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A review by attawaykl
The Stand by Stephen King
4.0
I think I read this book wrong. I came here for a battle between the forces of Good and Evil vying for the hearts and souls of men in a post-apocalyptic Earth shattered by disease. This is only sort of what The Stand is about - the book takes place in a decidedly post-apocalyptic United States after a deadly flu; Good forces and Evil forces are indeed present; but it is not what I wanted. Had I come here for a thought experiment about how society would come together and try to rebuild after such a devastating event, I would have been totally satisfied, but I wanted more of a fantasy novel. It's just who I am and I can't stop that.
Tensions between the two groups rise and the overall feel is that a war is coming. Key players on either side finally prepare to make a stand - everything is coming to a head and I thought yes, here it is. After 1300 pages, it is happening (I've read every [b:Wheel of Time|233649|The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time, #2)|Robert Jordan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404042457s/233649.jpg|1574475] book - the "jam all the exciting stuff into the last 50 pages" is a tactic with which I am well familiar). But it is pitiful. The characters we have been with from the beginning do absolutely nothing and the deus ex machina is almost insulting. It is explained in a single sentence describing a very weak argument - something along the lines of the death of our people being a sacrifice to God before he steps in to take care of the bad guy. Infuriating and cheap.
I really did enjoy the book, but with all of the many positive reviews, it seems silly to add my praise. I mean, if you just read The Stand, you know all about how rich and relatable and honest the characters are (and how badly it hurts to lose them), about the tangible fear King is able to create while you're safe at home (but it somehow feels like you're crawling through a dark tunnel filled with the dead), and about how impressively all the moving pieces of this work come together ().
Spoiler
So the beginning of the novel very carefully sets up figureheads for the two opposing sides. On that of the Good, we have Mother Abigail, a woman who has done nothing but walk in the path of God, fiercely, her entire (considerable) life. On that of the Evil, we have the Dark Man, Randall Flagg, who is maybe a demon and almost certainly insane. And as far as I'm concerned, the plot of the book would be largely unaffected by their absence. Arguably their most important actions are turning up in people's dreams to basically say, "So I noticed you are good/evil - come hang out in Boulder/Las Vegas."Tensions between the two groups rise and the overall feel is that a war is coming. Key players on either side finally prepare to make a stand - everything is coming to a head and I thought yes, here it is. After 1300 pages, it is happening (I've read every [b:Wheel of Time|233649|The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time, #2)|Robert Jordan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404042457s/233649.jpg|1574475] book - the "jam all the exciting stuff into the last 50 pages" is a tactic with which I am well familiar). But it is pitiful. The characters we have been with from the beginning do absolutely nothing and the deus ex machina is almost insulting. It is explained in a single sentence describing a very weak argument - something along the lines of the death of our people being a sacrifice to God before he steps in to take care of the bad guy. Infuriating and cheap.
I really did enjoy the book, but with all of the many positive reviews, it seems silly to add my praise. I mean, if you just read The Stand, you know all about how rich and relatable and honest the characters are (and how badly it hurts to lose them), about the tangible fear King is able to create while you're safe at home (but it somehow feels like you're crawling through a dark tunnel filled with the dead), and about how impressively all the moving pieces of this work come together (