In Progress: Firestarter

With Firestarter we continue (and probably end) a trend of knowing less and less about a particular book going into it. Unlike The Dead Zone, this book is far less likely to be a response to "name one Stephen King book". In a recent ranking of every Stephen King novel this one comes in at #12, lacking the hallowed status of The Shining (#1), but also the notoriety of, say, Cujo (#39). Perhaps it the bias of the list author, but the earlier novels completely dominate the top ten, so it may be a wild ride ahead for his project.

February 6 (Page 87): So far so good, but it feels like King took a step back for this one in terms of plot. Since Carrie he's been rolling out increasingly complex works and here we have something that reads closer to Carrie than any of the previous books: a child with powers she cannot control and doesn't fully understand. At least it seems like her parents are a bit better adjusted than poor Carrie's, but come to think of it, outside of the flashbacks to 1969 we don't know where Mom is. (The book nominally takes place in 1981, but the Padres didn't make the World Series until 1984. Bah, nobody's perfect.)

February 9 (Page 198): If you needed some kind of demonstration of just how bad Charlie's pyrokenesis can be, you get it here in the "Incident at the Manders Farm" chapter. One sinister character (Al Steinowitz) turned out to be a paper tiger, and an inflammable one at that, while a new psychopath (John Rainbird) is getting ready to start his vision quest. Rainbird reminds me of the psycho Native American from the second season of the TV show Fargo, so I guess it's a trope now to have these guys that are extra dangerous because they can use their special Native American skills in the most horrific ways possible. All the while, am I the only one who find it strange that two normal people take a trial drug that not only give them psychic powers, but all can then pass it off exponentially to their offspring?

February 11 (Page 289): This must be one of those books with a definite mid-point, or at least an act came to a close. From the bad guy perspective, it looks like Rainbird made a power play on Cap, and managed to become even more creepy in the process. From the point of view of our heroes, I guess all good things must come to an end. It turns out the shelter in Vermont was all an illusion pretty much from the moment Andy and Charlie arrived. I've already sneaked a peak at the start of the next chapter and it looks like the chronology advances further. Add to this the lengthy flashback to what started the whole chase, plus the season spent at the cabin, and it shows a broader perspective than a Carrie-type novel would have. So although I still contend this is a step back for Stephen King, it isn't all the way back to basics.

February 15 (Page 431): Any time you encounter a chapter called "Endgame" you know things are about to get real. Taking a really long term perspective, even not having finished the book yet, these government dweebs never had a chance against fully-aware Andy and Charlie. Even Cap seemed to indicate that the Shop had more than a little Keystone Kops flavor to it when he was pushed/hypnotized by Andy. The only thing keeping things from being a blowout already is that these special powers don't come for free. More on this for the main post coming soon.