Stephen King Fans discussion

I have been reading Stephen King for about 20 years. I know that the Dark Tower Series is his life's work. I have found numerous references to aspects of the Dark Tower series in many of his books.

Does anyone have a bread down of these occurrences and connections, or maybe as a group we can add to a list.

For instance I am reading Black House it mentions the "breakers" "Crimson King" "Does it really just start all over again theme" (I'm only on paging 200)

You should read The Complete Stephen King Universe: A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King

This book has extensive detail as to how each book is related, as well as info about King himself, and trivia, etc. Really great read.

I still have about 10 of his books I haven't read yet. I don't like spoilers, so I will save that one for last. I'll add it to my to-read shelf though. Thanks for the tip!

Sure. The book is actually divided up into sections dealing with each of his books. It then provides a run-down of the story, and at the end of the section it talks about links to other King books, so you don't have to read any sections you don't want to. :)

There was a website and it has been down for a long time now. But it is quite funny when you go there:
http://www.darktower.net/

I wish now I would've printed it but that site had a wonderful listing of how each book was connected, not just the dark tower.

Becky wrote: "You should read The Complete Stephen King Universe: A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King

This book has extensive detail as to how each book is related, as well as info about King h..."

I used this as a reference guide while reading The Dark Tower Series. It really is well thought out.

Yeah but it's fun to do it ourselves! After all, I'm sure that's what he intended. The only two that I've come across were a reference in Insomnia, the little boy is drawing a picture of Roland. And in Hearts in Atlantis. Ted says "All things serve the beam." and the creature? says "All things serve the King." He also refers to himself as a breaker.

Some of the connections are available on the official web page:

http://www.stephenking.com/darktower/...

5peasinapod wrote: "I have been reading Stephen King for about 20 years. I know that the Dark Tower Series is his life's work. I have found numerous references to aspects of the Dark Tower series in many of his books...."

I have read every book he's published and I've got a list for you here of all the ones that are somehow related to The Dark Tower..however small a link it may be. No spoilers here :)

(1975) Salem’s Lot
(1978) The Stand [The Complete And Uncut Edition was released in 1990:]
(1982) The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (Resumption) [An edited/revised edition was released in 2003:]
(1984) The Talisman [With Peter Straub:]
(1985) Skeleton Crew ["The Mist":]
(1986) It
(1987) The Dark Tower II: The Drawing Of The Three (Renewal)
(1987) The Eyes Of The Dragon
(1991) The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (Redemption)
(1994) Insomnia
(1995) Rose Madder
(1996) Desperation
(1996) The Regulators [As Richard Bachman:]
(1997) The Dark Tower IV: Wizard & Glass (Regard)
(1998) Bag Of Bones
(1999) Hearts In Atlantis ["1960: Low Men In Yellow Coats"]
(2001) Black House [With Peter Straub:]
(2002) Everything's Eventual ["Everything's Eventual", "The Little Sisters Of Eluria":]
(2002) From A Buick 8
(2003) The Dark Tower V: Wolves Of The Calla (Resistance)
(2004) The Dark Tower VI: Song Of Susannah (Reproduction)
(2004) The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (Reproduction, Revelation, Redemption, Resumption)

A wonderful site is www.thedarktower.com but beware of spoilers. They do their best to keep them to a minimum but just the same I thought I'd warn you :)

I believe that Rose Madder should be on your list as well... Rose in the painting mentions the city of Lud more than once, if memory serves... Lud is where we meet Gasher, the Tick Tock man, and of course Blaine. :)

That's a good list by the way.

Becky wrote: "I believe that Rose Madder should be on your list as well... Rose in the painting mentions the city of Lud more than once, if memory serves... Lud is where we meet Gasher, the Tick Tock man, and of..."

Eeep! I knew this too. I just didn't copy it from my list. Thank you for pointing that out. I'll edit it now :)

No problem... I just really like Rose Madder. It connects to Desperation and The Regulators too. :)

You could also read The Dark Tower: A Complete Concordance by Robin Furth. She was King's research assistant for The Dark Tower series. She also edited this year's (2009) Steven King Library Desk Top Calendar. She gives a lot of insight into the connections made in King's novels. The Desk Top calendar is cool too there are lots of little bits of information in it.

I like Bev Vincent's book the Road to the Dark Tower too but her's is a little harder to read its more literary criticism so only EngLit nerds like me seem to really like it.

I know From a Buick 8 is related to the DT somehow, but could someone tell me how exactly? (BTW in more recent books, if you look at the "Also by" section, all the DT related books are in bold)

Dyin,
The Buick 8 in the story is kind of a "portal" to another world, like the doorways in the Dark Tower series. The creatures that appear from that portal seem to be distantly related to some of the creatures that we saw in the Dixie Pig, although if memory serves, these are more bat-like than bug-like.

