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Post by Marv on Jul 13, 2020 16:43:30 GMT
I didn't include the collections just because they vary so much...but for the record Hearts in Atlantis is my favorite of all the King works ive read....
From Fave to Least...and mostly based on memory, some of which i havent read in almost twenty years, but to the best of my memories...
Salems Lot
It
The Stand
Wolves of the Calla
Christine
The Drawing of the Three
Black House
The Long Walk
Doctor Sleep
The Dead Zone
The Talisman
The Dark Tower
11/22/63
Desperation
The Waste Lands
Under the Dome
The Gunslinger
Carrie
The Dark Half
Bag of Bones
The Shining
Duma Key
Wizard and Glass
Insomnia
Misery
Mr. Mercedes
Cell
Thinner
Pet Sematary
Dolores Claiborne
Song of Susannah
Cujo
The Regulators
Geralds Game
Needful Things
The Running Man
Firestarter
From a Buick 8
The Tommyknockers
The Eyes of the Dragon
Rage
The Wind Through the Keyhole
Roadwork
Cycle of the Werewolf
Not Yet Read: Rose Madder, The Green Mile, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, The Colorado Kid, Liseys Story, Blaze, Joyland, Revival, Finders Keepers, End of Watch, Gwendys Button Box, Sleeping Beauties, The Outsider, Elevation, The Institute, Later, Billy Summers, Gwendys Final Task, Fairy Tale
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Post by sjg on Jul 13, 2020 18:11:53 GMT
I've read everything he's done up to 11/22/63 and haven't read anything since. Too many hobbies and not enough time.
I'm surprised to see Salem's Lot at the top the list. It would be somewhere around the middle of a list of best to worst for me. I'm also surprised From A Buick 8 is so far down, I'm a character man and i loved the characters in that one but i've seen others mention they didn't like it.
Of the ones you've not read i really enjoyed The Green Mile, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, Liseys Story, Under the Dome and 11/22/63.
My fav's from memory are:
The Stand
IT
The Long Walk
The Green Mile
Dreamcatcher
I'm one of the very few King fans who didn't think much to The Dark Tower series. For me it's his weakest work.
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Post by Marv on Jul 13, 2020 23:33:34 GMT
I've read everything he's done up to 11/22/63 and haven't read anything since. Too many hobbies and not enough time. I'm surprised to see Salem's Lot at the top the list. It would be somewhere around the middle of a list of best to worst for me. I'm also surprised From A Buick 8 is so far down, I'm a character man and i loved the characters in that one but i've seen others mention they didn't like it. Of the ones you've not read i really enjoyed The Green Mile, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, Liseys Story, Under the Dome and 11/22/63. My fav's from memory are: The Stand IT The Long Walk The Green Mile Dreamcatcher I'm one of the very few King fans who didn't think much to The Dark Tower series. For me it's his weakest work. Full disclosure, I only really disliked a few of them...Roadwork and The Wind through the Keyhole...Cycle is at the bottom cuz its basically a glorified calendar, dunno how its classified as a novel. |
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Post by jackspicer on Jul 18, 2020 21:52:41 GMT
The only ones I read were:
Salem's Lot
The Shining
Pet Sematary
I agree with the order you put them in.
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Post by Morgana on Jul 19, 2020 11:02:49 GMT
I haven't read that many of his books, but of those that I remember reading, I would put:
