Stephen King

If you do not read Stephen King´s works but you have decided to begin doing it, and if you start from Cycle of the Werewolf, you would be confused. You will not understand why King is so popular and there are so many fans of his novels. But Cycle of the Werewolf is not as bad as you would think.
In fact it includes the worlds of pulp, art and literature. This novel begins with a calendar. Yes, with a calendar. It should be filled with one illustration by Berni Wrightson, a comic book artist, and a short content by King.
As any writer the author could not limit himself to 500 words and as a result now we have the book Cycle of the Werewolf. The difference of these short stories is that events take place at the same location in comparison with, for example, Skeleton Crew and Night Shift.
Cycle of the Werewolf is added by the talent of the comic artist and that is why the story may be considered as forgettable. The story takes place in non-existent city Tarker´s Mills, Maine. But this state should be obliged to King because with the help of his novels it has become the most visited place of literary based tourism.
According to the classic horror film about werewolf a maniacal beast attacks the city and no one is able to stop it. This is a standard script but it is interesting and funny, and sometimes confused. The chapters are short and they do not like the real chapter of the book, and that is why the reader may feel lack of information.
The fans of King´s works will enjoy Cycle of the Werewolf, and it will be amused and interesting to read it.

The Colorado Kid is something different from the normal horror story. This story was written for the Hard Case Crime and it was finishing the epic series of The Dark Tower. The novel was published only in a paper form and was favor for the pulp novel of the 50s and 60s.
Stephen does not try to discover something new in the hardboiled mystery by telling the story of investigation of the body of unknown man in Maine. It is not the first novel where King tells about the murder which is covers by some investigations. For example, in Delores Claiborne there is a woman under the investigation for the death of her employer. But the fans of the author may be cold when reading the Colorado Kid.
King is a real master of the horror novel and he has connected the genres of drama and horror, and the common novel turns into a horrific. But The Colorado Kid without some elements of horror and drama is not so effective as the other novels. It is not clear why King has written it in such way. It may be because of the shortness of the story or the author was in a hurry.
The story does not differ from the classic storyline which tells about a new investigator and old investigation of the unknown body. However, the reader does not get the full information about this body throughout the novel. You will get the story which does not rise the old story of Cold Case.
Still the fans may be curious how the author uses the mystery without any supernatural things and some evil corners of a human. But these elements hide the whole fate of the novel and the novel may be forgotten among the other works of King.

A 9 year old Trisha McFarland is introduced to readers in this story. She is rather clever and has a bright imagination. Trisha is a big fan of the Red Sox and especially of the pitcher Tom Gordon. She was born in Boston but soon her parents divorced and they (her mother, her brother Pete and Trisha) go to Maine. But this move was not good for their family and rift within the lute appeared between them. Quarrels were regular and the mother decodes to send her children to weekend field trips in order to make them closer.
However this action only sharpened their situation and tension was growing. One weekend they go hiking along the Appalachian Trail and the trip occurred with complaints from her brother and the mother tried to be excited about the hike. Trisha lags behind her family and stops in the wood and is lost in it.
Trisha was getting lost deeper in the wood and she faced rivers, wasps, marshes, rain and of course night. The dark nights were the most terrible and she overcame it because of her walkman in the backpack. Due to it she was connected with her Red Sox and Tom Gordon. But the voice of Res Sox was not the only one she heard. She heard an ominous voice which was warning her of some strange thing in the wood. This thing was looking for her and she tries to see around and look for this thing. She saw dead animals, the marks of claw on the trees and some noises at night. She tries to find consolation in the voice of Tom Gordon. He was like her friend and protected her but would he safe Trisha from the beast in the wood? Would she get out of there?
The Girls who Loves Tom Gordon is an excellent thriller which shows a strong main character Trisha who is only 9 years old and readers will like her very much. The struggle in the wood will help Trisha to believe in herself, find her faith in Tom Gordon and faith that everything will be all right.

