"She radiated health and mischief."

In keeping with tradition, Dan Simmons gets his own entry.  He is allowed to stand alone, unchallenged, with a smug look upon his bearded face.  You go, Dan Simmons, you go girlfriend.

So it's taken me a few weeks, but when I was in Asheville last month for the Zombie Prom (Hey!  I finally got to go to prom!  I knew all those people were wrong about me all those years ago.  Except when they weren't.  Um.  Crap.), I made my obligatory trip to Malaprops (hereafter known as The Finest Bookshop in All the Land).  In those hallowed stacks, smelling the coffee beans, hearing the delightful banter, possibly touching the best books in an inappropriate fashion (you can't prove anything), I picked Summer of Night. 

Again, in keeping with tradition, when I brought it to the counter the bookseller not only was a Simmons fan but also wanted to talk about said fandom.  And she wasn't upselling me a damn thing. 


NOTE TO BOOKSTORES ACROSS THE LAND:  This is how you build loyalty.  I actively want to spend my hard-earned money at Malaprops.  I want to throw it at them and thank them for taking it from me.  I want to buy them a drink afterward.  I want to roll around on the floor like a happy Labrador.  I want to evangelize about Malaprops. 

I want to do these things not because they have 20,000 books on the shelves, or because they have the best discounts, or because they have a loyalty program.  I want to do these things because the people there obviously, deeply, love books and are willing to talk about it.  I believe that when I walk up to the counter, the person taking my money will have something useful and sincere to say about what I'm reading.  I believe that if I want help finding a good book to read, their booksellers will help me not because it's their job, but because they enjoy talking to people about how fun it is to read. 

But let's get back to Summer of Night. 

You know how much I loved The Terror.  Summer of Night isn't quite there, let's be honest.  I didn't expect it to be.  What Summer of Night does really well is evoke what it is like to be a kid brimming full of wonder, mystery, and fear as the classes are let out in June and the bikes are oiled and the pellet guns are loaded and you think you're going to explode with excitement and also sadness.  What it's like to be sweaty and tan and invincible underneath the noonday sun and then feel a terrible ache for the back door light when the shadows go sideways and you can't see the path clearly.  What it's like to have the entire world condensed into one awesome, heartbreaking moment of holding hands or kissing a girl for the first time. 

Plus, all the other stuff in the book is scary as hell and gave me nightmares.  I can see a Venn diagram in my head that connects Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Stand By Me, It, 'That Place', and Winter's Bone around the focal point of Summer of Night.  It works, it's good, and you should read it.

Summer of Night - Dan Simmons, 528p.

TOTAL PAGE COUNT:  16,131!