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Stephen King

Silent Runner

By Silent Runner,
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Glasgowchivas

Glasgowchivas

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Jesus Christ but 'Revival' was brilliant! Honestly one of the best things he's done in an age and he churned it out in less than a year!

It reads like some of his best short stories, if that makes sense. There's no bloat to it either. While all his hallmarks are present, he's not trapped by them, as he so often is.

Massively entertaining and highly recommended. More like this please, Mr. King!

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Treble

Treble

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About 20% into Mr Merc (I really wish Kindle would show 'proper' page numbers :( ) and really like it so far - Hodges has just started talking to the sister of Olivia whatserface.

Sounds like people didn't like this, but I think it's great so far. Does the quality just plummet off a cliff soon or something?!

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Glasgowchivas

Glasgowchivas

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About 20% into Mr Merc (I really wish Kindle would show 'proper' page numbers :( ) and really like it so far - Hodges has just started talking to the sister of Olivia whatserface.

Sounds like people didn't like this, but I think it's great so far. Does the quality just plummet off a cliff soon or something?!

Hey, if you like it then who cares what other people think.

But yes, it nosedives quite severely.

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Treble

Treble

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I'm up to 50% ish now and it's starting to slip a bit, definitely. There's too much time spent with the villain for one: his objectives and motivations should be as opaque to the reader as they are to the protagonist. Also, it's too long which is my default criticism for all King novels from Cell onwards. At the start of (IIRC) Nightmares and Dreamscapes he talks about his 'literary elephantitis' and how even things he sets out to write as short stories turn out as long novels.

King seriously needs to bin off his editorial team and hire some young, point-to-prove bloke who'll ruthlessly pare-down his novels into something leaner and meaner. It says a lot when the most I can remember about his least-memorable novels is the mid-book bloat that could easily be chopped-out: endless walks across country in Cell; endless spying on Oswald's house in 11/22/63, endless cross-country RV driving in Doctor Sleep.

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the_buddha_of_gaming

the_buddha_of_gaming

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Definitely worth 99p. Great setting and atmosphere. I'm a sucker for stories set in seaside towns or funfairs out of season.

Kind of Stephen King related as he mentions it in Danse Macabre as one of his favourite horror short stories, but you should read The Companion by Ramsey Campbell if you haven't as it's an awesome short horror tale set about a chap visiting old fun fairs around England in the 70s who gets more than he bargained for. I wonder if Joyland was inspired by it.

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Mammas_Boy

Mammas_Boy

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It's been a while since i've been here. I've avoided this thread because i'm only up to The Dark Tower book 4 and I don't want any spoilers.

I just thought I would let all The Dark Tower fans know that i've uploaded a soundtrack project for the first 3 books in the series. I would be deeply grateful for any feedback.

Here's the link to the soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/wesley_roskell/sets/the-dark-tower-books-1-3

Here's the link to the official thread for the album on Rllmuk: http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/289332-a-soundtrack-to-stephen-kings-the-dark-tower-books-1-3/

Cheers everyone.

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Illyria

Illyria

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This is not related to his writing but..

 

A couple nights  ago I dreamed that I met King and somehow convinced him to draw over my tattoo on my arm, and get that tattooed. I don't actually have a tattoo in real life and the old dream tattoo was pretty terrible. It even had my mobile number in it. I wanted it gone so I said no matter what you draw, it's gotta be better! And then they fixed up this old rundown hut and turned it into a tattoo studio, and he started drawing on my arm. Then they asked what colour scheme I wanted, I said green and purple! They approved and said some chick is gonna do the colours in the next session. 

 

Wtf is my brain?

 

Other than that, I love King, but most recent one I read was Salem's Lot and that was actually the first one I didn't enjoy.

Current favourites of his are Green Mile and 11.22.63 although I enjoyed the other 7-8 I read as well. Really really must get on the Dark Tower, but that's not happening yet. Will have to break my tradition of reading 1 King book a year, I think. 

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Stigweard

Stigweard

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I'm 50% of the way through Dark Tower book 1 and I can't say I'm enjoying it much. Ive not been back to it in 3 weeks now which I see as a bad sign. Should I just give up now or do they get any better? I have little time for reading and read a slow pace so I'm quite selective in what I do read.

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Illyria

Illyria

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I've just finished it myself a few days ago, albeit at a fast pace. I was prepared for it to not make a whole lot of sense and just decided to go with it. I enjoyed it overall, especially the ending left me in somewhat of a daze. 

 

@Stigweard which edition are you reading? I heard the one published after 2003 isn't as good as the original one, that King edited it too heavily. I had an old paperback from '98 so I have no idea how the new one compares. 

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GwiDan

GwiDan

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I read the Gunslinger recently, new edition. I haven't read much of King's work, but this was a real slog. It just didn't seem to be a particularly engaging story, despite the subject matter and location etc being just the sort of thing I would enjoy. Does the rest of the series significantly improve, or just relative to the first book?

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Stigweard

Stigweard

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9 hours ago, GwiDan said:

I read the Gunslinger recently, new edition. I haven't read much of King's work, but this was a real slog. It just didn't seem to be a particularly engaging story, despite the subject matter and location etc being just the sort of thing I would enjoy. Does the rest of the series significantly improve, or just relative to the first book?

 

See this is exactly what in feeling like. Ive just checked and it's the 2003 version. I'm just not feeling it really. 

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Darren

Darren

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Yes the rest of the series definitely improves. The Gunslinger is a bit of an odd one as it's not really like any of the others in the series, despite including a few iconic moments that become important later on in the story. I read the original version at the start of the sequence, then after finishing book 7 immediately went back and read the updated version (you'll know why when you get there) and TBH apart from the odd added background detail to tie it in more with the later books, there's not really much difference.

 

I should add a disclaimer that the I read volume 4 first (my wife bought it me for Christmas not realising it was part of a series) and for a lot of that I didn't have a clue what was going on. But it was good enough to make me go back and read the rest.

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Illyria

Illyria

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I am nearing the end of the Dark Tower series now, finally, and just in time for the film.

Also revisited (scanned) Salem's Lot and completely reread Hearts in Atlantis, plus DT 4.5 Wind in the Keyhole, as well as a couple of short stories. That would make it 9-10 books now that I read over a period of 9 months. It's going to be so weird when I'm done, it's very bittersweet! 

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Illyria

Illyria

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Oh lord. You know, back when I started reading them I used to have all these crazy theories, but after a while I realised there is no point, because it's not like Stephen himself ever really had a plan. So for the past few books I've just gone with the flow and not tried to predict things, except for a few intuitions I had here and there, some of which turned out right, some didn't.

 

The only prediction that I'll make is that 

Spoiler

Roland will die. It might end with him entering the clearing, but whether or not someone will be waiting there to welcome him, I do not dare to predict. I also have no idea whatsoever how his encounter with the Crimson King will go. I think the Tower will be saved, but maybe there will be some sort of surprise concerning that, or concerning the Tower itself. I DON'T KNOW. What I guess I'd like would be an ending where Roland is dead and we are in New York with Susannah and she is reunited with Eddie and Jake of that world. But I don't even know yet if that's where she went. Hope I'll find out though.

 

Ok back to reading! 

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