1. Salem's Lot
2. The Stand
3. Dreamcatcher
4. It
5. Black House (wasn't that written in partnership with someone else? I've forgotten who.)
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on Jul 19, 2020 21:15:26 GMT
I haven't read that many of his books, but of those that I remember reading, I would put: 1. Salem's Lot 2. The Stand 3. Dreamcatcher 4. It 5. Black House (wasn't that written in partnership with someone else? I've forgotten who.) Peter Straub |
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Post by Raimo47 on Jul 20, 2020 0:54:56 GMT
Top 5
1. 'Salem's Lot (my all-time favorite book)
2. Christine
3. Pet Sematary
4. Cycle of the Werewolf
5. The Eyes of the Dragon
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Post by Morgana on Jul 20, 2020 11:14:46 GMT
I haven't read that many of his books, but of those that I remember reading, I would put: 1. Salem's Lot 2. The Stand 3. Dreamcatcher 4. It 5. Black House (wasn't that written in partnership with someone else? I've forgotten who.) Peter Straub Ah, thanks. I have PTSD so I have a memory problem. |
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Post by Vassaggo on Jul 20, 2020 12:01:30 GMT
Ok this is going to be hard. I actually count the Core Dark Tower Books as one story, and would put it at the the number 1 spot. Inside that I would rank them (2,5,3,7,1,4.5,4, 6) but that kind of defeats the purpose. I've read everyone of his works (and own all of them in hardback) even the Marvel Graphic Novel Collections too. (I won't include those) I seperated out the non-fiction but I would put On Writing in the top 20 on it's own with the fiction. All of these fluctuate, but this is roughly my list:
Fiction (Novels, Collections, Novellas, One Off Colabs)
The Drawing of the Three
The Stand (Complete and Uncut)
The Talismen
Wolves of the Calla
IT
The Eyes of the Dragon
The Waste Lands
Different Seasons
Hearts in Atlantis
Christine
Misery
The Long Walk
The Dark Tower
The Shining
The Stand (unrevised)
Pet Sematary
The Gunslinger (revised edition)
Needful Things
The Green Mile
Cujo
Insomnia
The Wind through the Keyhole
Black House
Carrie
The Dark Half
The Dead Zone
The Gunslinger (unrevised)
Wizard and Glass
Joyland
Salem's Lot
Rose Madder
Desperation
The Regulators
Thinner
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon (Pop Up Kid's Edition)
Dolores Claiborne
Gerald's Game
Under the Dome
Rage
Skeleton Crew
Blocklade Billy
Mr. Mercedes
Everythings Eventual
The Colorado Kid
Finders Keepers
Song of Susannah
The Running Man
The Institute
Firestarter
Cycle of the Werewolf
Doctor Sleep
11/22/1963
Dreamcatcher
Nighmares and Dreamscapes
Gwendy's Button Box
Tommyknockers
Lisey's Story
Four Past Midnight
The Outsider
End of Watch
Roadwork
Duma Key
If It Bleeds
Night Shift
In the Tall Grass
The Darkman Poem
Cell
Bag of Bones
Gwendy's Magic Feather
Elevation
From a Buick 8
Full Dark No Stars
Sleeping Beauties
A Face in the Crowd
Full Throttle/Road Rage
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
Just after Sunset
Revival
Blaze
Storm of the Century
Non Fiction:
On Writing
Faithful
Hearts in Suspension
Danse Macabre
Secret Windows
Nightmares in the Sky
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Post by Vassaggo on Jul 20, 2020 16:15:58 GMT
I've read everything he's done up to 11/22/63 and haven't read anything since. Too many hobbies and not enough time. I'm surprised to see Salem's Lot at the top the list. It would be somewhere around the middle of a list of best to worst for me. I'm also surprised From A Buick 8 is so far down, I'm a character man and i loved the characters in that one but i've seen others mention they didn't like it. Of the ones you've not read i really enjoyed The Green Mile, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, Liseys Story, Under the Dome and 11/22/63. My fav's from memory are: The Stand IT The Long Walk The Green Mile Dreamcatcher I'm one of the very few King fans who didn't think much to The Dark Tower series. For me it's his weakest work. You'd be surprised I think being a fan of Dark Tower is kind of hit or miss among his fans. I've rarely seen anybody take a neutral position on The Dark Tower. Either they love it or they hate it. Just in my personal observations I would put the people who didn't like DT in the majority. I could be wrong on that, though. |
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Jul 28, 2020 17:45:24 GMT
I've read everything he's done up to 11/22/63 and haven't read anything since. Too many hobbies and not enough time. I'm surprised to see Salem's Lot at the top the list. It would be somewhere around the middle of a list of best to worst for me. I'm also surprised From A Buick 8 is so far down, I'm a character man and i loved the characters in that one but i've seen others mention they didn't like it. Of the ones you've not read i really enjoyed The Green Mile, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Dreamcatcher, Liseys Story, Under the Dome and 11/22/63. My fav's from memory are: The Stand IT The Long Walk The Green Mile Dreamcatcher I'm one of the very few King fans who didn't think much to The Dark Tower series. For me it's his weakest work. You'd be surprised I think being a fan of Dark Tower is kind of hit or miss among his fans. I've rarely seen anybody take a neutral position on The Dark Tower. Either they love it or they hate it. Just in my personal observations I would put the people who didn't like DT in the majority. I could be wrong on that, though. Spoilers
I've noticed the same thing. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the ending. Not just the actual ending but the fact that Roland didn't kill Walter, Mordred did. Seemed to bug a lot of people. Roland was not destined to kill Walter. Twice he had him in his gun sights and missed. Ka. I loved the ending. All of the series. Of all the endings I envisioned, I didn't dream of that one.
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Post by Vassaggo on Jul 28, 2020 17:59:22 GMT
You'd be surprised I think being a fan of Dark Tower is kind of hit or miss among his fans. I've rarely seen anybody take a neutral position on The Dark Tower. Either they love it or they hate it. Just in my personal observations I would put the people who didn't like DT in the majority. I could be wrong on that, though. Spoilers
I've noticed the same thing. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the ending. Not just the actual ending but the fact that Roland didn't kill Walter, Mordred did. Seemed to bug a lot of people. Roland was not destined to kill Walter. Twice he had him in his gun sights and missed. Ka. I loved the ending. All of the series. Of all the endings I envisioned, I didn't dream of that one.
