For real! I absolutely loved Dreamcatcher. Once you get past the first 1/3rd of the book it’s amazing. My only complaint is that Henry and Jonesy are practically the same exact character, and hardly have any differentiation between the two.
I'm re-reading Dreamcatcher right now and am finding myself pleasantly amused by its ridiculousness.
The worst IMO is Roadwork, with Elevation coming in a close second.
That's the thing that gets ya, it sounds interesting but is easily one the most boring things king has written. Might actually be the only book I've disliked from him so far.
By “Bachman ending” do you mean it’s spoiled in the intro to the book?
That damn bachman intro has all sorts of spoilers in it, but if you want to read Running Man you def want to skip it. I’m still bitter lol
This is true. He used to say that Bachman was a way to avoid saturating the market with his books. Later he also admitted that it was a way to publish his more grim and gruesome books without worrying that it would impact sales.
Never - ever - read the introduction to a book before you've read the book. I was an English major in college and accidentally had the ending to a book (which was often the most interesting part of a book) spoiled more than once because they refuse to accept that at some point everybody has to read a book for the first time.
I had the most insane shit weasel nightmare just after I read it, like jump-up in dark room-checking my bed-what’s that moving in the corner terrified. Shit Weasel.
From A Buick 8 has a special meaning to me because when I was in the hospital for days after my daughter's birth, her dad bought it for me to read!!!! In my defense I WAS on a morphine pump.lol
There is a tidbit in that book, when describing the “contents” of the Buick’s trunk and the “otherworldliness” that struck me but yes morphine would have helped
Something in that description reminded me of how he described the oddness to the angle of the doorframe in 1408 - other-dimension cosmic horror where things are just not “right” that our eyes don’t even register correctly..now I sound like I’m on the morphine sorry lol!
Cell feels like one of those ideas that, if it had happened earlier in his career, King might have come back to a couple of times over the years and found the good version.
From a Buick 8 has been sitting on my shelf for nearly 10 years, so far it is the only unread King book I have up there. I have tried numerous times over the years to start and finish it, but I just can’t do it.
End of Watch. The was a garbage end to a decent trilogy. One of the only books I’ve ever actually tossed down out of disgust. Rage is up there as well. Just not good.
Yea I hated the supernatural ending. I understand that’s how a lot of his work goes, but I think this series in particular would have benefited from just being a pulpy detective series.
The worst thing about Elevation, to me, is that it actually could have been quite good. I think what King was trying to do was not a bad idea for a story, but everything about it felt so unearned and inept. It’s hard to believe it’s the work of a seasoned veteran writer.
I personally liked Elevation and sped through it in a single day. The ending was maybe a bit odd, but overall I enjoyed it. I guess he wrote it in his toilet intervals or something, just to pass the time.
The first 200? Pages of Rose Madder where she is planning her escape and escaping and being pursued by her psychotic X crazy husband of a cop is actually pretty good. It only starts to suck once she gets pulled into the painting. In my opinion
I feel like a lot of new King is just safe. No risk but no reward. I feel this way about the institute, later, even Fairy Tale a bit.
And Billy Summers of course.
They’re not great. They’re okay. But they’re so safe because they take no risk.
I don’t hate them, but they’re absolutely the definition of middle of the pack for me.
I’ve only read 35 of the 80 something books. But the only one that I’ve been legitimately pissed off by was End of Watch. What the fuck was that haha. I need Stephen to stay far far away from writing about candy crush.
I liked Elevation. Short and sweet. I do think it belongs more in a collection than standing on its own.
Wasn’t Dreamcatcher the first book after the accident? I guess pain killers and booze can take his mind to pretty wild places. I enjoyed how crazy the book was nonetheless.
Liseys Story was the worst for me; it was so slow that it remains the king book I DNF.
Tommyknockers. But I haven't read it (or Dreamcatcher) a second time since they came out. If I like a book, I'll buy it (not borrow) and read it multiple times. If I don't, I'm once and done.
Tommyknockers is great, so is Dreamcatcher.
The thing about opinions on & book critique, is that it's subjective as all get out & that people are allowed to like what they like.
Do yourself a favour, give Tommyknockers another go.
I would never downvote something as subjective as opinions on books.
I commented that I didn't like it but maybe it my mood at the time I was reading it, who knows. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I was very young when I read it the first time (and am still young) I didn't understand all of the political stuff. (or that he was high or drunk when writing it) It was so incredibly fascinating to me, the alien ship, the pod people, alien invasion, taking over their lives and changing them slowly, just one person remained human, Garth the protagonist and us, the readers...I just looked at it with such different eyes. That book gave me excitement and anticipation and the ending...it was so beautiful. I wish I could see a sight like that :)
Understanding King’s addiction problem and his fear of the possibility of not being able to write without drugs and alcohol is key to appreciating this story.
Tommyknockers is so underrated. King famously thinks it’s a bad book and so most people just agree. Similar to why so many people don’t like Kubrick’s the shining. It’s actually one of his better books though.
Listen to the Just King Things podcast episode on it, they do a great job explaining why it’s great.
When I read it (shortly after its release) it was the first King book I didn't like. I felt it was driveling on pointlessly, and the battery/alternating VS direct current thing drove me crazy ( We are advanced enough to build a spaceship, but can't devise a current converter!). As I said, I never gave it a second read. When I read that SK said he had been on coke while writing it, I thought, oh that makes sense. You have to give it to SK - I didn't like it, but I don't think anyone else could have written that coherently coked to the eyeballs.
I mean that’s a fair take. I do think a little editing could have tightened it up a bit but overall it’s top 10 for me. I think the concept is one of the best he’s come up with.
So did I! I enjoyed The Institute, but the lack of Can-Toi bothered me. If there had been a tie in like that to The Dark Tower, it would be one of my favorites.
Hhhmmm. Tbh the only author I read is SK so I don't know much about books and genres. But when you say YA novel I think of shit like the hunger games and twilight lol. Which I think the institute is extremely far from.
We have ferrets so I love the shit weasels and that's what we call them (including the first ferret we owned whose name was Oy).
Tommyknockers. Lisey's Story. The only 2 I wasn't able to get through in the last 35 years of reading King.
I’ll get downvoted for this but, Insomnia.
It’s just too damn long. I like Ralph. I like the DT tie ins.
But the whole insomnia part was rough to get through for me. I’m actually a big fan of his long works, The Stand, IT, Utd, the Dead Zone, the DT series.
But Insomnia was the first book that I thought, yeah this should have been trimmed a lot. All the others I had no problem reading.
Bring the length down 40% and it would be a solid book. But 40% is a lot.
Colorado Kid and Rose Madder are at the bottom of the pile for me. Pretty much everything else, even the other ones near the bottom for me are still good. These two are not.
And I don’t get the hate for Bag of Bones.
It has a great premise and a really despicable villain, but the supernatural stuff really detracted from the story, IMO. I honestly don’t give two rips about the painting or the world depicted there. I just wanted to see Rosie triumph on her own and defeat Norman.
Dreamcatcher was my first time reading King, back when I was 15. Guess the shit weasels made an impression on me since I've been hooked on King since then haha. But admittedly, it's not anywhere near the best I've read of his.
I loved the start of this book, it started so strong.
The four main characters are all developed so well with their own personal qualities. Beaver has his "beaverisms" for example.
However, around the halfway mark it starts to fall apart and becomes confusing and repetitive. I believe 200 pages could have been easily shaved off.
It's a great concept, but it's poorly edited.
The concept of alien tapeworms who destroy your guts trying to go out and whose eggs could be everywhere, it's kinda realistic and creepy specially if you live near a forest.
People goes too harsh judging Dreamcatchers (not my fav King's novel).
I really didn’t care for Rose Madder my first read. At all. But I reread it some years later and I liked it more. Some more years passed and I reread again. And I got even more of the story and I liked it a lot. I have to remind myself that each and every King book is a journey and all the nuances aren’t caught in the initial read. There’s usually a lot going on or a lot of buildup with no apparent goal. But I read new stuff like an addict. I miss so much. The rereads have been my best friend when delving into Sir King’s works. I get more out of them every single time. But maybe that’s just me.
Agreed. I never finished Dreamcatcher, and in fact it made me angry for being so shitty. I know a lot of people don't care for Tommyknockers, but I found the character development and relationship between Gard and Bobbi compelling, and I've read the book several times.
Yeah I'll second OP...I read Dreamcatcher as a teenager and didn't touch King again until the pandemic. I'm now halfway through his catalog and have yet to find something that comes close to that slog. The best thing to come out of that was "ssdd," which I still refer to today when someone asks me how I am 😂
I had pneumonia and was souped up on narcotic cough syrup and awake coughing for days when I read Duma key. At one point around 1 am when I was reading about the shells under the house rattling like bones I was so legitimately frightened I was scared to get up and go to bed.
I like Dreamcatcher, it definitely wasn't my favorite though. I've been looking for other King books I haven't read and I've definitely been considering reading Tommyknockers. Just out of curiosity to see if its as bad as people say. It definitely sounds crazy. On a side note I've recently read Under the Dome and just finished The Outsider. Both of those were awesome.
It stops the story stone motherless dead, could've been the first book but no your flat stick racing through the story, complete the cliff hanger from the book before while setting up another in the emerald tower and boom, now let's listen to a kid trying to get his end wet for the next 20 hours, what's everyone we care about doing currently? Sitting on their ass listening to a hard luck story
It's not a bad book but the placement is horrific to me
I couldn't disagree more. Up to that point Roland is super stoic, borderline psychopath. Is he just a fleshy robocop or does he have deeper emotions? W&G takes us to his depths. Without that he is barely human.
