Customer Reviews

The Conqueror Worms

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As I began reading this book I could not help but think of Dean Koontz's THE TAKING. The two are similar in theme and share some descriptions. This book is told from the point of view of an old man living in the Appalachians. It has been raining continuously all over the world for more than forty days. What isn't flooded is damp. Mold and fungus are growing on everything. It is not imagined that things could get any worse. But they do.

The continuous rain has driven giant worms to the surface. First they are only as big around as dogs. But larger and larger worms show up. These worms are not content with drawing nourishment from the dirt. Instead they have taken to eating anything that moves; birds, cows, people. Then, unlike most horror novels, the cast begins to grow and we get glimpses of what has been going on elsewhere. We also get glimpses of what might be causing the destruction.

As with the earlier novels I have read by Brian Keene, the action does not stop until the last page. I do not know if this tale will be followed up as THE RISING was followed by CITY OF THE DEAD, but this one has a more satisfying ending than THE RISING although not as final as in the later. Since the book opens just as things are really getting bad, there is little time wasted on a slow build. Instead it starts pretty fast and picks up speed. If you liked his earlier books, you are sure to like this one.

This book (my 4th of Keene's) was fun from beginning to end. Starts off in the thick of things and picks up speed from there. While I was reading it, it more than once reminded me of some of Stephen King's earlier work. While Keene is certainly not the stylist that King is, you can tell he's having fun. Moreover, he's able to generate a sense of tremendous devastation and destruction through the eyes of only a handful of characters. Keene does not appear to hold anything back and his stories are that much more enjoyable for that fact. While I wish all of the ideas introduced were tied-up or explained, this was a terrific read that has me waiting anxiously for Keene's next.

Brian Keene's follow-up to his one-two punch to the gut that are The Rising and City of Dead is another apocalyptic yarn. A story that posits the question of what would happen if suddenly, without warning or much ado, it just started raining all over the world and it didn't stop. Keene's The Conqueror Worm does just that as he puts the reader right in the thick of things as the world slowly, but surely drowns under the unnatural torrent that's continued unabated for over forty days.

Where in his two previous major novels, Keene used a new twist on the zombie apocalypse scenario, in the Conqueror Worm he goes abit more Biblical with a heavy touch of Lovecraft in creating the post-apocalyptic world where octogenarian protagonists Teddy Garrett and Carl Seaton will have to learn to cope and survive. Soon, Teddy and Carl are joined by Kevin and Sarah who survived the crash of their helicopter due to the insane actions of another survivor, Earl Harper. Just like his two previous zombie novels, Keene starts CW with the apocalyptic event already under way and close to its fruition. Keene deftly interweaves brief passages from Teddy's own memories of scenes that led up to the current events. Keene doesn't overdo the details, but gives enough description of how the incessant torrent of rain quickly floods and drowns all coastal cities and islands. The first part of the book pretty much has Teddy, in his own words, describing for the reader just how things have worst during the 40+ days of nonstop rain. There's a matter-of-factness to Teddy's narrative as someone who has lived a long life and who doesn't fear that the world may be ending, but that he may die alone and under nicotine withdrawal.

The novel takes a sudden about face once Kevin and Sarah show up. It starts off the second part of the novel where we're told through Kevin's point of view just where he and Sarah came from and their own trials and tribulations in coping with the encroaching and expanding ocean. This part of the novel introduces the Lovecraft aspect of the story and tries to give a reasoning to what has caused the world to slowly drown around civilization. It's surely the faster paced of the two storytellers in the books. Where Teddy's narrative was gradual and slowly building up to the nightmare waiting for the survivors beneath the soil, Kevin's narrative is faster with more of a sense of manic to the surroundings. It's also where the supernatural finally breaks through the logic and reason that Teddy tried to hold onto in the first part of the book. As enjoyable a read as Kevin's story turned out, I thought it broke abit too much from the pace begun by Terry in the beginning of the novel. Kevin's story could easily have been told briefly and effectively without having to dedicate almost one-half the novel's lenght to its telling. Better yet, it could've made for another novel, but that's a fans wish and opinion in hope Keene re-visits the world of the Conqueror Worms.

