The Tommyknockers

Master storyteller Stephen King presents the classic, terrifying #1 New York Times bestseller about a terrifying otherworldly discovery and the effects it has a on a small town.

“Late last night and the night before, Tommyknockers, Tommyknockers, knocking at the door…”

On a beautiful June day, while walking deep in the woods on her property in Haven, Maine, Bobbi Anderson quite literally stumbles over her own destiny and that of the entire town. For the dull gray metal protrusion she discovers in the ground is part of a mysterious and massive metal object, one that may have been buried there for millennia. Bobbi can’t help but become obsessed and try to dig it out…the consequences of which will affect and transmute every citizen of Haven, young and old. It means unleashing extraordinary powers beyond those of mere mortals—and certain death for any and all outsiders. An alien hell has now invaded this small New England town…an aggressive and violent malignancy devoid of any mercy or sanity…

“Wonderful creeping terror…a great storyteller!”—The New York Times Book Review

“Brilliant, riveting, marvelous.”—Boston Globe

“King at his best!” —San Francisco Chronicle

Better Than Expected King Goes Sci-Fi, Dark, Weird

I've always been a big fan of Sc-Fi, even before I became a fan of King, so it was only natural that I eventually came to read this book. King writes a "sci-fi" novel, what could go wrong?

I would only reccomend this book to fans of King or other hardcore sci-fi fans and even then, I wouldn't expect everyone to leave this book having enjoyed it.

I was actually pleasantly surprised. This book was bigger, grander, more enticing than just the mere sum of its parts. It's more than, "ooo King wrote a book with a flying saucer and aliens!" This book is about obsession, curiosity killing the cat, hubris without moral compass, progress for progresses sake, innovation without imagination, cold calculation without purpose, destructive impulses, the drive to improve, a hunger for excess, addiction, and the self destructive forces at the root of the darker side of human nature.

I read an interesting review of this book that calls this King's opus on addiction. Written at a time when he was drinking the heaviest and regularly coked up out of his mind. You can just feel the self loathing peeling off of the page as you plow through it. There are certain passages that are hard to read because of the suicidal and existential dread that weighs the narrative down in certain sections. It's almost a punishment to the reader and a self indulgent self-hatred fest in some of the longer passages of internal dialogue with the main character.

...but I honestly wouldn't change a damn thing. I was thinking about this a lot today, I don't think you really could edit anything out of this book and have it still carry the same weight. It's not King's best book and it's certainly not hard sci-fi, but it's unique and powerful and beautifully grotesque. It had a raw power about it that captured my imagination and wouldn't let go (once I was about half way through it). It can be hard to get through and on to the damn point, but once it picks up steam, the narrative rolls along to a crazy flurry of a conclusion.

lastly, I really enjoyed how mysterious, unexplained, and stupidly pointless a lot of the Tommyknockers alien back story was! I'm a huge hard sci-fi fan and hard sci-fi can tend to over explain or scientifically explain all the magic of the narrative away on the front end. Approaching a sci-fi theme with more of a mystery, suspense angle was a fun twist on familiar themes. And the absurdist idea that the aliens are somehow pointless, futile, unintelligent, in their destructive, directionless, and ill-guided hubris was an awesome spin on the extra-terrestrial theme! Bravo.

Great Story & Characters

Love this story and the narrator is outstanding. There is definitely some nostalgia based on when the book was written and things referenced. It really is a heartbreaking story but so good!

great listening experience

as with most of King's work, full of creapy twists and turns, turning everyday items into nightmares. as is the case with most of King's books that have been turned into movies, I enjoy exploring how the book differs from the movie. most differences are due to filming limitations (ship is in the ground vertical vs. horizontal in the movie) .

greaf

It was as good as it was when I first read it a great story

Edward Herrmann was Amazing

Would you listen to The Tommyknockers again? Why?

I would listen again because of Edward Herrmann, rest his soul. He made the story come to life for me in a way that I didn't get when I just read the novel. I really enjoyed his rendition.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gardner was my favorite, mostly because he was the most human throughout the entire novel.

Which scene was your favorite?

The churchtower destruction

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to it in all of my spare time.