05-04-2011, 02:47 AM | #1 |
Wizard
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The Ring Series - Koji Suzuki
I had taken a few days to really write anything to kind think about them.
They are all great reads on their own merit, you don't even have to read them in order, as each book kind of stands on its own. Although I do think reading them in order is beneficial. 1. The Ring - This is the book that the movie was based on. The girl coming out of the well, and TV etc, pretty creepy stuff, however the book doesn't really have any of that. It's suspenseful, and I would classify it as more of a paranormal mystery than horror. You basically watch a tape, and if you don't follow the instructions, would be killed in 7 days...the instructions are missing from the end of the tape, erased as kind of a joke by some teens who didn't believe the tape to begin with. Thus the mystery, of watching the tape, and then finding out what the secret to breaking the curse is. 2. Spiral - Takes place shortly after, when one of the people that died in The Ring ends up on the autopsy table. The Medical Examiner is someone that had gone to school with the deceased. Ando, the ME, discovers some sort of numerical sequence inside the deceased and deciphers it as to say "RING", and tries to figure out what all of it means as he meets a woman who was with the deceased. The whole thing is kind of hard for me to explain. 3. Loop - Goes from being paranomal mystery/horror to some seriously hard-core science fiction, turns the ENTIRE Ring universe on it's head. 4. Birthday - 3 Short stories, one before The Ring, one during Spiral, and one after Loop, these are essentially "deleted scenes". It's the best way to describe it. I read these back to back, and enjoyed each one. I have a hard time explaining any of these because I don't want to ruin any suspense, and it gets kind of confusing at times. I thought Loop was the best, a VERY interesting novel, and while Spiral was more suspenseful than The Ring, I found The Ring to be a bit better written and flowed just a little better. |
05-04-2011, 05:25 AM | #2 |
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Hmmm, I stopped reading at the middle of your post because of spoilers.
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05-04-2011, 05:27 AM | #3 |
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Um....there are no spoilers in this. I was vague because of that. You get the same type of information for the book jacket.
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05-04-2011, 09:32 PM | #4 |
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Okay, excuse me, I didn't mean to derail your thread. I was interested in these books that's why I read your post. While reading your post I thought it was giving me more of the plots than I wanted to know about, since I want to be surprised if ever I get to read the books. I was afraid to find out more about the plots so I stopped reading.
Anyway, it's good to read some good feedback about the trilogy. Makes me want to read them more. |
05-04-2011, 09:46 PM | #5 | |
quantum mechanic
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Quote:
One question - am I right that out of the American versions of the movies (Ring and Ring 2), only the first is represented in the books? That was a tortured sentence - I guess what I'm asking is, for someone who's watched both American movies, where would you recommend starting? Probably at the beginning of the series? I confess that your description of book 3 intrigued me the most. How the author changes from horror to SF is something I'm drying to find out . In any case, thanks for the reviews! |
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05-05-2011, 12:41 AM | #6 | |
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Quote:
The Ring is pretty involved, but you CAN read book 2 with out reading book 1, as they pretty much sum up the whole book within the story. I know the book got some negative reviews because of this. Ring 2 has NOTHING to do with Spiral from the description that I see on imdb.com, it's a whole other thing. In fact Ring 1 movie has only little to do with the book IIRC. The best way I can describe the whole series is as if a camera is zooming out. You get Ring 1, camera pulls back, you get the effects of that book in a broader sense in Spiral, then it goes even further out, and you get Loop. Loop is just an odd book. It makes you think....and is compared to a certain movie that I will not name, and people say its a ripoff of that movie....but the book was published before it came out LOL, soooo....yeah. The science behind it is pretty cool, and there is a lot of facts being thrown about, but these are pretty quick reads, I finished one of these in about the time it would take you to watch one of the LOTR extended movies. Seabound: No worries! I try to keep things as spoiler free as possible without just recapping the jacket LOL. |
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