Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Dan Wells => Topic started by: pacatak on May 17, 2009, 06:49:02 PM
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I ordered your book from the UK and had it shipped here to Utah. Loved it; can't wait for the next. My family is full of voracious readers so I took your book to the homestead in Idaho and a couple of my brothers read it and liked it. Or so I thought. I made a phone call home last week, shooting the breeze and all. I brought up with my mother that my younger bro had read the book and liked it. She said that's not what he told her. He said that, "no one should be reading that stuff." I was surprised, cause my fam has always loved this kinda weird stuff. The X-Files was a Sunday night tradition growing up.
Upon my brother's recommendation my mother threw the book in the trash. When I heard this I kinda lost it. I told her that was a book I wanted to keep in my library for a long time, and that I had to special order if from England, and I left the book there for people to read, not so they could unceremoniously toss it in the trash. If they wanted to trash they book they should buy their own to dispose of.
Luckily she was able to retrieve it from the garbage, and it hadn't been soiled. I had to laugh at the whole thing. Though you might want to know that a mormon housewife has seen fit to trash your book. Maybe that means you've arrived, IDK.
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Well...I personally do think that it's a bad idea for most kids below a certain stage of social development to read this book. Past a certain age I doubt there's anyone who would get ideas from it that they wouldn't have already gotten elsewhere, but I think that if they read this book when they're too young, certain readers could develop an unhealthy fixation on the fear that they themselves might develop into serial killers. The problem with the book for such kids is that it doesn't present a repeatable way to let out the impulses—the option that works for John is just not available to anyone in the real world.
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Well John Gacy, Ted Cowell and Jeff Daumer found ways in the real world, but we take your point. ;P What is Mr. Wells method hrmmmmm?
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Dan plays complicated board games.
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Wow, pacatak, that's a pretty strong reaction to the book. How old was the brother who hated it, and what kinds of books does he normally read? Ookla's right--the book definitely isn't for everyone.
If you really want to have some fun, buy them a copy of book 2 when it comes out next year. If they thought the first one was too freaky, the second will get you disowned.
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If you really want to have some fun, buy them a copy of book 2 when it comes out next year. If they thought the first one was too freaky, the second will get you disowned.
Heh. This is 110% true.
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The thing to remember about all three books in this series is that they are all, when you boil them down to their core, the story of a person who is trying very, very hard to be good. Doing the wrong thing is always discussed but never condoned, and in fact the ramifications of "bad" behavior are much stronger in this series than they are in most other contemporary fantasies. How many people does Luke Skywalker kill, and it doesn't bother him at all? And how many people does John kill, and why, and for what reasons, and how deeply does it affect him afterward?
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Kind of like Ted then? :P
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I agree that this book isn't for young people. Personally I wouldn't recommend it to most people under 18. My bro is 21 just got back from his mission (that might have something to do with it) He likes sci fi, loves star wars. I think his favorite books are the Redwall series, So i guess serial killers are a little different then cute little rodents playing king arthur. I think he was just a little disturbed by some of the more graphic parts, in particular the stalkerish behavior and the scene with the monsters wife.
I should add not all my family was opposed to it. My 31 year old brother really enjoyed the book and he's a high school English teacher and the varsity basketball coach. My 23 year old sister really wants to read it, but her husband doesn't want her to. She loves to scare herself, but if she reads it i know she'll not be sleeping for weeks.
Can't wait for the next book. I'll probably be ordering all these from overseas so I can get them ASAP. But all this talk about the next books make me nervous. I sure hope John doesn't go to the dark side, cause we crazy people need hope.
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As I mentioned on Dan's website, the age group for this series is variable. It really depends on the individual. There is a lot in YA that is considered more shocking than this series. However, for some people, this series may be too much. I think if readers focus too much on the creepiness of it, they miss out on the brilliantly written inner-struggle that John Cleaver faces.
Book 1 is a pleasantly creepy ride that, through the character's inner-turmoil, lends humanity to a character who thinks he doesn't have any humanity. Books 2 is way creepier, but for every level of darkness Dan gives added levity in some places and deeper heroics in other places.
Some 12 year-olds could be fine with this series while some 30 year-olds may find it too much. Know your audience when you recommend the book. In my opinion, this is horror-lite, but I'm kinda messed up in the head.
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The first year I went to the World Horror con, a couple of guys did a reading of a short story that was essentially just a really graphic game of "how fast can you kill everyone on a bus?" Compared to the majority of the modern horror field, my books are downright virtuous. That said, the first horror agent I sent the book to said it was the creepiest thing he'd ever read.
Also: you gave my book to a freshly-returned missionary? I will laugh and laugh about that for years.
