Customer Reviews

Spiral ('Ring' series, Book 2)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Spiral, the sequel to Suzuki's Ring, we are to discover that the hoped for (if uncomfortable) resolution e promised at the end of Ring is not to come to pass. Instead we discover that there is a whole layer below Sadako's efforts at vengeance and that a darker and more haunting motive drives the story - one that threatens more than just those who watched the videotape.

Dr. Mitsuo Ando is haunted by the horrible accident that killed his son and destroyed his marriage. Still unable to make sense of his own life, he is called on to perform the autopsy of his friend Ryuji Takayama, who played a vital role in Ring. What he finds is that death was caused by a coronary blockage and that there are signs of a smallpox like viral infection. Odder is that the body seems to expel a piece of the newspaper used to fill out the thoracic cavity. Ryuji and Dr. Ando used to be addicted to ciphers, and a string of numbers on the paper can be decoded to spell R I N G.

Ando is drawn to Mai, Ryuji's student and lover, who suddenly disappears. As he investigates Ando discovers for himself that all of the victims of the videotape died similarly - all deaths seemingly by a viral infection and exposure to a videotape. Spiral thus introduces another, more unnerving idea. The Spiral is DNA and the theme of the book is mutation or, in broader terms, change.

This book is every bit as solid as Ring, but it pulls the rug out from under the reader by shifting from Ring's story of curses and ghosts to hard science fiction with just a dash of mysticism. As readers, we often have trouble shifting gears like that - stories that suddenly become something else take us out of our comfort zone. The Japanese seem more adept at accepting this kind of narrative 'mutation,' since the real core of the story, the focus on individuals who must make dark choices is still constant.

I liked Spiral a good deal, once I got over the change of pace. In its way, it is as well written as Ring, although it seems to have fared worse when converted to film. That is a shame, because the book will get less attention than it should as a result.

Spiral is the 2nd in the series of Ring books. This installment takes place shortly after the first book with a pathologist performing an autopsy on one of the last victims. The story isn't going for the creepy shocks and awes of the first book, but goes a little more into the reason behind it all. The fates of the last books characters are explained. You find out what the ring basically is and how it works in more detail as the story goes on. It has a Michael Crichton feel to it with all the scientific explainations going on over the course of the book. It's not boring or too stuffy by any means it kept my interest enough to finish the book in a few evenings. The story does pick up towards the end and becomes more of the horror story you would expect. With a few comebacks of characters in the first book, there is enough here to keep you wanting to know more about this whole Ring thing. Can't wait to read loop and see how it all ends.

I almost never read fiction. I'm pretty much hooked on real-life biogrophies and events that really happened. I am however a huge fan of horror films and I heard so much about the original Japanese "Ring" movies (4 in all, all with English subtitles) that I just had to get them on DVD. While I enjoyed the original Japanese "Ringu" movie very much, I really enjoyed best of all the first sequel "Rasen", which I believe translates into "Spiral". It turns out that, unlike the American movie version or "Ring" the first 2 Japanese movies are very faithful to the novels. So as soon as it was translated into English I bought the first "Ring" novel and was hooked. Truly enjoyable. And for us Americans it also gives a bit of a glimpse of what contemporary Japanese life is like, although i'm sure the author never even thought of that while he was creating his works. It's just a nice side-product of the actual story.
"Spiral" I also pre-ordered. And much like the movie "Rasen" it offers a scientific basis for the mystery of how the virus actually works. You can almost believe it the way Mr Suzuki uncovers the scientific basis for the virus.
You also get to find out what happens to the main characters who remained alive at the conclusion of "Ring", so it's recommended to read that one first.
Not at all content to simply rehash the same old story with some new characters who don't know anything about the video and resulting virus, this takes the story to an entirely new level. I was glued to this book and was sad to see it end.
In the back of the hardcover edition it states that next year the 3rd and final book in the series by Mr Suzuki, "Loop" will be published. I have no idea what happens in this one since the 3rd and 4th Japanese movies "Ring 2" (which pretended that "Rasen" never existed) and "Ring 0" no longer followed the novels but simply followed the formula established by "Ringu". I don't think I can wait another year for "Loop" to come out here in the U.S.!

I have to admit that this story was written very well in the form of a sequel and a stand alone novel. The author wanted a reason to carry on the story he left at the end of "Ring", but I can see where things could get a bit sticky. Therefore, this book is supposed to be a stand alone novel that will keep "Ring" fans happy.
Starting the story out with the autopsy of the character who died at the end of the first novel brings readers right in, but soon after things seem to get a bit far fetched. How? Well, the author takes horror to a scientific level, almost Michael Crichton like, an tries to keep us on our toes at the same time. I do think it works, but just the keeping us on our toes part, the "horror" gets lost pretty early on in the book.
I think that you have to look at this book in one of two ways to make your decision on whether you like it or not. First, do you want to look at it as a sequel or second, as stand alone novel.
Although I read the first book and loved it, I dont think that it succedes as a good sequel, even though main characters return, even the evil girl Sadoko, or in the U.S. named Samara. As a stand alone novel though, I find it great. I mean, this is fiction people, not reality, its supposed to be far fetched.
I enjoyed this book very much as a thriller, not a horror, and honestly believe that both "Ring" fans and newcomers will enjoy this read. I cant wait for the third installment entitled "Loop". Have a fun read.

