Stephen King's Doctor Sleep (The Shining Sequel)

Just finished this (audiobook).... not quite sure how to feel. If you are hoping for another Shining... this is definitely NOT that story. As Stephen King describes himself in the author's note, he has often wondered what happened to little Danny Torrence after the events of the Shining and that is just what this book tells us, in modern Stephen King fashion.

This is pretty much a straight up Good vs Evil showdown story (think The Stand) with none of the deterioration story that we got in the Shining. This also isn't at all a haunted house story but a scary monsters story. There was no real suspense which is part of what I felt made the Shining great.

King did have to take one small jab at the Kubrik film in the authors note which seemed unnecessary, but made me laugh anyway.

Again... I just don't know quite how to feel as it wasn't a bad story, but it wasn't necessarily the story I wanted. Think I am going to go and watch the TV series Shining now...

I've been really curious about this, since The Shining is in the top 3 books King has written (IMO), and the follow up to The Talisman was a little disappointing for me. Was the audio read by King? I haven't done an audio book in years (last one was "Blood & Smoke" read by King) but I'm on the road so much it might be a nice change from the crazy stuff thats' on the overnight AM radio stations!
The TV mini series: :facepalm I only saw it once, and I could tell where they were trying to go with it, but it seems like the production quality and the kids acting distracted me from enjoying it. Granted that was what, 15 or 20 yrs ago? Maybe it would be worth another watch...

Bigdaddy said:

I've been really curious about this, since The Shining is in the top 3 books King has written (IMO), and the follow up to The Talisman was a little disappointing for me. Was the audio read by King? I haven't done an audio book in years (last one was "Blood & Smoke" read by King) but I'm on the road so much it might be a nice change from the crazy stuff thats' on the overnight AM radio stations!
The TV mini series: :facepalm I only saw it once, and I could tell where they were trying to go with it, but it seems like the production quality and the kids acting distracted me from enjoying it. Granted that was what, 15 or 20 yrs ago? Maybe it would be worth another watch...

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It is not read by King. It is read by Will Patton who is VERY good.

I think this was better than Black House (the sequel to the Talisman), but nowhere near as good as the original story. It was just a very different story but with a few cheap gags that I felt was totally unnecessary. It felt a little like George Lucas wrote it where you had an entirely different story... but everything had to be related and tie together. Either write more about the Overlook/Jack Torrence or give us something entirely different. One or the other.

In regard to the TV series... it was low budget for sure, but I liked that it stuck to the book much more closely than the Kubrick film which was great in its own right, but a bit of a different take on the original story.

Meh King lost it years ago imo

Very mixed feelings.

King handles the character of Daniel Torrance admirably, but whereas The Shining could be unsettlingly vague about its supernatural workings, Dr. Sleep is all too specific. The more King explains the less chilling (and more dubious) the story becomes. I for one did not need to know that the life force (i.e. "steam") of those gifted/ cursed with the shining could be stored in metal canisters (how convenient)! The True Knot should team up with Mike, Sully and Mr. Waternoose.

On the other hand, King certainly knows how to build suspense, and after a tensionless 2nd act the story eventually builds to a satisfying climax.

This may be one of those instances in which the subsequent and inevitable film adaptation could be an improvement over the source material.