Doctor Sleep

     Doctor Sleep by Stephen King is the sequel to The Shining.  This is an unusual story and a unique sequel.  You don't need to have read The Shining, but it adds to the story if you have.  In case you have only seen the movie, the book is very different.
    In Doctor Sleep, Danny Torrance is all grown up, still shining, and still struggling to put the horrors of The Overlook Hotel to rest.  Dan uses alcohol to keep the demons at bay, but he learns he takes himself wherever he goes.  He finally settles in Frazier, New Hampshire, turns to AA to help him recover, and finds a job he loves.  Dan is an orderly in a hospice and uses the shining to help terminally ill people transition to the other side peacefully.
     Abra is born just before September 11, 2001 and shows psychic talents never seen in newborn babies.  As she grows, her shining intensifies.  One night she "sees" a group of psychic vampires torture and kill an eleven-year-old boy.  The group call themselves the True Knot.  They travel the country in RVs feeding off children's steam, the essence the shining gives off when they are tortured and killed.  After ingesting the boy's steam, they become young and healthy again...for a while.  Their leader, Rose the Hat, realizes Abra is there and senses the girl's steam could keep them alive for a long time.  She forms a plan to kidnap the girl.  Dan finds himself helping Abra survive in the same way Dick Hallorann helped him as a child.
     I liked watching Danny live life making amends for his past and coming to grips with his family's demons.  I adore Abra.  She is intelligent, strong, feisty, and loving.  If I had to fight supernatural evil, I would feel safe with Abra at my back.  I also like Rose the Hat.  She is the inverse of Abra.  She is intelligent, strong, feisty, and loving, but she is also an evil witch to be reckoned.
     I like Dan's ability to help the terminally ill people find peace, especially with a cat who has the uncanny ability to know when the patients are about to die.  I also love the way the final confrontation comes full circle at the point the Overlook Hotel once stood.
     Stephen King is a great storyteller and sometimes he is a brilliant writer.  In this book, there are flashes of brilliance, but mostly it is good storytelling.  One of the problems I had was the coincidences upon coincidences that didn't need to be there.  Once I even groaned and thought, "C'mon, you are better than that."  There are also a few points where the story stalls and loses a bit of its intensity.  Many of the secondary characters are not fully developed and feel like they could be anyone.
     Besides these few things, I really like the book.  It is a page turner, and kept me up all night.  I couldn't leave Dan and Abra in danger, so I read it all in one sitting.  It was unique and interesting.  I enjoyed the full circle feel of the two books together.  It was a great tribute to one of his greatest books, and a great tribute to the man who wrote this one sober.

City of Glass

     City of Glass is the third book in the series.  I absolutely loved it and couldn't put it down.  I have to apologize to anyone who tried to talk to me over the weekend, because I don't remember what you said.  :)
     The plot was somewhat contrived, and I knew who Jace and Sebastian were from the first pages of the book.  However, I was so in love with Jace, Clary, and Simon, I didn't care. 
     Alicante was an amazing setting and I visualized it much like Lothlorien in Lord of the Rings.  This beautiful setting helped me understand the motives of the characters.
     I loved the battle between the demons, angels, and assorted Downworlders.  The bigger themes of prejudice and sacrifice were very relevant to the modern world and gave me many things to ponder this week. 
     I loved the arc the characters followed throughout the three books and was satisfied with the conclusion of the worlds and the characters.  It's nice to know that love conquers all, at least in this world.

City of Ashes

     So, as I said, sequels are the best and worst part of reading for me.  Luckily, even though I was lukewarm about City of Bones, I decided to read the sequel.  I thought City of Ashes was a much better book.  The characters were more fully developed and the plot was more intricate. 
     My favorite part of the book was meeting all of the fantastical characters in the faerie realm.  I loved the way the faerie queen's trick on Clary moved the entire plot of the novel forward.
   I was intrigued with the Nephilium runes from book one.  The angels carve them into their skin to internalize the power of that particular rune.  A healing rune helps you heal quickly.  A fearless rune gives you courage in battle.  I loved this aspect of the angels, especially when Clary discovers that she can create new runes that no one has ever seen before. 
    I read the entire book in a weekend because I couldn't put it down.  Luckily I bought the third book, so I could immediately carry on with the series. 
    This is a great choice for a long weekend, especially if you love romance suspense, and fantasy.

Everwild

     Sequels are the best and worst things about reading for me.  When I love a book, the characters become my lifetime friends.  Reading a sequel is like reuniting with longlost friends that I can't wait to catch up with.  Bad sequels are like highschool reunions.  I can't believe what has happened to the people I knew and loved.  Everwild is one of those sequels.  Don't bother!!!  Remember the characters as they were and write your own ending.