They say that if an author is talented, then it is possible for him/her to be honest and make the story itself come to life. The sixth installation of Dark Tower novel Song of Susannah breaks, stretches and conquers this a kind of a rule of the authors.
When the readers are left in the lurch in the series of Wolves of the Calla, here there are the members of Roland´s ka-tet and the worlds in the Dark Tower and our world are in danger. And now in our world, in 1977, Roland and his ka-tet should clean this mess up which has become greater than it was before.
Firstly, Susannah who was left to the machinations of Mia in Wolves of the Calla is a pregnant woman wanted to give birth to the promised child. Then it turns out that this child is a child of Susannah and Roland of Gilead. Susannah was mysteriously getting pregnant because Roland and Susannah have never been intimately connected.
Mia tries to protect the body of Susannah and she barracks herself in a restaurant which is called the Dixie Pig, and Eddie and Roland try to save the rose which grows in a vacant lot in the metropolis of New York. Calvin Tower owns the lot and is in danger to fall into the wrong hands, and as a result the world is in danger.
The storyline is getting interesting when a man tries to claim the ownership of the vacant lot, and Eddie and Roland get to know about the author Stephen King. Roland and Eddie indentifies the author of the book Salem´s Lot which us recognized prehistory of their friend Father Callahan.
King really breaks the rules introducing the readers into his word and he uses himself in the story as a young writer. He starts to write epic series of his first book which is called The Gunslinger. From this very moment the story is getting interesting.
If the things were worse in the Wolves of the Calla, then it would be irreparable in the story Song of Susannah which seems to have no way outs for the characters and this story make a reader hang and read the final conclusion of the series, The Dark Tower.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes is a collection of short stories. It is the addition to other collections as Skeleton Crew and Night Shift. Nightmares and Dreamscapes may offer readers some interesting facts.
Nightmares and Dreamscapes is not so vivid as the other collections but it has the best of King such as bloody horror and watchful death. King has a chance and the reader may admire the author´s courage throughout the story.
You Know They´ve Got a Hell of a Band is one of the tales in the collection. One couple trips into beautiful small town Rock and Roll Heaven. There they meet undead remnants of popular musicians Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Buddy Holly. Elvis, a mayor of the town, tells the couple that they should be constant resident of the town and they must visit the concerts of elite musician. Readers will like the story or not but it is amusing and the most readers will not be able to hate it.
The House on Maple Street may be the most favorable in this collection. This story is about children and their stepfather oppresses them. They try to find the way how to get rod off this cruel person who makes their lives and the life of their mothers unbearable. The story has touching and striking concepts and it is the beautiful tale which is regarded as the best on in this collection.
Nightmares and Dreamscapes will abuse the majority of readers. Some stories will not keep the reader´s attention. But there are the stories which deserve their attention.

Hearts in Atlantis is a collection of stories which seems to be similar to Different Seasons and Four Past Midnight but in fact it differs a lot. The stories are separated and some story may look like novella but all theses stories provide a full image of the book.
Low Men in Yellow Coats is the first story which takes place in 1960. There a reader meets Bobby Garfield, aged 11. Bobby lives with his mother in the apartment complex and Ted Brautigan moves also into it. Bobby makes friends with Ted but the mother does not like it. They rub shoulders with each other and begin to trust each other. Then Ted tells Bobby that men known as “Low Men” follow him. He asks Bobby to follow some telltale signs and Bobby notices some strange things. He is not sure whether he should tell Ted about it and a decision of Bobby is the climax of the story.
The second story has the same name as collection, Hearts in Atlantis. It has been written in 6 years after the first novel. Carol Gerber is a character from the previous story. But the main hero of the story is Peter Riley. He is a college student and he has an obsession with the game of Hearts. There is a war in Vietnam and many friends go to the war, but Peter does not stop the obsession.
The following stories are Blind Willie and Why We´re in Vietnam. The stories concern the war in Vietnam. Willie Sherman is introduced in Blind Willie and he tries to get used to some past events in the life. Why We´re in Vietnam is the story about 2 Vietnam vets who meet each other in the funeral of their friend.
The last story is Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling. This is story which connects all four stories because characters consider past events from 1999. The story may be compared with Dark Tower of the author which combines two worlds.
Hearts in Atlantis is touched and upsetting story. Some fans may say that this collection does not fit the style of the author but the other readers will get to know new sides of Stephen King.

Gerald´s Game is one more story about the isolation. This theme is old and maybe King´s favourite. These are a few survivors of the revolt of Captain Tripps in The Stand, inhabitants of the town who tried to save themselves from the vampires in Salem´s Lot. In Gerald´s Game the author describes the loneliness and there is only one character Jessie Burlingame. She wants to release herself from handcuffs which were used in sex game.
Jessie is tired of the sexual games of her husbands and she wants to strike out the husband. When she is handcuffed in their summer houses, she kicks him to the groin and her husband, Gerald, has a fatal heart attack. So Jessie is left alone without any changes to escape.
Being in such condition she feels loneliness and then dementia occurs. She sees how the body of the husband is devoured by stray dogs and then she has hallucinations which are caused by hunger. Having this dementia she thinks over her life, the origin of unhappiness which is connected with men.
Reading the story further a reader may make a conclusion that the end of the story will be bloody and horrible and it can be expected from the author. In some moments the reader may believe in the way out of this situation but King does not give it to the reader and describes unexpected end.
Gerald´s Game can be compared with another King´s novel which also shows a woman struggle, Delores Claiborne, with oppressive male figure. But Gerald´s Game is not the same, it has its own features and the readers will be eager to find out fate of Jessie.

