From the Bookshelf of Bookworm Buddies…

Carrion Comfort

Dan Simmons

Start date: October 5, 2012

Discussion: Buddy Reads

Discussion leader: Tim

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 10 topics — 26,948 comments total

Buddy Reads

* We need to start buddy reads again
By Janie , Group Owner & Book Addict · 14 posts · 53 views

last updated Dec 23, 2024 06:56AM

Yellowface- buddy readers
By Lisa · 2 posts · 5 views

last updated Feb 20, 2025 02:24PM

showing 3 of 3 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jun 17, 2012 Kathryn rated it really liked it

Shelves: buddy-reads, 2012-read, horror-read

Carrion Comfort is a mess of a book. Not only are there evil, mind-controlling vampires, the things they do are just so ripe with evil. It's almost like they give evil a new name.

Carrion Comfort's story is complex, and involves several parties. Not only are these parties involved in a bigger picture, but they also have their own stories and action. There really isn't a main character, but several main characters, and several minor characters. As far as main characters go, Saul was my definite f ...more

24 likes · Like · see review

Aug 27, 2013 Michael marked it as to-read

This books comes highly recommended to me from a reader whose tastes run similar to my own. This is what Eric said, "The only other book that had an ending that was as satisfying as “Revelation” was an older horror novel titled “Carrion Comfort” by Dan Simmons. I read the last few pages and was shaking my head saying…..no way!..no way! Great read that I highly recommend."

That's good enough for me. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Sep 27, 2012 Janie Johnson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Dan Simmons has the ability to construct a great novel! This I know for sure after diving into this read. There is so much depth and richness to this tale of evil. One of the things that I loved the most was the mystery/suspense aspect of the book. I am a huge mystery fan, and Simmons certainly sated that need as far as I am concerned. He has written and created the worst evil ever seen when he wrote this novel. I found myself cheering on those who aimed to rid the world of evil. I felt as thoug Dan Simmons has the ability to construct a great novel! This I know for sure after diving into this read. There is so much depth and richness to this tale of evil. One of the things that I loved the most was the mystery/suspense aspect of the book. I am a huge mystery fan, and Simmons certainly sated that need as far as I am concerned. He has written and created the worst evil ever seen when he wrote this novel. I found myself cheering on those who aimed to rid the world of evil. I felt as though I struggled with them, and tried to give them hope. I was so very consumed by it.

The descriptions of characters and their lives coupled with the ‘extreme’ moments, really added to the surrealism of the novel. You knew everything there was to know about each character. Also I love how involved all the characters are in the novel. And then just when you settle down after an extreme moment, Simmons brings the source of that climax back into the limelight and you get all worked up again. He brilliantly used each one of his characters.

We start out with Saul who not only went through the concentration camps, but he survived them. His strength and ability to survive derived from 3 little words. I will live! His character is defined so brilliantly, that it makes you feel that he really did survive the holocaust. That his name, Saul Laski, should be written into the history books.

As the story unfolded I loved how so much more of Saul’s history is revealed. I think that was great addition to the book and allowed me to get to know him so much better. It lets us see into his journey and better explains why he is the way he is. One question in the book is "Is he here for justice or revenge?" As I further read, they seemed to be one and the same.

Natalie, is another of my favorite characters. She felt so natural, real, yet not real, because it is hard to find people with purpose aimed towards finding good in others. I loved her “non judgment” of others. She accepted them for who they were, and she loved them the same way. I also loved how she had a mission and she was so determined to complete that mission! She is someone you want on your side.

Gentry was another of my favorites. You could feel "the good ole boy" in him. And he will do what it takes to protect those he loves, no matter what the consequences may be. And you feel it as you read about him.

We meet so many different people, good and evil, those we will love to hate and those that we love period. I found myself looking for some redeeming qualities in these monsters. Yet none really surfaced. Let bad guys be bad guys. All the characters are unique and are constructed beautifully. They all fit their roles perfectly. Simmons also seemed to give his characters equal time in the lime light, and I really like a book that is not dependent on one single “main” character. I think it gives so much more flavor to the story.

There was one thing that kinda bothered me, and that was the switching between times. It is a good thing that the chapters were dated, it helped a lot. Otherwise you could easily get lost and confused in some areas leaving you think "What the heck just happened?"

In conclusion of this review, I want to stress that this is a very riveting tale, sure to keep you hooked on the intensity alone. And it is a definite “must read”. Simmons brings a whole new reign of terror to the spotlight with this novel. It gets a 4.5 star rating from me. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Sep 27, 2012 Lee rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2012-gr-challenge

I don't even know where to start with this review.

It is a long book with a lot of characters and back story. This was my first read of a Dan Simmons book and I was afraid that with the size it was just going to be a wordy, boring mess. I was really worried after reading the introduction in the twentieth anniversary edition that I got. While somewhat interesting, the introduction was wordy and seemed somewhat arrogant in parts. It almost seemed to say I am smarter than you and I know it. I thoug I don't even know where to start with this review.

It is a long book with a lot of characters and back story. This was my first read of a Dan Simmons book and I was afraid that with the size it was just going to be a wordy, boring mess. I was really worried after reading the introduction in the twentieth anniversary edition that I got. While somewhat interesting, the introduction was wordy and seemed somewhat arrogant in parts. It almost seemed to say I am smarter than you and I know it. I thought this might be a clue to how the book was going to go. I am a smart person so the big words and some of the theories didn't bother me, but I did wonder how it would appear to the average reader.

Character development was amazing in my opinion, I felt that I had a true sense of who each character was and really felt involved with them. Now with that being said, I did find that some of the character relations were a bit far stretched at times, but over all it worked. I will say that my favorite character in the book was Sheriff Gentry, he kind of reminded me of Peter Faulk as Colombo, just a small town idiot cop that was really too smart for his own good. I must also say that I liked Saul's character a lot as well. His story and his will to survive were amazing.

As far as the 'evil' characters in the book, I thought they were brilliant. Kudos to Willi and Melanie for being the most vile, despicable creatures I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I won't say anymore on that because I don't want to give anything away.

I would not classify this book as a 'horror' as I didn't find it at all terrifying. I thought the premise was sound and the story was well told. The book was not at all wordy as I feared it would be. I think that if any of the parts were left out, the story would have been incomplete. I don't think there is anything that could be trimmed.

Now with all that being said, let me tell you what kept this book from getting 5 stars from me. I know it may be a petty thing, but it was the racism in the book. I understand that a lot of the back story required it, and it was a sign of the times when the book was written, but I hated it. I myself am white, however my spouse and my step daughter are African American and I cringed every time the N word appeared in this novel. The references to how they are beneath a white person or not as smart just really pissed me off.

However with that being said, I am grateful for the progress we have made as a society since.

All in all, do I recommend this book? Yes I do. It is worth a read and I place it in my top 10 for the books I have read this year.

...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 07, 2013 Squire rated it really liked it

Very good, near great. Exciting, suspense, horrific, nasty, brutal, beatuiful. Has a climax that is one of the most intimately satisfying I've ever read. Suffers only from a few poorly and unimaginatively drawn characters (albiet, minor ones)and a constant switch from first to third peron narratives that, while understandable from an artistic point of view, didn't sit well with me. Still, A bravura perfomance! ...more

Like · see review