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The Stone Man #1
The Stone Man - A Science Fiction Thriller, Book 1
The #1 Amazon and Audible best seller, shortlisted for Audible UK's Audiobook of the Year Award 2015
Nobody knew where it came from.
Nobody knew why it came.
When an eight-foot-tall man made of stone appears in the middle of a busy city center one July afternoon, two-bit (and antisocial) reporter Andy Pointer assumes it's just a publicity stunt.
Indeed, so does everyone else...until the Stone Man begins to walk, heading silently through the wall of the nearest building, flattening it, and killing several people inside as a result.
As efforts by the local police - and soon the government - to halt the Stone Man's inexorable progress prove futile, only three questions are on the watching world's
Where has it come from, where is it going, and what does it want?
Andy is determined to be the first person to answer those questions; after all, he was there when it arrived. Surely the headaches and visions he's experiencing are proof of a mental connection to the Stone Man. Clearly his dreams of champagne and notoriety are all about to be fulfilled once he uncovers the truth...and the scoop of a lifetime.
In a pursuit that carries him the length of the country and the breadth of the Atlantic, Andy uncovers the jagged pieces of an increasingly terrifying puzzle. As the number of lives lost in the wake of the Stone Man reaches grim figures, the terrible results of Andy's blind determination force him to confront the savagery of human nature.
When irresistible forces aren't met by immovable objects, how far is too far? Andy must discover the answer - and find out who he really is - in the shadow of the Stone Man.
Nobody knew where it came from.
Nobody knew why it came.
When an eight-foot-tall man made of stone appears in the middle of a busy city center one July afternoon, two-bit (and antisocial) reporter Andy Pointer assumes it's just a publicity stunt.
Indeed, so does everyone else...until the Stone Man begins to walk, heading silently through the wall of the nearest building, flattening it, and killing several people inside as a result.
As efforts by the local police - and soon the government - to halt the Stone Man's inexorable progress prove futile, only three questions are on the watching world's
Where has it come from, where is it going, and what does it want?
Andy is determined to be the first person to answer those questions; after all, he was there when it arrived. Surely the headaches and visions he's experiencing are proof of a mental connection to the Stone Man. Clearly his dreams of champagne and notoriety are all about to be fulfilled once he uncovers the truth...and the scoop of a lifetime.
In a pursuit that carries him the length of the country and the breadth of the Atlantic, Andy uncovers the jagged pieces of an increasingly terrifying puzzle. As the number of lives lost in the wake of the Stone Man reaches grim figures, the terrible results of Andy's blind determination force him to confront the savagery of human nature.
When irresistible forces aren't met by immovable objects, how far is too far? Andy must discover the answer - and find out who he really is - in the shadow of the Stone Man.
Audible Audio
First published December 3, 2012
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About the author
Luke Smitherd
32 books593 followersLuke Smitherd is the author of The Stone Man (shortlisted for Audible Book of the Year 2015) and its sequels as well as several other novels. A former singer and guitarist, he now writes full time, hosts the comedy music-discussion show Cracker Juice, and performs around Los Angeles as a stand-up comic. He divides his time between the United States and the United Kingdom.
www.lukesmitherd.com
www.lukesmitherd.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 494 reviews
March 22, 2024
Luke Smitherd is not lacking in imagination. I can say that with some confidence, having read a handful of his books – all very different, all spectacularly original. In this one, the author’s home city (Coventry, England) is visited by a Stone Man, a statue in the shape of a large human figure that just appears one day in Millennium Square. Except it’s not a statue, because it’s just started to move.
Andy Pointer, a working journalist, happens to be in the vicinity when this happens – he’s spotted the crowd and intrigued to see what spectacle has caused them to gather he makes his way toward the group. At first, he thinks that this must be some kind of publicity event, but it soon becomes clear that this is nothing of the sort. Andy is at once amazed and scared by what he witnesses whilst also recognising that this might offer him a career defining opportunity.
I really had no idea what was going happen from this point, but whatever I might have envisaged, I don’t think I’d have come up with anything to compete with the author’s construction. Is it wholly believable? Well maybe not, but it is clever, and it is a story that’s very well told. I listened to it on audio, brilliantly read by actor Matt Addis. I was totally gripped throughout.
Andy proved to be a credible, if not totally likeable, lead man, and the other main characters were similarly well drawn. This helped to engage me in a story that might otherwise have stretched my (limited) imagination a little too far. As it was, I found myself wanting to know the fate of the main players and to see how this fantastical tale was to be explained, to be somehow rationalised. And I think a pretty good job was done on both elements. I did find myself imagining a number of different endings, but when I later placed them under scrutiny (yes, this story has played with my head ever since) I found all my alternatives wanting.
Well done, Mr. Smitherd, you’ve done it again. You’ve laid out a story that’s straight out of left field - a story that could have had me chucking another book on the DNF pile – and you’ve kept me engaged right through to the end. Then you’ve made me play mental games with it for some time after. Not many writers achieve this. I’ll be reaching for another book from your catalogue some time soon.
Andy Pointer, a working journalist, happens to be in the vicinity when this happens – he’s spotted the crowd and intrigued to see what spectacle has caused them to gather he makes his way toward the group. At first, he thinks that this must be some kind of publicity event, but it soon becomes clear that this is nothing of the sort. Andy is at once amazed and scared by what he witnesses whilst also recognising that this might offer him a career defining opportunity.
I really had no idea what was going happen from this point, but whatever I might have envisaged, I don’t think I’d have come up with anything to compete with the author’s construction. Is it wholly believable? Well maybe not, but it is clever, and it is a story that’s very well told. I listened to it on audio, brilliantly read by actor Matt Addis. I was totally gripped throughout.
