The Anti-Stephen King

There isn't a single Scott Sigler book I haven't enjoyed - to the extent that when he puts out something new, I'll go grab it.

There isn't a single Stephen King book I haven't enjoyed, but left disappointed.

Why is this? Stephen King is absolutely a master storyteller, but his endings rarely (if ever) pay off to the same level as the build-up. Almost always a whimper rather than a bang. I read IT in the summer of 1990, and it was the thickest tome I'd ever tackled. The final battle and wrap up after 700 pages? About a dozen pages. Like pulling an ejector seat handle.

Why reference Mr King? Because Scott is the opposite. His endings are girthy, and deliver on the promise of the story to that point, even when setting up for a sequel. Scott has a different problem - beginnings., This is possibly enhanced by the fact that Scott's vocal tone and speech pattern is very distinctive (and an acquired taste) requiring some settling in time while you get used to it, but there's also the sense of having to power through the initial stages to get to the point where your interest is piqued.

Two hours. That's the period during which I found myself thinking "I'm not getting into this" for this story. There's nothing wrong with the action opener, the characters, or anything else, but it doesn't pull you in. This phenomenon isn't peculiar to $LAY either, I've found it with many of Scott's books before then getting hooked.

Should anything in this extremely subjective review cause a change in writing style? Hell no. It's a me problem. I'm just saying. Maybe you're in the same boat and bounce off early, don't get past the slightly odd narration, and the emotional distance you have from the story at the outset and you'll find your way in. That's the message. Yeah, that'll do it.

(I do think the title is wrong though - I thought, based on skimming the back-of-book copy and title I was getting some underground, mythological fight club. It's not that. Nothing wrong with what it is, it's just not what I thought it was going to be.)

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