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Opinions on Stephen King (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by penquin@lemm.ee to c/books@lemmy.world

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This may sound dumb, but I've never read for this man. I've always just heard about him on social media but never ventured to read his work. Opinions, please. Should I invest? Feeling like fiction lately. I've read so much non-fiction ~~through~~ throughout my life that I think I deserve a couple of fiction books to get busy with for a little while. Thanks in advance

EDIT: Thank you so much to all who answered. I have read and appreciated every single comment. I have decided to start with fairy tale since I ran into the book at Walmart. So giving that a shot to see. Thank you so much

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[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The Dark Tower series is pretty good for the first three or four books, the rest I couldn't vouch for. I find a lot of his stories hit the same beats to the point that they feel formulaic, but his best-known works - the ones you've heard of over and over again - are all worth a read.

Also, if you're looking for really long, really dense, really dark fantasy in a thoroughly rounded and meticulously crafted world, check out Steven Erikson's Malazan saga. King does horror, Erikson does horripilation.

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Thank you so much. I'll check out Malazan for sure. I was at Walmart and see King's book "Fairy Tale" and it got me curious. Have you read this book?

[–] macarthur_park@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

“Fairy Tale” is good but it’s not King’s best work. It has some of his classic tropes I really like, such as portals to alternate worlds, and thematic similarities to classic literature (in this case, fairy tales). But it’s also a bit drawn out in parts. I periodically reread some of Stephen King’s books, this probably won’t be one of them.

An alternative King story that has similar themes that I’d highly recommend instead is “The Talisman”, which was cowritten by Steven King and Peter Straub.

[–] thews@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Fairy Tale was decent. I read or listen to a lot of books, if you go through books quickly you'll probably enjoy it, if you are the kind of reader that takes your time the pacing might be slow.

Theres a lot of tribute material, but it didn't add up to enough to make me tired of it.

[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I have not read Fairy Tale, but I have read The Talisman which someone else recommended you and I will second that recommendation! I hope you enjoy whichever books you end up picking up 😊

[–] thews@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I really enjoyed the dark tower short in the legends of fantasy books which I highly recommend to OP to get a taste of different writers.

People's comments of the later books in the series have put me off on trying to read the series since I have plenty of other things on my list still.