Snow (Ronald Malfi)

For me, this was the best book we've read so far.

The monster was fantastic. Or at least initially. I loved the idea of something like snow having to be something that is feared. When a bit of snow fluttered in through a pipe, you knew it was a monster coming. That kind of thing. The descriptions of the small snow tornados as they formed was great too. The materialization of scythe hands that stabbed people through the backs was very cool. They said it took a lot of the creatures energy to materialize like that, so I guess its a weakness, but not one that they were really able to take advantage of. If one started to materialize, you simply knew trouble was coming. The pulsing sliver lines reminded me of jellyfish or something, and it was just a really well-described monster. Taking over humans as skinsuits added to the whole brilliance of the monster, because once one settled into a body, other characters had to worry if a person was still human or not. It gave us a bit of what we liked in the movie "The Thing" but with more understanding of how it did it. Everybody had to worry if others had their back sliced or not. The oddity of how it affected kids was interesting, but I'd like to have seen a little more purpose for it--why there faces were the way they were, etc. Did they have a role in trying to achieve the creatures' overall objectives?

I liked the overhead cloud thing too. I'm still not 100% what it was, and I don't think I was supposed to be. But the idea of all the skinsuits standing like manikins in communication with it was great. It gave an extra creepy feel to what was going on. Again, like The Thing, the skinsuits seemed to have a shared collective consciousness going on, which the characters were able to take advantage of with diversion tactics. Diversions worked really well against them because the creatures would all run to the spot. Not good if you're actually alone and in trouble, but great if you're going for a diversion. Malfi was able to use the idea effectively both ways. The cloud moving to hover over different places was a very effective way to bring more intrigue and tension to the story.

Where the monster lost me a little was with the giant snow creations and the worms. It started feeling like new stuff was just being thrown at us to amp up the tension and wonder. But I didn't think it was necessary. The skinsuits and floating snow tornados, not to mention the overhead cloud, were plenty enough for me. I never felt like anything about the giant snow creature, the Bugs Bunny burrowing things, or the black worm thing in the sully every really resolved or made sense with the initial monsters. Not sure why they were added.

The characters were well done. I was sad to see Shawna die, especially in the manner she did (climbing the stairs in safety only to lose it all by opening the basement door), and was disappointed that Molly wasn't killed (I couldn't wait until she was made into a skinsuit... guess I'll have to hope for a sequel). I definitely found myself rooting for Todd and Kate, and was happy they made it out like they did. I expected Todd to be reunited with Justin at the end because there were so many times Justin was brought up. But I liked that. Not everything has to be a surprise.

There were a couple of places where the narration went from close third person to omniscient, and I didn't enjoy those parts. They felt like info dumps and I just wanted to get back to the live action. It was something I noted, because I wonder about adding things like that to my writing, and after experiencing it in a novel like this, now I think its something I want to avoid. I imagine Malfi wanted to add backstory and give characters more depth, but I found that I didn't care enough to have the story pause for it. Getting characterization through the action and dialog was plenty good enough for me.

Funny how this book had to have a veterinarian character to help with medical emergencies. Breeding ground had that too. I guess that's a staple in these survival-type horror stories? Can't have a doctor... lets make the character a veterinarian!

Still, it was a good book. I'm wondering how Bone White is. Anyone read it?