Stephen King is truly a remarkable author.

Every time I pick up one of his books, I find myself wondering why I haven't read more of his works. I'll read another author for a while, but eventually, I always come back to King. This particular book was from my holiday in Madeira. It was first published in 1980 and has had at least two films made based on it, although I haven't seen them. And yet, here I am reading it now. It's almost crazy.

The story is probably familiar to many who are reading this. A couple at university is selected and paid to participate in a mind-expanding drug trial conducted by a secret government agency. They get married and have a daughter who has incredible powers as a "Firestarter, twisted Firestarter" thanks to the effects of the drugs. I couldn't help but sing that song, although I had to stop to avoid annoying my wife. Interestingly, one of the drugs the father is given later is Thorazine, which led me to sing parts of the Thorazine Shuffle by Govt Mule. But that also had to stop.

The story progresses at a good pace, and the characters, like all of King's, feel very real. The writing is perceptive, but as always, it's King's descriptions of characters that I truly love. For example, he describes Rainbird as "a troll, an orc, a balrog of a man." His physical appearance is vividly detailed, with his tall stature, glossy black hair tied in a ponytail, and the horrific scars on his face from a claymore explosion in Vietnam. His left eye is missing, leaving only a ravine. And he's as crazy as a man eating rat-turds and calling them caviar. These descriptions are so beautiful and powerful that they bring a tear to my eye.

Thankfully, I have two more substantial books in my collection - Rose Madder and 11/22/63. I'm sure I'll read other authors before I get to them, but I know I'll kick myself again for not reading King sooner. Stephen King is truly a master writer.

After 110 pages, I squeeze in the rest.

It's the most miserable King book so far.

The dialogues are horrible and clumsy. I'm also gradually getting tired of his themes. Somebody has some telekinetic abilities or can otherwise influence people and things.

This time, it's all related to a secret drug experiment that has to be covered up.

I'm quite used to his cliched, coarse characters. They always serve some purpose.

However, here he sinks with his form, style, and everything else that makes up this work literarily into this abyss of stupidity.

I flipped to the end. Then the word "kafkaesque" pops up.

Well, now I can with a clear conscience close the coffin lid on this nonsense.

A science fiction book that starts spectacularly.

Charlie is a girl with pyrokinesis powers who is being chased along with her father by an organization called "The Shop". They want to capture them and finish them off. This is how King's story begins, taking us on a journey with a full-throttle start, but then it completely declines, entering a lethargy and becoming a bit boring as the story doesn't take off. Then it rises towards the end, but in the "middle" of the story, it was quite difficult for me.

The book is not bad. The idea is interesting and it is very cinematic. In fact, it has an adaptation starring Drew Barrymore. I recommend it for those who want to read some SciFy by King.

Video review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDkEE...

7 out of 10

This is yet another solid novel by King. It may not be his absolute best work, but it is surely a worthy addition to his bibliography. There are several great scenes that manage to grip the reader and keep them engaged. However, it must be noted that at this point in time, the story does feel a bit dated. The language, the settings, and some of the themes might seem a bit old-fashioned to modern readers. But despite this, there is still something undeniably charming about King's writing style. His ability to create vivid characters and build suspense is truly remarkable. For me, the "classic" King novels are definitely my preference. They have a certain magic and authenticity that newer works sometimes lack.

I don't know precisely why, but I have an intense affinity for this, particularly during the month of October.

I’ve wanted to read this book for a long time.

However, I just never seemed to get around to it.

But now, I am so glad that I finally did.

This book was highly entertaining from start to finish.

I used to watch the movie adaptation with my mom, and it’s hard to believe that it took me this long to finally pick up the book.

The story in the book had so many details and nuances that the movie couldn’t fully capture.

It was a great experience to explore the characters and the plot in more depth.

I really enjoyed this read a good deal and would highly recommend it to others.

I’m already looking forward to reading more books by the same author.

Ooh, I'm truly glad that I was able to check this one off my Stephen King reading list.

Firestarter is an excellent companion to another King book that I thoroughly enjoyed, The Institute. Even though these two books were published nearly forty years apart, they share some common elements. Basically, it's about poor little kids with special powers who are being chased down by a corrupt government organization.

Firestarter is highly propulsive, despite King's typical inclusion of about a hundred or so pages of superfluous detail. We are immediately thrust into the middle of the action, with Charlie McGee and her father Andy on the run from some shady figures. I could feel the fear and desperation almost immediately, and that really pulled me right into the story. And it just gets wilder and wilder from there.

The characters are decent, but I have the sense that King doesn't write very good child characters in his older books. Or perhaps he doesn't write very good girl characters in general. The thoughts of Trish in The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon did not seem to resemble those of a nine-year-old girl, and here Charlie didn't make much of an impression on me. However, Andy, Rainbird, Cap, and even the Manders were more interesting to me. So it's good that we got to explore all their perspectives.

Betrayals, secret messages, and not-so-nice people are plentiful! And it all builds up to an explosive climax... and that's not just a pun.

It's not a particularly scary King book, unless being chased by government agents is something that scares you, but it's definitely a fun one to read.

