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The Followers
For many of us, the days of youth are remembered with warmth and nostalgia. Memories of old hang in the light, crisp and spared, never to be lost. But for some of us, there is darkness. And we find ourselves trapped, haunted, followed... by the demons of past.
Literally, the demons of past...
(Download from Amazon)
Literally, the demons of past...
(Download from Amazon)
- GenresHorror
62 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 26, 2012
5 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Evan Bollinger
27 books51 followersEvan is...
A seasoned writer and practitioner of telepathy. A student of human psychology. A supporter of all causes humanitarian. A people-watcher. Extremely motivated... in extremely narrow areas of interest.
And speaking of interest...
He likes a mild Autumn day.
And a good Lager ;)
***CHECK OUT MY NEW BOOK, NOW ON KINDLE SCOUT: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2X6Y... ****
A seasoned writer and practitioner of telepathy. A student of human psychology. A supporter of all causes humanitarian. A people-watcher. Extremely motivated... in extremely narrow areas of interest.
And speaking of interest...
He likes a mild Autumn day.
And a good Lager ;)
***CHECK OUT MY NEW BOOK, NOW ON KINDLE SCOUT: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/2X6Y... ****
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 9, 2013
The Followers by Evan Bollinger is a 2012 e book release. This is a Dark Niche publication. This book is about 67 pages long making it a short story/novella.
A young student, aware of much more than most, notices things others take for granted. Often he immerses himself in fantasy. What is real, what is not? What do we miss out on by keeping our gaze at eye level.
About mid stream, we are introduced to a new character. A young woman on a high, anticipating the end of the school year and her new freedom as an adult. But, her celebration is cut short. How she and the young man's life are related will soon be revealed.
I was contacted by the author about reviewing this book. It is available in the Amazon kindle lending library, so I thought I would check it out.
When I initially looked the book up, it was described as being Gothic. After reading the book, I went back to the Amazon page and I see it is now being touted as a dark paranormal fantasy.
I'm not really sure if any of that applies here. I know most folks that read dark paranormal fantasy probably would disagree with this description and since I study Gothic literature, I can promise you this book is definitely does not belong in that genre. So where does it belong? Not sure. Perhaps, more horror/fantasy/ psychological literature, if there is such a thing. I think this short story would be something people that read horror, fantasy, or maybe science fiction would like and if you are interested in the human psyche this might interest you.
It is an interesting story. The author has a wide vocabulary and can paint a visual picture that has you drawn into the fantasy, seeing it through someone else's eyes and experiences.
It is more than likely that I maybe missed some important point the author was attempting to make, but reading other reviews here, I don't know if anyone else was anymore clued in than I was. I think this novella has a follow up novel, and I am interested enough to see where this may go.
The three star rating has to more with the misleading description of the book, and not with the author's writing skills.
Overall this is a B-
A young student, aware of much more than most, notices things others take for granted. Often he immerses himself in fantasy. What is real, what is not? What do we miss out on by keeping our gaze at eye level.
About mid stream, we are introduced to a new character. A young woman on a high, anticipating the end of the school year and her new freedom as an adult. But, her celebration is cut short. How she and the young man's life are related will soon be revealed.
I was contacted by the author about reviewing this book. It is available in the Amazon kindle lending library, so I thought I would check it out.
When I initially looked the book up, it was described as being Gothic. After reading the book, I went back to the Amazon page and I see it is now being touted as a dark paranormal fantasy.
I'm not really sure if any of that applies here. I know most folks that read dark paranormal fantasy probably would disagree with this description and since I study Gothic literature, I can promise you this book is definitely does not belong in that genre. So where does it belong? Not sure. Perhaps, more horror/fantasy/ psychological literature, if there is such a thing. I think this short story would be something people that read horror, fantasy, or maybe science fiction would like and if you are interested in the human psyche this might interest you.
It is an interesting story. The author has a wide vocabulary and can paint a visual picture that has you drawn into the fantasy, seeing it through someone else's eyes and experiences.