Might want to actually put the spoiler tags around that to hide it just in case  I am a HUGE Randall Flagg Fanboy. So what happened to him and the way he went out, when I first read it, it took me a while to not be disappointed by it. It was kind of anti-climatic. AFter a bit though, I saw that it fit. He never was a big piece on the board. He wanted to be, he had a few good moves, but he was always a pawn (ok maybe a knight) striving to be something more. That's why I liked him. Once I came to terms with that, and the fact that there can be more stories with him, I was fine. He was killed in one of the 2 keystones but he lived a long time, could jump worlds, and King could write other stories in those other worlds still. And King has, he shows up in Gwendy's Button Box. |
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Post by TheGoodMan19 on Jul 28, 2020 18:09:50 GMT
Spoilers
I've noticed the same thing. I think a lot of people were disappointed with the ending. Not just the actual ending but the fact that Roland didn't kill Walter, Mordred did. Seemed to bug a lot of people. Roland was not destined to kill Walter. Twice he had him in his gun sights and missed. Ka. I loved the ending. All of the series. Of all the endings I envisioned, I didn't dream of that one.
Might want to actually put the spoiler tags around that to hide it just in case I am a HUGE Randall Flagg Fanboy. So what happened to him and the way he went out, when I first read it, it took me a while to not be disappointed by it. It was kind of anti-climatic. AFter a bit though, I saw that it fit. He never was a big piece on the board. He wanted to be, he had a few good moves, but he was always a pawn (ok maybe a knight) striving to be something more. That's why I liked him. Once I came to terms with that, and the fact that there can be more stories with him, I was fine. He was killed in one of the 2 keystones but he lived a long time, could jump worlds, and King could write other stories in those other worlds still. And King has, he shows up in Gwendy's Button Box. I would use the actual spoiler tags if it was a new release. Spoilers again...
haven't read Button box yet. I knew RF would never die. He's one of King's two favorite characters, along with Holly Gibney. You would have thought he died in the original Stand, but he didn't, of course. I think Walter was #2 in the Fall of Gilead. Farson, the Good Man (hey, that would make a good username...) was a pawn but for Walter or the Crimson King? The Crimson King was the big disappointment. All the buildup and all he is is just funny noises. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE".
I'll assume you loathed the movie...
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Post by Vassaggo on Jul 28, 2020 18:33:49 GMT
Might want to actually put the spoiler tags around that to hide it just in case I am a HUGE Randall Flagg Fanboy. So what happened to him and the way he went out, when I first read it, it took me a while to not be disappointed by it. It was kind of anti-climatic. AFter a bit though, I saw that it fit. He never was a big piece on the board. He wanted to be, he had a few good moves, but he was always a pawn (ok maybe a knight) striving to be something more. That's why I liked him. Once I came to terms with that, and the fact that there can be more stories with him, I was fine. He was killed in one of the 2 keystones but he lived a long time, could jump worlds, and King could write other stories in those other worlds still. And King has, he shows up in Gwendy's Button Box. I would use the actual spoiler tags if it was a new release. Spoilers again...
haven't read Button box yet. I knew RF would never die. He's one of King's two favorite characters, along with Holly Gibney. You would have thought he died in the original Stand, but he didn't, of course. I think Walter was #2 in the Fall of Gilead. Farson, the Good Man (hey, that would make a good username...) was a pawn but for Walter or the Crimson King? The Crimson King was the big disappointment. All the buildup and all he is is just funny noises. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE".
I'll assume you loathed the movie...
I was more impressed with the undescribable nature of the Crimson King in other books. (Insomnia and Black House). The Undead version on Roland's Level of the Tower was a huge let down. There are a few lines in the books that Farson could've actually been Walter/Flagg. I like to think he was. Both the leader and the guy scheming from the shadows. The movie was fan fiction, a what if, not even an adaptation. I get him having the Horn means it's the next cycle but that doesn't give you carte blanche to change everything. The horn was a symbol of hope that he may one day get out of it. So why would Roland give up the Tower? That's like the bedrock of his character. Not to mention Walter's hypnotism magic was just wrong. Jake's Mom. Turning the Can Toi and Taheen into Orcs from Lord of the rings. Making the Mani techno pagans. There are too many examples of just how wrong that movie was. |
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Post by Vassaggo on Jul 28, 2020 18:36:03 GMT
Might want to actually put the spoiler tags around that to hide it just in case I am a HUGE Randall Flagg Fanboy. So what happened to him and the way he went out, when I first read it, it took me a while to not be disappointed by it. It was kind of anti-climatic. AFter a bit though, I saw that it fit. He never was a big piece on the board. He wanted to be, he had a few good moves, but he was always a pawn (ok maybe a knight) striving to be something more. That's why I liked him. Once I came to terms with that, and the fact that there can be more stories with him, I was fine. He was killed in one of the 2 keystones but he lived a long time, could jump worlds, and King could write other stories in those other worlds still. And King has, he shows up in Gwendy's Button Box. I would use the actual spoiler tags if it was a new release. Spoilers again...