Firestarter, Stephen King

Firestarter is a captivating science fiction-horror thriller novel penned by the renowned Stephen King and first published in September 1980.

It tells the story of Andy and Charlene "Charlie" McGee, a father-daughter duo on the run from a mysterious government agency called The Shop.

During his college days, Andy took part in a Shop experiment involving "Lot 6", a drug with hallucinogenic effects similar to LSD. This drug granted his future wife, Victoria Tomlinson, minor telekinetic abilities and Andy a telepathic form of mind control he calls "the push".

Both of them also developed telepathic powers. However, their powers had physiological limitations. In Andy's case, overusing the push leads to crippling migraine headaches and minute brain hemorrhages. But their daughter Charlie developed a truly frightening psychokinetic ability.

The first reading date was in 1998 AD. The title is "Firestarter", the author is Stephen King, the translator is Mohammad Sharifi, published in Tehran in 1376 (1997 in the Gregorian calendar), in 567 pages. The subject is the stories of American writers in the 20th century.

First, a man and a woman, who are subjects of top-secret government research to enhance the physical abilities of the human body, get married and have a daughter. The daughter shows signs of an incredible and paranormal power, and her parents try to teach her to control her power and act normally. But the government soon discovers the daughter's power. The story "Firestarter" was first published in 1980 and is about a little girl with the ability to create fire with her mind.

The date of posting was 27/06/1399 in the Persian calendar; A. Sharbiani.

Full Video Review Here: https://youtu.be/pBPtJY2szyw

This is the first story in my King re-read that didn't quite resonate with me as much as it did the first time. I truly love the concept behind it. The characters are engaging, and I even have a certain pleasure in hating the villain. However, it appears to be a novella that King initially conceived and then somehow expanded by an additional 200 pages just to sell it as a full-fledged novel. It's no secret that King has a penchant for embellishment and can sometimes get carried away with exposition and development. But this is the first novel of his during this re-read where I actually felt a sense of fatigue from it. There's no doubt that Firestarter has had a huge influence on modern media, as evidenced by shows like Stranger Things. Yet, it just seems to have missed the mark that he so spectacularly hit with Carrie in what feels like a recycled effort. It's not his worst story by any means, but it's also nowhere near his best during that remarkable string of huge hits he had from the mid-70's to the mid-80's.

It's a bit of a disappointment considering the high standards King has set for himself. But perhaps that's the nature of re-reading, as our perspectives and expectations can change over time.

Pushes and shoves can be a dangerous thing. It's not just the physical force that can cause harm, but also the emotions that come with it. And when you add fear, pain, and fire into the mix, the situation becomes even more perilous.

FIRESTARTER had me hooked from the very beginning with a super-intense, spring-into-action run. We are introduced to 34-year-old Andy McGee and his 7-year-old daughter Charlie, who are fleeing for their lives with no money and only the clothes on their backs.

The story cleverly alternates between Andy's college days and the present, showing how a simple need for an extra $200 led him to this present-day terror. He is desperate to find a way out, a way to survive, and most importantly, a way to keep his daughter safe.

While there are no traditional scary or gory elements that we often associate with Stephen King, there are still monsters in this story. These monsters are of the humanoid type, with evil intentions hidden behind the guise of 'for the good of the many'.

So, as the story warns, don't go into Room 70, stay away from mad Doctors, be cautious of crazy Indians, and whatever you do, DO NOT trust The Shop!

This is yet another winner for me from the master of horror, Stephen King.

(As is the norm with King's works, this one also has some interesting elements. He adds a horror short by Jerome Bixby called \\"It's a Good Life\\" that I can't wait to read. He mentions POE'S William Wilson again and makes several references to his son Joe Hill's \\"In the Tall Grass\\". Additionally, The Shop from \\"The Stand\\" plays a significant part in this story.)

More enjoyable than I had initially anticipated. I state this because several years ago, I witnessed a dramatization of this book, which completely skewed my perception of the story and deterred me from picking it up.

Now that I have completed it, I can assert that although I identified certain types of characters that recurrently emerge in King's stories, I still relished the way the characters in this narrative interacted. The verbal exchanges between the characters are rich and vivid (as is typical of any King story). The stakes are extremely high for Charlie and Andy McGee (both enhanced humans due to some诡异的 drug that Andy took as part of a trial). The scientists and administrators are unadulterated evil, and as the events deteriorate from bad to dreadful, one cannot help but feel deeply concerned for Charlie.

And who wasn't elated when Charlie unleashed her pyrokinetic prowess at its best, and her favorite horse, Necromancer (what an amazing name for a horse!!), managed to flee?

10/2022

From 1980
This story is extremely well plotted and structured.

Personally, I don't have a great love for the supernatural in fiction. However, what takes place in this plot, namely academic or government drug experiments and genetics that lead to pyrokinesis, is a form of magic fiction that I can truly engage with. This was a good thing because the book was rather long. As the story progresses, it does indeed turn into a Frankenstein-like tale. You create a monster...

I have never seen the Drew Barrymore film, although I do remember looking at the cover. You know, back when I would偷偷溜进 the horror section at the video store just to take a look. It's interesting how the idea of this story has stayed with me all these years, even without having watched the movie adaptation.