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Stephen King appreciation thread (was King vs Dean Koontz, but Koontz sucks...)

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Stoney Mason said:
Things start to get a little sketchy for me after Tommyknockers generally and Insomnia later which for me was pretty much unreadable but even scattered through these periods are the occasional really good work.
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I got Tommyknockers laying around somewhere in my apartment, but only in english so I haven't gotten to it yet. And it's like 800 pages, man! :)

Also, I thought Insomnia was a decent book.
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
I got Tommyknockers laying around here, but only in english so I haven't gotten to it yet. And it's like 800 pages, man! :)

Also, I thought Insomnia was a decent book.
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Like I say these things are all opinion. I like Tommyknockers and for me it feels like the last old school King book in a way. I liked his work after that but without spending a lot of time thinking about why, from there on out his books start to feel a little different for me. '

Insomnia is the first King book for me where I just couldn't finish it. I've bulled my way through some of his works I didn't like so much before but that one was the first time I really thought, now here is some poor writing. Like a guy who is a bit out of touch with sort of the way things are and what message he is trying to get across. He's wrote better since then so it's not like he can't recapture the magic every now and then but that was sort of another turning point for me.
 
Gantz said:
They both suck and are overrated :lol
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itakagi.jpg
 
I only ever read one Koontz book as my mom got me into both of these authors... whereas I went on to read over a dozen King books. I believe that should speak pretty clearly on my opinion :P

I really do love King books, but there are some quirks about his style that I just find so inaccessible and annoying. Sometimes there's just too much rambling and trailing that I can lose interest in the middle of a paragraph, and I know why he does it (hell, I've had a lecture dedicated to this damn quirk), I just really dislike it :-\
 
Hmm. Desperation is probably my least favourite book by King. I didn't like it. From a Buick 8 was also boring so I didn't finish that one.
 
batbeg said:
I only ever read one Koontz book as my mom got me into both of these authors... whereas I went on to read over a dozen King books. I believe that should speak pretty clearly on my opinion :P

I really do love King books, but there are some quirks about his style that I just find so inaccessible and annoying. Sometimes there's just too much rambling and trailing that I can lose interest in the middle of a paragraph, and I know why he does it (hell, I've had a lecture dedicated to this damn quirk), I just really dislike it :-\
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Heh, I think this is it for me. It was always kind of hard for me to get into King's books when I was younger, preventing me from reading them. Some of the daunting sizes put me off them also. It's just something that's hard for me to overcome, my mind wanders too easily when I'm reading.
 
The Wispy Scoundrel said:
You've only read two of his books, and one of them 'terrified you'. Your comment isn't exactly justified.
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I never said "terrified" in a good way.

And do I have to eat an entire pan of fried cow dung to recognize whether it's awful or not?
 
Koontz is only author I can think of that my mean side comes out in force with. The guy for a great many years is nothing but an assembly line for cranking out novels as fast as possible and it darn well shows in quality. The last book I read was Taken and dear god was it a bloody mess, I just had give up on him. Way more thought and drafting should be going into these. Though I admit I hold a grudge because I will never get the third Christopher Snow novel. I dont think he can even write stuff like that outside his usual sandbox of cold depressing demonic or psychological characters you dont give crap about.
 
batbeg said:
I only ever read one Koontz book as my mom got me into both of these authors... whereas I went on to read over a dozen King books. I believe that should speak pretty clearly on my opinion :P

I really do love King books, but there are some quirks about his style that I just find so inaccessible and annoying. Sometimes there's just too much rambling and trailing that I can lose interest in the middle of a paragraph, and I know why he does it (hell, I've had a lecture dedicated to this damn quirk), I just really dislike it :-\
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If somebody were wanting a more direct style comparison the difference between the Koontz that I have read and King is that Koontz books are simpler, more plot driven, and more by the beat. You very rarely loose the thread in the Koontz novels that I have read because it's purposely written that way. It's very linear and it's very much a constructed beat by beat work. Nothing wrong with that in theory. Just with Koontz's style it tends to create a sort of pace where little is is very lofty or thought provoking in his work from what I've read. King does have a tendency to wander with his writing style which is both its charm but as a negative can create the effect you are talking about where my mind can wonder during a paragraph or chapter if I don't get the connection he is making to the larger story as a whole.

King has different strengths (and weaknesses). King's strengths lie in really making the thought process and inner monologue of characters very transparent. This creates less surprises but more of a connection with the characters, especially the lead character. He also has an interesting knack for writing very good "book dialogue" between characters which is sort of different from "real life dialogue". It's a weird difference and you can sometimes see where it works in his films adaptations and sometimes it doesn't work at all and sounds clunky when the characters communicate with each other.
 
madara said:
Koontz is only author I can think of that my mean side comes out in force with. The guy for a great many years is nothing but an assembly line for cranking out novels as fast as possible and it darn well shows in quality. The last book I read was Taken and dear god was it a bloody mess, I just had give up on him. Way more thought and drafting should be going into these. Though I admit I hold a grudge because I will never get the third Christopher Snow novel. I dont think he can even write stuff like that outside his usual sandbox of depressing demonic psychological characters you dont give crap about.
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I just want to say I saw the exact sign as in your avatar in Texas and was laughing my ass off forever.

Also, yeah, GAFers hurry up on the Family Guy gif! Giant lamp monster! Ooh!
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
"Oh my god, are you Stephen King?!" :lol
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Oh snap, I forgot about that one, I thought we were just looking for the one with him pitching the idea for his next book.

Dammit :lol
 
i wish stephen king would have written more non-horror work. i respect his horror work, and i love it in many respects, but he also has a knack for commenting on human and character nature in very profound, often sad ways. i wish there were more of that to be had, besides the stuff between the fantasy-horror moments in his novels.
 
beelzebozo said:
i wish stephen king would have written more non-horror work. i respect his horror work, and i love it in many respects, but he also has a knack for commenting on human and character nature in very profound, often sad ways. i wish there were more of that to be had, besides the stuff between the fantasy-horror moments in his novels.
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That's one of the reasons why I like his books and his writing in general. I mean, you can see it in his horror stories too.
 
beelzebozo said:
i wish stephen king would have written more non-horror work. i respect his horror work, and i love it in many respects, but he also has a knack for commenting on human and character nature in very profound, often sad ways. i wish there were more of that to be had, besides the stuff between the fantasy-horror moments in his novels.
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I hear ya and occasionally have thought that way myself but he's been a boon to Modern horror and given it the small bit of respectability it currently enjoys so that's nothing to sneeze at.

He's written some great little pieces like Stand by Me or Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption(which is a better book than a film imo despite all the acclaim it gets as a film nowadays). And a work like the Deadzone is as much about human nature as it is about the supernatural.

EDIT: Shamelessly stolen post from my last post in a King thread.


I always loved this passage. An example of King when he can be at his casual best but still write something that resonates and sticks with you many years later.

picture_5899.png
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
That's one of the reasons why I like his books and his writing in general. I mean, you can see it in his horror stories too.
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same, man. he's extremely talented.

oh, and for the record--since the thread posed the question of which of the two were the better author--king by a country mile. i read four of koontz's books (cold fire, lightning, watchers, and phantoms) and though a couple were enjoyable at the time, none of them had that special "clingyness" that a book you really love has; it's the sort of thing that keeps you thinking about the great moments, the great lines, and is usually contingent on a writer's ability to make you feel something. that in particular is what i think king does so well: he has a talent for phrasing a character's feelings or situation that will tug at your emotions.

anyway, i think he rocks.
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
Last night I started reading Cell. It feels like Kings take on 28 Days Later.
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Not overly a spoiler, just my take on the book but blacked out in case you don't want to be influenced.

Starts off very good and interesting but becomes kinda weak in the second half of the book.
 
king is awesome. hearts in atlantis and the stand are two of my favorite books. as far as his horror goes, it's pretty good but i prefer his short stories, particularly those in "everything's eventual."

never read koontz, looks like crap.
 
Stoney Mason said:
Not overly a spoiler, just my take on the book but blacked out in case you don't want to be influenced.

Starts off very good and interesting but becomes kinda weak in the second half of the book.
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Really? Hm. I read a post yesterday where someone said the ending was quite good, I think. But I guess I'll find out soon enough – the book isn't that long.

By the way, can you do me a small favour? Can you check my "last threads started" and see if "Time and CNN propose to invade Burma" is listed there?
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
So it was there? I just found it strange seeing it there since I didn't start the damn thread. Just wanted to check if was only my account being weird or if it was like that for everyone :)
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Yeah it's weird. It says you started the thread (when you didn't) but it says it has 0 replies (when it clearly has more). Perhaps they are doing something behind the scenes that is screwing up somethings.
 
Stoney Mason said:
Yeah it's weird. It says you started the thread (when you didn't) but it says it has 0 replies (when it clearly has more). Perhaps they are doing something behind the scenes that is screwing up somethings.
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Mm, I thought the same thing. Dunno. PM:ed EviLore about it.

In other news; I ordered The Stand, which I haven't read yet. Some of Kings older books are hard finding here other than in english. I have no problems reading english in general, but it's not as relaxed as when I'm reading my native language (especially when it comes to books as thick as The Stand seems to be).
 
i usually only read fiction with 'literary' merit. not because i'm an snob or anything, i just find it more worth my time. but strangely, i love me some King every now and again. Dark Tower could've been the epic of our time, but rushing last three books out ostensibly kept it from being what it could be. but hey, at least he finished it.
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
Mm, I thought the same thing. Dunno. PM:ed EviLore about it.

In other news; I ordered The Stand, which I haven't read yet. Some of Kings older books are hard finding here other than in english. I have no problems reading english in general, but it's not as relaxed as when I'm reading my native language (especially when it comes to books as thick as The Stand seems to be).
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It would be very interesting reading books in another language...I would think the translation factor would obscure a lot of the style of a writer although since I only speak and understand one language I could be full of shit. :lol

The Stand when I was younger was my favorite book of his by far. I've always wondered if I would like it as much as an adult.
 
Stoney Mason said:
It would be very interesting reading books in another language...I would think the translation factor would obscure a lot of the style of a writer although since I only speak and understand one language I could be full of shit. :lol
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I guess that depends a lot on the translator. I've always felt that most of the S. King-books I've read have had their own touch to them so you recognize his style of writing, and I recognized it to some extent in the books by him I've read in english too. I don't see that much of a difference, all in all.

I remember there being some discussion about the LotR-books. The old versions (one of the first translations of Tolkiens books I think) has got a slightly different translation and a lot of mistakes, due to the translator translating very freely. Even the name of the trilogy, Lord of the rings, was somewhat changed. It became (I'm translating directly here) "The Tale About The Ring". The first book was called something like (again, translated directly and clmsy by me) "The Master ring", which confused the whole thing a lot. The Lord of the Rings isn't the ring itself but Sauron, and in the old translation it sounds like it's talking about the ring as it was the lord of all other rings when translated.
 
Fatghost said:
I don't even get the comparison.

King wrote The Dark Tower. Koontz wrote...Frankenstein in New Orleans.

:lol
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Yeah, neither do I :lol

I mainly wanted to do a King-topic, and for some reason I just felt curious about whether Koontz had a lot of fans or not. Maybe I should have focused it on King from the get go, but at least the original topic makes people say why they prefer King, and that's always something.
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
Yeah, neither do I :lol

I mainly wanted to do a King-topic, and for some reason I just felt curious about whether Koontz had a lot of fans or not. Maybe I should have focused it on King from the get go, but at least the original topic makes people say why they prefer King, and that's always something.
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Honestly because the thread inevitably would get to it, is the only reason why I even made a few Koontz "jabs".

So few people read nowadays that even if they are reading Koontz then at least that's something. (I'm sure some people feel that same sentiment about King versus says "serious reading". If people enjoy a particular author I tend not to overly attack them unless they are obnoxious. It's all opinion anyway.
 
So far I'm liking Cell, or "Signal" is it's translated to here. I've made it maybe 60 pages so far. Really easy to pick up and read.

After this I'm gonna move on to The Stand, I think. Oh yeah, I'm gonna try to keep this thread alive too with King-talk, so you guys better start reading a King book again soon.

Maybe the thread should be renamed, to better suit that direction.
 
I have read 90% of all Kings and Koontz books and there is no big great difference in quality... (King beats Koontz easily if you look at their collected movies though :lol )

My major gripe with King is his endings... Mostly they suck... Especially his later books.
Not a big fan on his tower series either... I like the first two or three but it goes downhill from there I think.

My major gripe with Koontz is perhaps his tendecy for his characters speaches too be too similar. And that happens in the same book even! Take his Odd books for example. In that book the main character has this kinda annoying way to speak and thats one thing. But alot of other characters speak the same way! Including people he has just met and not friends who may be influenced by him. Really annoying.

And with all that said
whined
, I still buy and read the damn things. Mind you I read practially everything though.
 
the last lines of "storm of the century" are haunting. i wish i could find the exact quote, but you'll have to just see it for yourself. i think it's a very strong king adaptation that focuses on the human element; it makes me a little upset just thinking about the ending, to be honest.
 
I don't like Stephen King, but I'll admit he's a lot more talented than Koontz.

He wrote The Shining, The Stand, It, The Gunslinger series, Pet Semetary, Salem's Lot, Carrie, and countless others that are sort of pop culture icons.

