Carrion Comfort

With a cross between Sci-Fi and Horror, I found this story quite interesting - but the horror wasn't there for me. Then again, if you know me, you know that it takes a lot to scare me. Sometimes, the story got a bit lost with all the characters and changes in time - but the sustenance was the Sci-Fi genre - not the horror. If I was filing this on a bookshelf, I would feel it was Sci-Fi because of its extreme scientific assumptions and mutating creations - but Dan Simmons will need a lot more than this to scare me. 

Characters

My favourite character is Dr Laski because of his intellect and the very fact that he seems to be a holocaust survivor. The psychiatrist is probably the biggest brain in the novel, having the greatest insight into the Sci-Fi Chemical Therapy stuff that begins to get the ball rolling. Dr Laski also opens the book in the 40s - an era worth reading. 

Themes

The theme of Man vs Beast was probably the best one here. The book does lack in continuity, I found. It was a good read - but not to get too intensely into. Unfortunately, I like to get intense when I read and really understand everything. This book really didn't do that for me in terms of themes, 

Storyline

I really didn't like the time jumps, but I did enjoy the sense of foreboding in every single chapter. The themes weren't there for me and only the character of Dr Laski pulled it up - along with Melanie, Will and Nina. The storyline was a little lacklustre and I just expected a bigger catastrophe. 

Verdict

I give this book 6/9

100% for characters: Purely for Dr Laski. He was the best thing about the book. 

2/3 for themes: They were there, but not very prominent. 

1/3 for storyline: Other people may like it - but there wasn't enough horror for me. It was a little choppy for my taste.