“Doctor Sleep” by Stephen King – The Price of the Shining

Though Stephen King may have gone through somewhat of a slump recently, it seems he has returned to his original form in his last couple of novels, and in his latest one, Doctor Sleep, he goes back to his glory days when he wrote The Shining. What does that mean?

Well, this time around we follow Dan from the original story, but he has grown into an adult, one who cannot leave his dark past behind. In an attempt to start over, he chooses to settle in a small New Hampshire community, where he uses his shining power to give comfort to the dying.

However, as he makes the acquaintance of a twelve year-old girl called Abra Stone, he is thrust back into his own hell once again: the girl’s shining power is immense, but she is far from being safe as a group of immortals is trying to hunt her down. Why? Well, these “immortals” live off the steam produced by children with the shining power when they are tortured.

At first sight, the book may appear to be a jumbled mess of ideas that can hardly coexist together in a neat and readable way. Fortunately, as King has proven it time and time again, he can weave an intricate plot out of virtually anything, and this sequel to The Shining certainly doesn’t suffer from being all over the place.

Contrary to his previous outings, King has chosen to write in a more concise style, spending less time on characterizations and descriptions in favor of advancing the story with the help of concrete actions. Though it is true that us readers could have benefited from a deeper exploration of Dan’s parents and the immortals, it doesn’t detract that much from the story.

The book is complete with references to The Shining, and while it can be read on its own, it works much better as a continuation of a character’s story, mainly because much of the character development is focused on Dan.

The struggle he has going on within him is as interesting to watch unfold as Abra’s story, as tries to cope with alcoholism, that time he spent at the Overlook Hotel, and of course, his shining power that doesn’t come without a price.

On that note, Abra’s story is also entertaining to watch unfold, but the villains going after her end up being let-downs in my opinion, not being nearly evil or menacing enough, despite their abilities and virtually non-existent morals towards child torture.

All in all, even though it isn’t exactly the scary or creepy King we are used to seeing, Doctor Sleep remains a very entertaining and fulfilling read, one that is certain to keep your eyes glued to the pages for a few hours on end.

Also, I think it’s worth mentioning again that it is a successor to The Shining, and that alone makes it worth reading.

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Stephen Edwin King Personal site Here is a man who probably needs no introduction. Stephen King is known by virtually everyone as being the master of horror, coming up with classics such as It and The Shining, but his literary talents to extend beyond that as he delivered plenty of memorable novels in other genres, including 11/22/63 and Under the Dome.