- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Macmillan; 5 edition (12 Sep 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0333761405
- ISBN-13: 978-0333761403
- Product Dimensions: 15.3 x 4 x 23.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 358,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Once...
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More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Once is the latest in the welcome new phase of James Herbert's career after he distanced himself from the straightforward "horror" tag afforded to him by earlier novels such as the Rats trilogy and cannily reinvented himself as a writer with considerably more psychological insight and elegance of style.
Trading on a grotesque reinvention of fairy stories, Herbert has his protagonist Thorn Kindred encountering witches, goblins and demons, and being obliged to turn to some very strange sources to save his soul. The new ambitiousness of Herbert's writing may be found in the underpinning of the narrative here: this is a grim and persuasively realised spin on Nietzsche's epigram: "When fighting monsters, beware of becoming one yourself." But long-time readers needn't worry about a lack of grisly chills: Herbert is too fine a writer not to keep us permanently on the edge of our proverbial seats. And he's better than ever at orchestrating his fear-filled climaxes, so that there is a carefully worked out structure to the book that never has the stop-and-start jerkiness of the early novels. Rather in the nature of Sondheim's musical Into the Woods, fairy tale motifs are exploded and reconstituted in this dark and erotic fable. After reading Once, fairy tales will never seem the same again. --Barry Forshaw
Review
'...this memorable novel is a true classic' - Publishing News; '...an apocalyptic vision' - Independent; 'Britain's topselling horror master is at his chilling best again in this disturbing page-turner' - Liverpool Echo; 'There is not a moment in this book when the reader cannot fail to be moved as well as horrified as the tale unfolds' - Books Magazine; 'A humane and inspiring tale' - Glasgow Herald
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An olde fashioned ghost story,
By
This review is from: Once... (Hardcover)
James Herbert is a great story-teller. An author who I always look forward to reading.A friend of mine says his story are often very 'twee' and British, and it has to be said this follows the previous novels like The Magic Cottage, Haunted, etc etc very well. The old fashioned ghost stories are certainly a genre of the past when looking over the new horror releases and it is refreshing the James comes along every year or so to gives us another fix. Not his best really but a solid interesting and spooky tale with the undertones of an adult fairy story. Sexual in nature, with portions taken from his other works... but he writes such a fine yarn that you are taken along at pace. The haunted woods , mansion , cottage are all here, and sewn together with a needle full of witchcraft. If you've read his other stuff you know what your getting... if not try The Fog or the Rats trilogy first. Recommended!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
James Herbert - Once,
By Clairethb (Bristol) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Once... (Hardcover)
Being a huge James Herbert fan I naturally coudlnt wait to get my hands on his last book - Once. After reading the sypnosis I was under the impression it was going to be amasing and different, different it was. I can't say I didn't enjoy the book because it was extremely well written however it was not his normal style. This book involves alot of sex - which isn't bad - however I think the more sex scenes has meant the lack of story input. Huge build up to a weak climax. I recommend Haunted and Ghosts of Sleath as his best novel and novel sequel.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing,
By A Customer
This review is from: Once... (Hardcover)
I would have given this book 2 out of 5 if it wasn't so well presented. I thought the pictures included in the book were a bit naff, though. Surely a book is all about using your imagination. If you removed all of the sex from the book, there would not be much left, it seems to me that Mr Herbert has included so much of it in order to beef up the number of pages. I hope this does not indicate the decline of one of Britain's greatest horror writers.
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