Forget the lean, mean King of Misery, Gerald's Game and Dolores Claiborne. This is the other Kingthe Grand Vizier of Verbosity who gave us It, The Tommyknockers and Needful Things. There's much of everything in these 800 pages, including the worthy. Notable is a rare septuagenarian hero, recently widowed Ralph Roberts, whose broodings on old age immerse readers into the aging psyche almost as clearly as other King heroes have revealed the minds of children. Then there's the slam-bang final 300 pages, in themselves a novel's worth of excitement as Ralph battles demonic entities to prevent a holocaust in his small town of Derry, Maine (site of It). The problem is that the finale is preceded by more than a novel's worth of casual, even tedious buildup: Ralph's growing insomnia; his new ability to see auras around all living things; his dismay as Derry's citizens divide violently over the impending visit of a radical pro-lifer; his slow realization that celestial forces have marked Derry as a battleground between good and evil. King remains popular fiction's most reliable mirror of cultural trends, in particular our continuing love affair with horror (Barker and Koontz are palpable influences here). If this novel were liposuctioned, it would rank among King's best; as is, it's another roly-poly volume from a skilled writer who presumes his readers' appetite for words is more gourmand than gourmet. 1,500,000 first printing; $1 million ad/promo; paperback rights to Signet; simultaneous audio release from Penguin Highbridge; BOMC selection. (Oct.)
It’s rare to find a writer who can haunt your dreams with terrifying visions of say, for example, a shapeshifting clown, while ruminating on the battle of good and evil… while commenting on societal injustices… while exploring the very base of human nature…. while illuminating the power of friendship and love. And did we mention […]
Thanks to superhero movies and comic books, these days you can’t throw a rock without hitting a shared universe. But what might seem like a passing fad or novelty is actually as old as literature itself. Throughout history, writers have hit on the idea of re-using characters from one story in another, or creating a […]
The wheel of Ka turns, and a movie based on Stephen King’s magnum opus The Dark Tower is finally coming to theaters, say thankee sai. Even better, it’s both an adaptation of the books and a continuation, meaning there’s sure to be plenty there for fans both old and new to obsess over.