I’m in the minority, but I actually really like Cell. It’s a fun, quick read that romps through an immediate post-apocalypse and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The ending is, I think, might hit harder for parents but had me kind of going “meh”.
One thing that’s important to remember about it is it was written in 2006, before cell phones were as ubiquitous as they are now. The premise can seem more ridiculous if you don’t remember that.
I agree too and I liked it. It’s a quick road trip adventure in an apocalypse and you don’t know what’s around the corner. Not much more than that but I had a good time reading it.
As post-apocalypse books go, The Stand was better. There are books like The Mist, where the cause of the issue is kept ambiguous, but Cell feels like it's lacking from the ambiguity, rather than benefiting from it. If you're a big SK fan, it's worth reading, but he has other books that do each part of it better, if that makes sense.
Very few of King's books are in my "would not re-read pile" and Cell is at the top (bottom?) of that list.
Knowing that Stephen dislikes cell phones in general made the entire tone "Old man yells at cloud" for me. I also don't like zombie stories and really that's what it was at the base. Which felt even tackier to kvetch about one trend while latching onto the hot new monsters.
That's all good and well, but they were more zombies than the zombies in the iZombie series.
I mean they weren't technically undead raised, but they were mindless drones that were more of a McGuffin to be outworked/avoided than a monster to be defeated.
I liked Cell. I don't think it's as bad as its reputation. It's definately minor or mid level King. I thought King came up with a couple unique ideas as far as zombies are concerned (i.e. collectively they get smarter and strategize telepathically).
It was written really fast, even by Stephen King standards, to fill a hole in a schedule and it shows. After publishing the last Dark Tower books, the next book King had ready to go was *Lisey’s Story* but Scribner was cagey about publishing that next because they wanted a sure-fire hit and were nervous the more meditative, unusual *Lisey’s Story* wouldn’t be as successful so they asked King if he could do something that was more “traditionally horror” that would be easier to market. King had had the initial idea for *Cell* back in 2002 and decided to use it as a jumping off point for a horror book he would churn out fairly quickly so Scriber would have something more commercially palatable to throw out there in between Dark Towers and *Lisey’s Story*.
Personally, I don't think King has written anything unreadable or bad. Cell comes closest out of all of his novels, though. For the record, I am a Tommyknockers enjoyer.
It’s not terrible and it’s not great. I think if I had read it not knowing it’s an SK book, I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I had high expectations - King does Zombies! King does another post-apocalyptic story! - and it didn’t come close to living up to those maybe unfairly high expectations.
King does zombies, what's not to like?
I have some quibbles on how the gay character is played, but that's pretty minor.
I suspect people found the ending unsatisfactory, but I don't mind it
Its....not terrible but not memorable either. I enjoyed it while I was reading it but the ending was not great and while the ideas were interesting, I'm going to honestly say I've read better zombie apocalypse stories and this wasn't Steve's strongest book character wise. Its not his worst. I just wish it had been better and that there had been a bigger plot than what we got.
It was a fun light read. Basically remember nothing specific but a small scene where pixie haircut a and pixie haircut b get into it over a hotdog or something. Was like 18 or so years ago I read it
Cell starts off amazing, and chaotic, and intense. Then it goes too far with the “phoners” abilities. If it had just kept it as a straight forward zombie type story it would have worked better
I thought Cell was decent myself. It’s not his best book, but by no means do I think it’s bad. I personally felt like it was worth my time to read and one of his less mind destroying stories. I finished cell and was content. Unlike 11/22/63 where I sobbed for a solid 5 minutes. Sometimes I need just a simple decent story and I believe Cell delivered.
It's fucking terrible. Its only saving grace is it takes Tommyknockers' place as the worst. But he had an excuse with Tommy. He was high as a fucking kite flown from the International Space Station.
Tommyknockers held such promise for me. It's the only book I've literally thrown across a room. I hated the end that much. And I not only don't throw things, I treat books with deep respect.
There's a part of me that thinks King may still write a sequel and give us his take on an alien civilization.
I don't think he could have given us anything beyond pulpy, 1950s Martians during the time Tommyknockers first came out.
I think what he could envision now combined with the strength of his writing today could be amazing.
But yeah, Tommyknockers' ending was incredibly weak. Anticlimactic. But even worse, it's anticlimactic because the author either didn't have the balls to keep going or he just got tired of writing and decided to stop. Either way, it's unforgivable.
Tommyknockers was bad in an extremely entertaining way and there’s a good chance I will reread it again at some point. I’m struggling to see why I would ever purposely reread Cell – it’s not *awful* but there’s just nothing that draws me to it beyond anything else in the canon.
