RIP james herbert

JimmyMac

Loved his works, first read ghosts of sleath which was brilliant, will have to read it again

rockmonkey1973

Man i used to love this guy. I think the first book of his i read was Domain and after that i was totally hooked. Really great book and i have read it a number of times, although the last time was many years ago. I just loved the idea of mankind being mostly wiped out, with pockets of survivors eking out a living, competing with the vermin. The descriptions at the beginning, when the bombs were dropping, had me totally gripped. I found it very easy to picture that scenario and then ponder how i would face the inevitable. Easy to fool yourself without ever been able to know for sure.

I also loved Creed. The way it was written was just fresh and exciting. It is how i write (when i do write... badly) with a much more first person view. It bowled me over and the character was just a cool b******... literally and he was all the cooler for it. I cant remember much about the story but as far as that book was concerned, it was the style and Creed himself that i found deeply enjoyable. Just seemed natural and i liked being in his head.

Actually i just had a look at his page on Wiki to jog the memory and Fluke and The Jonah were two other great books. In fact until the mid 90s i had read every single book Herbert had written and enjoyed them all (most were read multiple times). I even just remembered now my mate got into reading his books after i turned him onto The Magic Cottage and he didnt even really read books.

Funnily enough Ghost of Sleath is one of only four books of his i havent read. It is also one of a tiny handful of books i have started but havent finished. I got one chapter in and decided that was enough. The others that i havent even tried are Others, Crickly Hall and Ash. I did read 48 a year or two? back and maybe i had grown up or he had lost it... I think it was probably me, i had just changed in some way and the buzz had gone. Whatever it was (me or him) it wasnt anywhere near the same sort of deal. It seemed a tad boring in parts and although it was still readable i was quite glad when it was finished. Not to take anything away from the guy though because i spent many, many hours lost in the worlds he created and mostly enjoyed nearly all of them.

bosque

Sad to hear, I used to devour his books in the 1970s, the early ones were real page turners.  This kind of massive readability is very rare and that's why he made the sort of fortune other writers don't make.  You only really got it nowadays when a new Harry Potter book was being published IMO.

RIP Mr Herbert.

Theydon Bois

Loved Rats, Fog, Fluke, all read multiple times when I was younger. I did not read his later stuff, and should do really, his writing was better than the Shaun Whassname blood and guts horror.

richardb70

Agreed, I think I've still got dog-eared copies of the Rats trilogy, The Fog etc in my attic from my teen years.

Decent page-turning stuff, with mandatory nastiness and sex.

P.S. Loved the film of the Survivor too, it's probably lame but gave me the fear at the time (I think I was 12 or so?).

boltlock

RIP James. Thanks for all the sleepless nights I had when I was a child.

swall101

Very sad RIP.

There are a few of his books in the kindle store for under a pound at the moment. Just downloaded a couple to relive my youth!

cebs_uk

I remember reading some of his when younger, i always remember Slugs but when I just searched that was by someone else.  

Picked up a few of his in oxfam before to read for a few pounds each, looking forward to reading them later in the week.

KiLLiNG-TiME

Very sad much I enjoyed his work as young man, i think the Lair was my first taste of violence and sex all in one book... great stuff

RIP

Smurfin

Shame to see him go.  I've only read The Magic Cottage (which was recently) and 48 a few years ago, and I've got a load of his other books sitting on the shelf.  Interestingly Ash, his last book, was universally panned and has received a right drubbing on Amazon.