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This reminds me of my first movie coming off my mission: What Lies Beneath. Not a great movie, and not scary at all anymore, but being the first thing I saw after a mission? I nearly died of fright.
Good times...
And yes, compared to the general Horror genre, Dan's stuff is tame. I prefer Dan's horror to modern horror - it reminds me of old classic psychological horror in the vein of some Howard, some Lovecraft (and some Lumley), and some Hitchcock. Less hack'n'slash'n'gore and more character and psychological conflict. Tension > gore.
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If I don't get my hands on this book soon I am going to explode.
x.x
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So my grandmother enjoyed the book. She said, "It was really weird, but the story was good. That kid is CRAZY!" ha ha. I wonder what she'll say when I tell her the story isn't over. xD
Oh and complicated board games . . . Do you play Go Dan?
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Bookstore, I think you've identified why I like the book. Its that old school horror like you find in Hitchcock's work. I've never liked the overthetop gore fest you see in a lot of movies, but I love the fear and nervousness created in a well crafted story like serial killer.
Well this weekend I'm up to Idaho to rescue the book. I'll have to be a little more careful on who I lend it out to, maybe my bishop's daughter. ;)
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Well Fell, you know you haven’t officially made it until they have an organized bookburning for one of your novels. It’s mandatory for all great authors.
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Well Fell, you know you haven’t officially made it until they have an organized bookburning for one of your novels. It’s mandatory for all great authors.
Hmm... someone just said the same thing about one of my short stories. Does that mean I've made it too? ;D
On a personal note, I finished reading the book last night, and it was probably one of the more disturbing things I've ever read, right up there with the Steven King short novel "Road Work" from the Bachman Books. I tried reading that one when I was around fourteen or so, but I never finished it because I tried talking to myself to see if I had a split personality. It seriously creeped me out. Had I read it today, I would probably be fine. In fact, I always wanted to know how that one ended...
Anyway, I digress. My point was this, had I read I Am Not A Serial Killer while still a teenager, I shudder to think about how it would have screwed me up. I was already a weird kid, unpopular and anti-social, mildly sociopathic, but desperate to relate to people around me. I got over it, worked through it, and finally started making normal human connections. However, had someone handed me this book... well, I don't know. You really have to pick your audience carefully with this one.
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Yeah, I hope we don't have a rash of teens thinking that it's cool to be a sociopath with all of the sociopaths and anti-hero main characters we're seeing in various media these days.
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Well, I read the book and I'm only 13. However, I have found myself researching Serial Killers on the Internet. But I'm not some freaky psycho! It's just a slightly... Diffrent... hobby.... :-\
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We are desensitizing the public by allowing kids to see R rated movies and play M rated games. I mean there is a reason for the ratings. Please note i have zero problem with adults doing as they please, just letting minors access to Grand Theft Auto etc. as there is a growing violent crime rate, in part do to the varying violent media given to minors.
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We are desensitizing the public by allowing kids to see R rated movies and play M rated games. I mean there is a reason for the ratings. Please note i have zero problem with adults doing as they please, just letting minors access to Grand Theft Auto etc. as there is a growing violent crime rate, in part do to the varying violent media given to minors.
I'm sorry, are you trying to sneak in a collective "we"?
Ignoring rating information is not something I've ever seen actively condoned by anyone. Parents who don't pay any attention to the media their children are consuming are sometimes guilty of said infraction, but that's not the same thing at all as implying society as a whole are in any way approving that sort of neglectfulness. :)
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I do believe society as a whole does condone such activity, I don't, you don't, but society does.
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My mother always allowed us to watch R rated movies and M rated video games, but she also made very sure well we understood the difference between these things and real life.
The only reason for ratings is to give parents an easy way to not be a parent.
Well I guess and to let people know what's in a movie before they watch it.
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I'm so excited for this book. I'm one of those people who love horror/psychological thrillers (I read Roadwork, but I find more enjoyment in King's more supernatural stories; just the way my taste runs), but the horror movies have me constantly "getting a snack" in the kitchen. Which is why you'll never find me at a horror film in theaters.
So. I will love the book... but have to be dragged to the movie. There will be a movie, correct? There better be...
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There might be a movie (http://www.fearfulsymmetry.net/?p=299). I kind of hope they decide not to film the option; there are too many ways for them to screw it up.
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It really depends on a lot of things, I guess... actors, director, changes to the stories...
Maybe I WOULD like to see it. It depends.
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Im more of a fantasy reader, but as a fan of Sanderson and TOR, I knew what you wrote had to be read... I really enjoyed your book. Am i somewhat of a wuss when it comes to horror ? Yes. But thats half the fun. I swear I couldnt read it at night without having some kind of nightmare involving serial killers. Really cant wait for Mr. Monster!!!
btw... Come to Phoenix!!