Anyone else here read Mark Frost's novel LIST OF 7? You might be familiar with Frost's name because he was involved with the creation of TWIN PEAKS but LIST OF 7 is something totally different.
I picked up the novel in late 2000 because I read in Fangoria that none other than Guillermo del Toro wants to direct a film version of it. Of course nothing has come of that so far but it made me discover this book ...
LIST OF 7 is a period peice. It is set in Victorian England and its sprawling plot involves ritual sacrifice, black magic, cameos by famous people both from literature and real life and some of the most asskicking monsters ever.
After the first 60 pages or so I thought this book would be one of the best I'd ever read but at some point in the narrative the main villain is revealed, his motivs are explained and, at least for me, the story lost much of its power after that. Not that the rest of the book wasn't good, it's just that I didn't like the way the story went at some points. The main bad guy simply failed to fascinate or frighten me in the same way that the previous mystery about the origin of the bad things that happen had.
Everything else in the novel is just plain great. There are a couple of set pieces that would make incredible cinema (the train!!!) and I'm rooting for GdT to keep everything that worked so well and tweak the few weak spots of the story should it ever get off the ground as a film.
Actually none other than James Cameron wanted to produce the film for GdT but then WILD WILD WEST came along and since that was set in the same time period the financial backers bailed out. Why? Don't ask me. The properties couldn't possibly be much more different in tone and content!
I picked up the novel in late 2000 because I read in Fangoria that none other than Guillermo del Toro wants to direct a film version of it. Of course nothing has come of that so far but it made me discover this book ...
LIST OF 7 is a period peice. It is set in Victorian England and its sprawling plot involves ritual sacrifice, black magic, cameos by famous people both from literature and real life and some of the most asskicking monsters ever.
After the first 60 pages or so I thought this book would be one of the best I'd ever read but at some point in the narrative the main villain is revealed, his motivs are explained and, at least for me, the story lost much of its power after that. Not that the rest of the book wasn't good, it's just that I didn't like the way the story went at some points. The main bad guy simply failed to fascinate or frighten me in the same way that the previous mystery about the origin of the bad things that happen had.
Everything else in the novel is just plain great. There are a couple of set pieces that would make incredible cinema (the train!!!) and I'm rooting for GdT to keep everything that worked so well and tweak the few weak spots of the story should it ever get off the ground as a film.
Actually none other than James Cameron wanted to produce the film for GdT but then WILD WILD WEST came along and since that was set in the same time period the financial backers bailed out. Why? Don't ask me. The properties couldn't possibly be much more different in tone and content!