It is more than likely that I maybe missed some important point the author was attempting to make, but reading other reviews here, I don't know if anyone else was anymore clued in than I was. I think this novella has a follow up novel, and I am interested enough to see where this may go.
The three star rating has to more with the misleading description of the book, and not with the author's writing skills.
Overall this is a B-
December 8, 2013
Despite being significantly underwhelmed by Bollinger's Marin Dale, decided to check this one out thinking that two books by the same author ought to be enough to form an opinion on him. Well, now that's I've read them both, I'm pretty certain Bollinger is just not for me. This book features the same disjointed, dreamlike, odd and trippy narrative as Marin's Dale, adults that only appear in cameos, general weirdness. This novella does have a coherent plot underneath all the over stylization and it's pretty short and a quick read with a nice twist at the end, which served as a saving grace, but it just didn't sing for me as a whole really.
February 1, 2013
This is a strange little book, a novella length story about a boy who climbs a tree, sees a large black flying creature with claws, soft ears and fur, and then follows it along the street, to the boy's school, then home again via the public swimming pool. Interspersed with that thread is the story of Carly, a teenager on her way to visit her friends for a night of drinking. Throughout both threads is another voice, this one disembodied, that speaks of the multiverse and how it shows itself in confusing circumstances. That gives us an idea about what is going on here, because the story is somewhat disjointed, sometimes jumping quickly from character to character and even from one version of a character to another version of the same character. Despite this, we are always clear whose point of view we are viewing the action from, and all the threads come together nicely in the end.
It's the kind of book that niggles at your consciousness, leaving you with a sense of possibility, a feeling that the universe is somewhat stranger and more intricately linked than you might have previously imagined. In some respects it's amazing that the story hangs together at all, yet it does, a fact that indicates a certain amount of skill on the author's part. No section is ever too long or too short and the changes happen more quickly as the book nears its conclusion - a good pacing technique.
This is metaphysical fiction in that it presents a thought provoking vision of the universe, one that affects the way we experience our world. We are never sure if the flying creature is real or an extended metaphor, perhaps it is both, or neither. All possibilities seem, not only possible, but also perfectly reasonable. Though the writing could do with a bit of minor tweaking in places, it is essentially a well-crafted and well finished book, which I recommend to anyone who likes something different.
It's the kind of book that niggles at your consciousness, leaving you with a sense of possibility, a feeling that the universe is somewhat stranger and more intricately linked than you might have previously imagined. In some respects it's amazing that the story hangs together at all, yet it does, a fact that indicates a certain amount of skill on the author's part. No section is ever too long or too short and the changes happen more quickly as the book nears its conclusion - a good pacing technique.
This is metaphysical fiction in that it presents a thought provoking vision of the universe, one that affects the way we experience our world. We are never sure if the flying creature is real or an extended metaphor, perhaps it is both, or neither. All possibilities seem, not only possible, but also perfectly reasonable. Though the writing could do with a bit of minor tweaking in places, it is essentially a well-crafted and well finished book, which I recommend to anyone who likes something different.
November 19, 2012
A trippy, gothic/fantasy story that reads like a drug-fuelled trip through your wildest childhood memories and fantasies. The Followers tracks the imaginations of its narrator as he tracks and chases a winged creature through the scenes of his home and school life. His story is later intertwined with the story of a girl on her way to a party to get as drunk as she possibly can, encountering an unforeseen and traumatic situation on the way.
A unique, interesting and crazy story painted with a very talented and descriptive hand, culminating in a number of twists that link both of the story-paths and characters together. A really enjoyable read!
A unique, interesting and crazy story painted with a very talented and descriptive hand, culminating in a number of twists that link both of the story-paths and characters together. A really enjoyable read!
February 3, 2013
Cross-posted from Papyrus Independent Author Reviews (http://papyrus.calebblake.net/2013/02/02/the-followers-by-evan-bollinger/)
The Followers is a small novella which I’m classifying as a mystery. To elaborate, it could be described as a psychological study – part multi-verse exploration, part unreliable narrator. If I were to draw a parallel to a movie, I would probably choose Donnie Darko.