The novel soon shifts back to Teddy's story and from there on its a fast-paced charge to a Lovecraftian ending that should satisfy any horror fans. This climactic sequence brings forth both the matter-factly sensibilities of Teddy's narrative and Kevin's supernatural themes into one and Keene pulls it off dramatically. I could easily see this novel being adapted as a film much easier than Keene's previous zombie novels. His characters of Teddy, Carl and Kevin were more fully developed and the plot itself, though silly when one breaks it down to its basic components, has a sense of doom to it that gives it some realism. Keene has slowly become the master of the apocalyptic genre and The Conqueror Worms just cements that fact. The ending of the novel is slightly vague as Keene seems to like his novels to be, but it does offer a tiny bit of hope. Hope for his readers and fans that his visit in this drowned-out world wasn't a one-time thing.

In The Conqueror Worms, it has been raining for over 40 days. Everything is flooded except for high elevations. The first half of the book is told by an 80 year old man living in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia, Teddy. He is joined by his best friend Carl, when Carl's house is swallowed up by a sink hole. They soon find out that besides the rain and flooding, they have to deal with giant worms coming up from underground. Then there is a helicopter crash near Teddy's house and they are joined by two more survivors of the end of the world. Part two of the book is told from the point of view of one of the newcomers, Kevin. He tells the old men what happened to them in Baltimore where they came from. Living with a dozen or so others at the top of a high rise building, they were surrounded by the ocean and found out there were monsters in the water as well. The third part takes you back to West Virginia where they battle the mother of all worms.

I really enjoyed The Conqueror Worms. I'm a sucker for an Apocalyptic story and the world Keene presented was a vivid one. Writing from the first person did take away a little of the force of the story and changing to someone else's view halfway through was a little jarring. The two parts never jelled seamlessly. It seemed like two different novels. I also liked that while possibilities were presented for what was happening, nothing was resolved. The ending was open which I've always found to be perfect for this kind of story.

This is a clear case of an agent and/or editor not knowing when to tell a writer "No. Write something else." While I have to give high marks to Keene for his imagination (the imagery of a drowned Earth overrun with worms and Cthulhu-esque monsters is pretty damn cool), I found the characters two-dimensional and frankly unfathomable - there is next to no character development.

The narrator is likable enough, but only that. I felt no real sympathy for him, and the way the story ends left me more than a little disappointed. It's all very well to tell us, "This is how the story ends, because this is life," but guess what? If you're anything like me, you like a little resolution at the end of a novel.

The framing is awkward, as other reviewers have mentioned. While a first-person narrative usually allows you to really climb inside one character's head and see what makes him tick, Keene's protagonists are simply reporting events. The entire middle section of the book seemed out of place - I didn't like it when Wells used this trick in 'War of the Worlds', and I liked it even less here. The effect was as if two similar stories were welded together unevenly, and it really detracted from the power of each, in my opinion. There are so many potentially great characters introduced in the middle section of the novel, that it really made me cringe to see them wasted like they were. If I wanted to see character after character introduced merely to serve as cannon fodder, I'd watch Resident Evil or something. If this section had been expanded and used as the entire focus of the novel, the story could've been great.

Keene is a pretty decent writer, as evidenced by his great zombie novels, but this one just seemed like something churned out over the course of a few weeks in order to pay the utility bills. As a short story this would have been marvelous, but as a novel, I sure felt like I wasted seven bucks and two days reading it.

I really wasn't sure about this book when I picked it up. After reading The Rising and City of the Dead, I decided to pick up the rest of Keane's work. Though this one had a bad cover as well as inaccurate(the world is flooded), I started reading. Like Keane's other novels, this one doesn't have a slow build, it is right into the action with the first page. I like his writing style, but sometimes I feel cheated and want more. If Stephen King had written this one, it would be at least twice as long and the flooding wouldn't even have started until 200 pages in. But the quick pacing and non-stop action does have the advantage of always keeping you interested in the story. This post apocalyptic story has the world flooding from a torrent of non stop rain. The story is mostly told from the first person point of view of an old man in the Appalachian Mountains, though the middle of the book does switch to another survivor. I actually liked that part better, but both are strong. The story incorporates Biblical references as well as Cthulhu myth. There is even a nod to Ob from the Dead books. All in all it was a nice quick read and I enjoyed it greatly.

One day it starts raining and never stops. Along with the rain comes super tornadoes, massive earthquakes and monster tsunamis. Farmlands are submerged and cities are flooded or washed away. Every inch of the planet is affected. Scientists can't explain what is causing the phenomenon.

The Polar Icecaps eventually melt and soon the only safe places on the planet are on mountain tops. Teddy Garnett and his friend Carl Seaton are two elderly men that live in the mountains of West Virginia. They spend their days trying to stay dry and debating on what is causing the global catastrophe. They soon discover that the rain isn't the only thing that they should be worried about. Weird sounds from outside are waking them at night. A unknown fungus is starting to grow all over the plants and animals that are still alive. Giant slime coated holes are popping up outside Teddy's house. They soon find themselves fighting for their lives against giant man eating Earthworms. The old world is passing away and a ancient evil from deep within the earth is rising to lay claim to the planet.

Brian is one of the best horror authors in the game today and The Conqueror Worms is one of the reasons why. I was hooked on the first page. I story is original and moves at a very fast pace. The cast of characters in The Conquer Worms are very believable. I especially liked Teddy; Brian made him jump out of the pages. A lot of people that read this book say that Teddy reminds them of their grandpa and I totally agree. He is one of the most memorable characters of any story I've read.

Fans of apocalyptic fiction or horror in general must grab a copy of The Conqueror Worms. It is one heck of a ride that never disappoints.

The Conqueror Worms started as a novelette early in Keene's career called Earthworm Gods, and appeared in two collections before he decided to expand it into a novel because it was so popular. The story is told in three parts and the second part is the revised version of the original Earthworm Gods novelette.

The story starts off as a Noah's Ark type of Armageddon. One day the rain started and it just never stopped and now the earth has flooded and most of humanity is gone. The protagonist in this story, Teddy Garnett, is one of the survivors living at the top of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, an area high enough that it hasn't flooded yet. The first part of the story starts here and admittedly stats off a little slow as the story is told on how the rains started. But we soon kick into the worms arriving and the chaos they start to cause.

The second part of the book, as stated earlier is the revised novelette. At the end of the first part a couple of survivors find Teddy and in the second part they tell their story, but their story takes place at the top of a skyscraper that still happens to be above water. This was the most interesting part of the novel, and instead of worms we find out there are a few other supernatural creatures out in the water besides the worms.

The third part of the book goes back to Teddy and his survival in West Virginia, it picks up the action a lot, and we are brought up to speed on another one of Keene's mythological "Thirteen" and it's minions that are now on this water soaked earth. I thought the ending was pretty good.

At first I didn't really care for this book, but the second and third parts really picked up and this book ended up being quite an enjoyable monster story. If you like Keene this is essential reading, if you don't know Keene I still recommend this book and see no reason why this wouldn't be a great place to start.

Ok,
I'm a writer, not a reader, but I sat with Brian Keene on a panel recently at Hypericon and got a chance to chat with im a lot, so he was generous enough to give this book to my daughter.
Well, I started reading it, and couldn't put it down. Keene has a way of preparing you for the terror, then you never know when it's going to come. I'm almost finished the book, but it has inspired me to be a better writer...and buy more of his books!!!!

Brian Keene has once again blew me away. The Conqueror Worms was often overlooked by me due to the fact that the book cover just didn't hit with me. Yes, I knew it was a Brian Keene book, and that I should never overlook any of his work, but I just did. I very much lived the cliche of "never judge a book by its cover."

This is one of Keene's more character driven stories as the book is entirely a journal kept by our main protagonist, Teddy. We are given his point of view on everything that happens throughout his ordeal. Aside from Teddy, we are also given great characters in the form of his best friend, Carl, and two survivors who come into Teddy's life, Kevin and Sarah. We are literally taken on this adventure from the point of Teddy's view, and it was an enjoyable one. Don't fear for we are given the usual big group of characters who must fend for their lives when Kevin tells his story to Teddy of how they arrived in his backyard. That's where the book has most of its action, and I will say that I would love to see this part put faithfully onto film.

That is one thing about Keene's novels that stimulates me is that I can always envision very well what is going on in the book thanks to Keene's knack for great detail. One part in Kevin's story that struck me involves a glass roof and a tentacle or two.

Aside from the characters, Keene once again furthers his mythos with the "Thirteen." We're introduced to two of the "Thirteen" here. The creatures that we are introduced to aside from those two derive from actual myth and from the mind of Keene. Once again, one thing that kind of made me overlook The Conqueror Worms at first was the fact that the antagonists were giant worms. No no, there are more than just the worms here. Way more. I smile just thinking of what Keene throws the reader's way.

One thing I usually find low in Keene's novels are their endings, but here - although we are left with some questions - I liked it.

Not that the world of The Conqueror Worms ends for Keene has given a sequel titled "The Deluge" which he is currently posting weekly chapters on his website. Currently on chapter 20, "The Deluge" is just as character-centric as Worms, and it also has introduced a new menace. A menace that is just as strange and a bit more intense as the ones in Worms.