It seems that King is fond of kinesis in the young women. And the first novel about this was Carrie. It is the story about a girl who using her mind makes things real.
Firestarter is a story about Charlie McGee. This is a young girl who has an ability to make fire using her mind. She hates this ability and she has got it because of the experiment which was conducted on her parents before the birth. She has a brother Andy and he is also has some powers of telekinesis but they are not so strong as in Charlie.
And it is understandable that the agency which has conducted such experiment will want to use the powers of Charlie. Their mother is murdered and Andy and Charlie run to avoid this agency which wants to make Charlie an experimental rat.
Andy and Charlie just have tried to escape but they are caught by agents in the lead of John Rainbird. And Charlie fights with them and she does not want to use her powers. But she is forced to use it.
Firestarter is not the first story which concerns the government. The novel The Stand is also about the government and the author describes it as evil thing in the Bachman books (The Long Walk and The Running Man).
And it is not surprise that some readers and movie0wathers will see similarities in Firestarter. It is ability of Charlie who wants to escape it because it causes harm for human population. This novel is another example of the talent of King who has made a story using different genres such as horror, science fiction and suspense. Readers will not stop until they read the last letters of this novel. It is very excited.

Stephen Kings Books:

Four Past Midnight is one collection of the stories by Stephen King such as Different Seasons and Hearts in Atlantis. Heart in Atlantis has only 2 novellas and 1 story. Four Past Midnight consists of 4 novellas which range from the most unusual to the human psyche examinations.
The Langoliers is the first story which checks the reality limits for King´s reader. The sleeping passengers survive on board after a vortex. When they try to find out what happened they understand that they should land the plane and come back home until they have time. This is a difficult task.
Secret Garden, Secret Window describes the abilities of human mind. Secret Window is a novella which is following the acts of Mort Rainey. The novella is the inspiration for the film of Johnny Depp. Some strange man visits Mort and after this visit the life of Mort has different events which check his personal truth.
The Library Police is the third novella and considers the question of overdue and lost books. But there is a payoff and the readers will get warning concerning library depts.
The Sun Dog is the final novella which resembles the classic Twilight Zone stories of Ray Bradbury and Rod Serling. A boy has a birthday and he gets a gift, a Polaroid Camera. Soon he finds out that this camera has its own mind and it takes pictures itself showing the boy the events.
Four Past Midnight collection shows a real love of classic science fiction. It makes a reader to think over some situations and the theme of this book. Each novella in the collection is extraordinary and unusual but some readers may not prefer such novellas.

Stephen Kings Books:

Eyes of the Dragon is the first trip to the genre of fantasy. Naomi, King´s daughter does not like fictional horror genre and this story has been written. And one character has name after daughter of King. It is a peasant girl.
Using the sample of general fantasy, Eyes of the Dragon is a good and evil story with familiar manes for fans because they were mentioned before. Randall Flagg is a villain and the reader may find him in Dark Tower and The Stand.
Eyes of the Dragon is a story of the son of King Roland, Prince Peter of Delain. He is a legal heir of Delain. A fight between two brothers is described. Thomas, a weaker and younger brother, is caught by the magician Randall.
King Roland is killed and Peter is accused falsely. Thomas becomes a King of Delain and he makes Flagg his main advisor. Peter is jailed in the Needle, a tower over Kingdom. Thomas listens to advice of Flagg, his evil advice, and the Kingdom falls down.
Staying in the Needle Peter tries to plan an escape and to save the Kingdom because he understands that Thomas is a Flagg´s puppet. Asking only the dollhouse of his mother and some royal napkins, Peter starts to save the Kingdom and clear their name.
Eyes of the Dragon belongs to a true fairy tale which combines the talent of King and passion for his genre. But this combination makes Eyes of the Dragon something different from the other works and the readers will be satisfied with such result.

Stephen Kings Books: