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Once
 
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Once (Paperback)

by James Herbert (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (80 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Pan Books; New edition edition (1 May 2002)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0330376136
  • ISBN-13: 978-0330376136
  • Product Dimensions: 18 x 11.1 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 194,790 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #31 in  Books > Horror > Authors > Contemporary Authors > Herbert, James

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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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
A masterpiece of erotic love and darkest horror by one of Britain's greatest contemporary popular novelists.

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Customer Reviews

80 Reviews
5 star:
 (33)
4 star:
 (10)
3 star:
 (12)
2 star:
 (11)
1 star:
 (14)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (80 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Once, 12 Feb 2006
By Clare "Bookaholic" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
I had heard so much about this book, and one person I kn ow really raved about it, I am not normally one for mainstream horror but, thnought I would give this a whirl .. and I am so glad I did!

The story surrounds Thom Kindred returning to his childhood home after suffering a stroke, and finds more than he bargains for, this was such a well written book and my 1st by JH, I had heard from reviews that this is maybe not the best of JH's books to read but, I really enjoyed it, but watch out for the bits about the spiders, that really creeped me out!

A brilliant book, and if you have any interest in Faeries or Wicca I am sure you will love it!

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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars FAERIES AND MAGICK, 16 May 2002
By A Customer
I don't think James Herbert is a good writer. His prose is unwieldy and his characters lifeless. However, he is often a good storyteller, and he has a talent for creating macabre horror set-pieces, for example the man pecked to death by his racing pigeons in "The Fog".

Every so often though the James Herbert Fiction Machine throws a wobbly and we get something like "Once". The premise, that fairies really do exist at the bottom of the garden, is interesting enough, but the story gets lost among endless descriptions of the countryside and the inclusion of laughable attempts at erotic scenes does nothing to help.

My advice is, give it a miss.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Humdrum Horror, 1 May 2002
By A Customer
Unfortunately, "Britain's answer to Stephen King" reached his peak many years ago with 'Moon' and 'The Magic Cottage'. 'Once' is yet another disappointment. The basic idea of faerie folk living in the modern world is not particularly original, and Herbert introduces nothing new. Embarrassingly, several chapters are given over to very un-erotic sex, and the one genuinely creepy set-piece (a jar full of an infinite number of spiders) is repeated towards the end, which smacks of laziness. Herbert always comes over as a genuinely nice guy, and it would be good to see him come up with something heart-warming as he did with 'Fluke' rather than re-hashed horror/fantasy. Come on James, how about giving us a damn good read again?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings...

I do not as a rule read 'contemporary' fiction, and so when I purchased this, I must not have realised this, but have been swayed by its fantasy element. Read more
Published 3 months ago by FAMOUS NAME

5.0 out of 5 stars Once
The first JH book I have read. I was not able to put it down and cant wait to get more of his books.
Published 5 months ago by Mr. G. J. Dench

1.0 out of 5 stars Dire - because it just is
When I first attempted to read this book, I gave up and thought I simply wasn't in the mood. However, on my second attempt at reading I discovered it wasn't my mood, it was the... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Kaela

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected.
Ok so basically I'll be honest and say that I've not read the entire book yet so it may get better, I'm only half way through, but I just have to make a comment. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Lillybelle

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunted Fairy Tale
This James Herbert novel is very different to many of his others and introduces us to Thom Kindred who after a serious accident returns to his childhood home of Little Bracken set... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Martin Belcher

1.0 out of 5 stars Hopefully just a blip..
..but this is by far the worst of Hebert's books that I've read (and I've read most). It starts off as well as any other of his tales, but as soon as the fairies appear, it really... Read more
Published 18 months ago by M. Gidden

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun but Forgettable
The basic premise of this book is a good one - that traditional childrens' fairy tales can be spiced up to make them appeal to grown-ups. Read more
Published 18 months ago by C. Cubbin

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Example of a Rare Genre
I must admit that I have not read much of James Hebert's fiction in the past, but this book sounded fascinating. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Mr. A. Elliott

2.0 out of 5 stars Rubbish!!!!!
Ive only read a couple of James Herbert's books before, but they had always been a fun enough read. This book was so dissapointing. Read more
Published on 18 Jul 2007 by Stephanie Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
My first thought at reading the back of the book was how can you have a fairy tale thats for adults. Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2007 by A. Connor

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