Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
The Long Walk was my favorite, and I thought Roadwork was kind of draggy and boring. Interesting to read some different works by Stephen King, even if they have his distinctive flair.
Rage 4.5⭐
The Long Walk 5⭐
Roadwork 4⭐
Running Man 4⭐
The Long Walk 5⭐
Roadwork 4⭐
Running Man 4⭐
Individual novel ratings: Rage, three stars; The Long Walk, four; Roadwork, two; The Running Man, three.
Rage was quite interesting, especially as I didn't realize it had been taken out of print until I'd finished it. For all the stigma it has gained through it's connection to non-fiction school shootings, there's really not much violence to it. Much more psychology of the people involved.
The Long Walk ended up being my favorite of the four. Very focused on the walk and the personalities of the walkers, almost written in real time, and nearly no information about the world around it.
Roadwork was a slog to get through. Where the highly-detailed almost real time pace worked well for The Long Walk, here it just makes the story drag on and on and on.... Boring.
The Running Man has nearly nothing in common with the Schwarzenegger film beside the basic hunted-human game show concept. Nothing stellar here, but a decent solid dystopian future story. Always fun to root for the underdog.
Rage was quite interesting, especially as I didn't realize it had been taken out of print until I'd finished it. For all the stigma it has gained through it's connection to non-fiction school shootings, there's really not much violence to it. Much more psychology of the people involved.
The Long Walk ended up being my favorite of the four. Very focused on the walk and the personalities of the walkers, almost written in real time, and nearly no information about the world around it.
Roadwork was a slog to get through. Where the highly-detailed almost real time pace worked well for The Long Walk, here it just makes the story drag on and on and on.... Boring.
The Running Man has nearly nothing in common with the Schwarzenegger film beside the basic hunted-human game show concept. Nothing stellar here, but a decent solid dystopian future story. Always fun to root for the underdog.
I've done individual reviews for each of the stories in this collection so I'll just give them a little summary here:
The Long Walk: 5/5. Perfection. Poignant and frightening. One of his best.
Roadwork: 2/5. A bit of a misstep. Very few highlights and an unlikeable cast.
The Running Man: 4/5. A breakneck action story with a heavy emphasis on rushing headfirst towards a satisfying conclusion.
Overall: 4/5. Fantastic, then less so, then fantastic again. I'd call it a mixed bag but the quality dip isn't noticeable once you're past the middle novel.
The Long Walk: 5/5. Perfection. Poignant and frightening. One of his best.
Roadwork: 2/5. A bit of a misstep. Very few highlights and an unlikeable cast.
The Running Man: 4/5. A breakneck action story with a heavy emphasis on rushing headfirst towards a satisfying conclusion.
Overall: 4/5. Fantastic, then less so, then fantastic again. I'd call it a mixed bag but the quality dip isn't noticeable once you're past the middle novel.
Rage - no rating, but an interesting uncomfortable story
The Long Walk - 4 stars, very bleak
Roadwork - 0.5 only the Exorcist refs got it the half star
The Running Man - 5 stars, this was incredible
The Long Walk - 4 stars, very bleak
Roadwork - 0.5 only the Exorcist refs got it the half star
The Running Man - 5 stars, this was incredible
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not to be confused with the Schwarzenegger film, this book is the dark father of Hunger Games and Squid Game, and the bastard child of Minority Report and Ubik.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes