Nellisir
Hero
The Dark Tower series can be split into two parts - pre-accident and post-accident (the accident being when SK was hit by a car while walking, and very nearly died. Took him ages to start writing again, and when he did he wanted to finish the Dark Tower series). The pre-accident books are pretty good. They never -quite- clicked for me, but still very worth reading. The best description I ever heard of them was "American" fantasy, not "European" fantasy. No kings, no ancient swords, etc, etc.
The post-accident books are pretty wild, but all of them needed a hard editing. King got way too indulgent with himself, and his editor let him get away with it. There was a massive increase in page count per book after the accident.
Overall, I actually have a hard time judging them. Stephen King, when he's on the top of his game, is simply amazing. The Dark Tower series is still a master at work, but....
As far as what to read...Skeleton Crew and Night Shift. Both short story collections; both will make it clear why he's considered a master of horror. I haven't read his stuff in quite a while, but the classics are always good - Carrie, Firestarter, and Christine were my favorites.
IMO, much of Stephen's gift is in how effortlessly he makes it. He makes telling a story look easy, and reading it almost effortless. There really aren't that many authors out there that can do that.
Edit: One benefit of King - he's got a lot of books out, and they're available everywhere. You can sample around.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-stephen-king-books-20141105
The post-accident books are pretty wild, but all of them needed a hard editing. King got way too indulgent with himself, and his editor let him get away with it. There was a massive increase in page count per book after the accident.
Overall, I actually have a hard time judging them. Stephen King, when he's on the top of his game, is simply amazing. The Dark Tower series is still a master at work, but....
As far as what to read...Skeleton Crew and Night Shift. Both short story collections; both will make it clear why he's considered a master of horror. I haven't read his stuff in quite a while, but the classics are always good - Carrie, Firestarter, and Christine were my favorites.
IMO, much of Stephen's gift is in how effortlessly he makes it. He makes telling a story look easy, and reading it almost effortless. There really aren't that many authors out there that can do that.
Edit: One benefit of King - he's got a lot of books out, and they're available everywhere. You can sample around.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-stephen-king-books-20141105
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