Andy proved to be a credible, if not totally likeable, lead man, and the other main characters were similarly well drawn. This helped to engage me in a story that might otherwise have stretched my (limited) imagination a little too far. As it was, I found myself wanting to know the fate of the main players and to see how this fantastical tale was to be explained, to be somehow rationalised. And I think a pretty good job was done on both elements. I did find myself imagining a number of different endings, but when I later placed them under scrutiny (yes, this story has played with my head ever since) I found all my alternatives wanting.
Well done, Mr. Smitherd, you’ve done it again. You’ve laid out a story that’s straight out of left field - a story that could have had me chucking another book on the DNF pile – and you’ve kept me engaged right through to the end. Then you’ve made me play mental games with it for some time after. Not many writers achieve this. I’ll be reaching for another book from your catalogue some time soon.
February 23, 2024
I really enjoyed this book, so different from the usual science fiction or horror genre. It is hard for me to categorize this story. The book left you with many questions throughout it's entirety which kept your curiosity peaked and you needed to find out "Why is it here? What is it? What does it want?"
Sometimes it got a little too wordy and some repetitious statements yet it did not take away from the mystery and the suspense of the story. The ending may not have satisfied some readers but in reading horror and thrillers, a happily ever after ending is not always appropriate and a good book is even better when you haven't figured out how a story will end. (Just my opinion).
This was a well written and thought out story and I will read more of this author's books. I highly recommend this book to any reader who would like to read something unique and imaginative yet not too implausible. I thought that it was a fascinating book with great character study who were relatable and likable.
I hope other people will read this book, I would enjoy reading how others felt about this story! Just so intriguing so I might read again one day to see what my perspective would be!
I rated this book 4 wonderful 🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars!!
Sometimes it got a little too wordy and some repetitious statements yet it did not take away from the mystery and the suspense of the story. The ending may not have satisfied some readers but in reading horror and thrillers, a happily ever after ending is not always appropriate and a good book is even better when you haven't figured out how a story will end. (Just my opinion).
This was a well written and thought out story and I will read more of this author's books. I highly recommend this book to any reader who would like to read something unique and imaginative yet not too implausible. I thought that it was a fascinating book with great character study who were relatable and likable.
I hope other people will read this book, I would enjoy reading how others felt about this story! Just so intriguing so I might read again one day to see what my perspective would be!
I rated this book 4 wonderful 🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars!!
December 29, 2022
Luke Smitherd is one of the boldest, most imaginative authors working today. THE STONE MAN is my second foray into his work, and I can tell you there will be a third. Eight foot tall fucking stone man appears in Coventry and starts walking, utterly flattening anything that doesn’t get out of its way, apparently breaking the known laws of physics with its unstoppability? Sign me up. Anyone who touches it gets brain-wiped and spends the rest of their life urgently speaking a seemingly nonsense sequence of letters? Creepy! With an unlikeable but three-dimensional narrator, a physically imposing blue-collar Everyman sidekick, and a cast of walk-on characters struggling through the worst day of their lives, THE STONE MAN isn’t just a concept piece - it’s a fully realized and engaging sci-fi/horror novel that wears its implausibility like a pimp hat and dares you to challenge it. One of the more enjoyable reads of 2022 for me. Highly recommend.
June 29, 2014
Dull
I thought the premise of this story was great and would be entertaining...until I started reading it. I struggled in giving it a one or two rating because although I did finish it there were many sentences, paragraphs and pages I skipped. The constant babbling and carrying on of the same subject without getting any deeper into the storyline was maddening. Giving two stars just because I didn't stop reading completely hoping the story would get better. It did not.
I thought the premise of this story was great and would be entertaining...until I started reading it. I struggled in giving it a one or two rating because although I did finish it there were many sentences, paragraphs and pages I skipped. The constant babbling and carrying on of the same subject without getting any deeper into the storyline was maddening. Giving two stars just because I didn't stop reading completely hoping the story would get better. It did not.
February 18, 2014
This goes into the "difficult reading" category for me. I liked it. I hated it. A tense read from the start, but I think the ambiguity at the end is what bothers me most.
As a first contact story, I guess it accomplished its goal--making you wonder "what if?" I suppose leaving it to you to sort it out is also not unusual for the genre.
I had to laugh at the author's manic ramble at the end. Yes, this is plagued by a lack of editing so prevalent in (free) eBooks, but the lack of polish goes beyond typos. Some of it is simply Brit vs Yank terminology. Is "kerb" actually even a word? Will I ever get used to hearing bare ground referred to as the "floor" or sky as "ceiling?" Do the Brits not use a period after an abbreviated title like Mr. or Ms. and the like? The fact that these things didn't really start to jump out at me until the end is, I suppose, testament to the fact I must have been pretty well engrossed in the story.
I also found the way the story suddenly changed POV to be weird. The story is all Andy's and then suddenly Paul finds his voice. Of course, he has to or the book would be even more unfinished (assuming it really is--I'm fresh from the last page and will be digesting it for a while). The alternate ending tucked way in the back does nothing to give me closure, oddly enough. We still don't know WHO or WHY. Are those not odd omissions for a journalist's tale?
Best part for me was the first time the victim started rattling off letters and I knew it was DNA. Why was that not a bigger revelation in the story? If they were after our DNA (and only damaged code?), there needed to be a more obvious purpose beyond just sending more and more stone men. Having it clearly didn't benefit them or alter their mission.
If course, whoever sent them--as it was stated repeatedly--was working on their own timetable. In that sense, the story REALLY leaves you hanging for an eternity for closure.
My only other complaint is how off-putting it is to be yanked from a story that isn't done to be subjected to the equivalent of a late-night infomercial by a guy who sounds like he's been living on espresso and Red Bull. I totally get the horrors of the publishing world and how hard it is to break out as self pub--especially when everyone and his gran is doing it, too. The quantities of free eBooks is staggering these days and the vast majority are crap.
Keep honing your craft, Mr. Smitherd. Quality will get you noticed and IMHO, the big publishing houses aren't at all what they used to be. I've seen plenty of them leaving authors without a proper editor, too. It'll be your fan base that matters in the end.
As a first contact story, I guess it accomplished its goal--making you wonder "what if?" I suppose leaving it to you to sort it out is also not unusual for the genre.
I had to laugh at the author's manic ramble at the end. Yes, this is plagued by a lack of editing so prevalent in (free) eBooks, but the lack of polish goes beyond typos. Some of it is simply Brit vs Yank terminology. Is "kerb" actually even a word? Will I ever get used to hearing bare ground referred to as the "floor" or sky as "ceiling?" Do the Brits not use a period after an abbreviated title like Mr. or Ms. and the like? The fact that these things didn't really start to jump out at me until the end is, I suppose, testament to the fact I must have been pretty well engrossed in the story.
I also found the way the story suddenly changed POV to be weird. The story is all Andy's and then suddenly Paul finds his voice. Of course, he has to or the book would be even more unfinished (assuming it really is--I'm fresh from the last page and will be digesting it for a while). The alternate ending tucked way in the back does nothing to give me closure, oddly enough. We still don't know WHO or WHY. Are those not odd omissions for a journalist's tale?
Best part for me was the first time the victim started rattling off letters and I knew it was DNA. Why was that not a bigger revelation in the story? If they were after our DNA (and only damaged code?), there needed to be a more obvious purpose beyond just sending more and more stone men. Having it clearly didn't benefit them or alter their mission.
If course, whoever sent them--as it was stated repeatedly--was working on their own timetable. In that sense, the story REALLY leaves you hanging for an eternity for closure.
My only other complaint is how off-putting it is to be yanked from a story that isn't done to be subjected to the equivalent of a late-night infomercial by a guy who sounds like he's been living on espresso and Red Bull. I totally get the horrors of the publishing world and how hard it is to break out as self pub--especially when everyone and his gran is doing it, too. The quantities of free eBooks is staggering these days and the vast majority are crap.
Keep honing your craft, Mr. Smitherd. Quality will get you noticed and IMHO, the big publishing houses aren't at all what they used to be. I've seen plenty of them leaving authors without a proper editor, too. It'll be your fan base that matters in the end.
December 20, 2016
Modern day War of the Worlds.
I went into this book blind. I didn't even read the synopsis. I've heard a few things about Smitherd and thought I'd give him a go, The Stone Man seems to be his most popular book so that seemed to be a good place to start.
I listened to the audiobook edition of this piece. Firstly, I have to say, the narration was spot on. It was really easy to listen to and it pulled me in pretty quickly.
I'm not the biggest Sci-Fi fan so I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but I'm happy to say that I loved it. In fact it's one of the best books I've read this year and it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be checking out future works from Smitherd.
I don't want to say much about the story, that's not what I do in my reviews and I think that's what the synopsis is for anyway. I'd rather just give you my opinion of the story.
And that is, don't hesitate, check it out and I guarantee you won't regret it.
I went into this book blind. I didn't even read the synopsis. I've heard a few things about Smitherd and thought I'd give him a go, The Stone Man seems to be his most popular book so that seemed to be a good place to start.
I listened to the audiobook edition of this piece. Firstly, I have to say, the narration was spot on. It was really easy to listen to and it pulled me in pretty quickly.
I'm not the biggest Sci-Fi fan so I wasn't sure what to expect from this, but I'm happy to say that I loved it. In fact it's one of the best books I've read this year and it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be checking out future works from Smitherd.
I don't want to say much about the story, that's not what I do in my reviews and I think that's what the synopsis is for anyway. I'd rather just give you my opinion of the story.
And that is, don't hesitate, check it out and I guarantee you won't regret it.
March 13, 2015
I thought the premise was really good and imaginative. However, as I went through the book, I felt like there was too much verbiage for what was occurring and it started to wear thin. There was no there there.
You hope the book that is hard to get through redeems itself by having a spectacular ending but there is no resolution and the "villain(s)" is/are never identified.
Plus, one of the protagonists has no resolution either and continues to be persecuted literally forever. It is like the author boxed himself into a corner and had no way of writing himself out of it so he just ended it.
After the ending of the book, the author goes through a big sell job for writing a review. Had he not done that I doubt that I would have written one.
Mr. Smitherd obviously has a very unique imagination but could use a professional editor. He makes the novice writer mistake of not hiring one and there are many typos. Maybe a great editor could have helped him cut down the verbiage and resolve his story to a more satisfying conclusion.
You hope the book that is hard to get through redeems itself by having a spectacular ending but there is no resolution and the "villain(s)" is/are never identified.
Plus, one of the protagonists has no resolution either and continues to be persecuted literally forever. It is like the author boxed himself into a corner and had no way of writing himself out of it so he just ended it.
After the ending of the book, the author goes through a big sell job for writing a review. Had he not done that I doubt that I would have written one.
Mr. Smitherd obviously has a very unique imagination but could use a professional editor. He makes the novice writer mistake of not hiring one and there are many typos. Maybe a great editor could have helped him cut down the verbiage and resolve his story to a more satisfying conclusion.
December 9, 2012
Loved this. Very different in pace from Physics Of The Dead-that one was more of a slow burner that built to a climax, whereas this book starts with a bang and doesn't let up. A cracking adventure mystery, with a heavy dose of horror to keep you on the edge of your seat. The Stone Man himself if a very frightening and enigmatic figure; I read this in two sittings. Recommended.
April 21, 2021
Well I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it either, and can’t quite put my finger on what’s wrong with it.
Has the bones of a good story but has no soul.
Has the bones of a good story but has no soul.
September 26, 2013
When a mysterious stone behemoth appears in the center of Coventry, hack reporter Andy thinks he's on to the scoop of the century. Little does he realize that "the Stone Man" and the sinister purpose for its arrival are inextricably linked to his very survival.
