“This Book is Full of Spiders” by Jason Pargin (David Wong) – The Invisible Invasion
However, Jason Pargin had other plans for the now practically cult-classic duo, suiting them up for a new round of adventures in This Book is Full of Spiders.
Things begin kicking into motion when Wong finds himself face-to-face with an alien spider-like creature trying to eat him alive in his bed. Besting the alien scum with the help of his ever-loyal dog Molly, David knows it only marks the beginning of another stupid journey, one he needs John for.
With one thing leading to another, Wong's house ends up burned to the ground, and the now-countless invisible spiders (which only he and John can see, due to their encounters with the “soy sauce”) run rampant in the town, burrowing their way into people's skulls, nesting and waiting for the right time to take over and turn them into monsters.
The U.S. Government imposes a quarantine on the town, being forced to deal with a new kind of enemy they cannot perceive or understand. Wong's girlfriend, Amy, also joins the fray in search for him, and the unlikely quartet find themselves once again in a reluctant and ridiculous fight to save the world, complete with wormholes, an imagination gun, a worm that eats people's buttholes (named Carlos), chainsaws, triple-barreled shotguns and Velvet Elvis.
To begin with, while this book is certainly a sequel to John Dies at the End, reading it isn't necessary to understand or enjoy this novel, though it should be said that you would probably get a bit more enjoyment out of it.
The narrator briefly glosses over the important events from the previous books whenever necessary, and while there are a few references to things that took place in the previous story, the bulk of the plot is focused on something entirely new.
If you have already read the previous book, then you know exactly what to expect from this one: a story filled with dark humour, hyper-violence, and a hefty dose of unbelievable ridiculousness, with some coherent thoughts dispersed somewhere in-between.
The story moves along at a rather quick pace, with quite a fair bit of people dying along the way, mostly for the sake of our entertainment. There are however a few moments when things take a dive into the slow lane and the breaks in the action don't really feel warranted, one of them stretching far past its welcoming point.
The writing itself has a touch of hateful comedy to it, with unbecoming metaphors being rather commonplace and the choice of words simple, blunt and sometimes even abrupt.
As far as the main story goes, it certainly makes for a wild ride with many unexpected twists and turns into the realms of ridiculousness. The whole mystery as to who is behind the invasion and why as well as the drastically-changing dynamic of the town's social structure are the two main hooks that will keep you glued to the pages in their own ways, with there also being plenty of interesting little sub-stories to go through.
All in all, This Book is Full of Spiders is certainly the sequel we've all been waiting for, and despite its minor flaws it remains a very unique book that provides a very welcome new spin on the zombie genre.
Whether you're a fan of the author, his previous book or are just looking for a novel that will leave you dumbfounded at what you just read, this is certainly a great choice.
 | Jason Pargin (David Wong)Jason Pargin is best-known by the pen name of David Wong, which he used so far to write two novels, John Dies at the End and This Book is Full of Spiders, as well as a number of articles on the website Cracked.com. It should be mentioned that the former of the two books mentioned was adapted into a major motion picture in 2012. |
Comments
Post a Comment