r/DeanKoontz

I read a couple of his new books, The Forest of Lost Souls and Afterlife. I enjoyed the forest of lost souls, but really disliked the afterlife. What do you think of elsewhere? Is it worth the read? I’ve heard good things.

I started Part Two of Mr. Murder. The guy kills several small pets. Now I am traumatized (exaggerating but not really). I don’t know if I can continue this one.

Dean has a crazy and dark imagination.

So I have read the first of the Odd Thomas books, and while I didn't love it I would have rated it readable and at least enjoyed the characters of the book. I am about 10 pages away from finishing the 2nd book and honestly can say I haven't read a book that I thought was more of a waste of time and un-enjoyable in a long time. I mean the whole book is basically Odd seeking or running, and having on-going narrative with himself in a strange POV. Are the rest of the series worth reading, or was the first by far the best?

Just did this for Stephen King, figured we might as well post our favorite Koontz books since there’s not much else going on here. I’ve been reading Koontz since I was a teenager and I think I’ve got a solid top 10 at this point.

1. Watchers - it’s a classic. Einstein, The Outsider, and Vince Nasco with his ‘gift’ of absorbing the life energies of his victims, Koontz usually nails his villains.

2. The Bad Place - Candy Pollard is probably his ‘scariest’ villain, the whole family with their bizarre and accidental powers, Thomas and his chapters are fascinating.

3. Lightning - time travel is always great and Koontz does it well.

4. From the Corner Of His Eye - the quantum mechanics/parallel universes concept is fascinating to read about, and I like his twist on it here.

5. Intensity - Edgler Foreman Vess carries this book, one of his absolute best villains.

6. Dark Rivers Of the Heart

7. The Face

8. Cold Fire

9. Strangers

10. The Frankenstein series (just like with Kings Dark Tower, all series count as one)

I was a proud voracious reader as a child... it was easily my favourite way to spend time, a classic escapism from my otherwise dull childhood. I started properly getting into Koontz books around the age of 9 or 10, and before long, reading became a constant in my life. By the time I was about 13, Fear Nothing had just been released, and it immediately became my favourite book. There was something about it that completely pulled me in.

When the sequel came out not long after (which I saw in a local book shop), I remember placing a request through my local library system and checking for it constantly. The day it finally arrived felt like an event... I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I devoured it in no time.

As the years passed, life started to shift. I still read, but less frequently. By around 19, my attention had wandered elsewhere, girls mainly, and books slowly took a back seat. My degree was also in maths and took up all my mental effort.

To cut a long story short, I never quite returned to reading in the same way. And because of that, I never really committed to starting Koontz’s later works, like the Odd Thomas series. Part of me was hesitant - I didn’t want to get invested only to be left with unanswered questions or loose ends. So I left it, always meaning to come back, but never quite doing so.

I'm quite old now now and haven't read a Koontz book in almost 20 years. Barely read fiction at all actually.

I thought today to check about that Snow trilogy, thinking surely it's been written now, also it crossed my mind is that Koontz guy still alive. How I loved his books as a child. But as pleased as I was to see he's still alive and kicking what a disappointment it's still just a series of cryptic and confusing statements about the Snow trilogy. Seems like it really will get taken to the grave with him.

Not sure why I wrote all this out! My son will be the age I was when I started Koontz soon, maybe I'll get him a book...

The next book! Only the Kindle edition is available for pre-order right now.

I'm rereading odd Thomas and I'm struck again by some if the welsh names and references. For instance, the Aunts name, Cymru and Srkemys name, bronwen llewellyn. What's Dean's inspiration for these Welsh references?