Strange Weather: Four Short Novels

I expected to read a fiction book, somewhat scifi as King writes. I was not happy that so many political references were throughout the book. Certainly we each have our views, but when you are writing a book of fiction leave political references out.

This collection of four short novels by one of my favorite writers. Since there are four things to talk about I'll just give you what I thought of each story, but I don't want to give too much away, I feel its better to get very little about the book before starting them so you'll be more surprised by how crazy they all are. The first story, Snapshot deals with this crazy camera, The Polaroid Man, and a young boy by the name of Michael Figlione. Taking place in the summer of 1988 this story takes place all in one day and is a crazy ride I loved the details of the story and it made me think of persons suffering from Alzheimer or dementia in a different way. (I gave it 4 stars) Loaded, the second story, was probably my favorite of the two, this one deals with a man named Kellaway who's a racist gun toting mall security guard, who's pretty much down on his luck. His wife is about to divorce him, there's a restraining order placed against him and one morning at the opening of the mall shots are fired and five people are dead and Kellaway is the only one left standing. Okay no more, I can't say anymore​, but it was just so good, I had to make sure I did all my adulting before I could sit and finally enjoy this story all the way through. (I gave it 5 stars) Aloft, the third story was just okay, it's about a man named Aubrey his experience in the clouds. The story begins with him and his three friends about to jump out of this airplane to go tandem skydiving after the death of a friend. But while up on the plane, about to jump out something happens to the plane and Aubrey and his friends are forced out sooner than expected and on the way down something crazy happens within the clouds. I think the ending of the story is what saved it in my eyes. ( I gave it 3.5 stars) And Rain, the last and final of the short stories, narrated by my favorite, Kate Mulgrew, and to be honest I think her narration kicked it up a notch for me. So we follow Honeysuckle Speck on the day in which everything changed for her. What started out sounding like any normal summer rainstorm turns out to be more like a rainstorm of small needles falling down from the sky killing friends and neighbors alike. That's all I really want to give about the happening of the story, too much and it would give it all away. Just know it's a great read. (I gave it 5 stars) All in all, I really liked this collection of short novels/novellas/stories and I'm glad I didn't wait till his next book was announced to pick it up and enjoy.

This book was seriously awesome. It contains four short novels (novellas?).The first novel Snaphot, was fantastically done. It’s a classic good vs evil tale involving a boy and his elderly neighbor who suffers from Alzheimer’s. It was very well written, but might have suffered being drawn out a bit in the end. Still, it was a great spooky story that gave me goosebumps.Loaded is the title of the second novel. This one was very hard for me to read. It’s focused entirely on guns and gun violence. I almost quit at times but it was so outstanding I couldn’t put it down- the ending will chill you to your bones and overall I’m glad I stuck with it.At first I thought Hill was advocating against guns, in a single line at the end of the book he flips that assumption on its head. He says in the acknowledgements section this was his way of trying to work out the different sides of the arguments regarding gun laws. It made perfect sense, and I’ve struggled with these arguments myself at times. Overall, absolutely outstanding work that I think everyone should read.Afloat was probably the weakest of the three for me, but I’d still give it four stars. It was entertaining and fun. It’s just in comparison to the other three which I felt delivered some sort of message- I couldn’t quite find one here. It reads the quickest of all of them, but doesn’t offer any solid conclusion.Rain- I ate this one up! Honeysuckle Speck is a truly kick-butt character. Like Rosie the Riveter for the modern age. I absolutely adored her. She’s smart and tough, but still vulnerable and sensitive. One day in Boulder, CO, the sky opens up and rains hard, nail-like shards of fulgurite, and basically wipes out half the population in one go. From there we follow the Strange Weather through Honeysuckle’s eyes, and all the glorious chaos that ensues.It was a sort of roller coaster ride with things seemingly happening at random, but I loved the conclusion and Honeysuckle stands out as one of my favorite characters in the book.I think it’s safe to finally stop comparing Hill to his father here. The influence is still obvious, but Hill has excelled in bringing his writing into the modern age in a way that I’m not sure King has ever done. These stories will stick with me a long time and I’ll be happy to re-read them in the future.

A collection of four stories from Joe Hill;RainLoadedSnapshot 1988AloftEach story has something different to offer but all four are nightmarish, surreal and far removed from traditional horror. I enjoyed the mix of themes and how the creation of these weird, wonderful characters is gently, carefully done. These people suffer and their stories, although fantasy, are unsettling. I think the general quality of the writing is strong throughout the collection but my favourite story has to be 'Loaded' because I enjoyed the mix of reality, fantasy and sheer desperation as characters become caught up in something from which there seems no escape!. 'Strange Weather' was an enjoyable read and certainly different.

I loved this book - I hated the ending of one of them but I won’t say which one hence a hint of spoiler. Don’t think that made the story bad. It was brilliant, I just hoped for something else, something less harrowing to happen to the hero. But the ending made sense, none the less.I love the King, style humour, Owen Hill gives his characters - especially the idiot bad guys - the much needed comic relief of someone who is really stupid but thinks they are very smart, is perfectly timed.If you want to feel “grabbed by the throat” by literature, four times, give it a go!

I hadn't read any of Mr Hills books before and,to be honest, he had his work cut out because I've read nearly all of his fathers' books over the years. Yes. I was surprised. I loved each one of these novellas. Whereas I thought Steven King had run out of steam in his later novels, this was a breath of fresh air. This is imaginative writing. It's not "horror" (I never thought of King as a horror writer either) but more....thinking outside the box of normal life. I enjoyed the writing style, terse and to the point, and very funny in places if you appreciate dark humour. And, at the moment, it's very up to date. It captures America. The culture, the politics, guns, small town malls and diners. He had a class act to follow but he does it in style. I rarely give five stars but this is one of them. I really enjoyed these stories and want more.

I'm not much of a fan of short stories, but this collection is from the awesome pen of Joe Hill, so I had to make an exception. It turns out that they're not short stories at all, more short novels at around 100 pages each. That's plenty to get your teeth into and I found them all the more satisfying for that. Each tale is completely different and a worthy addition to the quartet. I've rated the collection as a whole rather than its individual parts as each has its own merits and worth a read. For fans of Joe Hill who enjoy his fertile imagination and excellent writing style and fancy something a bit different.

As always Joe Hill's writing is as compulsive as ever - I enjoy his work as much as his dad's! He seems to have inherited a style that really draws you in and infects your mind. 'Loaded' was oddly structured at first but I got it pretty much after the first 2 or 3 chapters and what an ending!! The title of this anthology, I think, is a metaphor for the unusual and scary times we are all living under, not just in the US by all over the world we are experiencing 'strange weather' under the leadership of lunatics!I've nearly finished the last story but I could read a 100 more like it.