The main narrator is a young boy who climbs up a tree near his house which he refers to as his Spirit Tree. From there he sees a sinister creature prior to falling. Most of our journey is with the boy and the narrative itself is in the first person. However, there is also a secondary narrative in the third person from the perspective of a adolescent girl named Carly who is driving to a friend’s place for drinks.
To concentrate firstly on the young boy, once he falls from his Spirit Tree, his narrative splinters into two parallel but quite different stories: one inhabits a surreal dreamscape, where he pursues the strange creature he saw just before his fall; the other seems to be a somewhat regular school day upon which a supernatural apparition has intruded. I’m not a big fan of dreamscape narrative. To me, it usually follows a sequence of fairly disjointed scenes and images which ends up feeling like a shopping list. Unfortunately, this novella was not an exception. The fact that this journey was intertwined with a slightly more regularly composed narrative actually made matters worse, the scenes cutting back and forth in a disorienting fashion.
After a while, Carly’s secondary narrative is introduced, which served to make a fairly messy and tiring experience even more chaotic. Who is Carly? How does she fit in with the protagonist’s story? Why should we care who she is and where she is going?
However, in the last quarter of the story, the author starts reaping what he has sown in the earlier stages of the novella. As I was reading, I was starting to feel that some images that had seemed so random earlier, were actually quite deliberate, and that the author was actually starting to work the different threads together. Indeed, the novella heads towards a rather clever intersection that left me with more appreciation of the story construction and not a few contemplative silences.
Overall, I felt that although The Followers was a rather intelligent construction when viewed in hindsight it was a case of the end not justifying the means, or at least not significantly enough for me to praise the work enthusiastically. Fortunately, although he might not have hit a sweet spot for me on this occasion, the effort has opened my eyes to this author and I’ll be looking to sample more of his work to see if I can find something that uses a similar intelligence packaged in a format I can more fully appreciate.
For each of us, there will come a time. A time at which we stop, and with the most confidence that we can have, we know. And we can draw a breath and say… that it was that day, or that event, or that string of thoughts, and emotions, that started it all.
The Followers is a small novella which I’m classifying as a mystery. To elaborate, it could be described as a psychological study – part multi-verse exploration, part unreliable narrator. If I were to draw a parallel to a movie, I would probably choose Donnie Darko.
The main narrator is a young boy who climbs up a tree near his house which he refers to as his Spirit Tree. From there he sees a sinister creature prior to falling. Most of our journey is with the boy and the narrative itself is in the first person. However, there is also a secondary narrative in the third person from the perspective of a adolescent girl named Carly who is driving to a friend’s place for drinks.
To concentrate firstly on the young boy, once he falls from his Spirit Tree, his narrative splinters into two parallel but quite different stories: one inhabits a surreal dreamscape, where he pursues the strange creature he saw just before his fall; the other seems to be a somewhat regular school day upon which a supernatural apparition has intruded. I’m not a big fan of dreamscape narrative. To me, it usually follows a sequence of fairly disjointed scenes and images which ends up feeling like a shopping list. Unfortunately, this novella was not an exception. The fact that this journey was intertwined with a slightly more regularly composed narrative actually made matters worse, the scenes cutting back and forth in a disorienting fashion.
After a while, Carly’s secondary narrative is introduced, which served to make a fairly messy and tiring experience even more chaotic. Who is Carly? How does she fit in with the protagonist’s story? Why should we care who she is and where she is going?
However, in the last quarter of the story, the author starts reaping what he has sown in the earlier stages of the novella. As I was reading, I was starting to feel that some images that had seemed so random earlier, were actually quite deliberate, and that the author was actually starting to work the different threads together. Indeed, the novella heads towards a rather clever intersection that left me with more appreciation of the story construction and not a few contemplative silences.
Overall, I felt that although The Followers was a rather intelligent construction when viewed in hindsight it was a case of the end not justifying the means, or at least not significantly enough for me to praise the work enthusiastically. Fortunately, although he might not have hit a sweet spot for me on this occasion, the effort has opened my eyes to this author and I’ll be looking to sample more of his work to see if I can find something that uses a similar intelligence packaged in a format I can more fully appreciate.
September 18, 2012
Examining Existentialism
“The Followers” begs one to ask two questions: Is it so bad to want to immerse oneself in fantasy? What, if anything, is real?
Evan Bollinger carries the reader along on a journey with an attuned child, and into his mind's farthest reaches. He transports the reader into a world that only he, the child, sees. It's a monotonous and mundane world that the child can't escape, but not from a lack of trying. Bollinger relates every nuance of this world so effortlessly and almost flawlessly. It's a somewhat warped world, indeed. It's a world that so many of us might know. It's a real world, only the observant child sees some very unreal things in it.
Bollinger's use of simile is, in my opinion, superb, as he describes to the reader every nuance of the perceptive child's experiences throughout a day in his life.
I hesitate to explain what happens in the story any further. I fear ruining its ending.
Inside all fiction lies at least one grain of truth. It's true to me that “The Followers” is well worth reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps others will, too.
“The Followers” begs one to ask two questions: Is it so bad to want to immerse oneself in fantasy? What, if anything, is real?
Evan Bollinger carries the reader along on a journey with an attuned child, and into his mind's farthest reaches. He transports the reader into a world that only he, the child, sees. It's a monotonous and mundane world that the child can't escape, but not from a lack of trying. Bollinger relates every nuance of this world so effortlessly and almost flawlessly. It's a somewhat warped world, indeed. It's a world that so many of us might know. It's a real world, only the observant child sees some very unreal things in it.
Bollinger's use of simile is, in my opinion, superb, as he describes to the reader every nuance of the perceptive child's experiences throughout a day in his life.
I hesitate to explain what happens in the story any further. I fear ruining its ending.
Inside all fiction lies at least one grain of truth. It's true to me that “The Followers” is well worth reading. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps others will, too.
January 10, 2013
Kudos to Evan Bollinger for creating a vivid and enthralling story where you can wrap yourself into the mind of a child as he chases a creature that keeps you teetering between the realms of reality and fantasy. I never thought there was such a thing as being “too detailed” but, at times I did find myself skipping through indepthly descriptive portions of the story to get to the meat of the scene. Clearly a talented writer, Evan’s verbiage sometimes reminds me of Stephen King, but can become rather long-winded, without using run-on sentences, if such a thing is possible. Despite that minor flaw, the story line kept my interest throughout and the creepy discoveries that are more reality than not, including an unfortunate happenstance to a young girl is frightening. If you’re tired of predictability and guessing the ending 3 chapters early…you won’t be disappointed this time. He leaves you with your jaw dropped.
December 16, 2012
My initial reaction to this book was total confusion. So then I went back and read the book again only to gain a bit more understanding. The Followers for me was like being in a drug induced fog. It honestly gave me a headache try to make sense of it and that is when it hit me I was trying to make the story logical. There is no logic to The Followers it just is. Once I was able to take the logic out and just sit back and read I found that I did enjoy the story. It is definitely one heck of a ride that is for sure. It almost made me feel as though I was in a Twilight Zone episode.
Evan Bollinger did a nice job of taking you on a trip through an alternate dimension of sorts. I am glad I did give the book a second chance. If your interested in a trip in to a fantasy dimension I recommend picking up Evan's book!
Evan Bollinger did a nice job of taking you on a trip through an alternate dimension of sorts. I am glad I did give the book a second chance. If your interested in a trip in to a fantasy dimension I recommend picking up Evan's book!
January 30, 2016
I really didn't understand what it was all about until around the last 20 pages. If this one paragraph was
In the beginning instead of at the end you might have been able to tell what was going on from the start
In the beginning instead of at the end you might have been able to tell what was going on from the start
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews