Audiobook Review: The Body by Stephen King

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Body
Author: Stephen King
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: Originally published 1982; new audiobook edition released 2026
Print length: 192 pages
Audio length: 6 hours 38 minutes
Genre: Coming of age novella
Source: Library
Rating:

Decades after starring in the film adaptation, Wil Wheaton narrates an all-new recording of the story that shaped a generation!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King’s timeless novella The Body, originally published in his 1982 collection Different Seasons and adapted into the 1986 film classic Stand by Me, now available as a stand-alone edition.

Four rambunctious young boys venture into the Maine woods in search of a boy from a nearby town who has disappeared. Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find the missing boy’s body along the railroad tracks. The Body is set outside King’s iconic fictional town of Castle Rock, which is the setting of many of King’s most popular books including It and The Stand, and Castle Rock, a 10-episode Hulu original series, based on King’s short stories. King’s The Body is an iconic coming of age story that explores the loneliness and isolation of young adulthood.

And from an earlier edition of the book:

It’s 1960 in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Ray Brower, a boy from a nearby town, has disappeared, and twelve-year-old Gordie Lachance and his three friends set out on a quest to find his body along the railroad tracks. During the course of their journey, Gordie, Chris Chambers, Teddy Duchamp, and Vern Tessio come to terms with death and the harsh truths of growing up in a small factory town that doesn’t offer much in the way of a future.

A timeless exploration of the loneliness and isolation of young adulthood, Stephen King’s The Body is an iconic, unforgettable, coming-of-age story.

Originally published in 1982 as part of Stephen King’s Different Seasons collection, The Body is best known as the story adapted into the outstanding film Stand By Me. I consider myself a fairly well-read Stephen King fan, although I’m nowhere close to having read all (or even more than half) of his works. And yet, before this week, I’d actually never read The Body… and now that I have, I’m astounded that I’ve been missing out on it all these years.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that The Body may just be one of the most perfect examples of a coming-of-age tale. The story is clearly autobiographical in some ways, in terms of the Maine vibe of the early 1960s, the companionship among boys, the rituals and cultural signifiers, the sense of a future looming just around the corner (not to mention the more obvious fact that the narrator is a writer who writes horror stories, lives in Maine with his wife and children, etc. etc. etc.)

To go back to basics, the core story is as follows: In Castle Rock, Maine one summer day, a group of 12-year-old boys set out on an adventure. The boys are a motley crew, from a variety of unsavory or unlucky families, and even at age 12, no one really expects much of any of them, and the town itself seems like the definition of a dead end. On this summer day, they overhear some of the town “JDs” (aka, the dangerous older brothers and their assorted hoodlum friends) that they’ve found a dead body — a boy who’s been missing for a few days and is believed to be lost somewhere in the woods.

Gordie, Chris, Vern, and Teddy are bored, thirsty for excitement, and eager to claim the title of town heroes. School is about to start, and they have nothing else going on, so they decide to beat the older boys to the body, report that they’ve found it, and basically claim a hefty dose of glory for themselves. The trek to the body is more challenging than they expected, involving miles and miles of train tracks, spots of true danger, and imagined horrors during a sleepless night in the woods.

The brilliance of The Body is in the details. The writing is beautifully evocative of the era, the dynamic of being a 12-year-old boy, the mix of hopefulness and hopelessness that pervades their lives, and the absolute devotion that childhood best friends share for brief moments in time. I felt immersed in Gordie’s worldview; the storytelling voice is powerful and immediate, and we feel what Gordie is feeling throughout.

I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, did you?

The Body is also funny and profane and silly — there are some gross-out moments, and the kind of insults that pass for humor among 12-year-old boys. More seriousness is always beneath the surface, or even out in the open. There’s danger from the older boys, but also the looming danger of the future hurtling toward them. What chance do any of these boys have for getting out of their small town? What kind of lives lie ahead? Gordie narrates this tale from a future vantage point, at once enjoying the sweetness of nostalgia while also letting us know that in some ways, these summer days were the best days of their lives, and that they were followed by sorrow and loss and a variety of big and small disappointments.

Wil Wheaton is, of course, a stellar narrator. Having been one of the child stars of Stand By Me (playing Gordie), he’s the perfect choice for this new audiobook edition. His storytelling voice is humorous and inflected with emotion and amusement, and he hits the more tragic or contemplative notes just right.

Listening to The Body reminds me (as if I need reminding) just what an amazing storyteller Stephen King is. On top of telling a terrific tale, he also lets us in on the joys of being a writer and a storyteller, and without hitting us over the head, uses Gordie’s voice to show the power of language and narrative.

The Body is a fantastic story, and the audiobook is truly a special experience. Even if you’ve read the story before, it’s well worth checking out the new audio version.

As for me, I’m now dying for a re-watch of Stand By Me!

UPDATE: I realized after publishing this post that I should have included a link to a New York Times piece about Wil Wheaton, Stand By Me, and this audiobook: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/03/24/books/wil-wheaton-the-body-audiobook-stephen-king.html?unlocked_article_code=1.g1A.i-zn._LjQK8zr0fNu&smid=url-share

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2Apr2025

Audiobook Review: When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: When the Moon Hits Your Eye
Author: John Scalzi
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: March 25, 2025
Print length: 326 pages
Audio length: 10 hours 5 minutes
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain comes an entirely serious take on a distinctly unserious subject: what would really happen if suddenly the moon were replaced by a giant wheel of cheese.

It’s a whole new moooooon.

