Dan Simmons, Drood and The Fifth Heart

I am a book junkie, I read so much it's actually an addiction. I never go a day without a book in this house. Even if I already have about five or six books to read, I get more. I always worry about not having something to read, and I always have plenty of "back ups" just in case one book doesn't turn out like I thought it would.

I absolutely love my local library. It is my refuge. Seriously.

While browsing the catalog one evening (they have this new feature on there, where you click on a favorite book you have read or want to read, something you find interesting, and it will automatically suggest others related to that genre or story line etc) and this is how I was introduced to the wonderful novels by Dan Simmons.

I just finished Drood by Dan Simmons and am sad it's over so soon.

This is the first book I've read by Dan Simmons but it certainly won't be the last. I was drawn to this particular book because of my love for the works of Charles Dickens, but I knew I had to read it after attending a book signing where Mr. Simmons talked about the book and its "unreliable" narrator, Wilkie Collins. I was not disappointed!

The richness and depth of Mr. Simmons research and prose is exquisite. It is the sort of book one must immerse one's self into. I nearly felt the stays of my Victorian corset poking my ribs it is so spectacularly reminiscent of the writing styles of the period. The story is redolent with details sorely missing from more modern twenty-first century works. I particularly like the way it left me with things to think about for days and days after reading the last pages. Each reader gets the ending they want, really. It's brilliant the way Simmons doesn't tell the reader the ending, but lets you imagine your ending. I would venture a guess that if you asked ten different people the ending, you would get then different answers. That, is true artistry.

Since I discovered Dan Simmons and his novels, reading Drood got me hooked. I love his style and how he puts a story together and how he lays out the events. Some people have said the books are too long. I disagree. I think for some that get into this book expecting a big edge-of-your-seat-thriller, they just go into it with the wrong expectations and feel let down once the story carries out into events that will only appear banal (but really aren't).

It's all in your expectations and how you approach this story. I can't say anything for his other novels, I am just starting the Fifth Heart tonight, and I am very excited for this story!

I will defintiely update whne I get further into it and, of couirse, after I finish it. :)