And, it's been a while since I've read this one, but I *think* I remember it said in Buick that a "Man in black" abandoned the car... Flagg/Walter possibly?

It's not 100% directly linked, more similarities. And I could be reading a lot into those similarities. But I like looking for connections in King's work. :)

5peasinapod wrote: "I have been reading Stephen King for about 20 years. I know that the Dark Tower Series is his life's work. I have found numerous references to aspects of the Dark Tower series in many of his books...."

You know, I've read that too, somewhere...

I consider SK to be an absolute genius with his cross references in his work. I have degrees in Literature and Librarianship, and can't bring another author to mind who is as good at this as SK is. Spanning more than 20 years, a character, reference or part of a plot will crop up unawares to any other than the Constant Reader.

Stephen King I have to say is a Complete Natural... Since I started reading his stuff again, I can't believe how Great He Really Is.... Hands Down.... I'm not a fan of Koontz but I'm running out of good writers so, I've decided to try him on for size.... 2 compare the two together is a joke... King just does it Good... Koontz seems more like he's trying.... I LOVE SK :)

I think those who love King don't really love Koontz, and those that love Koontz don't love King. Has anyone else noticed this?

Though I am going to read some of Koontz's crap, I don't really like him at all... Like I say... He tries too hard & King just "Does it Good"

I've read a little of Koontz. He's okay... just doesn't have that *spark* in his writing. Something is missing and I can't quite put my finger on it.

I think Koontz writes out of compulsion from his family's background which is far from ideal. Even if King himself writes, despite being the direct cause of his own family being far from ideal, he does have a better ear for language and does take chances with use of language like in Linsey's Story.

I like some of Koontz's books, but I get annoyed with the preachy quality of some of them. It seems that every book he writes has to have some religious message or twist in it, and I just find that irritating and repetitive. I *loved* The Taking, until the end, when it got all religious and preachy.

I definitely want to try the Odd Thomas series, but I'm hoping that he doesn't do the same thing with that one.

I will say that one of my favorite books is a Dean Koontz book: Intensity. There are NO fantasy or supernatural elements in that one, it is just... intense, for lack of a better word. I love it. :)

The first Odd Thomas and Life Expectancy are awesome...

You're right Chris, I did like Life Expectancy... But again, that one had the religious aspect in the form of a divine "plan". I did like the story though.

Does anyone remember 'The Shop'.... There's only 2 books I can remember the reference to it.... Were there any more?

Patrick wrote: "I think Koontz writes out of compulsion from his family's background which is far from ideal. Even if King himself writes, despite being the direct cause of his own family being far from ideal, he ..."

Huh?
I know nothing of Koontz's background, only bits & pieces about King's.....
But I totally don't get what you said here..
Please enlighten me..... I'm always curious about the dark side of writers...
:)

I can`t really comment on Dean Koontz`s writing as I have only read one of his books, which I only finished last week (Life Expectancy), which I thought was brilliant, & I will definately be reading more of his books in the future. Personally I like the good vs evil theme, which I think he executes quite well. I think that both writers are very good in their own right.

Always wrote: "Does anyone remember 'The Shop'.... There's only 2 books I can remember the reference to it.... Were there any more?"

Firestarter- The shop did the experiments on Charlie's parents that caused it all. They were the ones that wanted her too.

I know they are referred to a lot, sometimes even in short stories, I think. I'll have to do a little research:)

Kandice wrote: "Always wrote: "Does anyone remember 'The Shop'.... There's only 2 books I can remember the reference to it.... Were there any more?"

Firestarter- The shop did the experiments on Charlie's parent..."

That'll just distract you from The Dark Tower, missy :)

The "Shop" also showed up in Tommyknocker at the end. You could even see O.J. the snotty agent with the Windsucker strapped to his narrow chest posturing about.

Becky wrote: "I like some of Koontz's books, but I get annoyed with the preachy quality of some of them. It seems that every book he writes has to have some religious message or twist in it, and I just find that..."

Becky, I am a huge Koontz fan, but I have the same qualm that you do. I get enthralled by the story and characters in many of his books, but I feel like they are all contaminated by his incessant need to include some religious/spiritual undertone (or blatant integration, in the case of The Taking) in each of them. It also annoys me that his characters often come to some far-flung conclusions and we are just supposed to accept that they must be right about those conclusions (this is also well illustrated in The Taking, because the lead protagonist comes to those religious conclusions at the end).

I'm torn between liking Koontz and not liking him.

The ONLY book I have not been able to complete in my life is a Koontz book (Dragon Tears). I would say that of the 10 books or so Koontz books I have read I really really liked 5 of them and didn't care for 5.

The other problem I have is that I can never remember the books from the title. I'll walk into my library look at a Koontz book and think I should read it... and then about 4 pages into I realize I have already read it and tried to read it again once before. No idea why I have such a mind block about his titles.

However, to end on a positive note I thought Intensity was a phenomenal read. It was as it is titled Intense! The American movie version did not justice for the story. (It didn’t help that Dr. Perry from Scrubs was the bad guy.) I have heard there is a French version that is very intense.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shop...
The Shop (Stephen King)
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The Shop is a fictional, top secret government agency in the writings of Stephen King. It plays a central role as the antagonist in the novel Firestarter, the miniseries The Golden Years, and the film The Lawnmower Man, and is an element of the novel The Tommyknockers. In addition, an offhand reference hints that it may be at least partially responsible for the events of the novella The Mist. In the film adaption of The Langoliers, Bob Jenkins tosses out a government conspiracy-based theory for the conditions of the plane and refers to the theoretical agency responsible as 'The Shop.' In The Stand, The Shop is tasked with stopping the superflu outbreak, which it utterly fails to do. The Shop is interested in the scientific research of what might otherwise be considered paranormal phenomenona, such as aliens, immortality, pyrokinesis and telekinesis.

The formal name of the agency is the Department of Scientific Intelligence. In addition to research staff, the Shop also employs armed agents who typically work undercover and pursue their goals with an utter disregard for morality. King keeps the extent of the Shop's legal legitimacy, as well as the exact nature of its relationship with other government agencies, vague. The Shop's director in Firestarter is Captain James "Cap" Hollister.

King has stated that the name The Shop is a reference to Alfred Elton van Vogt's novel The Weapon Shops of Isher.

Tom-You're great! Thank you. It's funny, because I wouldn't have remembered them all without looking, but remembered the references as I read them above.

I have only read one Koonz book and I felt there was no detail. You read King you know if a character puts on their left shoe or their right shoe first.

Angie wrote: "I have only read one Koonz book and I felt there was no detail. You read King you know if a character puts on their left shoe or their right shoe first. "

What book did you read, Angie? I have read quite a few of his books and, though he has his flaws, I cannot say (and have never heard anyone say) that a lack of detail is one of them.

Angie wrote: "I have only read one Koonz book and I felt there was no detail. You read King you know if a character puts on their left shoe or their right shoe first. "

That's true about King, but I don't think it's accurate to say about Koontz. He has his faults, but he is able to create a world and suck a reader in with the best of them. He just... has a bad habit of ruining the story with religion. Well, not really, not all the time.

Read Intensity. That's my favorite.

I think the reason I am going through Koontz's books is because there really isn't too much of the stuff out there that 'In My Taste' that is any good in the mainstream 'horror' selections. I'm only writing this because I just had to give a good enough reason of why..

And I did Like(gave it 3stars) The Voice in the Night, but it was still missing something.

I read From the Corner of his Eyes. Though I will say I have never forgotten the plot and I read it like 8 years ago.

Angie wrote: "I read From the Corner of his Eyes. Though I will say I have never forgotten the plot and I read it like 8 years ago. "

Wow, that's bizarre, because that is my favorite book of his! To each his/her own, I suppose. :-)

[should this be a new topic? moderator, please move or rename if appropriate:]

For a discussion of Koontz's progress as an author, I've read his earlier work, most of which is hardcore SF. I don't think King had to go through this kind of progression. Take note of his penchant for alternate universes, a theme of which we're well aware through all of our otherwheres and otherwhens.
Here are a few.
Dwyer, K. R. (Dean Koontz). Shattered. New York: Random House, 1973.

Koontz, Dean. Star Quest. Ace Books, Inc, NY: 1968. [One of Koontz’ first; pure Sci Fi on an alternate universe. Good vs Evil, prevalent in his later work:].

Koontz, Dean. Werewolf Among Us. Ballentine, NY: 1973. [Futuristic sci-fi. Alternate worlds to live on; cyberdetective uses computer shell to help logical reasoning. “HALish” – computer’s logic will not allow detective to shoot awry master unit.:]

The only Koontz I've read is the Odd Thomas series. The first one is best, but I'll always read the next.

Jason wrote: "Angie wrote: "I read From the Corner of his Eyes. Though I will say I have never forgotten the plot and I read it like 8 years ago. "

Wow, that's bizarre, because that is my favorite book of hi..."

Whoa that is crazy!