Spiral very cleverly takes the plot of Ringu and runs with it, involving alphanumeric codes and the mechanisms of cellular biology. Suzuki's style seems to have improved some, too, since Ringu, and is just as briskly readable, and a little more concrete in its descriptions. As in Ringu, theory eventually displaces horror as the core of the story, and probably to an even greater extent, but there are still some moments of genuine horror. There's also more of Ryuji Takayama, even though he's, um, dead. In other words, everything you loved in Ringu is back in force.

The only thing which harms Spiral, I think, is the contrast between its horrific and scientific elements. That there is some kind of tentative quasi-scientific explanation for the events makes them seem less frightening, and at the same time, the neccesary implausibility of the scientific explanations makes them seem unnecesary.

In any case, Spiral sets the stage nicely for the final volume in the series, Loop, which is hopefully soon forthcoming.

In Spiral, the sequel to Suzuki's Ring, we are to discover that what the hoped for (if uncomfortable) resolution that seemed to be promised at the end of Ring is not to come to pass. Instead we discover that there is a whole layer below what we thought was simply Sadako's efforts at vengeance and that a darker and more haunting motive drives the story - one that threatens more than just those who watched the videotape.

Dr. Mitsuo Ando is haunted by a horrible accident that killed his son and destroyed his marriage. Still unable to make sense of his own life, he is called on to perform the autopsy of his friend Ryuji Takayama, who played a vital role in Ring. What he finds is that death was caused by a coronary blockage and that there are signs of a smallpox like viral infection. Odder is that the body seems to expel a piece of the newspaper used to fill out the thoracic cavity. Ryuji and Dr. Ando used to be addicted to ciphers, and a string of number on the paper cen be decoded to spell R I N G.

Ando is drawn to Mai, Ryuji's student and lover, but before the relationship advanced she disappears. As Ando investigates he discovers that all of the victims of the videotape died similarly - all deaths caused by a viral infection apparently created by the videotape, and later by a narrative of the events in Ring. But this is just the completion of Ring's story arc. Spiral introduces another, more unnerving idea. The Spiral is DNA and the theme of the book is mutation or, in broader terms, change.

This book is every bit as solid as Ring, but it pulls the rug out from under the reader by shifting from Ring's story of curses and ghosts to hard science fiction with just a dash of mysticism. As readers, we often have trouble shifting gears like that - stories that suddenly become something else take us out of our comfort zone. The Japanese seem more adept at accepting this kind of narrative 'mutation,' since the real core of the story, the focus on individuals who must make dark choices is still constant.

I liked Spiral a good deal, once I got over the change of pace. In its way, it is as well written as Ring, although it seems to have fared worse when converted to film. That is a shame, because the book will get less attention than it should as a result.

At first I thought I wasn't going to like this one.
The main character is so different from the main character of the first one, and well...frankly seemed a little crazy. He did spend the first few chapters talking to a dead guy, after all...and a lot of the technical jargon and explaination I saw as I was flipping through the book I thought was going to lose me, but I'm glad I didn't give up.

Aaaaaah. There's no other way to describe it. I couldn't put the book down after halfway through. Hubbie and I wound up fighting over who was going to read it, so that we could get it finished as quickly as possible and be able to discuss the events without plot spoilering each other.

Oh, man, oh, man, such a twist, such turns. It was amazing, and hideous and hideously amazing, the way things went on. I will confess there were certain parts I was able to predict, such as what had happened to Mai (to a point). This is the most intriguing way ever I have seen to bring back characters from a previous part of a story, and write them out, or in, or out and then in again. Ahh...I can't wait for the last part to be translated.

I'm so eager to see how on Earth Suzuki-san is going to finish up this story!!

'Spiral' is the sequel to a bestseller horror novel 'Ring'. But the way the novel is constructed, it would be more enjoyed by those completely unfamiliar with either book or several movie versions of it.

First of all, the book is not a horror novel, it's more of a magical realism kind. The characters are often more interested in a philosophical or scientific discussion, then in ... well, doing something. Yes, they have interesting things to say. And I enjoyed it, really. It's just I wish Koji Suzuki saved all this stuff for another book and wrote a thriller here.

Imagine going into a movie theater to watch a George A. Romero movie, and getting Ingmar Bergman instead. In no way it makes Bergman bad, but there is a high probability you won't enjoy it as much, because you were in a mood for something comepletely different.

Also, there is a large part in the middle of the book, which gives us the complete story of 'Ring'. If you did read it, you can just skip around 20-30 pages. While the position of this overview is logical within the story itself, a lot of readers don't really need it.

Several reviewers noticed that sometimes the book recaps events, that just happened a couple of pages earlier. Yes, it does that, and it's a bit annoying, really. My theory is that the novel was originaly written in Japan as a serial - ergo these 'previously on 'Spiral' recaps - and then the editors just put it all together. Personally, I would prefer these things to be edited out, because they serve no purpose, except to annoy the readers, and taking them out of the novel.

What we have here, is a non-horror sequel to a great horror novel. As a stand-alone book it's good, but as a sequel it mostly dissapoints. Except for one thing, which singlehandedly earned the book it's fourth star. Remember the magic formula in the first book/movie? The one about what you have to do, to survive? Turns out, it doesn't work!

This book couldn't be more different than the Japanese and American versions of RING 2. Again, it takes the story from a scientific approach.The virus has mutated and there is no need for videos to pass it to others: Sadako is stronger than ever. These series make us think about the origins or viruses and also the origins of human life. How everything is prone to change and how we can be the mere product of an accident.
I just started reading "Loop" and it seems to be a great conclusion for this trilogy...

I liked this book a lot, I was surprised at how good it was, the ending was very neat as well!