This writer is fantastic, and I cannot tell you enough that you should go r
Following up the extraordinary John Dies At The End must have been a daunting task. The first in what I'm calling David Wong's David Wong series (the author's name is a pseudonym and is also the main character's name, as the books are written - mostly - in the first person) was a remarkable achievement, blending wit, juvenile and irreverent humor, and a healthy dose of gory horror. The follow-up, with what is one of the greatest titles of any book to date, is the continued adventures of David and John, but it's a slightly more mature book in its telling. Does that make it any better or worse? Well, it's a little of both.
First off, there's a reason I'm giving this book five stars. It's just plain old great reading. The sheer number of jokes has been reduced from the manic pace of John Dies At The End, but that comes with some better plot structure and a more focused narrative. And while the jokes aren't as rapid-fire as the first, the individual moments of This Book are still terrific.
As a variaition on the zombie novel, this is pretty decent, though the focus is less on the monsters and more on the individual relationships of the characters, which is how a good book should be. David and Amy's continuing relationship is, surprisingly, the highlight of the book, as John ends up playing second fiddle compared to his amazing role in the first novel. John isn't played with quite the manic insanity of the first, either, which I suppose lends more credibility to the character and should end up lengthening his shelf life, though I can't help but miss his stunningly awful (and awesome) one-liners like, "Got your tickets to the con-CHAIR-to?" However, he is given a bit more humanity in this novel, especially in regards to his fear of the creatures and reluctance to help Amy. It's a trade-off, neither a bad nor good one.
There's only one real problem with the novel, and that's in its two deus ex machinas. While one is most certainly a jab (and a delightfully hilarious one at that) at the convention, the other isn't. However, both are so particularly well written that I'm willing to overlook them. Like I've said before, I'd forgive David Wong anything short of murder, and even that, I might let slide. He's that talented of a writer.
So then really, my only problem with This Book Is Full Of Spiders is that there isn't a third in the series already in my hands. When I finished the book, I launched immediately into what I'm calling post-writum depression, that feeling you get when you've read all of an author's books to date and don't have another one in your hands.Read full review