One day soon, suddenly and without explanation, the moon as we know it is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, we follow multiple characters — schoolkids and scientists, billionaires and workers, preachers and politicians — as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives.

If you’re shocked to see a 5-star rating for a book about the moon turning to cheese… well, join the club!

Actually, I can’t even pretend to be all that surprised. We’re talking about a John Scalzi book, after all. No matter how silly or ridiculous the plot synopsis sounds, it’s a safe bet that the execution will be delicious.

So it goes with When the Moon Hits Your Eye. As the book opens, a moon rock on display in a space museum has been replaced by… something. The display case hasn’t been tampered with, and yet, the rock is clearly no longer there. Instead, it’s something distinctly un-rocklike… and why does the sliver of crescent moon visible in the night sky seem so unusually bright?

Within 24 hours, it becomes clear: It’s not just the museum’s artifact (and every other sample of moon rock anywhere on Earth) — the entire moon is now composed of cheese. Or, the NASA scientists put it, an organic matrix. But really, it’s cheese. How? Why? What does this all mean? As the ensuing month unfolds, the effects of this cheesy mystery are felt far and wide.

The story is told day by day, with each chapter highlighting a new setting and group of characters experiencing life following the great moon-to-cheese change. It’s a terrific and bizarre mix of subject matter and people, including a small-town pastor and his flock, a team of astronauts who’d been about to launch on the first moon mission in decades, an egotistical tech billionaire who happens to own a space company (hmmmm…..), the President and his staff, a popular science writer, a cheese shop proprietor, and many, many more. Through these characters, we see how ordinary people’s lives — as well as the lives of the rich, famous, and powerful — are dramatically affected by the moon. Their stories weave together to create a rich, meaningful story of human connection, scientific inquiry, and big helping doses of WTF situations.

I listened to the audiobook, and of course, Wil Wheaton’s delivery make this a funny, fast-moving, totally engaging experience.

I’m finding myself at a loss for what else to say about this book. YES, IT’S ABOUT THE MOON TURNING TO CHEESE. And also, yes, it’s simply awesome and utterly entertaining. You’ve just got to experience it for yourself.

One final note: The author photo on the back flap of the book should win its own award:

Purchase links: Amazon – Bookshop.org
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12Oct2023

Audiobook Review: Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Starter Villain
Author: John Scalzi
Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: September 29, 2023
Print length: 264 pages
Audio length: 8 hours 5 minutes
Genre: Science fiction
Source: Purchased
Rating:

Inheriting your uncle’s supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who’s running the place.

Charlie’s life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn’t all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they’re coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.

It’s up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyperintelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.

In a dog-eat-dog world…be a cat.

First things first: Don’t be fooled by the cover. There are no cats wearing suits in this novel.

However, there are cats, and they are important, and they are amazing. Also, the author dedicates the novel to his own cats… so there you have it: Starter Villain is decidedly pro-cat. And it’s awesome.

In Starter Villain, Charlie Fitzer has been laid off from his journalism job, works as a substitute teacher, lives in a house he co-owns with his half-siblings (who all want to sell it), and hangs out with his cat Hera. He dreams of buying the local pub and making a go of it, but considering his lack of money or collateral, the chances of securing a small business loan are nil.

When Charlie’s long-estranged uncle Jake dies, it’s newsworthy, in that Jake was a multimillionaire who made his fortune in the exciting world of parking garage ownership. But it’s merely a blip for Charlie, who hasn’t seen his uncle since he was five years old.

Charlie’s life takes a turn for the weird and interesting when he’s left a bequest from Jake, conditional on Charlie standing up to represent the family at Jake’s funeral. As Jake’s only living relative, and with a potential reward to look forward to, Charlie agrees. And then the funeral is filled up by thugs and flower arrangements with very angry and/or obscene messages attached, and Charlie starts to realize that his uncle’s life might have entailed a bit more than just those parking garages.

So yes, as the synopsis explains, it turns out that Uncle Jake was a supervillain, and as his heir, Charlie is now expected to fill his villainous shoes. (And yes, there is a volcano lair, which Charlie is super excited about).

With high stakes technology, evil overlords, and dolphins seeking fair representation, it’s an understatement to say that Starter Villain goes in unexpected directions. It’s fast, silly, and full of surprises (not to mention lots of cats), and is totally fun from start to finish.

“… I’m here on an island in the Caribbean, being told I need to talk to the dolphins in the middle of a labor action about some whales that might have torpedoes, armed by a secret society of villains who want access to a storeroom full of objects probably looted from the victims of the friggin’ Nazis and who are maybe willing to blow up my volcano lair to get it.”

I always love Scalzi’s books, and it’s clear the author himself is having a great time. Starter Villain does not take itself seriously for even a moment, and the result is peak sci-fi entertainment.

“Request delivery of the second target package on my mark.” Gratas looked at me and smiled. “Here it comes, Charlie,” he said.

“Request confirmed and denied,” the voice on the other end of the line said.

“Excuse me?” Gratas looked confused.

“Request confirmed and denied,” the voice repeated.

“You’re denying my request.”

“Confirm, we’re denying it.”

“You can’t deny it.”

“Your denial of our denial is confirmed and denied,” the voice said.

The audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton — he does such an amazing job with Scalzi’s books that even when I read them in print, I hear Wheaton’s voice in my head. He’s expressive and hilarious — and you have to admire a narrator who can pull off assassins, tech bros, and foul-mouthed dolphins quite so well.

Starter Villain was one of the books I was most looking forward to this year, and I’m happy to say that it absolutely lived up to expectations. This audiobook was a much-needed ray of sunshine this week. I loved it!