Time travel Stephen King style

When Jake Epping is given the chance to go back to 1958, he sets his sites on changing a few things in hopes that they'll create a better future. His biggest goal is to prevent the Kennedy assassination in 1963. In order to do so, he'll have to live in the past, studying the facts known through history, and planning the best way to stop the president's death with the least ramifications. And his particular worm hole (or rabbit hole, as he refers to it), only comes out in 1958. Each entry is a complete reset, so if he fails, he'll have to start all over again in 1958.

This is somewhat the story behind Stephen King's latest, 11/22/63. I say somewhat because I'm not sure how to do it justice.

First off, this is an 849 page whopper. But, as has been my experience with King all along, size doesn't mean an intimidating read. I knew going in that I would want to set aside a fair chunk of time and this past holiday weekend was the perfect opportunity. Even with the Thanksgiving day feast preparations (for two, but a feast nonetheless), a little bit of holiday shopping (NOT on Black Friday), and a couple of movies, all in all it took me just four days to finish the book. And actually, my preference would have been even less time than that -- there were a couple of long sitdowns with the book, and that's what it really begged for. This is my way of saying that it looks long, but it doesn't take long -- even so, you're going to want to read it through once you start.

I am always in awe of King. I'm sure that his process is by no means effortless, but the finished product certainly seems so. He's a storyteller that I really think compares to no other (*fangirl*).

I will also say that this latest is definitely less horror than a non King reader would expect. If you think that you're not a fan of his typical work, this would be a great one to try. For longtime fans, there's a return to Derry and some great It references.

In other King news, the Bag of Bones tv movie premieres Dec 11 on A&E, Spring 2012 sees a new Dark Tower installment (DT world, but not part of the actual series to my understanding), and King's working on a Shining sequel as well. I also hear that King's son Owen has a novel in the works (he has a short story collection already out). And not to leave out Joe Hill, he seems to have a newly released Locke & Key out on shelves now.