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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
very disappointing, Herbert running out of original ideas..., 22 Nov 2001
I have been a die hard fan of James herbert since I was 11 years old, The first book I read was "The Fog", since then every book he has written has been bought, borrowed and even stolen! His whole collection of thrilling horror adorn my bookcase,all in original condition,lovingly taken care of,re-read at least half and dozen times each. In short, I think he is the greatest horror writer ever and I respect him enormously for keeping me awake and on the brink of nightmares after reading his books.So imagine my excitement when ONCE came out, immediantly I seized it, (paid for this time!- a present) in Hardback, not wasting time, I read the whole thing in an afternoon.
I was very disappointed. What can I say...it had a familiar ring to it, Herbert wrote, the fantastic "The Magic Cottage", ONCE was a watered down version.
Both have a Magical Cottage with strange things happening, while the occupier tried to figure out what was going on and what was going "bump in the night", both showed the "good" and the "bad" slowly emerging out of the woodwork. Both have a Forest. Both feature the Baddie being defeated. This did not feel like Herbert usual sharp rivetting style at all.
Instead it felt like a Writer who has writers block, and is desperately grabbing at old stuff and trying to churn it into new and Modern.
Inshort: RE-cycled. To read one review who compared him to JK Rowling is an insult to an Old Fan of Herberts. The book is Pretty, illustrations will never be replace our imagination, and all I felt that effect acheived was just to reassure me that it wasn't as horrible as my imagination pictured! After reading ONCE, I picked up my old Hardback of The Magic Cottage (of which I have two, one signed by Herbert himself years ago) and was convinced that, yes, he has lost the "magic" with his new offering. Herbert, please restore my faith in you!
ONCE has no BITE at all.. "For adults"? Only the sexually explicit scene with a faery and a lesbian rape. Something cheap and nasty to be found in Adult mags lining the top shelf.
He has alway had a Sex-horror element in a few of his work, but it was there for a reason.This was just thrown in to pep-up the bland storyline. I recommend MAGIC COTTAGE, ONCE you read that,(pardon the pun),you will know what I mean, to all old fans of Herbert, I am sure you will agree with me.
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by James Herbert
by James Herbert
by James Herbert
by James Herbert
by James Herbert
