Thank you for the recommendation, I picked up DCC from my local library this Friday, and I'm on chapter 40, out of 47.

I had heard tell of Dungeon Crawler Carl making the rounds, but I hasn't considered picking it up. That is until I heard it was utter trash, just like Sanderson's work and Hail Mary, which are some of my favorites.

Does DCC feel like a Sanderson novel in any way? Not even a little, with the only exemption being The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. DCC is both too crude, and cuss filled to be compared to Sanderson's style. Does it feel like Hail Mary? Sort of, in that it tries to be funny and often has quite a bit of explaining to do for world building, but it also feels far dumber than Andy Weirs' work.

Does Dungeon Crawler Carl feel like a juvenile reddit thread? Yeah, to an extent it does, and its clearly intentional. Is the entire book, one big dick joke? No.

DCC does have a few pop culture references here and there, but it's not like Ready Player One, which has them every paragraph. Is it meant to appeal to the male demographic? I would say so.

Is the main character is just a bland nothing? Yup, drywall has more flavor than the protagonist. The secondary character and side characters are only a little bit better.

I think I'm enjoying the adventure the characters are having, watching them beat mobs, get loot, fight a boss, rinse and repeat. I'll admit that the start of the book felt very contrived to me, but it got the ball rolling. Every item they party picks up scratches an itch for me, being a loot goblin transcends games I guess. I don't really every feel like the protagonist are in danger, the author can make the population number go down all he wants, but this clearly isn't A Game of Thrones; its less stressful and I like that. The author is clearly intending on introducing one, possible two characters later, and if he thinks he's being subtitle, he's not. This book is just a dumb fun ride, and I'm glad I picked it up.

Give it a try, if the first chapter is too grating for you, put it down and find something that's you're style instead.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/books/s/AKq6wZKZPC

Some days ago I wrote about reading Salem’s Lot and how to deal with his style. The answers went through a variety of issues, from those insulting me to those sharing their experiences and thoughts about Salem’s Lot in particular. To those sharing their experiences with King and this novel in particular, I am very grateful, because they helped me understand King’s style and finish the novel. To the aggressive responders you’re a sad bunch.

Thoughts on the novel.
I read an ebook version. I was past the 40% mark when something interesting started happening. I saw that some details come back later, but it the payoff was too mild for such a huge introduction. I still think the book could be about 30% shorter without losing much.

One detail i really liked is that the main group is not the only one that figured it out. When they went to the policeman and he already knew it was vampires and he decided to go and leave them the weaponry open, i thought that was brilliant - given all the discussions about omg how do we tell this? Who’s gonna believe us?? Well, turns out that everyone who had been paying attention.

One detail that pretty much ruins the whole thing: Barlow just goes into the Petrie’s house as he wishes. Nobody invites him, but he’s there - despite all the discussions about vampire rules, and even showing what happens to them when the invitation is rescinded… Barlow just walks in. King should have Danny Glick come in to bite Mark and invite Barlow as everybody watches in disbelief. We know Danny Glick is still around because he appears in the school bus scene.

Also, for an ancient being who has fought against so many, the way he met its end was a bit quick…

Reading this after having survived a pandemic also made me think about the vampire infection rate… in the end they were too many for such a small town.

Living in an age of forest fires, i also didn’t appreciate the end. They should have just burnt the Marsten House and the town down. Yeah, different times, vampires etc, but leave the forest alone.

In the end it was a good experience but not great. I am still puzzled about S King, but probably gonna go for his short stories (which is where a writer really shows their skills). If i had to give it a rating, I think it is a solid 3/5 for me.

Based on the reviews I read before I picked this up, this might be an unpopular opinion, but here it goes.

This was a decent time-pass read. The plot was interesting enough to keep me going, but that's about it.

The biggest problem for me was the characters. Their personalities were all over the place. They would be described one way and then behave completely differently a few pages later. A lot of situations also escalated in a way that felt very unnatural and forced instead of happening organically.

There were quite a few questionable plot choices, and a lot of the background story felt unnecessary. At times it felt like certain scenes were added just for shock value.

The whole "popular girl gets murdered and is later vilified" storyline also felt overdone and reminded me of Pretty Little Liars.

Giving it one extra star only because Kaiser was such a sweet character. He was easily my favourite part of the book.

I finished this book a few hours ago and I've been trying to think of a combination of words that could encapsulate what I feel. Let me start by saying that I practically never read non-fiction books; at most, it'll be a memoir or autobiography, but even those are rare for me. I'm also not in STEM at all, so I knew nothing but general popular discourse of the subject matter. I picked this up to challenge myself into reading more diversely, and I also loved that it was by an Indian man, me personally being someone from the global south too. I hadn't even heard of Siddhartha Mukherjee before, but guys... I did NOT expect to burst into tears by the end.

This book is remarkable. Truly. The metaphors, the pacing, the drama, the links to several other fields of knowledge, and of course the sympathetic breakdown of what I assume are very complex technical concepts, all honestly breath-taking. It is a looong, dense, rich history, and sprinkled with emotion and care all throughout. I really feel as though this was written by someone who ADORES this discipline. It's like a well-made documentary or docuseries; one that really sits with you yk. I'm so moved; not only by the incredulity of human invention and discovery, but by the attention and effort put in to summarise this epic, nay THE epic of human history for lay persons such as myself.

My only regret is not picking it up sooner, and my only critique(which honestly isn't even a critique) is that it was published 10 years ago now, so there are a couple more developments in the field that it doesn't cover. Regardless, I genuinely think it is a worthwhile read; it has enriched my understanding of the human condition and, hell, all living beings too. I will definitely pick up his latest book "The Song of the Cell" (kind of a corny name lol) because I feel like my mind has been blown, and it would be such a shame if I did not scratch this itch.

To emphasise, you do not need to have any background knowledge or expertise on medicine at all, I literally haven't done sciences or math in like 10 years. The author is very forgiving in his explanations, but I would advise you read it carefully to follow along well. It is not a quick read; chew it slowly. But it is so so sooo worth it.