Vincent King (1935–2000)

Well... This was interesting. Vivid and rich in ideas - possibly too many to cram into less than 190 pages.

The story was pretty good, the ideas were cool and it kept me reading. But the writing is clunky and the characterisation is shallow. There are 3 or 4 twists laid on the reader in the second half of the book which should really have you going: "NO WAY!", but instead had me going: "Huh. That's quite cool." - they had me acknowledging and appreciating the idea rather than blowing me away and turning my world upside down.

The whole thing reads like a summary of events rather than a story being told and you never feel truly involved. So, the problem is pretty much all in the writing. The ideas are all there and from what I can see this could have been an epic and gripping story, but King just didn't flesh this out enough and was very inconsistent with his character's personalities.

If you're like me and you read science fiction for the ideas then it's worth a read. This was Vincent King's first novel so I should probably cut him some slack. I read "Another End" (King's 3rd novel) a short while ago and that was pretty decent, though it suffered from different problems to this. I'm still pretty keen to read "Candy Man" since it's become a bit of a cult hit. Maybe that one will have done his ideas justice.… (mehr)

I'm not sure what to make of this really. I don't think it's anywhere near as "demented" or wacky as some reviewers do. The most bizarre element is that the protagonist has his face turned into that of a clown's, but other than that it's mostly just a nightmarish time-trek story. It's one long chase-mystery, and I don't think it asks you to suspend your disbelief too much until the end, where things get way too expository. Otherwise, it is, if anything, uneventful. I guess it's kind of like a sci-fi noir. The vision of the future is bleak and grimy, our protagonist tells his story in a pulp-like fashion, there's a femme-fatale, and everyone is despicable.

Vincent King has an odd style. I read him because I find him interesting, rather than because I think he's a good writer. His style is a mesh of pulpy and literary. It's frantic and free, and his dialogue makes everyone sound like gibbering idiots. A lot of his prose is enjoyable just because it's so strange, or at the very least, aesthetically appealing; but he tends to overuse ellipses and italics, which can get annoying.

I've read two of his novels prior to this: Another End, which was barmy, and barmy enough to be lovable in spite of its faults; and Light a Last Candle, which was just erratically paced and packed to the brim with ideas. Messy, but enjoyable. And then I also read his short story, Testament, which I actually thought was very good - maybe short fiction is something he's better suited to. I'm yet to read Candy Man which, unlike everything else he wrote, actually had some small success and garnered some cult appreciation. For some reason, I've left that one till last.

Time Snake and Super Clown is by far the worst thing by him I've read, and also the least interesting. King does convey a cool atmosphere for most of it, but he also does a bad job of describing things in a way that puts a good picture in the reader's mind. Everything felt vague, and I ended up just imagining everything based on the red-centric cover art. Given that, and the association with clowns and this ginger/red-haired man that constantly appears to our main character, everything was just red and orange in my imagination, and it was rather bland. The tone is quite bleak, and I guess "dark", but it mostly comes across as silly.

I'm not sure I have a clear notion of what King was getting at with the ending. I'm also not that bothered about knowing. Most of the book felt pretty weak in terms of subtext or doing anything beyond milking the protagonist's naive confusion as much as possible.

If you're interested in Vincent King, don't start with this one. If you've read everything else (there isn't much of it), this is worth a look for the sake of completion.… (mehr)

This was just bizarre. Starts off as an intriguing, surreal 2001-esque science fiction novel but fast develops into a psychedelic space opera, written in such a way that it's hard to track what's going on at points.

We follow a "Rider" named Adamson, one of many of the "Race" sent out into space with probes in search of other life. "Riders" are essentially immortal as their probes serve to rebuild them each and every time they die (hence the title). Adamson has been on this journey a long time and, after millions of years traversing the universe, has sunk into a state of depression; he repeatedly tries to kill himself whenever he learns the truth of just how long he's been on this mundane trek. Each time his probe restores him, clouding his memory to prolong the seemingly fruitless journey; until, one day, they finally find another life form. A sort of mist-like all-loving telepathic consciousness that manifests itself according to the viewer's own emotional perceptions. Conveniently but unexpectedly, the "Race" initiate a "RE-CALL" requiring all Riders to abandon the mission and return home. But home is not as they remember it...

I felt the first half of the book was very strong; rich in ideas and description. I would say it goes a bit downhill from the introduction of the character "Thead", and becomes increasingly mad from thereon out. It's interesting when the characters reach Planet 1 (home), where an interesting twist rekindled my attention. Despite the book's utter insanity, I loved the ending. It's a mad ride but I would say it's worth reading for the ideas and where things end up.… (mehr)