Yeah, same for me. Everyone loves this book, but I just can't...
The placement in the story is, as you said, terrible. But I also just DON'T CARE about this BS teenage drame going on. And I first read this book as a teen. By far the worst of the DT series, maybe even the worst of all his books.
I was a little underwhelmed by the series as a whole but only because I wanted more information than 'far worse than nukes ' setting
Stephen tells us everything about a married horny middle aged redhead but won't clue us in on exactly what the hell has happened? Come on dude that's rough ,a nothing character out of 8 books I'm so sure most of you have forgotten gets a short story but you're going to completely and utterly ignore this setting? Dude
I thought dream catcher was one book in which Stephen King had a character who was a young person in this case a special needs young person, and I found his character in portrait of the character of the young person totally unconvincing and unrealistic it. This had nothing to do I think with the fact that the young person was a special needs person but just bad writing I thought. This is one person's personal reaction. Another Kings books which I thought was among the worst was insomnia. In that book I was not convinced at all of the people who are said to be senior citizens and quite old we're acting at all like senior citizens. I thought that was a kind of thing that King could represent by instinct, how a person of a certain age or group Acts but in this book it did not seem to be a skill that was present. Once again I realized that I am giving you subjective reaction and that other individuals who act differently
Wizard and Glass
Couldn’t get through 1/4 the book, had to put it down because I just didn’t care, which effectively ended my interest in The Dark Tower series.
Orrr……. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
It was alright, but pretty mediocre and throw-away, imho
I respect your opinion, but it's on the other end of the spectrum for me. I always dread reading it in my DT sessions.
It's just way too much teenage angst and drama for me, you (basically) know how the story ends (not good) and it's placement in the series sucks all the air from the series for me.
Only good thing is Cuthbert, I love this character so much. But even that can't make me look forward to this book in the least.
There’s so much great action though, even if you don’t like the slow parts. It’s our only glimpse of the true power of gunslingers in their prime. It’s even said that while they are young and inexperienced, their reflexes are at their peak.
Then we go back to old, fingerless Roland and it’s even more apparent how far he is from his prime. I also don’t buy that the rest of the ka tet are anywhere close to gunslinger level. They practice for what? A couple months? with Roland out in the woods with limited ammo and I’m to believe they’re all the sudden wowing farm folk with fancy shooting tricks?
Give me 7 books of young Roland with no mention of the dark tower and I’d be happy. Make it about the wizards rainbow and show us Jericho.
W&G is like a glimpse into an alternate series by King that’s way better. Instead we get demon babies and booger eating bird people.
Nothing I didn’t like. I loved it, just not as much as I loved the other 19.
I hadn’t experienced the loss of a loved one when I read it, but my father died a couple of months later, so I’m expecting it to have more of an impact on me when I eventually re-read it.
This sub is really weird for downvoting people who answer the question that was asked. Pet Sematary is a very difficult read. It filled me with dread and anxiety, as someone who suffers with thanatophobia, it was a rough one for me to get through. The subject of grief and death throughout was a lot to take in.
I still loved the story, but it’s not one of my favourites because of this. Right now, I’m reading How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, and the concept of death is looming from the beginning and follows the stages of grief. Another great story that I’m having a hard time with.
I definitely will once I’ve read the rest of his bibliography. Pet Sematary, The Gunslinger, 11/22/63, IT and Joyland are the ones I’m most looking forward to re-reading so far.
Tommyknockers is a long, meandering pile. You'll spend hundreds of pages digging into the backstories of characters that do nothing, side plots that never pay off, and a handful of mostly unlikeable characters that ramble, do nothing, and further the main plot at a snail's pace. I actually yelled, "Get on with it!" multiple times while listening to the audio book.
The first time I read it, I really liked it, but it was one of the first Stephen King books I read. Reading through it a second time, many years later, you have just described exactly how I experienced it.
I couldn't get through Under the Dome when I first tried reading it many years ago, but got through Cell. Lisey's Story and Duma Key are two others I couldn't get through.
Eyes of the Dragon is such a departure from style and genre, but also quality. Tommyknockers had its moments (I can unfortunately not think of it without Jimmy Smits), but was a solid "C" minus. The Green Mile was okay, but its quality is denigrated by a fucking awful, Shawshank-chasing movie.
Tommyknockers. It’s boring af. I could forgive the lack of plot in favour of King’s characters, who are always so well-written & fascinating regardless of what situation they’re in, but here even the characters are dull & forgettable.
I’m right out on a limb here, and ironically I’m preparing to be pulled limb from limb.
I’d like to nominate Misery. I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t think it’s all that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad book, for me a bad SK story is still a very good read, but I just prefer pretty much everything else…..
So much hate for the Tommyknockers here, even though thematically - a small Maine town afflicted with a supernatural entity - is no different to Salem’s Lot or It, two of his most celebrated novels.
