11/22/63

by Stephen King

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I was first introduced to 11/22/63 in its mini-series format a few years ago. I remember being intrigued, and not at all realizing it was a book. I liked the show – watched it over the course of about a week – and only vaguely recalled seeing it was written by Stephen King. I figured it was probably a short story. Foolish me.

11/22/63 is a whopper of a book. It comes in at about 31 hours of listening time. The book really needs that time to become established. King has to get you attached to Jake Epping / George Amberson. You have to learn to care about the past, illustrate the way the world was, and learn a bit about the theories around JFK’s assassination. There’s a lot going on and it needs time to unfold naturally. Most of all, it needs time to introduce the reader to the consequences of meddlesome time travel.

King does fantasy and sci-fi so well. I know he’s known for his horror, but his world-building is really fantastic. He’s also amazing at suspense, which is why all his books are so successful. Stephen King always leaves the reader thirsty for more. It’s how he gets away with having such long, unpolished books. They seem to have infinite page counts, but it’s so easy together sucked in. 11/22/63 is no exception. To some point, I knew what was going to happen at the end, but like every good book, it differed from its screen adaptation and I was absolutely engrossed. I kept waiting for something terrible to happen… because the past fights back.

Honestly, I wish more time travel had consequences as dire as 11/22/63. A lot of sci-fi, particularly in the time travel sub-genre, talks about the butterfly effect. Some even talk about the different strings or branches each consequence creates. But I’ve never seen it done quite so well as King. When you read time travel like this, you worry about every conversation, especially when you start putting together all the different causes and effects. It’s just brilliant. The suspense aspects keep this book alive, in a format that feels very different from his other novels, but is nonetheless well-researched and engaging.

Even though I see Jake Epping in my head as James Franco, I felt his character was well rounded enough to be interesting, but no more emotional and in-depth than any of King’s other creations. There’s a distance to Jake that makes him less relatable, but no less interesting. Sadie was my favorite, with a but of a twisted history. Oh yes, and for King fans you know there’s going to be an easter egg somewhere from his collected multiverse, and sure enough, there are a few characters near the beginning you may recognize in Derry, Maine.

All in all, 11/22/63 intrigued me for its time travel, alternate universe, and historic aspects, but I stayed for the suspense. I had to know how the book played out, if he completed his task, and what happened afterward. Your heart breaks for the love and loss in the story, but you drive forward because you have to know. For myself, I think it’s my favorite read of his after the Dark Tower series. I don’t care for horror, but this man knows suspense.