My Thoughts on Harbor

[InfectedFox]

So recently I finished Harbor. Normally I'm a fast reader, but this book I really felt like I wanted to take my time reading it.

Overall, I very much enjoyed it. Not as much as LtRoI or his later fiction, but it was a very solid story that kept me hooked the entire time. Perhaps about a hundred and fifty pages or so too long but that's a very minor gripe. It would make a fantastic movie if reworked for cinema. I really felt a visceral reaction to both the characters of Simon and, especially, Anders. He's the embodiment of never giving up on finding answers even while everyone else has moved on. It's refreshing reading a story centered around someone so *human*; he's not an action hero, nor does he have endless amounts of strength. The character of Simon reminded me a bit of old man Jud from King's Pet Semetary. An old hat who barely grasps the nature of the beast before them but gives the lead just enough to go off of.

I've seen a bit of criticism about things like the Spiritus, but to be honest that was one of the high points of the novel for me. I like a story that doesn't hold your hand by filling you in about everything going on. It's obvious the creature at the end is some Lovecraftian horror, but at the end of the day we know little more than the main characters. Spiritus fit into this as well - not to mention that it plays heavily into Scandinavian and Germanic folklore. It's enough to show the reader how it works, how a character like Simon knows about it, instead of having an extra dozen pages explaining where exactly it came from. Sometimes exposition like those fit. But more often than not it doesn't.
 
One of the impressions I got reading it was that the premise reminded me a lot of my time in the creepypasta community. For those who don't know, they are a form of often ultra short fiction in the vein of an urban legend or ghost story told over a campfire, although they only became popular several years after the publication of this book. The hook of mysterious disappearances, a community slightly ajar and filled with secrets, especially the last hundred pages or so. Another work that this reminded me of was Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy.

[Siggdalos]

It would make a fantastic movie if reworked for cinema.

I would personally prefer a miniseries, to give enough time to capture the different time perspectives and the way current-day events intertwine with those of earlier generations. Maybe something around the same length and mood as last year's Blackwater (which is fantastic, if you haven't seen it).

Any adaptation of the story would be cool to see, though. (Really, I'd be happy to see more (good) adaptations of JAL stories in general.)

Spiritus fit into this as well - not to mention that it plays heavily into Scandinavian and Germanic folklore.

Spirituses are one of my favorite creatures from Swedish folklore, but they're pretty obscure, not at all as well-known as tomtar or skogsrån, so I've always liked how they're given a star role in this book. The only detail I don't like about JAL's version is how he tied them to the four classical elements (the mention in the first chapter that there are Spirituses of air, earth, and fire). Always thought that was an uninteresting choice, considering it's not present in the folkloric version; I'd have preferred if he'd left it at depicting them as creatures of the sea. But that's a minor complaint.

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the book, they were interesting to read.

[InfectedFox]

I would personally prefer a miniseries, to give enough time to capture the different time perspectives and the way current-day events intertwine with those of earlier generations. Maybe something around the same length and mood as last year's Blackwater (which is fantastic, if you haven't seen it).

It's definitely on my queue to watch! I was actually thinking of the German series Dark as well, though obviously without the time travel aspect, but with the heavy use of flashbacks.