The Stephen King Thread

[squeekness]

Dome was great. I read that monster in a week.

 

[squeekness]

I recently got a Kindle and am looking to get a few King books, ones that I don't already own. Here is a list of the ones I'm sorting through, any suggestions about which to pick up?

Carrie
The Mist
Dreamcatcher
Desperation
Duma Key
Everything's Eventual
Night Shift
Just After Sunset
Full Dark, No Stars
Under the Dome

Got a Kindle? Pick up his Kindle book UR, you'll love it and it's really cheap. Under the Dome is fantastic and having it on Kindle means you won't have to lug that huge sucker around, lol.

 

[SpideyInATree]

I recently got a Kindle and am looking to get a few King books, ones that I don't already own. Here is a list of the ones I'm sorting through, any suggestions about which to pick up?

Carrie
The Mist
Dreamcatcher
Desperation
Duma Key
Everything's Eventual
Night Shift
Just After Sunset
Full Dark, No Stars
Under the Dome

I'd go for The Mist. It is so good and it's one of the few of his books that actually scared me. Unfortunately, the other books on that list are ones that I have not read yet. However, I can vouch for The Mist. t:

 

[jonathancrane]

I recently got a Kindle and am looking to get a few King books, ones that I don't already own. Here is a list of the ones I'm sorting through, any suggestions about which to pick up?

Carrie
The Mist
Dreamcatcher
Desperation
Duma Key
Everything's Eventual
Night Shift
Just After Sunset
Full Dark, No Stars
Under the Dome

Night Shift is terrific and terrifying; my favorite story is probably "One for the Road", but that may be because it's tied to my favorite novel and I made an official adaptation of it (not to mention it's a retelling of an EC Comics story.) Runner-up favorite story within is "Strawberry Spring." Atmosphere and tension were perfect in that tale.

Duma Key is one of his best recent novels, but it does not have the full power of the punch that his earlier novels possess.

 

[:eek:]

Description of The Wind Through the Keyhole

Posted: August 24, 2011, 17:27:22
Section: Book » The Wind Through the Keyhole

Here is a short description of The Wind Through the Keyhole

For readers new to The Dark Tower, THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. It is a story within a story, which features both the younger and older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower. Fans of the existing seven books in the series will also delight in discovering what happened to Roland and his ka tet between the time they leave the Emerald City and arrive at the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis.

This Russian Doll of a novel, a story within a story, within a story, visits Mid-World's last gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and his ka-tet as a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. (The novel can be placed between Dark Tower IV and Dark Tower V.) Roland tells a tale from his early days as a gunslinger, in the guilt ridden year following his mother's death. Sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape shifter, a "skin man," Roland takes charge of Bill Streeter, a brave but terrified boy who is the sole surviving witness to the beast's most recent slaughter. Roland, himself only a teenager, calms the boy by reciting a story from the Book of Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, "The Wind through the Keyhole." "A person's never too old for stories," he says to Bill. "Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them." And stories like these, they live for us.

 

[squeekness]

Sounds great.

 

[elgaz]

About halfway through Dome at moment. Great so far.

 

[squeekness]

Glad you like it. It's a big book but it reads like a short one. So engrossing.

 

[elgaz]

Yeah, very engrossing. But then again, King has a habit of enriching his stories with varied and realistic characters. The Dome reminds me of The Stand slightly; they're not alike in terms of the story itself, but the rich character development is similar.

 

[squeekness]

Yes, he makes it easy to care about them. They all seem real and plausible. He doesn't have many Mary Sues, that's fer sure.

 

[redhawk23]

What I've always enjoyed about his characters is that their thought processes are very realistic. They have their own blindspots and biases. However they also have little quirks and sayings that come to mind repeatedly, like lines of songs that are stuck in their head. I've always found that interesting and enjoyable.

 

[squeekness]

I like King's twisted sense of humor, the way he uses words to be both descriptive and funny. He shares that trait with Dean Koontz, another guy I really like.

 

[elgaz]

Very true. I'm also a big Dean Koontz fan, but there's a noticeable difference in how him and King approach character development. King's approach is a tad more varied and complex, whereas Koontz's characters are a bit more black/white but do tend to be quite kooky and amusing to read.

 

[elgaz]

double post sorry

 

[GoblinWhirlwind]

I used to like Koontz, but his characters all tended to be exactly the same... they all had some tragic childhood or past or something. There's more of that than actual interesting characters which King excels at. I still love the Chris Snow novels though... STILL waiting on that third one

 

[squeekness]

I liked all the Odd Thomas books.

 

[Rocketman]

I might as well mention this before someone else does. Because it's inevitable. Another "Simpsons Movie"/"Under the Dome" controversy:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238463/

Timequest
Year Released: 2000
Director: Robert Dyke
Starring: Bruce Campbell

A story about a man who travels back in time to Fort Worth, Texas on Novemeber 22, 1963 and prevents the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

Eh Quantum Leap did it before that.

 

[:eek:]

Haven't seen Timequest, but I don't see many similarities apart from the basic idea. So, in Timequest someone and goes back in time and prevents the assassin. Sounds like a speculative "what if"-story about how the world would look like if Kennedy hadn't been murdered. King's story sounds more like that someone goes back in time, starts a new life (even falling in love with a woman) and while he could prevent the assassination, I'm not sure it actually will happen in the book. I suspect that the suspense in the novel will be: can/will he do it or not? To say these stories are similar is like saying Salem's Lot and Dracula are similar because they're both about vampires

 

[SpideyInATree]

Eh Quantum Leap did it before that.

That was a GREAT episode of Quantum Leap too!

 

[squeekness]

Was this a Dead Zone flashback of sorts? Just with time travel instead of premonitions?

 

[Castiel]

I love King, but admittedly I became a fan of him from watching the movie adaptations of his novels. I want to actually read a few books though, so I was checking out mainly those that haven't been made into films, and The Sun Dog sounds really intriguing! Anyone want to tell me if it's good, or have any suggestions for me?

 

[squeekness]

We lost power for about 12 hours or so yesterday. Being bored, I read through 90% of Full Dark No Stars on my Kindle. What an outstanding read.

 

[GuardianofOa]

Anyone gonna buy the new e-story Mile 81? I don't have anything that could support that format....Like an iphone or Pad or iAnything for that matter.

Pretty stoked about 11/22/63 as well.

 

[squeekness]

I already preordered it. I don't usually do that but this one was cheap. Hey, you can get a free Kindle app for your computer so you don't have to miss out altogether.