KSP Forums Book Club

[Gargamel]

7 hours ago, MKI said:

This is another series I have on my list, BUT due to the length it's another commitment. I've read Steven King on the past a few times, but never a series.

This is his magnum opus.  The opening line of the first book may, arguably, be the greatest single opening line in history, including the one you're thinking of. 

A good number (majority?) of his novels actually fall into the umbrella universe this series creates.   The first book is sometimes a hard read, as it's kind of an absurdist fever dream.   That is to say, when he first wrote it back in the 70's, he was quite chemically enhanced, and the rewrite pass he did in the 90's to tie up the loose ends did help, but it's still a fever dream.   Power through the weirdness of the first book, and the second, while equally weird, is far less absurdist.     Which is saying a lot, because maybe a couple hours in to the 5th (?) book this read (listen) through, I said aloud "Ok, now _this_ is where this story gets weird."   And that wasn't referring to

Spoiler

the demonic Thomas the Tank Engine, Talking Dog, Wizard of Oz, The author as a 3rd person character, or Harry Potter. 

7 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

 And btw, there is an eighth, written after the conclusion, set as an interlude between 4 and 5. 

I saw that recently when I picked up my "North Central Positronics" t-shirt.  

 

But this series does have the greatest cliffhanger ending of a book of all time.    And I do prefer the original ending to the series over the fan requested added ending he wrote, although

Spoiler

The loop bringing Roland back to the desert as the first and last sentence of the story is epic.

Seriously, don't read that spoiler if you haven't read the story. 

Edited June 4, 2022 by Gargamel

[StrandedonEarth]

As long as we're talking about Stephen King, I stumbled across this:

https://www.slashfilm.com/553106/all-59-stephen-king-movies-ranked/

It gives an idea of what to read, or watch, and what to avoid....

The thing I found with King is that once he was a runaway success, editors gave him too much free rein, and he started getting rather excessively wordy...

2 hours ago, Gargamel said:

And that wasn't referring to

You forgot

Spoiler

Star Wars . But I admit, it did give a nice image of writers getting inspiration for their stories by peering through a grimy window into other worlds

 

[Gargamel]

6 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

The thing I found with King is that once he was a runaway success, editors gave him too much free rein, and he started getting rather excessively wordy...

If you read his autobiography, and tutorial on writing, On Writing, He discusses this a bit.   He mainly writes for his own entertainment, as in he's never sure where the story is really going to go, and he writes to be the first reader of it.   So an idea will get into his mind, and he puts it on paper.   The story itself may not be that great, but he's such a great story teller (one of the best ever IMO), that even bad stories are readable.  And there was a lot of stuff that would never get published by a regular person, but his editors would ask him if he had anything laying around they could read, and he'd send stuff over.   So yeah, there's a lot of mediocre drivel that got published, but I like to judge him by his good stuff.  

[TheSaint]

I'm currently rereading The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. I've only read it once before (it is over 2,700 pages total), but it's probably my favorite Stephenson. Going to segue straight into Cryptonomicon afterwards. Those who know why, know why.

[StrandedonEarth]

Finished The Shining  after bogging down for awhile in the beginning. Now I’m reading the sequel Doctor Sleep, and it’s got me hooked from the get-go

[StrandedonEarth]

Doctor Sleep was pretty good. Then we went camping, and I powered through the 372 pages of “Ready, Player One”

[Gargamel]

I think I’ll pick up doctor sleep on audio book.   Just finished Dune Messiah, good series so far.  
 

Been on a John Scalzi kick the last 6 months, finishing up both of his longer series, jumping back and forth as the library loans them to me.   
 

Picked up his “Kaiju Preservation Society” on Wednesday, and was done with it by the next day.   Short at ~270 pages, but a delightfully fantastic fun romp.     Think Godzilla meets Avatar meets Warehouse 13.  

[StrandedonEarth]

12 hours ago, Gargamel said:

I think I’ll pick up doctor sleep on audio book.

While it does refresh the main points, you may want to go through The Shining (the book, not the movie) again first, 

[Charley]

On 6/4/2022 at 2:13 PM, Gargamel said:

This is his magnum opus.  The opening line of the first book may, arguably, be the greatest single opening line in history, including the one you're thinking of. 

A good number (majority?) of his novels actually fall into the umbrella universe this series creates.   The first book is sometimes a hard read, as it's kind of an absurdist fever dream.   That is to say, when he first wrote it back in the 70's, he was quite chemically enhanced, and the rewrite pass he did in the 90's to tie up the loose ends did help, but it's still a fever dream.   Power through the weirdness of the first book, and the second, while equally weird, is far less absurdist.     Which is saying a lot, because maybe a couple hours in to the 5th (?) book this read (listen) through, I said aloud "Ok, now _this_ is where this story gets weird."   And that wasn't referring to

  Reveal hidden contents

the demonic Thomas the Tank Engine, Talking Dog, Wizard of Oz, The author as a 3rd person character, or Harry Potter. 

I saw that recently when I picked up my "North Central Positronics" t-shirt.  

 

But this series does have the greatest cliffhanger ending of a book of all time.    And I do prefer the original ending to the series over the fan requested added ending he wrote, although

He then had an unusual power of writing in different chapters, the plot could develop either sequentially or absolutely chaotically and illogically. I remember when I studied the essays of a serial killer at https://paperap.com/free-papers/serial-killer/ the writing style of some articles also coincided with what we see in the first book. And although the reviews about it are very controversial, I think that in the future this book will become a classic and the first original editions will be appreciated by collectors.

  Reveal hidden contents

The loop bringing Roland back to the desert as the first and last sentence of the story is epic.

Seriously, don't read that spoiler if you haven't read the story. 

I couldn't read the first book, I don't know why, but I don't have the patience. Although perhaps in the future it will be more appreciated.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Charley