stephen king c/d?

My wife says the holly gibney related books are all good (esp the outsider) and co-signs on The Institute

The Outsider is pretty good but it definitely doesn't stick the landing

^^ otm. Oddly enough, I thought the HBO adaptation actually managed to slightly make the landing less terrible.

Gibney is such a fucking horribly written character it’s a real handicap to every story she’s in (as I recall the outsider is ticking along fine until exactly that point)

Now to take a big sip of coffee and see what he’s working on next

Yeah, The Outsider (TV version) ended slightly better than the book, but the book was better in just about every other respect.

Revival is really good.

The last several books I read (Sleeping Beauties, Institute, Outsider) were satisfying in their way but very much felt like extruded King product

Revival is my favourite King book since 11/22/63

I consider it one of his best endings, not alone in that but opinion is somewhat polarised

It’s not too long so it’s worth finding out for yourself!

i have it, so will def give it a go on that recommendation:D

The first in the trio of Hodges Det Ret books (Mr. Mercedes) is very good. The next book is pretty solid! The last book I cannot recommend,

I mean... I will cuz you you told me to, but I have no idea who that is so I'm just picturing a fish on a roller-coaster.

— Shawn Nutting (@ZackGavin2) September 8, 2022

the best fans

i picked up the new one, “Fairy Tale”, from the library this weekend … it’s got me hooked early, loving it so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zuiVwFNEqc

update: I read Revival and didn’t love it.
The dedication to Mary Shelley let me know what the upshot would be from the start, and i got annoyed waiting and waiting for the other shoe to drop like honestly waiting til the last three chapters drove me NUTS

i liked the childhood stuff early on though, and the pastor’s “fuck u god” sermon was a+

I'm not quite sure what to make of Fairy Tale. I thought the pacing and plot progression were all over the place. But it had some great sequences - the first walk through the abandoned city was fantastic, and the waiting room build-up to the "Fair One" was the most intense, horrifying thing he's written in a long time.

perlstein on stephen king as the writer of the great death of democracy novel: https://prospect.org/culture/2024-02-14-cultural-artifact-meets-the-moment/

Finally read The Gunslinger and… maybe hated it? I know the subsequent volumes are supposed to be much better, but *how* much better exactly? Roland is a a sticking point – he’s kind of a bore

It remains patchy as hell throughout imo but you might get on better with book 2 if you like 80s king, it’s a lot of fun & king starts to send up Roland a bit, both in the narrative voice & through the expanded cast of characters. Get ready for some peak sk problematic/tone deaf characterisation tho

Sounds like something a honk mahfah would say...

wins OTM

Book 2 feels like it was written with the vivid memory of addiction (or in the depths of it)

lol peace man

wins otm

theres really not much recommending any of the first three dark tower books based on whether you liked the other two tbh

if you want something to read, fancy a shaggy gunslinger story and are ready for three genres and era of stephen king then forge on imo youll find something in there for you i think

That Perlstein essay linked above is really good.

There is some good action scenes in both Drawing of the Three and the whole Lud part of the Wastelands.