The Thread of Stephen King

finished 'The long walk' today

holy shit

I am almost certain the dark figure is Death

What would be a good starting point for Stephen King works?

I actually have three of his books right now - On Writing, Carrie, The Shining, and I will probably read on that order.

What should I read after those? I'm not sure if I'm interested in the Dark Tower saga, though. I did watch both of the IT movies so maybe I could start with that one.

It's hard for me to say - I started with Carrie and absolutely loved it, but I read that back when I was in high school myself, and was primed to relate to a picked-upon teen protagonist.

The Dark Tower was one of my favourite series, though it has the same problem the Harry Potter series had of an ever expanding plot that never really wants to wrap up. It's even an explicit plot point in the last books that the author needs to get a freaking move on already!

The Stand is great too, but has the exact same problem: once the world has properly ended, the book doesn't really know what to do with it, and it ends on a literal Deus ex Machina.

I enjoyed Eyes of the Dragon and It, those are well worth a read. Cell is also really good.

> What would be a good starting point for Stephen King works?

His short stories,they are his best works before he began writing his novels

I really recommend them,particularly the Bachman books and Night Shift,as well as Different Seasons

I recommend the "Hard Case Crime" series (The Colorado Kid, Joyland, Later), especially Joyland. Though the Colorado Kid can be divisive.

And I second The Eyes of the Dragon, a fairy-tale-style fantasy novel.

If you're not at all familiar with King, I'd second starting out with one of his short story or novella collections. Skeleton Crew, Night Shift, or Different Seasons would be my first choices there.

If you want to dive into his novels, probably Salem's Lot, The Shining, or Pet Sematary would be my picks.

I actually have three of his books right now - On Writing, Carrie, The Shining, and I will probably read on that order.

On Writing is very good, especially if you really want to dig into his process. I'd also recommend Danse Macabre as another non-fiction "here's a slice of King's mind" read, focused on the horror genre and horror media.

Carrie is good, but I think The Shining is where King really found his voice and started to go from good to excellent.

Edited by Willbyr on Aug 4th 2023 at 3:26:52 AM

I could not for the life of me get through The Eyes of the Dragon,I'm a fan of fantasy and its sitting on my shelf taunting me

Belated, but thanks everyone for the recommendations!

I didn't have a problem with The Eyes of the Dragon, but I have that same reaction to The Talisman. I find it a slog to get through, and I chalk it up to Peter Straub. His prose, for me, is the mental equivalent of trying to wade through a peat bog.

It is a bit of a slog, though that is probably also the point, to some extent, to represent the despair and struggle of the characters. Tolkien does something similar with the hobbits at the end of Lot R.

I've held off reading 'The Last Rung on the Ladder' for a long time today I finally persisted!I've got to be honest I was expecting some kind of twist,it's still a tragic story though

I haven't read Holly yet, is it any good? I haven't read King in years, to be honest.