Spaztick on 14/9/2007 at 04:57
Was thinking of picking up this book series, a friend of mine recommended it to me a few years ago but I never picked it up since it was written by Steven King whom as I'm sure everyone here knows is known for grisly horror novels. He does have a few books that deviate from horror (such as the Green Mile), and I'm wondering if this book would be one of those epic western novels and if it's considered tasteful. I'm sure anyone who's read it would say it's an amazing series, but is this a "Green Mile" or a "Desperation?"
Scots Taffer on 14/9/2007 at 05:19
I tried reading book one, it was a struggle and I laid it down. I don't regret it as I've heard very mixed reviews as to how the series progresses and climaxes, ultimately it appears to be somewhat of a flawed gem, but that doesn't strike me as particularly unusual given that I think almost all of King's oeuvre fall under that category (it'd be great if he could end a book, his shorts are great though).
Just as a comparison point, I loved The Green Mile serials and hated a novel called Insomnia, which I also laid down and never returned to.
heretic on 14/9/2007 at 05:38
The series is epic, but only vaguely western. IMO it started out strong and grew worse with every new book.
The series is allright, but the tone changed so much between the first two books and the following volumes that the 1st was actually reedited to acommodate these changes. The western tone and gunslinger mythos mostly fade fairly early.
Too much time passed between writing them to keep from veering off of the path perhaps. King himself said something to the effect that he wrote the last books in a spurt, because he knew he would never finish them otherwise.
I've read everything he's put out, but I've always thought his strength was in his short stories.
Aside: Try 'The Stand' if you haven't allready, IMO it's his best novel.
Spaztick on 14/9/2007 at 05:57
Quote Posted by heretic1dg
The series is epic, but only vaguely western. IMO it started out strong and grew worse with every new book.
The series is allright, but the tone changed so much between the first two books and the following volumes that the 1st was actually reedited to acommodate these changes. The western tone and gunslinger mythos mostly fade fairly early.
Too much time passed between writing them to keep from veering off of the path perhaps. King himself said something to the effect that he wrote the last books in a spurt, because he knew he would never finish them otherwise.
I've read everything he's put out, but I've always thought his strength was in his short stories.
Aside: Try 'The Stand' if you haven't allready, IMO it's his best novel.
Aight, when I heard about it was kind of expecting a whole Western steampunk sci-fi book kind of thing. I've heard different opinions, saying the book was okay in the beginning but got better at the end but so far TTLG has said it's good but gets worse. Guess I'll just have to pick it up sometime.
Renzatic on 14/9/2007 at 06:56
The series is an excellent representation of all of King's strengths and weaknesses. It has great characters, and has an excellent start and build up. But it peaks by the 4th book (which I consider one of his best), then starts falling apart the closer it gets to the end.
I recommend at least reading the first four, then get someone that's read the rest to tell you how it all ends.
jtr7 on 14/9/2007 at 07:19
Did-a-chick?
Dum-a-chum?
Dad-a chum?
matt4001 on 14/9/2007 at 10:23
Agreed. A massively disappointing ending. Mind you, in Kings' defence, I don't think anyone would've been able to satisfy the majority of his fans after the long wait and all the expectation of the series finish.
Also agree with The Stand being his best novel. A must read. Far from the best writing, also far from a grisly horror novel, but, I think, one of the most immersive stories you'll ever read.
Hewer on 14/9/2007 at 16:04
I heartily agree with what's been said here. King has awesome characters and build up with usually rather sucky disappointing endings. I think his novellas are hes best work- Apt Pupil and my very favorite of all his stuff Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption come to mind. The Stand and The Green Mile are must reads if you haven't. They both held me captivated while reading them. While reading The Stand, I would look out the window and be surprised to see cars driving by.
I would recommend reading The Dark Tower- especially if you've read a lot of his other stuff. He has gads of references to the 'alternate worlds' and characters he's created in other books (and apparently (
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Nozz-A-La) Nozz-A-La got into LOST, too!) The books do change a lot over the course (there's something like 20 years time between writing the first and second books), but I was able to roll with it pretty well. And while the ending was a bit of a letdown , it wasn't nearly as bad as others- 'Oh, no; it's a giant spider thing!' I rather enjoyed the build-up to it in the last book.
Renault on 14/9/2007 at 18:03
From a person who's read the whole series, I'll say this:
First four books - awesome
Last three - average
I believe King had his life-threatening car accident between the fourth and fifth books, and a lot of people blame that on the change in direction and tone for the series. I have two major beefs with the story, one being that King changed details halfway through the series. I won't get into specifics, but it's akin to getting to Return of the Jedi, and suddenly saying The Emperor is not the one running the Empire, it's this guy named Joe Smith. Sorry for confusion. IMO, once you put something down in print in a series, you live with it. If you don't like something you did two books ago, get creative and come up with a solution to get around it.
My other problem was the ending and "resolution," which has to be one of the biggest copouts of all time. It's like, you devote 20 years of your life to a series, and you end up with a do-over. Very disappointing.
the_grip on 14/9/2007 at 18:31
My brother-in-law loves the series.
i read books one, two, and three, and grew progressively tired of them. However, i don't like King as an author very much. It was a masterpiece, but everything else feels lame to me.
