The Red Kings

Duma Key by Stephen King
reviewed by Siena

Duma Key is just, in general, an awesome book. It has the right mixture of scary, funny, and sweet. The basic story is that of a man who gets his arm amputated as the result of a car accident and moves to an island in Florida where he develops magical powers involving paintings. He experiments with his powers and meets interesting people, then discovers the island has a strange past and gets caught up with a monstrous creature named Perse whom he, of course, has to defeat.

If you're the sort of person who likes a lot of action, I wouldn't recommend this book. It's not boring or anything, but it spends a lot of time on characters at the beginning. The result of that is a book with really, really interesting and lovable characters. My favorite parts occur when the man is painting, because it's a fascinating way to reveal developments in the story and it's suspenseful. The book has interludes which are flashbacks from the character who first discovered Perse, and they're confusing enough so that you have to keep reading to find out what happened. Also, the main character's life improves as the book goes on and you find yourself rooting for him and feeling his triumphs. Duma Key is a very good read and isn't boring, even when it seems like it would be.

Insomnia by Steven King
reviewed by Siena

Insomnia is a book about magic, old people, mass murder, and bright colors. It starts out a little boring, with a man named Ralph having sleeping problems, but Stephen King's writing makes you keep reading. The man starts seeing auras and then meets a woman who sees them too. They're approached by two magical creatures and asked to save 2000 people from an unknown fate, and then they do some detective work, use their powers, and fall in love. There isn't much time spent on gore and only a few suspenseful scenes, so if you're looking for that kind of Stephen King book, try It.

The thing that makes this book worth reading is the characters, who may be boring people but are full of real-seeming emotions, and develop an interesting relationship. The scenes involving auras and magic are well-described and interesting, and the creatures they meet are hilarious. It's a pretty funny book in general, and gives a good perspective on life. Even though it's a fairly long book, when you're done you still want more.