Presenting Author - Stephen King

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

Name of the author: Stephen King
Main genre: Horror / Suspense / Mystery / Supernatural / Science-Fiction
Main audience: Young Adult on

Main Books
King wrote a lot of fiction and non-fiction books, but amongst his most famous are:

• Carrie
• The Shining
• The Green Mile
• It
• The Eyes of the Dragon
• The Dark Tower series
• Dreamcatcher
• 11/22/63
• …

Short summary of the author: Stephen King is an American author, also known as the King of Horror, writing primarily in horror, supernatural, suspense, science-fiction and fantasy genres. He wrote and published 54 novels, 6 non-fiction books and around 200 short stories, which sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. Many of his contributions of literature have been adapted to movies, miniseries, television series and comic books. King was also awarded many awards, one of the most prominent being Bram Stoker Award, World Fantasy Award and British Fantasy Society Award.

Good points / bad points: From what I read between the pages of his books and then on his views on writing, King’s stories are very, well story-driven, which is a very good thing in my opinion. That does not really mean that character development or descriptions fail spectacularly. Quite the contrary, with most of the characters, no matter who they are, you can easily get into their heads through King’s writing. He is truly the master of horror and suspense, since he does not really utilize the gore (at least not primarily) to depict it, but the emotion and build-up.

Bad points about the King’s writing style is mostly that he more often than not has weak endings. He has all these great ideas and twists that he presents to the reader, but can rarely finish them satisfactorily. Also, some longer books (like It, with more than 1000 pages) could do without unnecessary scenes or grandiose descriptions, to make them shorter, but still have a consistent story flow.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

Title of the book: The Eyes of the Dragon
Author: Stephen King
Series: No
Main Genres: Fantasy / Horror / Fiction
Main Audience: Young Adult on

Short summary of the story (from Goodreads):

A fantasy of heroic adventure, set in the kingdom of Delain. It involves a king who is poisoned, a young and beautiful queen, a prince locked in a high tower while his younger brother assumes the throne, and an evil magician who harbours terrible secrets and malevolent plans.

Good points / bad points: This is one of the rare King books that is appropriate for younger audiences and for someone who does not frequently write for younger audience, I think King managed to really cater to them, especially if you are a lover of books like Goosebumps. This book is perfect for reading out loud, since the narrator is omnipresent and it gives you that feel of books being read by the fireplace.

Personally, the only thing I really did not like about the book is Flagg, the main villain. Not really any fault with his character or presentation, but the fact that he is also Randall Flagg from Dark Tower series (also known as Walter o’Dim), The Stand and many more other novels that are loosely connected in King’s Multiverse. I think that for a children’s book, it is unnecessary that it is connected to other works, but unless you are an avid reader of King’s work, you barely notice.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

Title of the book: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Author: Stephen King
Series: No
Main Genres: Non-fiction / Biography / Memoir
Main Audience: Young Adult on

Short summary of the story (from Goodreads):

On Writing begins with King's childhood and his uncannily early focus on writing to tell a story. King next turns to the basic tools of his trade and culminates with a profoundly moving account of how King's overwhelming need to write spurred him toward recovery.

Good points / bad points:
This book was recommended to me by Sky and I am really glad I chose to read it. It is not my usual cup of tea, since I rarely read non-fiction books, but it is really interesting to gain a sort of insight into how an author writes his or her book. It gives you an inspiration to not only write, but also tells you that no matter how bleak things might be (as they were with King after his accident), if you have enough stubbornness and dedication to your craft, whichever it may be, nothing seems impossible. King also does not shy away from his faults, but freely admits them, so his honesty and not wanting to present himself as perfect certainly works for me.

I seriously did not have any problems with this particular book, but perhaps for other reads, it does include sad parts, mostly his accident and his emotional state after the accident, but it does get better.