The Stone Man is Luke Smitherd's second novel, and its the one you want to read first. Well-plotted, sleekly written and robust, it's a great example of solid science fiction...
And I KNOW my science fiction.
My father was a sci-fi fan growing up; so when I was a kid I had access to a truly exceptional library of dog earred novels by writers the likes of which we won't see again (Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Edmund Cooper). The biggest compliment that I can give to The Stone Man is that it holds its own amongst the best of 'em.
Another reviewer here wrote that it was "unlike any sci-fi she'd read before", but I would argue the exact opposite. Good science fiction needs to follow a certain formula and Luke Smitherd managed to do that pitch perfectly. There was a mystery. The protagonist was swept up in it in a very believable way - and as the novel progressed, we learned more and more; making the entire novel progressively more compelling. It was old school stuff; and a great example of why that model has always worked.
So my 5-star review? That's five stars in comparison to REAL books; not just the stuff you'll find self-published on Kindle. The Stone Man is the sort of book that, if I'd splashed ten quid on in an airport or train station, bookstore, I'd have considered it money well-spent. In some ways, it reminded me in particular of Steven King's "From a Buick Eight" - in that it was ultimately a very human story; with the fantastical elements merely serving ad set-pieces to the rich, satisfying story-driven characterization.
The Stone Man is Luke Smitherd's second novel, and its the one you want to read first. Well-plotted, sleekly written and robust, it's a great example of solid science fiction...
And I KNOW my science fiction.
My father was a sci-fi fan growing up; so when I was a kid I had access to a truly exceptional library of dog earred novels by writers the likes of which we won't see again (Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Edmund Cooper). The biggest compliment that I can give to The Stone Man is that it holds its own amongst the best of 'em.
Another reviewer here wrote that it was "unlike any sci-fi she'd read before", but I would argue the exact opposite. Good science fiction needs to follow a certain formula and Luke Smitherd managed to do that pitch perfectly. There was a mystery. The protagonist was swept up in it in a very believable way - and as the novel progressed, we learned more and more; making the entire novel progressively more compelling. It was old school stuff; and a great example of why that model has always worked.
So my 5-star review? That's five stars in comparison to REAL books; not just the stuff you'll find self-published on Kindle. The Stone Man is the sort of book that, if I'd splashed ten quid on in an airport or train station, bookstore, I'd have considered it money well-spent. In some ways, it reminded me in particular of Steven King's "From a Buick Eight" - in that it was ultimately a very human story; with the fantastical elements merely serving ad set-pieces to the rich, satisfying story-driven characterization.
January 27, 2014
This book was so intense I *ugh* can't even bring myself to think about it right now. It was a slow burn, most of the horror lying not in the monstrous actions of the mysterious stone man but instead in one ordinary man's gradual decline. It'll be a long time until I'm numb enough to read this one again.
December 30, 2017
"The only thing in this world more irresistible to human beings than greed is curiosity, and the need to know the answers."
I'm a closet believer in the idea that concept is king. In an era when anyone with a word processor and internet access can publish some character dashes and call it a book, you've got to come up with an original idea or a new take on a concept in order to get my attention. Now, of course, once you've gotten me to raise my eyebrow it's the execution that keeps me coming back for more, but without that initial spark to pique my curiosity, your book may look pretty, but it won't be opened.
So, a story about first contact with aliens? Yep, seen it.
A story about a walking stone statue suddenly appearing in the middle of an English town, and the aftermath of what this first contact entails? Now that's something that peeks my interest.
"The Stone Man" is an incredibly ambitious project for an indie author to tackle, and Smitherd delivers wonderfully on the scope of what an incident of this proportion would mean for a nation and the world. It's not a perfect book, but its charm lies in its imperfections, from its precocious yet accessible protagonist to the realism in which the chain of events that unfold are approached. The author made some decisions in the last part of the book that left me feeling a bit unfulfilled, but ultimately this story delivers on its premise, offering a unique spin on an age old idea.
This is my first run-in with Luke Smitherd's work, though it won't be my last. Definitely interested in seeing what other ideas he has to explore. A solid 3.5 stars.
I'm a closet believer in the idea that concept is king. In an era when anyone with a word processor and internet access can publish some character dashes and call it a book, you've got to come up with an original idea or a new take on a concept in order to get my attention. Now, of course, once you've gotten me to raise my eyebrow it's the execution that keeps me coming back for more, but without that initial spark to pique my curiosity, your book may look pretty, but it won't be opened.
So, a story about first contact with aliens? Yep, seen it.
A story about a walking stone statue suddenly appearing in the middle of an English town, and the aftermath of what this first contact entails? Now that's something that peeks my interest.
"The Stone Man" is an incredibly ambitious project for an indie author to tackle, and Smitherd delivers wonderfully on the scope of what an incident of this proportion would mean for a nation and the world. It's not a perfect book, but its charm lies in its imperfections, from its precocious yet accessible protagonist to the realism in which the chain of events that unfold are approached. The author made some decisions in the last part of the book that left me feeling a bit unfulfilled, but ultimately this story delivers on its premise, offering a unique spin on an age old idea.
This is my first run-in with Luke Smitherd's work, though it won't be my last. Definitely interested in seeing what other ideas he has to explore. A solid 3.5 stars.
December 23, 2015
Yes this book is definitely different but all in a good way. This was a refreshing read from the stand point of the plot. This story is about the appearance of a strange anomaly, the Stone Man and how society deals with this world changing event. But we see the prescetive not just from society but from a couple of average blokes that find themselves in the center of the action.
Upon reflection of the book I beleive it pegged the way we would adjust to such an event. We would try to understand it for sure, but mostly we would just deal with it and find a way back to our normal life as quickly as possible.
Don't expect traditional science fiction here but this is an engaging, character driven story.
Upon reflection of the book I beleive it pegged the way we would adjust to such an event. We would try to understand it for sure, but mostly we would just deal with it and find a way back to our normal life as quickly as possible.
Don't expect traditional science fiction here but this is an engaging, character driven story.
November 10, 2019
Great story, well written. Kept me engaged and entertained all the way through.
Luke Smitherd is now on my favorites authors list, both this and The Physics of the Dead are original, well told stories, and I'll be back for more by him! Definitely recommending this one.
Luke Smitherd is now on my favorites authors list, both this and The Physics of the Dead are original, well told stories, and I'll be back for more by him! Definitely recommending this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 28, 2013
Just Brilliant! From start to finish this book had me gripped. It's funny, heart-warming, intelligent and thought-provokingly scary.
Fantastically written characters who make you care about them right from the off, an unfathomable villain who defies all understanding and a sport cast that flesh out the story beautifully.
I can't recommend this highly enough, especially at the ridiculous price of 70 odd pence, you'd be crazy to not give it a go!
Fantastically written characters who make you care about them right from the off, an unfathomable villain who defies all understanding and a sport cast that flesh out the story beautifully.
I can't recommend this highly enough, especially at the ridiculous price of 70 odd pence, you'd be crazy to not give it a go!
May 16, 2014
I think this is a great book!
I love the way it's written. It gives the impression of a man telling his story about what he has experienced, and it's done well!
The story is good as well, I found it quite original. Where did the stone man come from? What does he want, what is his purpose?
Read it and you might find out!
I did like the ending, but at the same time I would like to know more! But I will not say more about that, as I don't want to ruin it for you!
Would recommend!
I love the way it's written. It gives the impression of a man telling his story about what he has experienced, and it's done well!
The story is good as well, I found it quite original. Where did the stone man come from? What does he want, what is his purpose?
Read it and you might find out!
I did like the ending, but at the same time I would like to know more! But I will not say more about that, as I don't want to ruin it for you!
Would recommend!
March 31, 2014
Absolutely could not put this down. Wished for a different ending but enjoyed the book.
June 15, 2021
Rezension: (kann Spoiler enthalten)
Danke an Netgalley und den Verlag für das Rezensionsexemplar!
Ich hatte irgendwie recht hohe Erwartungen an das Buch, vielleicht weil ich vergleichsweise wenig Science-Fiction lese im Gegensatz zu Fantasy, aber ich hatte mir bei dem Klappentext auch gedacht, dass es ja eigentlich nur gut werden KANN.
Und ich mochte die Idee mit dem Stone Man, der plötzlich auftaucht, wirklich gerne und wollte auch unbedingt erfahren, was genau Andys Verbindung zu diesem Geschöpf sein soll. Auch beim Lesen gefiel mir die Grundidee wirklich gut. Aber die Umsetzung hat für mich etwas gehapert.
Die Art wie der Stone Man eingeführt wurde und was er im Laufe der Geschichte tat bzw. was die Regierung tat, fand ich nur teilweise nachvollziehbar und es erschien mir minimal aus der Luft gegriffen. Irgendwie hatte ich mir da unter dem weiteren Verlauf der Geschichte etwas Anderes vorgestellt.
Außerdem war der Schreibstil für mich etwas schwerfällig, ich musste mich sehr darin einfinden, weil es mich auch oft irritierte, dass es aus der Sicht von Andy erzählt habe, der diese Geschichte aus seiner Vergangenheit quasi erzählt. Das hat den Schreibstil gewissermaßen verändert und hat mich beim Lesen etwas behindert.
Ich fand das Buch nicht schlecht, die Idee war wirklich gut, aber die Umsetzung fand ich nicht so super gelungen und mit dem Schreibstil hatte ich ein bisschen Probleme. Daher insgesamt ganz nett, aber nicht unbedingt überragend.
3 Sterne
Danke an Netgalley und den Verlag für das Rezensionsexemplar!
Ich hatte irgendwie recht hohe Erwartungen an das Buch, vielleicht weil ich vergleichsweise wenig Science-Fiction lese im Gegensatz zu Fantasy, aber ich hatte mir bei dem Klappentext auch gedacht, dass es ja eigentlich nur gut werden KANN.
Und ich mochte die Idee mit dem Stone Man, der plötzlich auftaucht, wirklich gerne und wollte auch unbedingt erfahren, was genau Andys Verbindung zu diesem Geschöpf sein soll. Auch beim Lesen gefiel mir die Grundidee wirklich gut. Aber die Umsetzung hat für mich etwas gehapert.
Die Art wie der Stone Man eingeführt wurde und was er im Laufe der Geschichte tat bzw. was die Regierung tat, fand ich nur teilweise nachvollziehbar und es erschien mir minimal aus der Luft gegriffen. Irgendwie hatte ich mir da unter dem weiteren Verlauf der Geschichte etwas Anderes vorgestellt.
Außerdem war der Schreibstil für mich etwas schwerfällig, ich musste mich sehr darin einfinden, weil es mich auch oft irritierte, dass es aus der Sicht von Andy erzählt habe, der diese Geschichte aus seiner Vergangenheit quasi erzählt. Das hat den Schreibstil gewissermaßen verändert und hat mich beim Lesen etwas behindert.
Ich fand das Buch nicht schlecht, die Idee war wirklich gut, aber die Umsetzung fand ich nicht so super gelungen und mit dem Schreibstil hatte ich ein bisschen Probleme. Daher insgesamt ganz nett, aber nicht unbedingt überragend.
3 Sterne
May 28, 2015
This is one of those maybe books. The story is good. The premise is good. The writing is somewhat good. Editing not so good. Overall a decent book.
Things I didn't like: There were a small number of misspelled words (not bad), but there were more grammar/tense/incorrect word usage that made me backtrack more than a few times. The writing style is verbose, to the point where I skimmed over paragraphs more often than I like. The author seemed to want to make a point by repeating ideas throughout both the prose and dialogue. That kept me from totally getting into the story. There was way too much detail in the descriptions of surroundings and characters' thoughts. The change in POV was awkward. The ending -- there was none. No resolution to what was happening. And there was an alternate ending that was more of an explanation than part of the story. It didn't leave me wanting more, but it did leave me wanting an ending.
This I did like: I thought the idea was fascinating. There was no real explanation of why an alien race sent mechanisms to harvest human DNA, which was fine. The characterization was good. The emotional level was good. Visualization was good (even though the descriptions were overdone). Besides being verbose, the author's writing style was good.
The best I can do is 3 stars. It is interesting enough to read, but it will take some patience.
Things I didn't like: There were a small number of misspelled words (not bad), but there were more grammar/tense/incorrect word usage that made me backtrack more than a few times. The writing style is verbose, to the point where I skimmed over paragraphs more often than I like. The author seemed to want to make a point by repeating ideas throughout both the prose and dialogue. That kept me from totally getting into the story. There was way too much detail in the descriptions of surroundings and characters' thoughts. The change in POV was awkward. The ending -- there was none. No resolution to what was happening. And there was an alternate ending that was more of an explanation than part of the story. It didn't leave me wanting more, but it did leave me wanting an ending.
This I did like: I thought the idea was fascinating. There was no real explanation of why an alien race sent mechanisms to harvest human DNA, which was fine. The characterization was good. The emotional level was good. Visualization was good (even though the descriptions were overdone). Besides being verbose, the author's writing style was good.
The best I can do is 3 stars. It is interesting enough to read, but it will take some patience.
May 5, 2017
I really didn't like this book. Its about 320 pages long but would have worked much better as a 10-15 page short. The idea is interesting but it doesn't seem to have been developed beyond it's original inception. The prose feels blunt and heavy-handed and the story is padded with pages of useless, irrelevant detail. The world in this book is populated by dreary and shallow characters who do not seem to be the engines of the narrative but merely its facilitators. There is no satisfactory conclusion and, worst of all, the read is continually marred by grammatical, type and spelling errors.
I forced myself to finish this book in the hope that it would turn around and offer something interesting but unfortunately it ends as it begins, without explanation.
I forced myself to finish this book in the hope that it would turn around and offer something interesting but unfortunately it ends as it begins, without explanation.
April 19, 2017
I've had my eye on this book for awhile now. Ever since I saw it, the minimalist cover art with the foreboding silhouette of the stone man intrigued me, as did the synopsis. I had high hopes for this book, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. For a book billed as a science fiction horror novel, it just wasn't scary at all. In fact, there wasn't a whole lot of action at all. The dialogue rambled on too long and I just didn't like the main character. Still, the concept was good and pretty original, thus the 3 star rating.
March 2, 2014
I enjoyed reading this book for the most part. It kept my interest and the author built up the tension quite well. While the story centers around the appearance of the Stone Man in an English park, it is really about the reaction of the characters in the book to the Stone Man and the destruction that it causes. The story ends somewhat inconclusively, but I for one, had no problem with that. The author may have a sequel in mind though and I would probably read it if he does.
February 1, 2019
This was a strange book but in a way I enjoyed. However, I found the first half a little bit tedious to get through as there didn’t seem to be much in the way of character development and the plot was a bit slow. Thankfully I found it picked up quite a bit in the second half and I really loved the ending; although I will preface that by saying it is an ending you will likely either love or hate.
June 7, 2017
Yawn.....
46% in and had to give up - it's like watching someone else watching paint dry... such potential offered and such drivel delivered.
46% in and had to give up - it's like watching someone else watching paint dry... such potential offered and such drivel delivered.
November 2, 2021
Not sure what I was expecting here, but this was really good.
Stone dude walkin'.
Stone dude walkin'.
June 19, 2019
I can't recall who recommended this to me, but it had been added to my Amazon list a couple of years ago, and it had been bought for me at Christmas, and it had been read by me in June. Not necessarily the sort of thing I read very often - sci-fi dystopian type fiction - but nevertheless entertaining.
The novel follows (predominantly) a local journalist after he's caught up in extraordinary happenings following the appearance of a huge stone man in the middle of Coventry. A huge stone man which then marches off towards an apparent goal, smashing whatever is in the way. The plot starts as basic as that, but in truth the narrative takes in much more than that - suggesting how individuals and society as a whole would react to such an unusual apparent threat.
It didn't completely work for me - I didn't like the central character that much (I can't really get onboard with the mindset of journalists seeking their big story, at the expense of all better judgement) and the ending seemed weaker than a powerful first half of the book, but it did have some interesting points to make, and kept me amused for a couple of days commute. I doubt I'll rush out to buy others by the same author, but it didn't disappoint on balance.
The novel follows (predominantly) a local journalist after he's caught up in extraordinary happenings following the appearance of a huge stone man in the middle of Coventry. A huge stone man which then marches off towards an apparent goal, smashing whatever is in the way. The plot starts as basic as that, but in truth the narrative takes in much more than that - suggesting how individuals and society as a whole would react to such an unusual apparent threat.
It didn't completely work for me - I didn't like the central character that much (I can't really get onboard with the mindset of journalists seeking their big story, at the expense of all better judgement) and the ending seemed weaker than a powerful first half of the book, but it did have some interesting points to make, and kept me amused for a couple of days commute. I doubt I'll rush out to buy others by the same author, but it didn't disappoint on balance.
October 4, 2023
A Study in Contrasts
The Stone Man is a unique tale that defies categorization. It’s not horror, but rather a mix of suspense and mystery that leaves one uneasy. And to call it science-fiction isn’t quite right, though certainly, most Outside-Context problems warrant such a description. Like the titular Stone Man, the novel itself exists outside the bounds of normality.
