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benjaminpritchardreads's review against another edition
3.5
Underwhelming after finishing Swan Song. Started off really well then dwindled down
jonahbarnes's review against another edition
I’ll call it Christian fiction, but his view of the world as a battle between light and dark is way off. God is not fighting against Satan or Baal. God is God and everything else is created. God is not struggling.
Still an entertaining story though.
Still an entertaining story though.
kmt75's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.25
McCammon's first is just dreadful. Badly written, poorly plotted, overtly racist. Can't believe he hasn't taken this out of print.
aira_reads's review against another edition
5.0
This is an epic horror tale that spans on a global scale. The story jumps forward, focusing on Baal a la The Omen style and jumps again with a dark prophet and his own cult. The time jump takes a while to get used to and it’s not as detailed to show the setting etc. But the meat of the story is there and it’s delicious
myweereads's review against another edition
4.0
“Baal moved into the dark veil of forest and the others followed without a backward glance.”
This was Robert McCammon’s debut novel. It is telling the story of an unimaginable evil called Baal. After a women is terribly attacked she falls pregnant and gives birth to her son who comes to be known as Baal. In the orphanage where he grew up, he plays with brutal violence, from here he sets to become a leader and have his followers commit the worst acts.
Reading this with Laura has been fun. Whilst reading this I couldn’t help but have The Omen in mind and like Laura pointed out The Exorcist. Similar in some ways yet faithful to his style of writing is what makes this horror novel addictive to read. You could feel the presence of Baal from page to page. When he was in the forefront his evil was explicit and unnerving. Some of the brutal acts were quite detailed.
I love how the story evolved and how engaging the characters were. I was routing for a few and had no idea what was to happen. Even the ending was like a bang and has an impact on where you go from here.
I enjoyed reading this, I was curious because Baal was mentioned in some of his other novels so Im glad I finally read it to learn where the routes of this evil began.
This was Robert McCammon’s debut novel. It is telling the story of an unimaginable evil called Baal. After a women is terribly attacked she falls pregnant and gives birth to her son who comes to be known as Baal. In the orphanage where he grew up, he plays with brutal violence, from here he sets to become a leader and have his followers commit the worst acts.
Reading this with Laura has been fun. Whilst reading this I couldn’t help but have The Omen in mind and like Laura pointed out The Exorcist. Similar in some ways yet faithful to his style of writing is what makes this horror novel addictive to read. You could feel the presence of Baal from page to page. When he was in the forefront his evil was explicit and unnerving. Some of the brutal acts were quite detailed.
I love how the story evolved and how engaging the characters were. I was routing for a few and had no idea what was to happen. Even the ending was like a bang and has an impact on where you go from here.
I enjoyed reading this, I was curious because Baal was mentioned in some of his other novels so Im glad I finally read it to learn where the routes of this evil began.
ctk0224's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! What a great debut novel. McCammon certainly surpassed my expectations with Baal. I honestly wasn’t excited about reading this one, but it had my attention all the way through.
stevie_2e's review against another edition
2.0
Despite the star rating, if you are a fan of McCammon, you should read this, his first published novel. He wrote Baal as a man with a force but no focus, and it shows, good and bad, in the story and characters.
kimily's review against another edition
3.0
I am a huge fan of Robert McCammon, but I did not enjoy this book as much as I have some of his others. I could have gotten on board with it if the ending had been better, but it just wasn't. The ending was very anticlimactic and left me feeling like I had wasted my money.
However, since this is his first published book, and I am familiar with his other work, I can wholeheartedly say I still recommend reading through his bibliography.
However, since this is his first published book, and I am familiar with his other work, I can wholeheartedly say I still recommend reading through his bibliography.
charm_city_sinner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
This book is awful. Full of plot holes, the characters are nonsensical and unlikable. Seems like it was written by a college freshman.