haven't read Button box yet. I knew RF would never die. He's one of King's two favorite characters, along with Holly Gibney. You would have thought he died in the original Stand, but he didn't, of course. I think Walter was #2 in the Fall of Gilead. Farson, the Good Man (hey, that would make a good username...) was a pawn but for Walter or the Crimson King? The Crimson King was the big disappointment. All the buildup and all he is is just funny noises. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE".
I'll assume you loathed the movie...
I know in the uncut version of The Stand the very last scenes shows Randall with the Slow Mutants in a wasteland, showing he punched out of Las Vegas to another world right when the nuke went. It's been a minute, but he says something like "I will bring you civilization" or something like that. |
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Post by amyghost on Jul 29, 2020 11:57:38 GMT
I've barely read anything he's written since Dolores Claiborne, which I'd put in a tie with IT for a list-topper. IT has myriad faults, I'd agree; but it remains the most atmospheric and all-involving thing he's done, IMO.
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Post by amyghost on Jul 30, 2020 10:17:34 GMT
I've barely read anything he's written since Dolores Claiborne, which I'd put in a tie with IT for a list-topper. IT has myriad faults, I'd agree; but it remains the most atmospheric and all-involving thing he's done, IMO. DC is my favourite too. Yes, IT was mightily atmospheric, something that the recent Chapter One movie failed at, but something that seemed to click better with me in Chapter Two. I also feel the presentation of the IT creature in the films climax was superior to what King wrote. I haven't seen the recent film version, but I can definitely agree that the presentation of the creature at the end of the novel was pretty massively disappointing. After all of that buildup, the reader is given something that most closely resembles a third-rate Fifties horror film. That's long been a defect of King's--his human horrors almost invariably have at least the ring of truth about them, but his attempts at portraying 'scary monsters' are often so inept as to be laughable. For all King has often disdained filmed portrayals of said monsters in other films as being cheesy and un-frightening, his own print versions of same are frequently not much better. |
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Post by Morgana on Jul 30, 2020 10:54:04 GMT
DC is my favourite too. Yes, IT was mightily atmospheric, something that the recent Chapter One movie failed at, but something that seemed to click better with me in Chapter Two. I also feel the presentation of the IT creature in the films climax was superior to what King wrote. I haven't seen the recent film version, but I can definitely agree that the presentation of the creature at the end of the novel was pretty massively disappointing. After all of that buildup, the reader is given something that most closely resembles a third-rate Fifties horror film. That's long been a defect of King's--his human horrors almost invariably have at least the ring of truth about them, but his attempts at portraying 'scary monsters' are often so inept as to be laughable. For all King has often disdained filmed portrayals of said monsters in other films as being cheesy and un-frightening, his own print versions of same are frequently not much better. I think the most recent portrayal of the It character, was a failure. The portrayal of it was much better in the first film. |
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Post by amyghost on Jul 31, 2020 1:25:35 GMT
I haven't seen the recent film version, but I can definitely agree that the presentation of the creature at the end of the novel was pretty massively disappointing. After all of that buildup, the reader is given something that most closely resembles a third-rate Fifties horror film. That's long been a defect of King's--his human horrors almost invariably have at least the ring of truth about them, but his attempts at portraying 'scary monsters' are often so inept as to be laughable. For all King has often disdained filmed portrayals of said monsters in other films as being cheesy and un-frightening, his own print versions of same are frequently not much better. The monster thing is just an immature coping mechanism with King for a metaphor for his own fears that he didn't seem to want to grow out of. It was cool when he was kid, monsters are, and IT being about what we manifest as personal fears, but he just wrote himself into a cheesy corner by the end. The movie made the creature damn surreal looking and it was so outlandish and creepy, that I found it actually worked. King is great with human characters though, especially females, and he makes them real and believable. I despised The Tommy Knockers. Surprised I finished it all in good time. It was ridiculous! The Tommy Knockers may well be the weakest of his books. I can't say that with complete authority as I have to admit I've never yet been able to finish it  . Have you ever read his 'Bachman' novel Roadwork? Not strict horror, more character study, but maybe one of the best sustained character studies he's ever done. |
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Post by Captain Spencer on Jul 31, 2020 3:16:59 GMT
I'll do a Top 10:
It
Pet Semartary
Christine
The Shining
The Dead Zone
Cujo
Needful Things
Firestarter
The Dark Half
Doctor Sleep
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I am a HUGE 
. 