I can't name a single book Koontz has written off the top of my head, and reading his prose in a bookstore is kind of painful.
 
I'd have to say that both are pretty hit and miss.

That said, my favourite book by either is easily Watchers by Koontz, but it's also easily his best.
 
Mango Positive said:
I have to give Koontz credit where credit is due... I remember LOVING 'Lightning' back in the day. I can't remember the writing quality very well, but the story was ingenious. It's a time travel tale, done with a very cool twist.

OK... for those who plan on never reading it:

A girl is visited at various points in her life by a mysterious being who keeps showing up in her life and saving her from various peril. At each point in her life, this mysterious figure is the same age. Action / plot devices ensue. It turns out, he's a time traveler who fell in love with her and fixes all of her life's problems. The twist... stop reading if you want to read the book... I mean it... too late... he's a time traveler from the past... a Nahtsee spy. It was cool.

I must also recommend to anyone reading this thread:

Robert McCammon: The Wolf's Hour. It's about a British werewolf spy in WWII.

Also, check out Swan Song from the same author. It's basically 'The Stand', replacing disease with a nuclear holocaust.
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! agree with everything in this post, except that Swansong isn't very good. I wouldn't say steer clear but there's way better out there.


King is a fantastic author. You'll find the vast majority of writers will agree that King is one of the most gifted authors of the last fifty years.
 
oatmeal said:
Stephen King wrote IT...nuff said.
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I got a better one, King wrote The Running Man, which led to the kickass Running Man movie.
 
Witchfinder General said:
! agree with everything in this post, except that Swansong isn't very good. I wouldn't say steer clear but there's way better out there.


King is a fantastic author. You'll find the vast majority of writers will agree that King is one of the most gifted authors of the last fifty years.
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You may be right... I read Swan Song about 18 years ago. It was good in middle school.
 
ItsInMyVeins said:
Really? Hm. I read a post yesterday where someone said the ending was quite good, I think. But I guess I'll find out soon enough – the book isn't that long.
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That was me. The end of the book is fantastic.
 
I've always thought Stephen King is a closet pedophile after I read IT and Gerald's game. :/
I suppose you can get away with preteen copulation and incest in literature.
 
some of the most acclaimed literature of our time is rife with incest, pedophilia, racism, ect. luckily nobody reads that much. otherwise we'd have al sharpton or pat robertson or whoever demanding titles be banned/burned
 
Mango Positive said:
People who hate on King are guilty of not reading his books.
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I think they're actually guilty of wanting good endings to the stories they read.

I like a lot of his books, but I'll never forgive him for Dark Tower. I didn't waste that much of my life reading that many pages in that many books to get a "Everything's a circle! Ka's a wheel!" bullshit ending.

Also, his hard-on for telepathy is kinda annoying. I was ok with Shemie being "gifted" but when he brought it into
Cell
I was just like, "Oh, God dammit Steve!"
 
So, this is what I don't get:

I'm reading The Dark Tower now. Currently halfway through Song of Susannah.

I must say, each book has been better than the one before it. Literally, it seems like each one improves and the story widens yet the focus narrows. I don't know, I've just enjoyed each one. Why do most people say the last 3 books sucked?

I read that here a hundred times and I was REALLY nervous about reading Calla and onward. Hell, after W&G I actually read another book just because I wasn't eager to ruin this amazing series for me.

But Calla was the best book yet! I'm reserving final judgment on Song, but so far it's really good too. And to me, Susannah is easily the weakest character and she isn't even a liability/a main focus as much as I feared.

What gives? It is just a poor ending that falls apart; likely considering what I hear people complaining about, but Calla was great so I don't know what peoples concerns were.

Pleeeeeaaaaase don't spoil anything for me.
 
colinisation said:
Oh yeah, what is kings obsession with maine ?
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Born in Maine, spent a portion of his childhood there, attended college at UMaine, and lives there to this day.

In reality the state of Maine is an excellent inspiration for any writer. The populous dances a delicate balance between rural traditionalism and urban modernization brought in by its many part time residents and seasonal tourists. The culture war is nearly palpable and the xenophobia so intrinsic in upbringing as to be practically universal.

Add a rich blend of European culture, remote areas that still allow for isolationists to thrive, and a unique folklore all its own that blends the maritime, woodsman, and frontiersman cultures and you have a breeding ground for inspiration.

King has made the most of it and often uses his southern Maine heritage to let him create believable settings and personalities for his characters. Even the Gunslinger from the Dark Tower series shows some inspiration for the lone frontiersman past that the state was born out of.

Koontz isn't half the writer King is.
 
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