PHANTOM

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Captivating!
Review: I have been a devoted fan of The Phantom of the Opera since I was ten years of age and nothing has ever compared to the completion I recieved when I read Susan Kay's, Phantom. At first I was critical when a friend suggested this book to me, and then let me borrow it, but as soon as I started reading it I couldn't stop. This book gives a "complete" insight on Erik's life, and I found myself unable to accept the fact that he was a fictional character till I closed the coverlet of the book. Susan Kay's spellbinding book will cause you to fall in love with Erik, as well as the book. If you don't at least sample this book you will be denying yourself a fantastic adventure, because I asure you, you WILL love it! Phantom is a must-read and I "highly" recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: I read this book after purchasing it the day after I saw "The Phantom of the Opera" in Canada, wondering if it could compare to the wonderful musical that I had just seen. Not only did it compare to it, but it answered many questions that the musical had raised. It makes you forgive Erik for all the things that he had done in his life, and it makes you fall in love with the charecter. I recommend this book to anyone, whether they have seen the musical or have read the original book. I couldn't put it down until I was done with it.

Rating:
Summary: Truly Amazing
Review: This book was truly amazing. It made you think of the Phantom in a whole new light. Erik is no longer an ugly man with a beatiful voice, but a beautiful man with a brilliant mind and a beautiful voice. I'm only 12 and it took me 2 days to read this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who has a heart.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary!
Review: This book took my breath away. Susan Kay captures Erik's soul magnificently. I couldn't put the book down, I was skipping school - bringing the book into the kitchen with me to eat, sleeping with it, refusing to do anything else but read. I literally read this nonstop. I cried when it was over. I wanted it to go on and on, but sadly it does end. This book is just brilliant. I love it so much that I now have a 1st edition hardback copy of it, along with my well-worn paperback. For those of you who are interested in the Phantom of the Opera, you are in for a real treat when you read this. In my humble opinion, this is the best work on the Phantom out there. Now, I must warn those of you who have seen the book The Phantom of Manhattan by, Frederick Forsyth, --stay far away from that appalling fiction, and stick to Phantom, by Susan Kay.

Her book has stayed with me ever since I finished reading it, and will always stay with me. I am grateful to her for writing it.

"A good book is the precious lifeblood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life." -Milton

This book isn't just to be read, is to be cherished. And make room in your heart, because once you do read it, this book will find it's place there.

Rating:
Summary: This Book Is Great!
Review: This book is spectacular! I couldn't put it down after I started reading it. Susan Kay is a wonderful writer and has a great imagination. The way she writes Erik and the love he feels for Christine makes you want to become her. You'll fall in love with Erik and you'll forgive all the bad stuff he does because of that love wonderfully described. I lent my copy to my friend and it took her about a month to give it back. She kept reading and re-reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Best book of the Year
Review: This book is a really compelling book with suspense and you won't be able to put it down once you start it. It is a very good book and I highly highly reccomend it.

Rating:
Summary: Phantom by Susan Kay
Review: I've been a fan of the original Gaston Leroux story for years, and have not taken kindly to many of the "knock-offs" written by people trying to cash in on the currently popular cashcow "Phantom of the Opera" craze. However, Susan Kay has written an Opus with PHANTOM. This is a womb-to-tomb account of the life of Erik. Not just The Phantom, but the baby, child, teenager, and young man he was before taking up residence as the Opera Ghost. The book is impressively well researched, and Madame Kay has a gift for description. I read this book in one sitting, and those who have seen the size of the thing know that this is quite a feat. :-) I feel that I know Erik now, as a human being rather than just a character. If Gaston Leroux were alive today, I am sure he would be honored and delighted by the labor of love Susan Kay has presented. I recommend this book to anyone who has loved, or would like to love, be they a Phantom fan or not. It's not about The Phantom of the Opera. It's about an intriguing man with a remarkable past. The horror of his disfigurement is outweighed only by the capacity of his heart. A truly excellent work, and a delight to read.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Phantom
Review: I first read this book about three years ago and loved it! So far, I've purchased two copies and now I have to purchase another because I've loaned them to friends and never gotten them back. Susan Kay is a master writer in her ability to breathe life into her characters. My heart went out to the tortured child, I wanted to comfort, hold and love him. I could feel and understand all the emotions. I would highly recommend this to everyone, it's better than any other book or movie about the Phantom of the Opera. Fabulous!

Rating:
Summary: Twisted plots and an unsatisfactory ending
Review: This book, though somewhat interesting in its earlier pages, is not worth buying or even reading. It takes a wonderful, classic story with a tragic ending (a story of unrequited love) and turns it into something it is not. Though fans may wish to think that Christine loved Erik, and Raoul was just some annoying aristocratic jerk, this is not true! This book does not follow the Leroux story at all, and the ending was just horrible. It does give some good background info on Erik, but the beginning parts of the book are not worth the effort, if you're just going to read to the end and see how everything gets twisted around.

I think the reason fans like this book so much is because Erik has always been portrayed as the protagonist, people feel sorry for him, and wish that Christine stayed with him. But that is not what Gaston Leroux had in mind for the original novel. A story of unrequited love, a pitiful deformed man in love with a beautiful young opera singer who already loves another, is a much more tragic story than Kay's, in which Christine and Erik commit adultery and cheapens Erik's feelings for Christine and lessens the tragedy, because Erik got what he wanted- Christine's love. The fact that he is a kind man, despite his ugliness, but one whose romantic feelings are not recipricated, is a great tragedy, and one not found in Kay's novel.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing adaptation
Review: Anyone who enjoyed Gaston Leroux's "Phanton of the Opera", or was merely enthralled by the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical should read this book, which goes deep into the history and mystery of Erik, the Phantom of the Opera.