I consider them to be volumes--halves that make up one entity. And Bachman was issued as a 4 book omnibus--so it's one to me. Same as the Talisman/Black House gift set. So there.
My favorite bands can kick your favorite bands' asses.
The horizon is right and motionless like the EKG of a dying woman.
In that case,
I'll go with
1. The Stand
2. Pet Semetary
3. It
4. The Bachman Books
5. Stephen King Omnibus
Now I have 11 books in my top 5.
Probably, so I'll skip to the chase and list the remaining three.
Okay, four.
I'll combine The Talisman and Black House into what would be the ultimate Stephen King novel I like more than any others he's written/published, save those two.
I'd like to say Misery-since it's such a great book-but I actually enjoy Pet Sematary more in terms of being his all-time best "horror" novel.
I'd round it out with some Bachman books-always my favorite-The Long Walk, Roadwork-YAR-and The Running Man.
Honorable mention:
-The Eyes of the Dragon
-Bag of Bones
-The Shining
-Carrie
-Gerald's Game
-The Dead Zone
-Rose Madder
1. Desperation
2. The Stand
3. The Talisman
4. Insomnia
5. It
Ours are almost the same spence
"You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think." - Duma Key
zoneseek@thedarktower.com
1 - The Stand
2 - IT
3 - The Green Mile
4 - Bag of Bones
5 - The SHining
In no particular order other than the Stand as #1! :-)
The honorable mentions list would be way too long!
DT Spoiler - Enter at your own risk!
Spoiler:
I wouldn't think so. I read Black House first and then realized it was a second. The stories themselves pretty much stand alone imo.
The kindness of close friends is like a warm blanket
They only have minor connections.
My favorite bands can kick your favorite bands' asses.
The horizon is right and motionless like the EKG of a dying woman.
my opinion on that is that it depends on how much time you have. it isn't really necessary, black house isn't a continuation of the original story. but there are some elements you'll enjoy more if you get reacquainted with jack and the territories, if you have time for a quick reread it would be a good idea.
1. IT
2. Hearts in atlantis
3. The dead zone
4. Salems' Lot
5. The Stand
In no particular order:
The Talisman
Hearts In Atlantis
Dead Zone
Different Seasons
Pet Sematary
I'm not considering Bachman because the question was about King books.
And I have yet to read the ever-popular IT.
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
Patrick, don't make me hunt you down and force you to read IT.
My favorite bands can kick your favorite bands' asses.
The horizon is right and motionless like the EKG of a dying woman.
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
1. It
2. Insomnia
3. The Stand
4. Black House
5. Bag of Bones
"It's his eyes, Roland thought. They were wide and terrible, the eyes of a dragon in human form" - Roland seeing the Crimson King for the first time.
"When the King comes and the Tower falls, sai, all such pretty things as yours will be broken. Then there will be darkness and nothing but the howl of Discordia and the cries of the can toi" - From Song of Susannah
1. IT
2. Desperation
3. Black House
4. The Shining
5. Nightmares and Dreamscapes
BEEP BEEP Richie! They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!
Yo I got my faves right here peeps...
1. The Stand
2. The Dead Zone
3. The Long Walk
4. IT
5. Skeleton Crew (basically because of The Mist...which there will also be a film of..)
Among my other favs are Rage, The Dark Half, and Insomnia
"Go then there are other worlds than these..."
As much as I hate being typical, I'll have to go with almost everyone else on the top two, and say The Stand and IT, no question. I love epics, and I love books it takes me longer than two days to read (I tend to read about 200-300 pages, divided between one novel and three or four non-fiction books at any given time, a day). Beyond that, I'll have to go with Fruno in calling The Talisman/Black House/possible future third volume one book, and call it #3. After that? Hmm. . . if these have to be non-DT books, I don't know. I usually list The Drawing of the Three in my top five King novels, but I'll play fair here. . .
Needful Things can be #4, I guess, for the lovely street-gang rumble between the Catholics and the Baptists alone. Now that was funny stuff (and very similar to the way the Council of Nicaea was actually conducted, and the way most domesticated primate theological differences have been settled throughout the common era )! Okay, one more. Hmm. . . dammit. All right, I'll go over them all, chronologically, in my head- got it! The Dead Zone. It's not really long, but it is somewhat epic, spanning the decade of the 1970s, and it's a beautiful story, tragic but not totally grim (unlike, say, Pet Semetary or Thinner). The Dead Zone deals with issues most of us will never have to face, fortunately; perhaps it can be summed up as being about what happens when a perfectly regular, decent person is removed forcibly from his life, crosses the abyss (the coma) and is thrust into gnosis for unknown reasons by unknown forces and can do nothing but deal with it. As usual, King provides no easy answers or artificial explanations (as any answers or explanations would inevitably be).
So, to summarise: my top-five non-DT SK novels are:
1. The Stand
2. IT
3. The Talisman/Black House/possible third volume
4. Needful Things
5. The Dead Zone
Thank you, and goodnight.
We place no reliance
Upon virgin or pigeon;
Our method is science,
Our aim is religion!
-Motto of Aleister Crowley
1. Eyes of the Dragon
2. It
3. Desperation
4. Black House
5. Blaze
But, it so hard to choose, thats just how the cards fell today
The Talisman
The Stand
The Dead Zone
Black House
Eyes of the Dragon
Wow, reading some of these posts makes me want to go back and read some of King's books again to see how I feel. It is so surprising how some people feel.
I also am quite surprised how Fruno started up a trend that sees some people putting more than 5 books in there Top 5.
The Running Man - first real book I ever read
The Stand - I've read this at least a dozen times. first time I was 12 and it took me the whole summer.
Misery - I don't know what it is about the book, but I've spent many weekends going through it.
The Green Mile - another great summer spent with this. I loved the time released between too. I'm surprised it wasn't listed more on here.
Dreamcatcher - you can laugh. I'm ok with that. Something about it though...