The Tommyknockers by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Out of all the SK novels out there, this is the one I have the hardest time reviewing.

Why? Because I KNOW why the general readership would poo-poo this novel and yet, its wildness, oddities, plain batshit craziness is exactly WHY I love this novel.

The only one that goes this far into nuttyland is the DT series. Don't believe me? Get to the Coke machine or the little red wagon. Better yet, get to the brothers. Or the automatic typing machine. Or better yet, go take a flying **** through a rolling doughnut. :)

This is a horror, absolutely. But it's also, absolutely, an science fiction novel. And if you think old B-movie SF horrors were fun in the old days, you'll truly appreciate it when they become a hardcore SK novel giving great nods to SF great, Poul Anderson.

Tommyknockers is a wild, wild ride of the imagination. Not for the faint of heart. Maybe back when this came out, it was too spicy for general readers. But now? I think it's just right. And here's the best part: so much of it presages later SF like Matrix (in a few really excellent, green, battery ways) and a bit of clever bio-hacking.


In comparison to all the other great SK novels, it may not be up there in terms of his very best, but it DOES shine brighter in one area: sheer imagination. For this, I applaud.

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