The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand

by Stephen King

#1 BESTSELLER • NOW A PARAMOUNT+ LIMITED SERIES • Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and tangled in an elemental struggle between good and evil remains as riveting—and eerily plausible—as when it was first published.

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years! This edition includes all of the new and restored material first published in The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition.

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge—Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them—and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.

Reviewed by Leigha on

5 of 5 stars

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An epic battle between good and evil rages after a lab created super flu kills most of the world in this amazing adult science fiction novel.

How do I sum up a story that means so much to me? I loved the ’90 miseries growing up, and I’m beyond excited about the remake (although I’m side-eyeing some of the casting choices). For me, it was the first story I came across with a catastrophic event bringing together a group of survivors. It made an impression – what would I do in a similar situation? How – or who – would I survive with? I’ve tried over the years to read the book, but it wasn’t until COVID-19 sauntered on scene that I found myself falling into the story head first.

I’m not the biggest fan of Stephen King’s writing, but I do give credit to his ability to set the tone – the insidious spread of the super flu and the unraveling of society as we know it. It, quite frankly, was eerie to read as our current society fights a recently discovered illness and social unrest ignites across the world. The parallels are hard to deny, and it gave me a sort of way to deal with my own emotions about it all.

On top of tone, King excels at creating complex characters. Stu, Franny, Nick, Glen, Ralph, Tom Cullen (“M-O-O-N” that spells Tom Cullen!), and the rest of the Boulder free zone are absolutely precious to me. Their victories and defeats are my own. I even enjoyed the morally grey characters – Nadine, Harold (who had a surprisingly strong story line), Trashcan Man, and Lloyd. And, of course, the strong willed Abby Freemantle and anarchist Randal Flagg are perfection as the ultimate good versus the ultimate evil duo.

It is not a flawless story. Is it too long? Absolutely. Does the plot get murky in the middle? Indeed. Is it sexist? Yep – sorry, King, not every woman starts looking for a big, strong man at the end of the world. Does it appropriately address disabilities? I honestly could not say, but I’ll go on a limb and say no. But, despite its numerous flaws, it is a story that has stuck with me for almost 20 years.

Finally, I listened to the audio version – 47 hours and 47 minutes! My longest audio so far. While I think this story would be amazing with a multicast, the narrator excelled at keeping my attention. Was it me, or did he really sound like some of the cast from the original miniseries?

tl;dr The insidious tone, unforgettable characters, and parallels to our current struggles in the real world kept me invested from the moment it started to the moment it ended.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 18 June, 2020: Finished reading
  • 18 June, 2020: Reviewed