will you ever sleep soundly again? (Insomnia - Stephen King)

Member Name: phoenixcage

Product:	Insomnia - Stephen King
Date:	22/01/02 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More on th DT series, Great read, Brill plot/original

Disadvantages: None really

Yet a bit of another insight to the mystery surrounding the Dark Tower series, Insomnia is a book involving quite an unusual set of circumstances. King offers us a elderly man named Ralph Roberts who begins to suffer from insomnia when his wife dies. Offered many different cures from friends and neighbours - nothing works...eventually things start start to get wiggy around the edges. He begins to see colors and auras around things - strangely enough, he never becomes alarmed by such pheomenon...until he starts seeing little bald doctors at about three in the morning.

These bald doctors are Clotho and Lachesis - merely workers who go around cutting peoples 'balloon-strings' when their time is up and they must die...what their purpose with Ralph becomes clear when they confront him and tell him what he must do....This is when the Dark Tower part comes in...and the Crimson King.

Another doctor is on call, you see. Pne named Atropos...and not a very nice one either. He is to cut the balloom strings of those which have no fate and belong to no-one, but he cuts the string to a very dangerous man indeed: Ed Deepneau - who is man targeted by the Crimson King in order to destroy a boy who has some sort of threat against the KIng and his mission to destroy the Tower. Ralph Roberts is chosen to stop him.

The Crimson King wishes to kill a young boy - what this boy's purpose is is quite unclear but King describes him as drawing a picture of Roland and The Tower towards the end of the novel...watch out also for a mention of Roland himself! I believe that this boy may have some significance to Roland and that's why he must be destroyed...does he succeed? Hmmm, you'll have to find out...

Quite an interesting book, this is a must for all King fans but in particular Dark Tower fans, although not opening up much answers surrounding the Tower, still leaves us breathless at the very mention of Roland and the Tower. A brilliant stor
y, not only invoving a supernatural element but there is alot of social factors present also, such as the rise of feminism, abortion and beating within marrage. This is well put together by King and has a great plot with a great suspense build-up. Presented nothing like the story within, Insomnia was King's comeback to the major book-market after lying so low for so long. One of his modern best with the mature sytle of writing that he seems to be developing with each new book...brilliant.

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