It had always felt like I had committed a crime when I would say to someone that I had never read a Stephen King book. I felt like I was admitting to a very dirty secret but in truth it has only been in the last year, maybe two that I have started to explore who I’m reading and Stephen King is a big one for me.
So I’ve started off with The Dark Tower series, and I feel a little like I’ve been thrown in at the deep end. Part of me thinks I should have read one of his standalone novels first but the mystery of The Dark Tower series was too strong for me to start anywhere else. As a general rule I’m not a fast reader, there are books that I devour rapidly but The Gunslinger was not one of them, and neither has the second book of the series, The Drawing Of The Three. That’s not because I’m not enjoying these books but I think it’s because I’m trying to take in the complexities of the stories. The change of pace that has taken place between the first and second books is pretty big as well.
What has fascinated me so far is the fact that King has revealed almost nothing about the world this is all taking place in or the dark tower itself. What is our protagonist, Roland, searching for? Hell he doesn’t even know!
Am I going to read further then The Dark Tower series, am I going to fall in love with Stephen King’s work? I’m not sure I’ll fall in love with his work like I have done with Scott Sigler or Dan Abnett but I want to read more. From what I know of Stephen King he does not let himself be constrained by genre or people’s expectations and that is why I want to read more of his work. He’s a fearless writer.
(I’ve also got his book On Writing as an audiobook, if you’re a writer I think this is an essential read, or listen (King narrates that himself). It’s part autobiography and part writing guide. I felt King’s struggle as he tried to survive with a young family before Carrie got sold)