In contrast, Andy Pointer’s solo narrative of his mundane, underachieving life is tediously normal. When this archetypical character encounters the Stone Man and its spine-chilling intentions, his reactions are realistic. Like the readers, he’s no hero. When faced with moral dilemmas, he makes the same self-centred choices we would. The author doesn’t let his main character live down these decisions, but the self-recriminations never bog down the narrative.
In the pursuit of realism though, the narrative tends to ramble. Our main character dictates his experiences to the reader, so there’s a lot of description that doesn’t drive the plot. The first act takes forever to build up momentum, there’s an absurdly long chase sequence, and many side stories go nowhere. I don’t often tolerate such a lack of focus, but it worked for me. While superfluous, it fleshed out the character and made the world feel real.
Underneath the covers, an entire military-industrial complex works to resolve the surprising and foreign appearance of the Stone Man. What we see of the political and societal ramifications is squeezed through the myopic sight of an average person. By leaving much to the reader’s imagination, The Stone Man offers a unique perspective: only through ordinary eyes can we appreciate the extraordinary.
Recommended.
The Stone Man is a unique tale that defies categorization. It’s not horror, but rather a mix of suspense and mystery that leaves one uneasy. And to call it science-fiction isn’t quite right, though certainly, most Outside-Context problems warrant such a description. Like the titular Stone Man, the novel itself exists outside the bounds of normality.
In contrast, Andy Pointer’s solo narrative of his mundane, underachieving life is tediously normal. When this archetypical character encounters the Stone Man and its spine-chilling intentions, his reactions are realistic. Like the readers, he’s no hero. When faced with moral dilemmas, he makes the same self-centred choices we would. The author doesn’t let his main character live down these decisions, but the self-recriminations never bog down the narrative.
In the pursuit of realism though, the narrative tends to ramble. Our main character dictates his experiences to the reader, so there’s a lot of description that doesn’t drive the plot. The first act takes forever to build up momentum, there’s an absurdly long chase sequence, and many side stories go nowhere. I don’t often tolerate such a lack of focus, but it worked for me. While superfluous, it fleshed out the character and made the world feel real.
Underneath the covers, an entire military-industrial complex works to resolve the surprising and foreign appearance of the Stone Man. What we see of the political and societal ramifications is squeezed through the myopic sight of an average person. By leaving much to the reader’s imagination, The Stone Man offers a unique perspective: only through ordinary eyes can we appreciate the extraordinary.
Recommended.
December 10, 2024
Things change in England when an eight-foot-tall stone man appears in a busy street - seemingly out of nowhere. The Stone Man stands still for a time, and then it starts to walk. It walks in a perfectly straight line, through buildings, cars, or people. It's destination is at first unknown, but small-time reporter Andy Pointer means to find out, and luckily (thanks to his mild autism?) he's got a psychic connection with the thing that turns him into a living homing beacon. After some faffing about with his dysfunctional neighbours, he finds himself involved with the army in trying to locate the human targets of the stone man - but will he save their lives or hasten their demise?
My reaction to this novel changed quite a bit over the course of the book. The novel is billed on Amazon as a 'science fiction thriller', and on Audible as a 'science fiction horror'. I bought the audible version, and so horror was mainly what I was expecting. For the longest time I wasn't sure the if the novel was either a horror or a thriller. The premise is a frankly silly, and there seemed to be no satisfying answers to the mystery. For quite some time, the novel veered into sci-fi mystery mode as the characters tried to figure out exactly what the stone man was and how it operated. In the final analysis, I'd say it succeeds better as a horror, but falls a little short of what it might have been. As a thriller it falls short. There isn't a lot of thrill in the novel - it lacks the tension and fast pace and spends far too much time on idle speculation to feel particularly tense. It seems to take forever for any characters to realize that the code the Stone Man is transmitting is a genetic code, for example, even though the this will be immediately obvious to sci-fi readers from the moment they first hear it.
As a horror, it's more convincing. Andy and his new colleague in the psychic monster-hunting business, Paul, find themselves in the unfortunate position of ushering people to their deaths, and the choices these people need to make as they face a certain and inexorable demise are are viscerally described and downright chilling. This really comes home in the last quarter of the book when the ushers become the performers in this macabre play. But just as the horror finally builds in the last few chapters (and it feels like it takes a long time to get here) you can just see the author struggling with the kind of ending the book should have. In the end, it didn't quite make it for me, and the rather excellent tension he managed to build up is squandered.
I think the big problem is that the book struggles to reconcile the personal horror of the characters with the really rather silly, even cartoonish set up. We are talking about a The Stone Man tromping through Britain like some evil genius' golem on a blind quest for human parts, afterall, and it never really solves the problem that this really isn't a very horrifying premise. Why they never tried to solve the issue of the Stone Man by digging a pit trap or putting the victims on a ship I'll never know. Why, if the people (or beings) that created the Stone Man are so technically advanced, couldn't they just transport the victims to them instead of plopping a big stone man down to march all around? I could never quite get past the silliness of the premise, and that's what ultimately won out, I'm afraid, instead of the horror that I was promised. The book ends with a scene right out of Benny Hill, missing only the Yakety Sax.
If you can sit back and let the silliness slide past, you will probably not have the same issue. Apart from the split personality of theme, I found the book to be well-written, and the reading in the Audible version is really very good.
My reaction to this novel changed quite a bit over the course of the book. The novel is billed on Amazon as a 'science fiction thriller', and on Audible as a 'science fiction horror'. I bought the audible version, and so horror was mainly what I was expecting. For the longest time I wasn't sure the if the novel was either a horror or a thriller. The premise is a frankly silly, and there seemed to be no satisfying answers to the mystery. For quite some time, the novel veered into sci-fi mystery mode as the characters tried to figure out exactly what the stone man was and how it operated. In the final analysis, I'd say it succeeds better as a horror, but falls a little short of what it might have been. As a thriller it falls short. There isn't a lot of thrill in the novel - it lacks the tension and fast pace and spends far too much time on idle speculation to feel particularly tense. It seems to take forever for any characters to realize that the code the Stone Man is transmitting is a genetic code, for example, even though the this will be immediately obvious to sci-fi readers from the moment they first hear it.
As a horror, it's more convincing. Andy and his new colleague in the psychic monster-hunting business, Paul, find themselves in the unfortunate position of ushering people to their deaths, and the choices these people need to make as they face a certain and inexorable demise are are viscerally described and downright chilling. This really comes home in the last quarter of the book when the ushers become the performers in this macabre play. But just as the horror finally builds in the last few chapters (and it feels like it takes a long time to get here) you can just see the author struggling with the kind of ending the book should have. In the end, it didn't quite make it for me, and the rather excellent tension he managed to build up is squandered.
I think the big problem is that the book struggles to reconcile the personal horror of the characters with the really rather silly, even cartoonish set up. We are talking about a The Stone Man tromping through Britain like some evil genius' golem on a blind quest for human parts, afterall, and it never really solves the problem that this really isn't a very horrifying premise. Why they never tried to solve the issue of the Stone Man by digging a pit trap or putting the victims on a ship I'll never know. Why, if the people (or beings) that created the Stone Man are so technically advanced, couldn't they just transport the victims to them instead of plopping a big stone man down to march all around? I could never quite get past the silliness of the premise, and that's what ultimately won out, I'm afraid, instead of the horror that I was promised. The book ends with a scene right out of Benny Hill, missing only the Yakety Sax.
If you can sit back and let the silliness slide past, you will probably not have the same issue. Apart from the split personality of theme, I found the book to be well-written, and the reading in the Audible version is really very good.
February 5, 2021
Holy hell. I absolutely cannot find fault with this at all: imaginative, compelling, with some absolutely brutal emotional beats, The Stone Man is a book you could easily read right through in one sitting before jolting back to life and realising five hours have passed. Smitherd combines ambitious concepts with a warm, conversational writing style that makes this obviously sci-fi story feel very unlike sci-fi, which I often find is written with a keenly felt sense of its own importance, a dour self-seriousness, and a deliberate, aloof obscurity; there is none of that with Smitherd, who creates characters that you could go to the pub with first, and who have inexplicable psychic links with ominous supernatural entities second. I chuckled when I started the book and discovered it was set in Coventry, and was amused further when Nuneaton got a brief shoutout, but by the time we'd made it to Sheffield and Birmingham, I realised these settings were significant - the book feels like life in those places, its characters like the people who live there. It's deeply human, profoundly salt of the earth, and far more recognisable and easy for me to identify with than just about any other possible setting for a novel (certainly for a sci-fi novel). That New York later gets involved in the story, and the character who goes there starts to unravel and lose his own sense of purpose, feels significant.
And I really do think it's worth lingering on all that. There are hundreds of reviews of this book out there that will expand on the story for you, but I think this book is best experienced knowing as little as possible about what is going to happen, letting Smitherd drip feed you information at his own pace. Let the shocks and the gut punches hit you at full force without warning; let the mysteries be mysterious. And in doing that, appreciate Smitherd's writing, the clarity and charm of it. Enjoy that a man with so many big ideas is able to communicate them without disappearing up his own backside. That somebody with such a meticulous approach to keeping the internal rules of his own stories consistent does so without ever adding unnecessary layers of complexity or obscurity for the reader. That he's able to range from intense psychological horror and harrowing human drama, to one man getting a round in at the pub as an apology for kicking the other in the balls, without ever compromising the charm of the characters or the tone of the world he's built. This is an ambitious, unusual story about world-changing, Earth-shattering events, but it's relayed to you by that one regular at the local you're always happy to see. A perfect balance. In a sense I'm delighted that I didn't discover this until 2021, because it means I can jump straight in to The Empty Men - waiting eight years for a sequel would have been painful.
And I really do think it's worth lingering on all that. There are hundreds of reviews of this book out there that will expand on the story for you, but I think this book is best experienced knowing as little as possible about what is going to happen, letting Smitherd drip feed you information at his own pace. Let the shocks and the gut punches hit you at full force without warning; let the mysteries be mysterious. And in doing that, appreciate Smitherd's writing, the clarity and charm of it. Enjoy that a man with so many big ideas is able to communicate them without disappearing up his own backside. That somebody with such a meticulous approach to keeping the internal rules of his own stories consistent does so without ever adding unnecessary layers of complexity or obscurity for the reader. That he's able to range from intense psychological horror and harrowing human drama, to one man getting a round in at the pub as an apology for kicking the other in the balls, without ever compromising the charm of the characters or the tone of the world he's built. This is an ambitious, unusual story about world-changing, Earth-shattering events, but it's relayed to you by that one regular at the local you're always happy to see. A perfect balance. In a sense I'm delighted that I didn't discover this until 2021, because it means I can jump straight in to The Empty Men - waiting eight years for a sequel would have been painful.
February 10, 2021
Abandoned on page 61. A stone golem appears in Coventry then begins walking in a straight line, smashing through everything in its path. Is this an alien race trying to make first contact, or something far worse? I have no idea because we're stuck with the perspective of an emotionally crippled journalist trailing the stone man as it bashes its way through the most boring parts of England. When he began to develop a mysterious connection with the stone man, which he puts down to his unique position on the autistic spectrum, i was just about done. Ground-level takes on earth changing events can work, there's a reason War of the Worlds is so beloved even though its hokey as fuck, but you need characters that are bright, thoughtful, and capable of gently pointing the reader towards the narrative threads of the story. Journo-man, whose name I have already forgotten, is none of these things, and in fact seems so thick and self absorbed that he misses several obvious hints as to the Golem's purpose dropped early in the story. Maybe he embodies all of these traits later in the story, but I'll leave that for others because on eof the many things the Stone Man has ground down is my patience.
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