The Stephen King Thread

[TinkTonks]

Thinking about Dandelo

Spoiler

He had Patrick Danville as his prisoner. Patrick grew up in Derry. It left some eggs in the Derry sewers at the end of the novel, IT. Dandelo could well be one of the progeny.

I had completely forgot about Patrick[BLACKOUT] growing up in Derry[/BLACKOUT].

Here's some more on the connections among King's novels:

Spoiler

In Insomina, Ralph Roberts is exploring the lair of Atropos, one of the little bald doctors, and the book mentions a shoe. Robert touches it and gets a psychic vision of a toddler. I think it also had Gage written on its sole. As you know, Gage Creed was the baby in Pet Semetary that hamstrung Herman Munster with a scalpel.

I hadn't read 'Insomnia' in quite a while. That was a real good read. *Major* DT connections, as well as some to his other novels as you've pointed out.[BLACKOUT] Weren't both Patrick and the Crimson King in 'Insomnia'? And some guy named Deepneau (sp?)...a different Deepneau showed up in the later DT books.[/BLACKOUT] It's really amazing how many connections there are between his works...it has to be massive!

 

[squeekness]

You know what's crazy? They want $15 for an eBook of Full Dark No Stars. If you buy the hardcover from Amazon it's the same price as the file. That's outrageous. I get it that eBooks are growing in popularity, but this it just not right. They were asking $12 for the Dome when it came out and I can see that because it's a large book and thus a large file. But to ask the same price for an electronic transfer of text as an actual physical book is just plain rotten.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I haven't bought into the e-book craze yet but the prices are pretty stupid. I can think of a few game companies who like to charge the same price as a full color hardback for a .pdf file of various rpg books that I collect. Dammit, if I'm going to pay 40 dollars or more I want an actual physical book.

 

[squeekness]

I jumped onto the eBook craze mainly because I have limited space (I have a Kindle) and I like to keep a book that I like. The eBooks started out reasonably priced and many still are. Really, just about any King eBook you buy that preceeds The Dome will be $10 or less, many are only $8. That's whyI was amazed that this new one was at such a high price. As much as I want it, I'll wait for it to come down or maybe just suck it up and buy the hardcover at Borders a year from now when it's $5 in the bargain section. Most of King's books show up there when they come out in paperback.

 

[Bubonic]

The 4th Dark Tower book was also boring as hell-- at least up until the third section of the book.

Seems like a lot of people resented that book and were unimpressed by it. Especially those who actually waited 6 years for it to be released. Personally I loved it, finished it a couple of weeks back and felt it served to flesh out Roland as a character.
After I was done with it I bought and read all 5 hardcovers of the Marvel series and felt they complimented things nicely but didn't really do the characters justice. Sort of a preview of the televised and movie versions I suppose.
Now I've decided to start reading 'Salem's Lot before Wolves of the Calla due to some important Father Callahan connection that'll enrich the experience.

 

[Manic]

Wizard and Glass fleshed Roland out plenty, but it went on for too long. It was a detour from the main story, and it just. kept. going. It was a 500 page flashback in a 700 page book. You have no idea how relieved I was when the flashback ended.

For the Callahan connection in Wolves of the Calla-- I'm not going to stop you from reading Salem's Lot, but it's not really necessary before reading Wolves of the Calla. 'Wolves' has plenty of exposition.

I started Song of Susannah a while ago. I was shocked at how small the book looked in the store. Each Dark Tower book seemed to get longer and longer, but 'Song' looks like it's about as long as The Waste Lands. Also, it seems like it's mainly building toward the climax of the final book. Most of my questions are getting answered, as are a few I didn't even ask.

 

[Bubonic]

Well if anything the graphic version can serve as an extremely condensed version for those who'd want to skip the bulk of Wizard and Glass.

I still don't get what it is that makes that book unenjoyable. Length to me is only relevant to its quality, and the world he created was well crafted.
Sure, I wanted to get back to the established ka-tet, yet the original ka-tet was great. All the characters within the Mejis were captivating to me, most probably because time was taken to develop them properly, and it's why I feel they are mostly uneffective in the Marvel renditions.

I still think a lot of the disdain for Wizard and Glass has to do with the cliffhanger in Wasteland, the wait for Wizard and Glass, and the expectations that weren't met.

As a King fan I'm overdue in reading one of his classics anyways, and I do feel knowing the character beforehand will enhance my experience, just like reading the Stand enriched my experience so far even if it really wasn't that involved.

Plus in this age of twinkling vampires this will probably be a refreshing experience.

 

[Manic]

I didn't start reading the Dark Tower series until recently. There wasn't any real gap between The Waste Lands and Wizard and Glass for me. I had expectations from the end of The Waste Lands, but they were met at the beginning of Wizard and Glass. From that point on, I was treated to one huge digression. I was into it at first, but it didn't take long for me to get bored. I simply didn't enjoy the backstory given in that book. I saw its importance, and I'll even admit to liking Susan, but I felt like it could've been a hell of a lot shorter.

 

[Bubonic]

You figure the series wouldn't of suffered if it had been released after it was completed? I know King is slated to release some new mid-world story in the future.

King does has deeper range then people give him credit for, I think this is a good example. Cept that in your case in that of many others, people didn't care for the switch in style.

 

[TinkTonks]

I can understand why people would have been upset with the 4th DT book, especially after waiting so long for it to come out. Plus the cliffhanger ending with book 3 was just unfair to those who were patiently waiting for him to hurry up with the next book. I think if I had had to wait that long I would have been upset with the tone of the book too. But as someone who didn't start to read them until after the 4th one was already out, I didn't have that problem. It seemed to flow right along. Though I think the Marvel graphic novels really supplement the DT4 wonderfully.

 

[LOBO3315a]

Well the man did get run over by a van. Maybe that was Fate telling hin to hurry the ^%$! up....LOL

 

[TheDreamMaster]

So I'm nearing the end of Dome. I like it a lot so far. But evertime they mention

Spoiler

the box projecting the dome, I think of an Ipod.

Just now

Spoiler

they are all meeting where the box is after the jail break.

 

[Ghostvirus]

Well the man did get run over by a van. Maybe that was Fate telling hin to hurry the ^%$! up....LOL

LOL! That actually becomes a part of the DT story in the later books!

 

[LOBO3315a]

Yeah, I thought it was an interesting technique to insert so much of his real life into his character in the book.

It will make for an interesting mini-series, nonetheless.

 

[Manic]

Not so much info, folks. I'm at the part of [blackout]Song of Susannah where Eddie and Roland meet Stephen King[/blackout].

 

[TheDreamMaster]

Anyone get "Full Dark, No Stars" yet? I haven't had the money, plus I'm reading Nightmare and dreamscapes, then I still have The Tommyknockers, Duma Key, and then ( abreak from King) Star Wars: Deathtroopers.

 

[squeekness]

Not me. I'm wating a coupla months until the eBook price comes down. Unless Santa brings it to me...

 

[Manic]

I just started the 7th Dark Tower book. Those first 20 pages just blew me away.

 

[LOBO3315a]

Yep, I too was enchanted. The ending will blow your mind too. If you decide to read it.

 

[Manic]

Why would I decide not to read it? I mean, yeah, King has a habit of disappointing endings. And yes, this book is so long I might accidentally forget to finish it.

But I've invested too much of my free time and too much of my shelf space to not read the ending.

 

[LOBO3315a]

You'll understand when you get there.

 

[Manic]

Well now I'm just scared.

Oh well. Knowing how rarely I ever get around to reading, I'm sure I'll forget all about this conversation when I finish the book in a couple of months.

 

[Sawyer]

Has King said officially what his next novel will be? Is it going to be Doctor Sleep?

 

[Bubonic]

Nothing is official just yet, last I saw he was proposing between Doctor Sleep and another Mid-World adventure.
The first being a sequel to the Shinning, and the second Dark Tower related, featuring Roland and Cuthbert, yet featuring new players I suppose.

Although I also heard of an actual continuation of the Dark Tower saga.

I'm on the Final Stretch of Wolves of the Calla, loving it. My only complaints so far are how King really stretched out and concealed the fact that [BLACKOUT]the Wolves are robots, just seemed obvious as soon as the convo with Gran Pere[/BLACKOUT] I was also confused as to why Eddie didn't [BLACKOUT]interogate Andy once he had the password, he had a bunch of questions to ask him before, yet decided to just shut him down [/BLACKOUT] I guess they did get most of the answers they wanted.

Anyways, going to polish off these last 75 pages before I get something spoiled for me.

 

[:eek:]

King doing a live chat

Posted: November 29, 2010, 23:08:38
Section: Book » Full Dark, No Stars

It was just posted on King's official site that he will be participating in a live UStream chat on December 8th at 7:00pm Est.

A Conversation with Stephen King
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM ET
Join bestselling author Stephen King in a live chat about his new book, FULL DARK, NO STARS. Tune in Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 - 7pm EST/4pm PST. RSVP to the event and join it live here: http://www.ustream.tv/simonandschuster.


If you have a question you would like Stephen King to answer during the chat, please send it to: [email protected]