I NEED book 2 right now. That was amazing. Terrific characters, very well woven plot, and exquisite writing. So far I'm considering this novel one of I NEED book 2 right now. That was amazing. Terrific characters, very well woven plot, and exquisite writing. So far I'm considering this novel one of my top 3 reads of 2025. One of the best Fantasy novels I've read in a very long time. Lukan Gardova has made a mark as one of my favorite Fantasy characters. I hope book 2 can live up to this greatness. 1000/10. ...more
3.5/5 ⭐️ Not bad just very… underwhelming for a King novel. I’ve read more than 60-70% of his works and this is nowhere near the great ones. Still a s3.5/5 ⭐️ Not bad just very… underwhelming for a King novel. I’ve read more than 60-70% of his works and this is nowhere near the great ones. Still a short fun crime novel but the Bill hodges trilogy was mileees better than this. Even Holly was better than this...more
It feels weird rating this a 3.5 considering all the 5 star reviews I've seen. It was a good book but I think having read Lonesome Dove earlier this yIt feels weird rating this a 3.5 considering all the 5 star reviews I've seen. It was a good book but I think having read Lonesome Dove earlier this year skyrocketed my expectations of this novel. The story itself was good, but I just didn't like the main character as much as everyone else did. I'll probably reread this in the future and hopefully then I'd have a better experience...more
What a satisfying end to the trilogy. I did not expect to enjoy the entirety as much as I did. Reminded me of how much I enjoyed The First Law trilogyWhat a satisfying end to the trilogy. I did not expect to enjoy the entirety as much as I did. Reminded me of how much I enjoyed The First Law trilogy. The character development, plot, and everything about this novel and the whole trilogy exceeded my expectations. I need to read Gwynne's other series soon. 6/5 stars for this terrific conclusion to the trilogy and 10000/5 stars for the whole trilogy...more
Leagues above book 1. I can't believe how good that novel was. Can't wait to dive in book 3 to see how it all endsLeagues above book 1. I can't believe how good that novel was. Can't wait to dive in book 3 to see how it all ends...more
The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there...and still on your feet.
So I finally finished this gigantic
The place where you made your stand never mattered. Only that you were there...and still on your feet.
So I finally finished this gigantic brick. This freakin' gigantic heavy brick, and all I can say is, this is probably the best freakin' brick ever made. With a heaping 1439 pages, this book managed to hurt both my wrists, and probably injured some of my fingers. That's the price I had to pay to read this amazing novel. I never thought that I wouldn't finish this, fuck it I never even thought of putting this book down and read something else for the meantime. All I can say is, Stephen King managed to impress me again. Not that I doubted him though.
Its a typical thing for King to serve us with multiple characters with different stories, and plunge them together at some point. And as usual, some were amazing, and some were dreadfully boring unforgettable. This was also my experience while reading Needful Things, but his characters here are way better. I got an in depth description of each one, and I either loved or hated each one. That technique of King is truly remarkable. What goes best with an amazing plot? Well, freakin' amazing characters that's what. Ask me who my favorite is, and I'll probably end up describing most of them instead because I loved almost all of them.
I remember complaining how long the novel is. I've read quite a few epics, but all of them were way shorter than this. When I finished though, and pondered upon what could've been excluded, none came to mind. I believe everything happened for a reason, or let me rephrase that, everything was written for a reason. You can't really take out something from the story, because then the plot holes would reappear. The length of the novel is proportional to the enjoyment I experienced while reading this.
Once again, the characters were amazing and fully developed. I actually cared for them, and I didn't want them to die. This novel focused on the battle between good and evil, in a lengthy epic like feeling. We have Mother Abagail on the good side, and Flagg as the devil. It's King's second time to introduce a devil-like character, and the character turned out just as amazing. Flagg truly depicted a strong devil. He's really a strong character that I would love to read more about in his other novels (really hoping for a guest appearance).
Harold is the one I hated the most while reading. That pig really annoyed me. Everything he did was really annoying, and I wanted him to die at one point in the novel. Although I do have to point out that I hate him for a good reason. My hatred of him led to a better enjoyment of the novel. We all hate a character, and we want to see awful things done to them. I'm more than satisfied with the characters King created.
Lloyd and Nick were really amazing too. One is part of the dark team, and the other of the good team. I'm not gonna spoil who belongs where. All you need to know is that Nick's a kickass deaf-mute, and Lloyd's an annoying yet funny character. Tom's really cool too, despite being a retard. I didn't care for him that much in the beginning, but things started to change as I read along.
Stu and Fran's story would have to be my favorite of all the ones in the novel. Ever since the early parts of the novel, Fran's story already caught my interest, and it continued till the end. Larry Underwood's also really interesting. His pride overcoming him then more awful things happening really kept me interested in what would happen to him. I'm only going to mention those characters though, because who would want to read a spoiler and ruin their reading experience right? Those 3 are my favorites, but that doesn't mean that the others were boring. I will repeat, almost all the characters are amazing. There will obviously be a few that would stand out, and those 3 are my choice. Wait, I forgot to mention another favorite, the freakin' dog Kojak!! I always love dogs in novels. Kojak didn't disappoint!
(view spoiler)[ Yes!! The baby lives, and King kinda went Sci-Fi with all the science talk, and I loved it. He further expanded the world building, and in the end, he actually created a perfect world. With 99% of the world gone, and a super virus that is still haunting the citizens even though it's eradicated, the readers will wonder what would happen to the human race, and what King gave us is probably the perfect solution. The baby problem in the latter part of the novel was really cool for me, and the solution was even cooler. I actually though either the baby or Fran would die, thankfully neither did. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ STU DIDN'T FUCKING DIE. I actually thought he would, because King fucking wrote "and they never saw Stu Redman again". But that actually meant that the other three died. Even though Larry died, Stu's still my favorite so I'm not complaining. His survival was also really interesting for me. Pneumonia and other sicknesses associated with his situation. Flawless writing from King. (hide spoiler)]
Okay, enough feet kissing and let me get on with some negative aspects of this novel.
The back of the book states that "The survivors who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge - Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg the nefarious "Dark Man", who delights in chaos and violence. Yes, both of them possess those amazing qualities, but I don't think it's right to say that both of them are the leaders of the novel. I get that people in the novel looked up to the both of then [in fear and in doubt] but neither of the two became my genuine favorite. I really liked them both, yes, but that's that. Randall's really outstanding with all the violence don't get me wrong, but Mother Abagail was presented as somewhat disgusting . Obviously opinionated, but hey, aren't all reviews opinionated?
Maybe I should've said that I had one problem, because that's all I can think of as of right now. I had problems along the novel though, but all [except the one stated above] were resolved. Major problems like plot holes and all were resolved at the end of the novel, and that's awesome. Mostly when I read a novel, the problems that I had while reading didn't get fixed. The Stand proved itself otherwise. The main problem would be that we tend to complain even if we're not yet done with the novel.
The ending's really great. I'm not going to complain anymore because I really liked it. It gave me closure, and honestly, the ending's really witty. You'll have to read it yourself, but I really liked it. I'm not gonna put it in a spoiler tag anymore, because there's no reason to do so. Just read this amazing novel and see for yourself. Once again, real witty of you King. This is why you're my favorite author.
(view spoiler)[ The nuclear blowout in the end was not as amazing of an ending as I was hoping. Flagg being the devil, I kinda figured he wouldn't end up dead. Why use a man made creation to kill a supernatural being right? I'm not considering this as a major problem of mine though, I just thought that King could've ended the novel in a different way. I can't think of a better ending though, so I also don't get this contradicting and useless spoiler tag. (hide spoiler)]
So to wrap things up, this is now my favorite King novel. It is clearly superior to The Long Walk and Needful Things, both in length and substance. I'm not saying don't read the other two, because they are both amazing in their own ways, and I'm also recommending them. The Stand is just King's novel that had the biggest impact on me, as of now. Such a shame to say that he's my favorite author yet I believe I've read less than ten books of his, and I've only read this now. I'm planning to change that soon though, I can't wait to read more amazing novels written by King. 5/5 stars, and a worthy addition to my favorites list. A clear recommendation, and I can say that this is one of my best reads of 2014. ...more
I can't believe it took me this long to finish this masterpiece. Calling it a masterpiece feels like an understatement to begin with. I think I need tI can't believe it took me this long to finish this masterpiece. Calling it a masterpiece feels like an understatement to begin with. I think I need the whole year or more to fully process this. So much has happened. I have grown attached to the characters so much and immersed in the plot that I'm failing to wrap my mind as to how there's no pages left. One of my favorite novels ever and the best Western novel there is. My biggest challenge in life now is to find a Western novel that can beat this, and I fear I will die before that can ever happen...more
Two Talented Bastids - 5 stars The Fifth Step - 4 stars Willie the Weirdo- 3.5 stars Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream - 5 stars Finn - 4 stars On Slide Inn Road Two Talented Bastids - 5 stars The Fifth Step - 4 stars Willie the Weirdo- 3.5 stars Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream - 5 stars Finn - 4 stars On Slide Inn Road - 4 stars Red Screen - 4 stars The Turbulence Expert - 3.5 stars Laurie - 5 stars Rattlesnakes - 5 stars The Dreamers - 3.5 stars The Answer Man - 5 stars
It's an absolute pleasure when you find out that your favorite author of all time can still manage to produce the work that he's known for even in 2024. Of course not all the stories were 5 star amazing reads but that's expected in almost any short story collections. I've stated in many of my reviews before that short story collections are not my thing. I'm almost always feeling lackluster after reading one. Not enough character and plot development for me; and that's the case for most of the 3.5-4 star reads in here. The longer stories in the collection proved to be more appealing to me. That's my opinion though, I know there are a lot of short story enthusiasts out there, especially when it comes to horror
My absolute favorite among the stories is The Answer Man. Something about real life mixed with a bit of paranormal draws me in every damn time. Won't be any spoilers but it was personally relatable and I love how the short story as a whole. I've read reddit threads and found that majority of the people loved The Dreamers so much but it just wasn't the best for me. Yes it did remind me of a certain thing I won't mention here for spoilers sake, but I also found that to be just ok and nothing spectacular. It's definitely not a bad story but it's nowhere near the best among the collection
Top 3 The Answer Man Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream Laurie ...more
I'm aware of the difference in opinion regarding this novel. Some of the people I've been following has called this novel lacking, overhyped, or even I'm aware of the difference in opinion regarding this novel. Some of the people I've been following has called this novel lacking, overhyped, or even shouldn't have been written due to its lack of complexity and overall deeming it worthless. Could it be that it's one of my first Philosophy book ever that I was able to appreciate the beauty of how everything eventually came to be? It's not my first Camus novel however I read my first years ago. I don't even think I understood The Plague as how Camus wanted it to be depicted. I was way younger then, although now that I'm older am I really wiser or have I just been awakened by the world's cruelty and overall reality? Did I completely understand Camus's philosophy after reading this? No. Have I researched on it on multiple platforms? Yes, and I will continue to fully grasp the entirety of this novel while in the process of embracing some of the philosophy that Camus has written
I will read this again in the future, and maybe then I'd have a different opinion, or maybe then I'd have read more from this author and still feel the same. Only time will tell, but what I know is who I am today, has appreciated and have been awakened to realities I have long accepted and embraced....more
I hate reading slumps cause I normally would've finished this a month and a half ago. It's a great novel with amazing character development, intricateI hate reading slumps cause I normally would've finished this a month and a half ago. It's a great novel with amazing character development, intricate world building, and well developed plot. I can't wait to read the next one before the 3rd one comes out soon. 4.5/5 stars. First Gwynne novel I've read and I will definitely read this other series in the future!...more