Once - James Herbert

...sprite like faery creatures? Once is an interesting departure for Herbert into a land of faeries and elves. You could be forgiven for thinking that the great British doyen of Horror Land had been reading Tolkien or maybe JM Barrie, such is the sprinkling of macabre pixie dust that comes with this particular territory. I suspect that Conan Doyle would have been an influence during the writing of this story too. OK, this book does work. The reason ...
...a story and gauge the pace so that it quickens as you press on through the chapters. For me, this kept the pages turning even though it isn't one of his stronger books. Probably the book’s greatest strength is the author’s immaculate pen pictures of his main characters. Thom Kindred is the kind of under-played hero that we would all like to be (although the carpenter parallels with Jesus towards the end are plain barmy) whilst Nell and Hugo are ...

an_enigmatic_brummie 12.12.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

...because the horror within Once .. isn't about the gory stuff that he used to write about. In many ways this book reminds me of the Magic Cottage. The horror within both books are similar. The constant fight against good and evil, the balance of life and what happens when someone delves into something that they don't know anything about. Its more subtle but still has the impact of making you think. Perhaps this is the true horror. Horror of nature, ...
...James is going, its going to take a little getting used to but I think I will still like it. So if you like subtle horror about fairies, love, passion and belief, get this book and sit under the big toadstool in the garden. But remember, take the heater out there... .its cold! ...

chrissiepops 27.12.2001 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

Herbert was once an old favourite of mine but for some reason I stopped reading him some years ago as his books just weren't frequent enough for me and sometimes a little hit & miss. Browsing through the local WHSmith last week, desperate for some new reading material, I decided to give Once a try; I'm glad I did. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~About the author.~~~~~~~~~~~ James Herbert is billed as the most successful British writer of horror in the ...
...~~~~~~~~~~~About the book.~~~~~~~~~~ Once was published in 2001 by Macmillan and retails at £6.99 for the paperback. I bought my copy for the bargain price of £3.99 at my local branch of WHSmith. The cover is black with a circular cut-out under which you can view the inside cover on which a rather nice illustration nestles. The quality is good and suggests a good old spooky read. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The story~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is the tale of Thom Kindred, ...

Kes30 03.06.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

...books to me have gone downhill in a big way. ’48 was good, but Others, Creed and The Ghosts Of Sleath were well below par. Once is much better, but in the words of my ex history teacher ‘There’s room for improvement…’ Thanks for reading. Borg © 2002 ...

Borg 29.10.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

James Herbert has for many years been at the forefront of British horror writing. His output hasn’t been prodigious but for the main part, it has been well crafted and original. This fairly recent book is: ‘A scary Tale of Faerefolkis & Evildoers, of Lovers & Erotic Passion, of Horror & Belief. Written only for Adults by James Herbert’. I can’t argue with this description, provided by Herbert himself. In fact, should I bother with the rest of this ...
...of the book is introduced by the author in the old fashioned tradition of a brief synopsis of the part. For example, Part one is introduced thus: ‘In which a young man returns to his childhood home and learns of things he never though possible’. A nice touch and fits with Herberts aim to produce an old-fashioned fairy tale for grown ups. However, you can get too much of a good thing. The main character in the book is Thom Kindred (yes, really!) ...

MarkKerr 13.10.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

...a copy of James Herberts Once and thought I’d give it a go. I’m glad I decided to try this book however it was not exactly what I was expecting, slightly less of the gruesome horror and more of a book to make you think about whats real and whats not but don’t get me wrong theres still a hint of the traditional horror. Once is about a guy called Thom Kindred who suffers a serious accident and after leaving hospital returns to his ...
...Hugo also lives in the estate as it is owned by his now dying father, Sir Russel. Thom moves in to Little Bracken, where he grew up with his mother until she committed suicide while Thom was just 10 and Hugo and his father still live in Castle Bracken, these are some distance apart. When Thom has moved back in he is flooded with memories of his mother and is safe to say that he is portrayed as mentally a little unstable. Soon, however, events begin ...

Lynne83 07.01.2003 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

...book or film I'm sure) Once is a horror novel with a large difference. Thom Kindred returns to his old family home after many years away; returning because of illness. He comes to the one place that seemed to give him peace in his life, Little Bracken. It has a lush forest and the nearby Castle Bracken, where is old school chum Hugo lives. Returning brings back many fond memories of his mother who passed away at age ten. Soon however, Thom gets ...
...ultimate evil... Generally speaking, Once is absolutely well written, with very few faults to speak of. The main thing enjoyed about it (and something I am sure you'll enjoy too if you read it) is the fact that it is so different from most other things on the market. The one fault I can bring to it is that there are a few things that are simply not explained enough, such as Thoms father, and his destiny with Jennet... IT'S MAIN DISTINGUISHING FEATURE ...

eaglesas 26.03.2002 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

Author James Herbert has been a favourite author of mine for many years. Although not as prolific as some authors in the genre, he has written 19 books (all of which I have read). His writing has matured over the years from plain "gory" to a more subtle horror, mixed with fantasy and eroticisisom.His plots are quite varied and he does not seem to follow a standard theme. ..........................................................................................The ...
...brain haemorrage resulting in a car crash, returns mentally and physically damaged to his childhood home "Little Bracken". This is set in a vast estate of woodland, with "Castle Bracken" a gloomy old mansion where his mother, Bethan, was tutor of Hugo, the son of Sir Russell Bleeth and Thom's childhood friend. After Bethan's death when Thom was 10, he was sent to boarding school and this is the first time he has returned. He is greeted by Hugo ...

Elffriend 27.01.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

If you still believe in fairies (myself admitted) then you must read this book! This book has some poor reviews but I really liked it - then again I am a kid at heart! I am a big fan of James Herbert but I generally don't read best-sellers - this time I made an exception - after I read the blurb i just had to have it!!! It mixes horror with fantasy: including witches / goblins / fairies etc... If you are scared of spiders you should be warned ...
...probably give you nightmares for years to come (as it did me). You should also be warned (although you may expect it if you are an avid James Herbert fan) of the sexual content... it was very strange!!! The only thing that made this book hard to read was that I had to keep throwing it to the floor when it got too scary! ...

amylovelace 19.10.2007 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

I was previously a big James Herbert fan but after reading this I'm not so sure. As an adolescent II grew up reading The Rats Trilogy, The Fog, Haunted e.t.c and loved the macabre still and unlikely heros therin. This starts off ok then turns into pure porn with pointless sex and violence at every turn. Maskerading itself as a modern faery story along like an adult Brothers Grimm it lulls you into a false sense of security with its talks of fairies ...
...no means a prude but if I wanted this sort of book I would read something by Jackie Collin's. It is dissapointing as the last Herbert book I read "48" was a true classic but this may well put me off buying any more of his novels. It is on the top bookshelf I think I will give it to my son when he gets older. Saves him buying magazines! ...

dididave 25.02.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

i chose to read this book after reading several of his previous books, whilst i found the story interesting the pace did tend to drag at times. the story line did seem to be original, as are most of james herberts plot lines, which made it worth reading as i found myself needing to know how this story finished. however, this need was sometimes dampened by the slowing down of the action. it was easy to pick up but also quite easy to put down after ...

rebeccaskoyles 09.03.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert

My initial thoughts on reading this book was when is it going to get going. I did not think that this book was up to his usual thrill all the way through, books of the past. It was almost as if the character had been toned down from his past books. I really wanted this book to suddenly grab me by the throat but it didn't happen. When I had finished was well I've read the latest James Herbert book so I have read all of them now. I always can't wait ...

rancethebus 11.10.2004 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Once - James Herbert