardly any of them seem to stay in the story long enough, and it doesn't help when 3 quarters of the way through the story a new group are added to the story and try as I might, I just couldn't find it in myself to be bothered about their fate.
Overall feelings? Having said all of that above, I didn't dislike Cell and actually found it an enjoying read at times, even going as far as being happy I shelled out the extra couple of quid to get the Hardback edition - but it does have a lot of similarities to The Stand, the 'Pulse' wiping out a lot of the world, A 'Good Vs Evil' storyline, The central characters first hearing from the leader of the evil via dreams, and a climatic ending - it was all done 28 years ago in The Stand, however back then a lot of the technologies mentioned and used in Cell weren't even common knowledge back then and the use of them in this tale makes it even more chilling.
So if you've got a few quid to spare and want something different then give it a go, but if you're choosing between this and another one, then wait for the paperback release.
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I haven't read this since the week after it came out, so I haven't really thought much about it lately but you're so right about the lack of build-up to the horror. I got through Cell in an afternoon and didn't think it was his best work. It seems more about the thrills than the actual characters, which was a bit of a shame.
ailuj34 13.05.2006 20:10
Good review, I love his books!!Julia
DarkDave 16.03.2006 22:16
I take it you didn't cry when Alice took a cinder block to the head then?! Just me then hehe...nice review, must read The Stand next...DD
Advantages: For King fans, it's another book by the master of horror and suspense Disadvantages: If you are not a King fan, then its another book by King!
bonsi6337 30.12.2007 (30.12.2007)
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Review of Cell - Stephen King
Mar 15th, 2006
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