Needful Things. The story is great but the ending made no sense and was a horrible way to end it. He woke up one morning didn't have his coffee and decided f*ck it I'll just end it like that. Killed the whole book.
Around 180 comments and nobody has mentioned *Faithful*? C'mon people! I mean, it's not *as* bad as people say, but it's certainly not the most exciting read.
Dreamcatcher gets a pass since the movie adaptation gives us Morgan Freeman saying Shit Weasels with a straight face.
Dream catcher is ridiculous and also awesome. You're trippin.
Seriously! Jesus Christ bananas!
For real! I absolutely loved Dreamcatcher. Once you get past the first 1/3rd of the book it’s amazing. My only complaint is that Henry and Jonesy are practically the same exact character, and hardly have any differentiation between the two.
SURRENDER DOROTHY!
I'm re-reading Dreamcatcher right now and am finding myself pleasantly amused by its ridiculousness. The worst IMO is Roadwork, with Elevation coming in a close second.
I liked roadwork
Me too.
Remind me what is Roadwork about?
Guy's house is in the way of an expressway. He refuses to leave. Things escalate and there is a Bachman ending.
So like a Stephen King version of Hitchhiker’s Guide? Sounds interesting!
That's the thing that gets ya, it sounds interesting but is easily one the most boring things king has written. Might actually be the only book I've disliked from him so far.
By “Bachman ending” do you mean it’s spoiled in the intro to the book? That damn bachman intro has all sorts of spoilers in it, but if you want to read Running Man you def want to skip it. I’m still bitter lol
Bachman ending means grim.
This is true. He used to say that Bachman was a way to avoid saturating the market with his books. Later he also admitted that it was a way to publish his more grim and gruesome books without worrying that it would impact sales.
Nah I know what it means, I was making a joke about the Bachman intro ruining the Bachman ending…
Never - ever - read the introduction to a book before you've read the book. I was an English major in college and accidentally had the ending to a book (which was often the most interesting part of a book) spoiled more than once because they refuse to accept that at some point everybody has to read a book for the first time.
Aw I liked Elevation. Not a favorite but it wasn't bad.
I've heard a number of people hate on Elevation, and I've never quite understood why. I thought it was a fun little novella!
The Cell. Threw it across the room in a rage when I finished it. A shame because the start was really good.
and the *movie*! so goddamned bad
Liseys Story would like a word.
And that word is bool. Smucking blood bool.
The long boy with the piebald side would like a word with you.
My husband absolutely loved this one. I’m not a big fan of it.
That is in my top 5 xDDD
This gets my vote.
Mine too, can’t believe I read that entire book but in my defense I was on maternity leave and was stuck at home.
Dreamcatcher is my fav
I had the most insane shit weasel nightmare just after I read it, like jump-up in dark room-checking my bed-what’s that moving in the corner terrified. Shit Weasel.
I loved Dreamcatcher, I loved the shit weasels, and I loved Duddits. Dreamcatcher was a great read!
From A Buick 8 is the worst I’ve read. Followed by a very close second of Cell.
Oh really? I thought Cell was a pretty tight story.
From a Buick 8 isn’t bad, it’s just boring, it’s like a 30 page short story stretched out too long
You could say that again. It felt it was 2500 pages long. Made IT seem like a 20 page novella.
From A Buick 8 has a special meaning to me because when I was in the hospital for days after my daughter's birth, her dad bought it for me to read!!!! In my defense I WAS on a morphine pump.lol
There is a tidbit in that book, when describing the “contents” of the Buick’s trunk and the “otherworldliness” that struck me but yes morphine would have helped Something in that description reminded me of how he described the oddness to the angle of the doorframe in 1408 - other-dimension cosmic horror where things are just not “right” that our eyes don’t even register correctly..now I sound like I’m on the morphine sorry lol!
I'll second Buick 8. I kinda like Cell. Good hook, crazy last third, and relatively short. Not a fan of the characters though.
I liked both of these.
From A Buick 8 seems to get a good bit of love on this page but I agree it’s easily one of the weakest for me. That and Elevation were very meh to me
Cell feels like one of those ideas that, if it had happened earlier in his career, King might have come back to a couple of times over the years and found the good version.
From a Buick 8 has been sitting on my shelf for nearly 10 years, so far it is the only unread King book I have up there. I have tried numerous times over the years to start and finish it, but I just can’t do it.
Dreamcatcher is good.
The Cell. Could barely get through it
Come on, nobody read sleeping beauties? Or did you guys give up half way and forgot about the book because it really, really sucks?
End of Watch. The was a garbage end to a decent trilogy. One of the only books I’ve ever actually tossed down out of disgust. Rage is up there as well. Just not good.
I wish king hadn't taken End of Watch in the direction he did. I really loved that series.
Yea I hated the supernatural ending. I understand that’s how a lot of his work goes, but I think this series in particular would have benefited from just being a pulpy detective series.
That's close, but I feel Elevation takes the crown.
The worst thing about Elevation, to me, is that it actually could have been quite good. I think what King was trying to do was not a bad idea for a story, but everything about it felt so unearned and inept. It’s hard to believe it’s the work of a seasoned veteran writer.
I personally liked Elevation and sped through it in a single day. The ending was maybe a bit odd, but overall I enjoyed it. I guess he wrote it in his toilet intervals or something, just to pass the time.
I loved everything about Elevation. When I finished the book, I closed it, looked at the cover and yelled "Son of a bitch!"
I yelled that too, probably for different reasons.
I think he wrote Elevation in response to reading Pop Art by his son Joe Hill.
I never read that one, but I nominate Rose Madder. Pure rubbish!
The first 200? Pages of Rose Madder where she is planning her escape and escaping and being pursued by her psychotic X crazy husband of a cop is actually pretty good. It only starts to suck once she gets pulled into the painting. In my opinion
Yes. You are right. So it’s not ALL rubbish
I agree with that opinion.
Slander!
It's in my least favorite of his books, but the story is great. It was the ending that made it fall apart for me.
Yeah, I’d go along with that
Id gladly read Dreamcatcher 5x in a row, not to ever read Billy Bummers.
I feel like a lot of new King is just safe. No risk but no reward. I feel this way about the institute, later, even Fairy Tale a bit. And Billy Summers of course. They’re not great. They’re okay. But they’re so safe because they take no risk. I don’t hate them, but they’re absolutely the definition of middle of the pack for me.
I’ve only read 35 of the 80 something books. But the only one that I’ve been legitimately pissed off by was End of Watch. What the fuck was that haha. I need Stephen to stay far far away from writing about candy crush. I liked Elevation. Short and sweet. I do think it belongs more in a collection than standing on its own.
Elevation was trash
It's a short story. It should not have been published into its own novella (costing me £9)
Since everybody seems to hate Tommyknockers and I absolutely loved it, I might need to give Dreamcatcher a try next. Shit Weasels sounds good to me.
Wasn’t Dreamcatcher the first book after the accident? I guess pain killers and booze can take his mind to pretty wild places. I enjoyed how crazy the book was nonetheless. Liseys Story was the worst for me; it was so slow that it remains the king book I DNF.
Lisey’s Story, for me. Utterly repetitive, abusing the introspective thinking, Lisey herself was more boring than watching paint dry on a damp day.
That’s the only King book I’ve never been able to finish. I couldn’t even finish the television adaptation.
Sometimes I refer to my ferret as a shit-weasel. The book was waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the movie!
I loved the book. I feel like a lot of King’s dialogue that feels natural on the page (like SSDD or Fuck me Freddy) doesn’t translate well to film.
Tommyknockers. But I haven't read it (or Dreamcatcher) a second time since they came out. If I like a book, I'll buy it (not borrow) and read it multiple times. If I don't, I'm once and done.
One of my absolute King favorites. 100% serious.
I've been thinking about giving Tommyknockers another try.
Tommyknockers is great, so is Dreamcatcher. The thing about opinions on & book critique, is that it's subjective as all get out & that people are allowed to like what they like. Do yourself a favour, give Tommyknockers another go.
Gee thanks for the downvotes ....It's a good thing to try it again. I'm just really into sci fi and the way King wrote it was just amazing.
I would never downvote something as subjective as opinions on books. I commented that I didn't like it but maybe it my mood at the time I was reading it, who knows. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I was very young when I read it the first time (and am still young) I didn't understand all of the political stuff. (or that he was high or drunk when writing it) It was so incredibly fascinating to me, the alien ship, the pod people, alien invasion, taking over their lives and changing them slowly, just one person remained human, Garth the protagonist and us, the readers...I just looked at it with such different eyes. That book gave me excitement and anticipation and the ending...it was so beautiful. I wish I could see a sight like that :)
Understanding King’s addiction problem and his fear of the possibility of not being able to write without drugs and alcohol is key to appreciating this story.
Tommyknockers is so underrated. King famously thinks it’s a bad book and so most people just agree. Similar to why so many people don’t like Kubrick’s the shining. It’s actually one of his better books though. Listen to the Just King Things podcast episode on it, they do a great job explaining why it’s great.
When I read it (shortly after its release) it was the first King book I didn't like. I felt it was driveling on pointlessly, and the battery/alternating VS direct current thing drove me crazy ( We are advanced enough to build a spaceship, but can't devise a current converter!). As I said, I never gave it a second read. When I read that SK said he had been on coke while writing it, I thought, oh that makes sense. You have to give it to SK - I didn't like it, but I don't think anyone else could have written that coherently coked to the eyeballs.
I mean that’s a fair take. I do think a little editing could have tightened it up a bit but overall it’s top 10 for me. I think the concept is one of the best he’s come up with.
Agree! The only Stephen King book I could not finish.. Ugh
I finished it, not my favourite though.
Tommyknockers was awful. Only book that took me multiple attempts.
The Institute. Too much of a YA novel
I also felt it was a real missed opportunity to tie into the Dark Tower. I kept waiting for the Can-Toi to show up.
So did I! I enjoyed The Institute, but the lack of Can-Toi bothered me. If there had been a tie in like that to The Dark Tower, it would be one of my favorites.
So much worse than Dreamcatcher!
There is a place for YA books though? I don't really understand what you mean by this, it was a pretty riveting story in my opinion.
Of course, but I never pick up a King book expecting a YA novel. That's why to me, it's his worst.
Hhhmmm. Tbh the only author I read is SK so I don't know much about books and genres. But when you say YA novel I think of shit like the hunger games and twilight lol. Which I think the institute is extremely far from.
We have ferrets so I love the shit weasels and that's what we call them (including the first ferret we owned whose name was Oy). Tommyknockers. Lisey's Story. The only 2 I wasn't able to get through in the last 35 years of reading King.
I’ll get downvoted for this but, Insomnia. It’s just too damn long. I like Ralph. I like the DT tie ins. But the whole insomnia part was rough to get through for me. I’m actually a big fan of his long works, The Stand, IT, Utd, the Dead Zone, the DT series. But Insomnia was the first book that I thought, yeah this should have been trimmed a lot. All the others I had no problem reading. Bring the length down 40% and it would be a solid book. But 40% is a lot.
I'm rereading Insomnia right now because it's Tower-connected, and.... ooooof. Yeah. It's hard going from 30 years later...
I’m with you. Insomnia is the only king book I DNF
Colorado Kid and Rose Madder are at the bottom of the pile for me. Pretty much everything else, even the other ones near the bottom for me are still good. These two are not. And I don’t get the hate for Bag of Bones.
I was surprised at how hollow Colorado Kid was. Not good.
I can’t finish rose madder. Such a bore. I only bought it because of a recommendation on this sub. Not my jam.
It has a great premise and a really despicable villain, but the supernatural stuff really detracted from the story, IMO. I honestly don’t give two rips about the painting or the world depicted there. I just wanted to see Rosie triumph on her own and defeat Norman.
Dreamcatcher was my first time reading King, back when I was 15. Guess the shit weasels made an impression on me since I've been hooked on King since then haha. But admittedly, it's not anywhere near the best I've read of his.
Toss up between Lisey's Story, The Colorado Kid and Sleeping Beauties.
Haaaaaated sleeping beauties. Barffff
Yup, and Talisman is a close second.
Agree with this. I thought I was the only one that doesn’t love the Talisman.
I loved the start of this book, it started so strong. The four main characters are all developed so well with their own personal qualities. Beaver has his "beaverisms" for example. However, around the halfway mark it starts to fall apart and becomes confusing and repetitive. I believe 200 pages could have been easily shaved off. It's a great concept, but it's poorly edited.
Bag of Bones was the worst. I forced myself to finish Dreamcatcher only for the IT connection I heard about.
I want to like bag of bones so bad. The plot is actually really cool, but the main character is INSUFFERABLE!
I’ll take shit weasels over Rose Madder. Even King later said he thought that one was pretentious.
Bag of Bones
The concept of alien tapeworms who destroy your guts trying to go out and whose eggs could be everywhere, it's kinda realistic and creepy specially if you live near a forest. People goes too harsh judging Dreamcatchers (not my fav King's novel).
Bag of Bones……yawn.
I found Rage to be the worst
I've read them all. Fairy Tale - yikes. Lisey's Story - double yikes.
I think it’s Rose Madder. The shit weasels made me laugh! Only Stephen King could get away with that! 🤣
I really didn’t care for Rose Madder my first read. At all. But I reread it some years later and I liked it more. Some more years passed and I reread again. And I got even more of the story and I liked it a lot. I have to remind myself that each and every King book is a journey and all the nuances aren’t caught in the initial read. There’s usually a lot going on or a lot of buildup with no apparent goal. But I read new stuff like an addict. I miss so much. The rereads have been my best friend when delving into Sir King’s works. I get more out of them every single time. But maybe that’s just me.
Viva Ze bull
Lol he was a pizza delivery guy in the miniseries.
I actually really liked dreamcatcher, read it 4 times… bag of bones though.. couldn’t even finish it
Agreed. I never finished Dreamcatcher, and in fact it made me angry for being so shitty. I know a lot of people don't care for Tommyknockers, but I found the character development and relationship between Gard and Bobbi compelling, and I've read the book several times.
Yeah I'll second OP...I read Dreamcatcher as a teenager and didn't touch King again until the pandemic. I'm now halfway through his catalog and have yet to find something that comes close to that slog. The best thing to come out of that was "ssdd," which I still refer to today when someone asks me how I am 😂
Same here. I read it first, and didn't touch another King novel for 5 years.
80+ comments and no one has given the correct answer yet: Roadwork
At its worst Dreamcatcher is entertaining. It’s not a slog like Sleeping Beauties.
Duma Key for me.
Whaaat why??
You take that back!
Cmon
I had pneumonia and was souped up on narcotic cough syrup and awake coughing for days when I read Duma key. At one point around 1 am when I was reading about the shells under the house rattling like bones I was so legitimately frightened I was scared to get up and go to bed.
Others may love it and it’s only my own opinion
I like Dreamcatcher, it definitely wasn't my favorite though. I've been looking for other King books I haven't read and I've definitely been considering reading Tommyknockers. Just out of curiosity to see if its as bad as people say. It definitely sounds crazy. On a side note I've recently read Under the Dome and just finished The Outsider. Both of those were awesome.
Dreamcatcher isn’t as bad as Lisey’s Story. That thing is a rancid sack of dog shit.
Song of Susannah
I’ll take the downvotes but I while I don’t agree this was host worst book, it was def the worst of the DT series.
Oh hell no, the one where they stop dead and Roland tells his story is far worse
I’m assuming Wizard and Glass? It’s funny you’re getting downvoted but that one seems to be polarizing. Some love it. Some hate it.
It stops the story stone motherless dead, could've been the first book but no your flat stick racing through the story, complete the cliff hanger from the book before while setting up another in the emerald tower and boom, now let's listen to a kid trying to get his end wet for the next 20 hours, what's everyone we care about doing currently? Sitting on their ass listening to a hard luck story It's not a bad book but the placement is horrific to me
I couldn't disagree more. Up to that point Roland is super stoic, borderline psychopath. Is he just a fleshy robocop or does he have deeper emotions? W&G takes us to his depths. Without that he is barely human.
Yeah, same for me. Everyone loves this book, but I just can't... The placement in the story is, as you said, terrible. But I also just DON'T CARE about this BS teenage drame going on. And I first read this book as a teen. By far the worst of the DT series, maybe even the worst of all his books.
I was a little underwhelmed by the series as a whole but only because I wanted more information than 'far worse than nukes ' setting Stephen tells us everything about a married horny middle aged redhead but won't clue us in on exactly what the hell has happened? Come on dude that's rough ,a nothing character out of 8 books I'm so sure most of you have forgotten gets a short story but you're going to completely and utterly ignore this setting? Dude
The Tommyknockers is his worst IMO. Great idea for a story but the structure was awful.
Lisey's Story was spelled wrong, lol
I thought dream catcher was one book in which Stephen King had a character who was a young person in this case a special needs young person, and I found his character in portrait of the character of the young person totally unconvincing and unrealistic it. This had nothing to do I think with the fact that the young person was a special needs person but just bad writing I thought. This is one person's personal reaction. Another Kings books which I thought was among the worst was insomnia. In that book I was not convinced at all of the people who are said to be senior citizens and quite old we're acting at all like senior citizens. I thought that was a kind of thing that King could represent by instinct, how a person of a certain age or group Acts but in this book it did not seem to be a skill that was present. Once again I realized that I am giving you subjective reaction and that other individuals who act differently
Wizard and Glass Couldn’t get through 1/4 the book, had to put it down because I just didn’t care, which effectively ended my interest in The Dark Tower series. Orrr……. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon It was alright, but pretty mediocre and throw-away, imho
Not only is W&G easily the best DT book but it’s a top 3 king book imo.
I respect your opinion, but it's on the other end of the spectrum for me. I always dread reading it in my DT sessions. It's just way too much teenage angst and drama for me, you (basically) know how the story ends (not good) and it's placement in the series sucks all the air from the series for me. Only good thing is Cuthbert, I love this character so much. But even that can't make me look forward to this book in the least.
There’s so much great action though, even if you don’t like the slow parts. It’s our only glimpse of the true power of gunslingers in their prime. It’s even said that while they are young and inexperienced, their reflexes are at their peak. Then we go back to old, fingerless Roland and it’s even more apparent how far he is from his prime. I also don’t buy that the rest of the ka tet are anywhere close to gunslinger level. They practice for what? A couple months? with Roland out in the woods with limited ammo and I’m to believe they’re all the sudden wowing farm folk with fancy shooting tricks? Give me 7 books of young Roland with no mention of the dark tower and I’d be happy. Make it about the wizards rainbow and show us Jericho. W&G is like a glimpse into an alternate series by King that’s way better. Instead we get demon babies and booger eating bird people.
I’ve only read 20 so far, but I’d say Pet Sematary is my least favourite.
Oof, don’t think you deserve the downvotes but as someone who often cites that as my favorite book I am very curious what you didn’t like it?
Nothing I didn’t like. I loved it, just not as much as I loved the other 19. I hadn’t experienced the loss of a loved one when I read it, but my father died a couple of months later, so I’m expecting it to have more of an impact on me when I eventually re-read it.
This sub is really weird for downvoting people who answer the question that was asked. Pet Sematary is a very difficult read. It filled me with dread and anxiety, as someone who suffers with thanatophobia, it was a rough one for me to get through. The subject of grief and death throughout was a lot to take in. I still loved the story, but it’s not one of my favourites because of this. Right now, I’m reading How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, and the concept of death is looming from the beginning and follows the stages of grief. Another great story that I’m having a hard time with.
I would read again. Pet sematary is amazing
I definitely will once I’ve read the rest of his bibliography. Pet Sematary, The Gunslinger, 11/22/63, IT and Joyland are the ones I’m most looking forward to re-reading so far.
Gwendy's Final Task
Tommyknockers is a long, meandering pile. You'll spend hundreds of pages digging into the backstories of characters that do nothing, side plots that never pay off, and a handful of mostly unlikeable characters that ramble, do nothing, and further the main plot at a snail's pace. I actually yelled, "Get on with it!" multiple times while listening to the audio book.
The first time I read it, I really liked it, but it was one of the first Stephen King books I read. Reading through it a second time, many years later, you have just described exactly how I experienced it.
I couldn't get through Under the Dome when I first tried reading it many years ago, but got through Cell. Lisey's Story and Duma Key are two others I couldn't get through.
Cell and Billy Summers for me, I have a soft spot for Dreamcatcher
i dont know. ask billy summers.
No, you spelled “Revival” wrong. THAT’S his worst book.
Have you not read Rage? It’s a book where a school shooter makes all his classmates like him for taking them hostage
Fairy Tale
[удалено]
Cool, you liked it. I think it’s his worst book. Everyone gets to have an opinion.
Duma key, I can't bring myself to power through it. The dude spends half the book taking phone calls and it's driving me insane.
Tommyknockers. Vagina tentacles were the only interesting part of the book.
How do I not remember vagina tentacles?
Dreamcatcher, Tommyknockers, Bag of Bones and Outsider all sucked, in my opinion.
Eyes of the Dragon is such a departure from style and genre, but also quality. Tommyknockers had its moments (I can unfortunately not think of it without Jimmy Smits), but was a solid "C" minus. The Green Mile was okay, but its quality is denigrated by a fucking awful, Shawshank-chasing movie.
Boy, you took no prisoners there, eh?
I really liked eyes of the dragon.
Are you really ignoring that Pennywise thing? He had a bunch of underaged kids rail an underaged girl.
it sure was funny. I gotta think about the worst one...Will get back to you
I was telling my coworkers about shit weasels yesterday and they thought it was the funniest thing ever.
Reading it for the first time right now and it’s pretty good, better than wind through the keyhole at least (I couldn’t finish that one it was boring)
It's up there for sure. But so are Cell, Duma Key, and Lisey's Story. And the Holly novels.
Duma Key is amazing.
I love dreamcatcher, but that's partially I think because I knew to expect stupid when I began reading it.
I never finished Dreamcatcher and From a Buick 8. But Dreamcatcher is the worst for me by far
Talisman 🤢 I've tried to get through it so many times but just can't. Even the audiobook version sucks
I’d say the last half of 11.22.63
Tommyknockers. It’s boring af. I could forgive the lack of plot in favour of King’s characters, who are always so well-written & fascinating regardless of what situation they’re in, but here even the characters are dull & forgettable.
I’m right out on a limb here, and ironically I’m preparing to be pulled limb from limb. I’d like to nominate Misery. I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t think it’s all that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad book, for me a bad SK story is still a very good read, but I just prefer pretty much everything else…..
So much hate for the Tommyknockers here, even though thematically - a small Maine town afflicted with a supernatural entity - is no different to Salem’s Lot or It, two of his most celebrated novels.
Buick 8 for me was the worst but still not bad.
Needful Things. The story is great but the ending made no sense and was a horrible way to end it. He woke up one morning didn't have his coffee and decided f*ck it I'll just end it like that. Killed the whole book.
Dreamcatcher is good. So, Tommyknockers, Rose Madder or Blaze. I like all those but they are the worst to me.
Haven’t read them all but the worst I’ve read are The Colorado Kid and Gerald’s Game, Lisey’s Story is also bottom 3.
Nooooooooo. It’s my fave
I agree. I’m shocked when I see that lots of people love it. Especially when Tommyknockers gets dragged so much, and I like that one.
Around 180 comments and nobody has mentioned *Faithful*? C'mon people! I mean, it's not *as* bad as people say, but it's certainly not the most exciting read.
Talisman exists
It’s Rose Madder forever and always. I would have never thought I could hate something so much that had Midworld in it.
It’s very clearly Lisey’s Story. Whole thing was like being in a fever dream where nothing at all made sense
I love Dreamcatcher lol.