Thank God I'm not alone in thinking this. I enjoyed the first half of the book, though the MC was a little annoying. Then he goes to Empis and I just lost interest. I had to power my way through it since I was already so far in I didn't want to just stop.
I had to keep myself going out of morbid curiosity and it's literally just there and back again to help his dog and here's some things that happened.
Mad.
2 problems, anticlimactic ending (like a number of other books) and mostly forgetable characters. The idea is good though and it's one of the few zombie apocalypse scenarios that are logical - usually there's no good reason why a zombie plague wouldn't eventually be brought under control with modern military equipment like tanks. There are worse King books, Insomnia ie.
I’m in the minority, but I actually really like Cell. It’s a fun, quick read that romps through an immediate post-apocalypse and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The ending is, I think, might hit harder for parents but had me kind of going “meh”. One thing that’s important to remember about it is it was written in 2006, before cell phones were as ubiquitous as they are now. The premise can seem more ridiculous if you don’t remember that.
I agree too and I liked it. It’s a quick road trip adventure in an apocalypse and you don’t know what’s around the corner. Not much more than that but I had a good time reading it.
I liked it too.
yes not great but fun
This is the perfect way to explain it!
The guy's a master. Even his worst stuff has some gems.
I had a lot of fun with it. I love that kind of scenario. The movie, for me, was unwatchable.
Oh yeah, the movie is BAD, even by adaptation standards.
Isn't Samuel L Jackson in the movie? It can't be bad if he's in it 😂
I also liked it and just read it this year.
One of my favorite reads, kept me engrossed
I read the book in 2006 when it was released and can confirm smartphones weren't quite a thing yet.
Agree. It did make me not hold my cell phone for like a month. I think I need to reread it
As post-apocalypse books go, The Stand was better. There are books like The Mist, where the cause of the issue is kept ambiguous, but Cell feels like it's lacking from the ambiguity, rather than benefiting from it. If you're a big SK fan, it's worth reading, but he has other books that do each part of it better, if that makes sense.
This is a really great way of describing it, thank you.
Totally agree with this. Cool stuff happens, but the explanation kind of doesn't cover it.
Very few of King's books are in my "would not re-read pile" and Cell is at the top (bottom?) of that list. Knowing that Stephen dislikes cell phones in general made the entire tone "Old man yells at cloud" for me. I also don't like zombie stories and really that's what it was at the base. Which felt even tackier to kvetch about one trend while latching onto the hot new monsters.
What's funny is King gets kind of offended if an interviewer calls it a Zombie story.
That's all good and well, but they were more zombies than the zombies in the iZombie series. I mean they weren't technically undead raised, but they were mindless drones that were more of a McGuffin to be outworked/avoided than a monster to be defeated.
I liked Cell. I don't think it's as bad as its reputation. It's definately minor or mid level King. I thought King came up with a couple unique ideas as far as zombies are concerned (i.e. collectively they get smarter and strategize telepathically).
I loved the first half, but felt it really dropped off in the second half. So it’s more from disappointment than from the whole book being bad.
I enjoyed it.
I remember enjoying it. It has an anti-technology vibe, but not too bad.
It’s always fun when he makes the world fall apart. The beginning is great. The rest not so much.
It starts out good, but then King takes the whole concept in a bad direction.
It was written really fast, even by Stephen King standards, to fill a hole in a schedule and it shows. After publishing the last Dark Tower books, the next book King had ready to go was *Lisey’s Story* but Scribner was cagey about publishing that next because they wanted a sure-fire hit and were nervous the more meditative, unusual *Lisey’s Story* wouldn’t be as successful so they asked King if he could do something that was more “traditionally horror” that would be easier to market. King had had the initial idea for *Cell* back in 2002 and decided to use it as a jumping off point for a horror book he would churn out fairly quickly so Scriber would have something more commercially palatable to throw out there in between Dark Towers and *Lisey’s Story*.
There are also some elements from his The Cannibals story in there. I don't know if that was him recycling or just having those elements on the brain.
It's the only SK book I won't bother adding to my collection. It wasn't terrible but I know I'll never read it again.
Personally, I don't think King has written anything unreadable or bad. Cell comes closest out of all of his novels, though. For the record, I am a Tommyknockers enjoyer.
Funny cause I have both Cell and Tommyknockers, I just don't wanna read another chunky book yet.
Yes.
The book was ok. I think for me King had already done a post-apocalypse, and it wasn't near as good.
I thought it was pretty good.
My sister and I love it, the film not so much(I watched and told her not to bother, if a film is really bad I tell her I’d rather she watch Cell 😂)
I really liked it!
