Stephen King/Richard Bachman - Which books your faverioute?

So go on then, state whats your faverioute King or Bachman (or any other of his psudonims) books and why.

I wil start:

The Regulators - I love the description in it.

The Dark Tower (all) - This is the best story i have ever read. Also gets quite scary around the 7th book.

So go on then list yourse and why?

Ive never read any books by either author.

*Bump*

No one else like Stephen King then?

The Dark Tower series, The Regulators/Desperation (connected stories), The Stand, Rose Madder, Black House, It, The Talisman, Needful THings, The Dark Half, The Dead Zone, The Long Walk.

Actually, I like most of them, there's only one or two that I didn't really get into, and a few short stories.

The top 3 for me are The Talisman, The Dark Tower series and The Long Walk.

*edit to add: My reasons? They are excellent books, I love his writing style more than most, and I'd say the descriptive quality in the top 3 I listed is hard to beat *


[edit on 16-1-2006 by chebob]

The Talisman - cowritten with Peter Straub.
Absolutely the best. I don't understand why
it isn't a movie yet.

1) The Stand
2) Black House (with Peter Straub)
3) Salem's Lot
4) It

If you liked "The Talisman", you'll love "Black House". It's the sequel and IMHO a better book.

I really like King's ability to craft a plot and tell a descriptive story. I know he isn't a popular choice amongst literati, but for crafting a story that draws you in, he's excellent.

Peter Straub's "Ghost Story" also gets thumbs up from me. Straub's stuff takes a little while to get going, but it's worth the ride.

I'd also recommend Straub's trilogy with "Koko", "Mystery", and "The Throat". I actually read "The Throat" first, and it works by itself. Great stuff.

"The Stand" recently got pushed back to number 2 on my best overall fiction book list. It was replaced with Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth."

In a time of civil war, famine, religious strife and war, there rises a magnificent Cathedral in Kingsbridge. Against this backdrop, lives entwine: Tom, the master builder, Aliena, the noblewoman, Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge, Jack, the artist in stone and Ellen, the woman from the forest who casts a curse. At once, this is a sensuous and enduring love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age.

Ken's View
This is my most popular book. It still sells about 100,000 copies a year in paperback in the US, it was number one in the UK and Italy and it was on the German best seller list for six years. It's overwhelmingly the book that readers talk to me about when I meet them in bookshops. It's becoming a cult.
www.ken-follett.com...

I had no life for three days straight because I could not put this book down. Also, I'm surprised no one mentioned Steven Kings "It."

[edit on 16-1-2006 by LostSailor]

Originally posted by LostSailor
Also, I'm surprised no one mentioned Steven Kings "It."

Check my #4 above.

That's ok. I'm used to being ignored. Makes me feel at home.

The dead zone was the best IMO. I also liked Misery and Salems Lot.

I have just started reading 'From a Buick 8' which is a rather good book.

But i still belive that the 'Dark Tower' is a work of art.

I don't think I've read a King book I didn't like yet. Favorites though, I'd have to go with the Dark Tower series (haven't finished it yet though) and the Stand, depending on my mood. Talisman and Black House (both w/ Straub) are up there pretty high too. The main thing I love about his books is that they're almost always connected, either through a direct plot line or through references. It's almost like it's just one big novel. That kinda makes it hard to get into a different author when I get in the mood--"What, you mean this story has absolutely nothing to do with the other one I just read? Screw this..."

Sorry, double post.

[edit on 1/18/2006 by MCory1]

Originally posted by MCory1
I don't think I've read a King book I didn't like yet. Favorites though, I'd have to go with the Dark Tower series (haven't finished it yet though) and the Stand, depending on my mood. Talisman and Black House (both w/ Straub) are up there pretty high too. The main thing I love about his books is that they're almost always connected, either through a direct plot line or through references. It's almost like it's just one big novel. That kinda makes it hard to get into a different author when I get in the mood--"What, you mean this story has absolutely nothing to do with the other one I just read? Screw this..."

That is true.

All his books are connected to the dark tower, you will see this as you get further into it. His career was made around the dark tower, and all his books are ment to be subsidery storys of it.

There are websites that tell you how they are related, and what order you should read them all in.

Originally posted by yeahright
If you liked "The Talisman", you'll love "Black House".
It's the sequel and IMHO a better book.

I had no idea that Talisman had a sequel. I'm so
glad you posted this. I'm off to Barnes and Nobel
to look for a copy.

I STILL don't understand why it isn't a movie yet.
It would be great!

I'm surprised that no one listed "The Green Mile". I know it came out in parts at first, but I read it at all one go.

So..The Green Mile, It, and The Stand.

Thanks to others for mentioning some that I haven't read. They are next on my list. The Talisman and The Black House.

I have read some of the Dark Towers, but it all started so many years ago and I couldn't keep my interest up and then forgot the original stories. I would like to read the whole thing now. Thanks for posting the site where I can see in which order to read.

I think King is unbeatable with his characters. No matter where they are they ring true.

Man... I know this is a thread on Steven King but... Someone has to have read "The Pillars of the Earth" right? I'm telling yah, I've read a "lot" of Steven King and thoroughly enjoy his work. But this book by Ken Follett is just a masterpiece. Next, I guess I'll have to read the dark tower series. I've been putting those off for some reason.

I do like Ken Follett as an author. Thanks for the tip about Pillars of the Earth. I will be making a run on my library tomorrow.

How about Tom Wolfe? I have recently found him. Great writer. The Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full.

Thanks again all you readers.

Originally posted by Mahree
How about Tom Wolfe? I have recently found him. Great writer. The Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full.

Heck yeah!!! Tom Wolfe is a great author. I especially like "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." I have "A Man in Full" sitting on my bookshelf right now. Is it a good read?

I just finished A Man In Full. It was really great. The Bonfire of the Vanities was the first that I had read. He can make anything interesting. The Bonfire takes place in New York City and I swear you would think you were right there seeing and hearing everything he does. A Man in Full takes place in the south and I am not as familiar with the accents, etc from there but again he can make you see and hear what he wants you to.

Wasn't the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test non-fiction? It sounds as though you really liked it.

Originally posted by Mahree
Wasn't the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test non-fiction? It sounds as though you really liked it.

Yes, the Acid Test is all about the "Merry Pranksters" of San Francisco during their initial experiments with acid. It has everything from the Hells Angels to the birth of the Grateful Dead. Great non-fiction book about that time period. I have also read the Bonfire of the Vanities...


And now that you mention it I think I have read a man in full... Is that about the ex-college, Georgia Football player who lives on a plantation? I do that sometimes... Forget which books I have read and which I haven't. I'm kind of absent minded like that.... DOH!!!