[Carrie Warts]

Title of the book: The Green Mile
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Novel, Dark Fantasy, Southern Gothic, Magic Realism

Short summary of the story: The Green Mile tells the story of the convict John Coffey from a first-person narration by the character Paul, who goes back and forth in time by telling the story and remembering it to a friend of his.
Paul was the block supervisor of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary death row, nicknamed "The Green Mile" for the color of the floor where the inmates would walk before heading to the chair. In this prison he met John, a strong, tall black man convicted of a crime he didn't commit but was found in the crime scene. The story revolves around Coffey and Paul, where the last one sees how Coffey interacts with other prisoners and realizes that John has some incredible healing abilities.

I first saw the movie before knowing it was originally a book. The movie shocked me at first but towards the end it left a warm feeling in my heart, and luckily so did the book, which is great because most of the times the movies don't capture well enough the emotions, scenes and character as the books do. I totally recommend you reading this book if you have the chance.

[Amy Smith]

Title : IT
Arthur : Stephen King
Genre : Horror,Fiction , Thriller,Suspense,
Series : No
Short summary of the story:
This story revolves around seven children who live in a town called as Derry where every 27 years there an evil shapeshifter who disguises itself from the people worst fears emerges from the sewer. This time it takes the shape of a murderous,bloodthirsty clown and the seven kids must battle it and it also just feeds and kills little children. This story kind of tells us about two time periods. In the second part the story tells us how the kids grow up and happy and live a successful life.But they have to come back and battle it and kill it for good this time. And this mysterious shape shifter is called as IT.
Good points/Bad points:
This story was pretty scary while I was reading it and it did give me creeps at some points of the book and it was also well written and the plot was also very good. The movie was also very good.
Now I have got to be honest here I wasn't satisfied with the ending.It definitely wasn't the ending which I was expecting or looking for and also there were a few parts which I really didn't like.

[Louis Walles]

Title : IT
Arthur : Stephen King
Genre : Horror,Fiction , Thriller,Suspense,
Series : No
Short summary of the story:
This story revolves around seven children who live in a town called as Derry where every 27 years there an evil shapeshifter who disguises itself from the people worst fears emerges from the sewer. This time it takes the shape of a murderous,bloodthirsty clown and the seven kids must battle it and it also just feeds and kills little children. This story kind of tells us about two time periods. In the second part the story tells us how the kids grow up and happy and live a successful life.But they have to come back and battle it and kill it for good this time. And this mysterious shape shifter is called as IT.
Good points/Bad points:
This story was pretty scary while I was reading it and it did give me creeps at some points of the book and it was also well written and the plot was also very good. The movie was also very good.
Now I have got to be honest here I wasn't satisfied with the ending.It definitely wasn't the ending which I was expecting or looking for and also there were a few parts which I really didn't like.

In my opinion, the book was less interesting than the movie itself (maybe because I watched movies first and then decided to buy a book). The book gives you insights into the whole story of IT and the looser club. You can also learn more about Henry and other members of his gang. I personally found the book extremely weird and confusing. The book is also really long and because of the hardcover, I found it hard to hold it while reading. I would say it's definitely a book for King's fans (which I am not of), so I personally don't recommend it.

[Bonnie Paterson]

Title : IT
Arthur : Stephen King
Genre : Horror,Fiction , Thriller,Suspense,
Series : No
Short summary of the story:
This story revolves around seven children who live in a town called as Derry where every 27 years there an evil shapeshifter who disguises itself from the people worst fears emerges from the sewer. This time it takes the shape of a murderous,bloodthirsty clown and the seven kids must battle it and it also just feeds and kills little children. This story kind of tells us about two time periods. In the second part the story tells us how the kids grow up and happy and live a successful life.But they have to come back and battle it and kill it for good this time. And this mysterious shape shifter is called as IT.
Good points/Bad points:
This story was pretty scary while I was reading it and it did give me creeps at some points of the book and it was also well written and the plot was also very good. The movie was also very good.
Now I have got to be honest here I wasn't satisfied with the ending. It definitely wasn't the ending which I was expecting or looking for and also there were a few parts which I really didn't like.

I didn't particularly like the ending either, although I appreciate the idea of something being real only if you believe in it, which is a very interesting theme that I would love to go into depth about sometime. I also liked how the monster had no shape, and it presented itself as whatever IT thought would go best with the situation.