Nate Kenyon

Nate Kenyon is the author of Bloodstone, a Bram Stoker Award finalist and winner of the P&E Horror Novel of the Year, The Reach, also a Stoker Award Finalist, The Bone Factory, Sparrow Rock, StarCraft: Ghost Spectres, and Diablo: The Order.

Kenyon's new novel is Day One.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. His reply:

Joylandby Stephen King

I used to be a strict "one book at a time" reader. It felt like cheating when I would pick up one before I was done with another, and I would insist on finishing everything--even if I didn't like it. I don't think I left a single book before the end until I was in my mid-thirties.

That's changed now. I read samples of many books, and even after I commit to one I sometimes leave it in the middle. Ebooks have something to do with it--it's just easier to sample novels now on a whim. My available time is far less these days too, so I don't feel like forcing myself to get through something that isn't working for me.

I won't have that problem with Joyland. This is the most fun I've had with a King novel in years. I didn't know what to expect going in, since I'd heard from friends it was not his usual style. They were right--and wrong, too. It's not horror, at least not so far. It's a coming of age story with a protagonist I like a great deal. It's sweet and slightly heartbreaking and thoughtful. I'm only a third of the way through and I don't know what direction it might take, but so far, so very good. And yet it's still quite clearly his unique voice. King's strength has always been story, and his ability to make readers connect with characters like no other. That's all here in spades.

So I'm definitely going to finish this one. That said, I'm cheating on King with…King. I swore I would wait for Doctor Sleep until I'd completed Joyland, and then promptly downloaded it in a moment of weakness to iBooks and read the first chapter. I've been nervous about this one, because The Shining is one of my favorite books of all time, and I want to love the sequel so badly. But I'm afraid. Afraid the magic isn't there anymore. Afraid of tainting the memory of that book. So far, though, I'm interested. We shall see.

Before Joyland I read Our Final Invention by James Barrat, a brilliant non-fiction book about the dangers of artificial intelligence. Scary stuff, and so well done. And before that, I read Pessl's Night Film. Although I thought there were some flaws with the novel overall, particularly the ending, it had such a compelling voice and atmosphere and it was just so much fun, I would recommend it highly. It's one of those novels that just forces you to turn pages, and one you can't stop thinking about when you're not reading it.

Visit Nate Kenyon's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: Day One.

The Page 69 Test: Day One.

--Marshal Zeringue