Book List 1: The King in Yellow
I'm going to try to be more active this semester - I ought to have the time, since I'm not doing something as stressful as two writing-intensive courses with a zombie laptop & a Linux box that doesn't wanna talk to the print toaster, just a WI lab that's four bloody hours long - and this doesn't depend as much on my muse being a live person. This will hopefully be a weekly thing; at least for now, I'm going to try to stick to stuff available, legally, for free. I'm also going to make an effort to avoid spoilers, at least in the post itself. (Feel free to include spoilers in the comments, though; I won't LJ-cut the reviews if I can help it, so those who want to avoid spoilers can avoid the comments.)
The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers. (Alternate site)
This book is something of a mixed bag - the stories in the King in Yellow cycle, the first four, are good. They are, however, noticeably dated as they're set in 1920…and were written in 1895. HP Lovecraft found them impressive and references them. Me? I find them more readable than Lovecraft. (Sorry, Lovecraft fans - the guy seriously reads like he was being paid by the word.)
Of these four, the first, The Repairer of Reputations, is the most badly dated…and took a couple readings to make sense, as the narrator's certifiable. The Mask is much better, about a love triangle and a potion that turns things to stone. Things turn out about as well as one'd expect. In the Court of the Dragon is the last gasps of the narrator's sanity.
The fourth story in the book, and last one that directly connects to the King in Yellow, is The Yellow Sign. This is the one most reading -- two people, an artist and his model, slowly get closer...except they're doomed. So very, very doomed. ^^♥
The rest…I found a mixed bag. Most of it still belong in that old genre of 'weird,' but…none are quite as good as the fourth story. I'd advise skipping through D'Ys unless you like romance. The following one, The Prophet's Paradise, is made up of a group of sub-stories, some of which even make sense. It's enjoyable nonetheless.
After that, we get to another 'cycle,' of three stories about artists in Paris. Four Winds is about an artist returning a starving cat to its owner. Overall, I rate his sanity as dubious. First Shell has yet more people of dubious sanity and Paris getting shelled. Our Lady of the Fields is more romance with, amazingly, a sane artist. Even more amazing is the doom level. (Not explaining.)
Rue Barrée is, like most of the stories in this book, about artists, and like D'Ys is a romance. Also like D'Ys, I'd advise skipping it if it's not your cup of tea.
The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers. (Alternate site)
This book is something of a mixed bag - the stories in the King in Yellow cycle, the first four, are good. They are, however, noticeably dated as they're set in 1920…and were written in 1895. HP Lovecraft found them impressive and references them. Me? I find them more readable than Lovecraft. (Sorry, Lovecraft fans - the guy seriously reads like he was being paid by the word.)
Of these four, the first, The Repairer of Reputations, is the most badly dated…and took a couple readings to make sense, as the narrator's certifiable. The Mask is much better, about a love triangle and a potion that turns things to stone. Things turn out about as well as one'd expect. In the Court of the Dragon is the last gasps of the narrator's sanity.
The fourth story in the book, and last one that directly connects to the King in Yellow, is The Yellow Sign. This is the one most reading -- two people, an artist and his model, slowly get closer...except they're doomed. So very, very doomed. ^^♥
The rest…I found a mixed bag. Most of it still belong in that old genre of 'weird,' but…none are quite as good as the fourth story. I'd advise skipping through D'Ys unless you like romance. The following one, The Prophet's Paradise, is made up of a group of sub-stories, some of which even make sense. It's enjoyable nonetheless.
After that, we get to another 'cycle,' of three stories about artists in Paris. Four Winds is about an artist returning a starving cat to its owner. Overall, I rate his sanity as dubious. First Shell has yet more people of dubious sanity and Paris getting shelled. Our Lady of the Fields is more romance with, amazingly, a sane artist. Even more amazing is the doom level. (Not explaining.)
Rue Barrée is, like most of the stories in this book, about artists, and like D'Ys is a romance. Also like D'Ys, I'd advise skipping it if it's not your cup of tea.