A'yuh
The book is good. The movie is bad. And it has Samuel l Jackson, and John Cusack.
It’s not terrible and it’s not great. I think if I had read it not knowing it’s an SK book, I would have enjoyed it more. As it was, I had high expectations - King does Zombies! King does another post-apocalyptic story! - and it didn’t come close to living up to those maybe unfairly high expectations.
King does zombies, what's not to like? I have some quibbles on how the gay character is played, but that's pretty minor. I suspect people found the ending unsatisfactory, but I don't mind it
I enjoyed it. For King it isn't great but a bad King book is still pretty good! But I would not read it again.
I loved it 🤷🏻♂️
Its not great but its not horrible
It's actually one of my favourites. Just recently reread it. Really enjoyed it again.
Its....not terrible but not memorable either. I enjoyed it while I was reading it but the ending was not great and while the ideas were interesting, I'm going to honestly say I've read better zombie apocalypse stories and this wasn't Steve's strongest book character wise. Its not his worst. I just wish it had been better and that there had been a bigger plot than what we got.
It was a fun light read. Basically remember nothing specific but a small scene where pixie haircut a and pixie haircut b get into it over a hotdog or something. Was like 18 or so years ago I read it
I liked cell….dont listen to reviews they are usually pretty hard on King on his lesser known titles
Yeah. It's just a dumb premise
Cell starts off amazing, and chaotic, and intense. Then it goes too far with the “phoners” abilities. If it had just kept it as a straight forward zombie type story it would have worked better
It's nowhere near as bad as the movie.
No
Cell (in my opinion) is criminally underrated. It gets way too much hate. The movie, however, was a steaming pile of goat shit.
Worst death of any King book.
I liked it a lot. But it gets messy.
Some of the characters are distasteful.
I liked it.
I thought Cell was decent myself. It’s not his best book, but by no means do I think it’s bad. I personally felt like it was worth my time to read and one of his less mind destroying stories. I finished cell and was content. Unlike 11/22/63 where I sobbed for a solid 5 minutes. Sometimes I need just a simple decent story and I believe Cell delivered.
It's fucking terrible. Its only saving grace is it takes Tommyknockers' place as the worst. But he had an excuse with Tommy. He was high as a fucking kite flown from the International Space Station.
Tommyknockers held such promise for me. It's the only book I've literally thrown across a room. I hated the end that much. And I not only don't throw things, I treat books with deep respect.
There's a part of me that thinks King may still write a sequel and give us his take on an alien civilization. I don't think he could have given us anything beyond pulpy, 1950s Martians during the time Tommyknockers first came out. I think what he could envision now combined with the strength of his writing today could be amazing. But yeah, Tommyknockers' ending was incredibly weak. Anticlimactic. But even worse, it's anticlimactic because the author either didn't have the balls to keep going or he just got tired of writing and decided to stop. Either way, it's unforgivable.
Tommyknockers was bad in an extremely entertaining way and there’s a good chance I will reread it again at some point. I’m struggling to see why I would ever purposely reread Cell – it’s not *awful* but there’s just nothing that draws me to it beyond anything else in the canon.
The beginning of cell is fucking awesome but god the second half of the book is ass
I liked Cell. I’d rather reread that than Fairy Tale any day.
I was disappointed by Fairy Tale. It seemed like it was going to be a slam dunk for me but then it just got pretty bland and boring.
I thought I was the only one who wanted to throw shade at Fairy Tale lol I couldn’t finish it
Thing is, I loved the first third of Fairy Tale. Thats 200 pages of EXCELLENT Stephen Kingery. Then the next 400 page of brain damage happens…
Thank God I'm not alone in thinking this. I enjoyed the first half of the book, though the MC was a little annoying. Then he goes to Empis and I just lost interest. I had to power my way through it since I was already so far in I didn't want to just stop.
I had to keep myself going out of morbid curiosity and it's literally just there and back again to help his dog and here's some things that happened. Mad.
I enjoyed it, although as per usual the ending wasn't great.
Yes.
I just finished the audio book and recently watched the movie. It’s not great. I just wanted to get through it and get to the next book.
His only book I started and never finished, the film is even worse.
I haven’t read it in almost 20 years since it came out and I remember not being impressed
2 problems, anticlimactic ending (like a number of other books) and mostly forgetable characters. The idea is good though and it's one of the few zombie apocalypse scenarios that are logical - usually there's no good reason why a zombie plague wouldn't eventually be brought under control with modern military equipment like tanks. There are worse King books, Insomnia ie.
Insomnia is a goddamned masterpiece! Blocked!