The Complete Works of Stephen King Ranked (all 62)

[Seak]

I was wondering if anyone had seen this list and what people's thoughts were.

I've recently become addicted to sai King, mainly through his Dark Tower books (read about 4 and a half and currently reading two more), and this list puts all the books in one nice ranking with a small explanation of each one.

What I want to know is, did they get it right? Also, the top 10 or so seems a bit weird, especially with his "On Writing" and "Danse Macabre" (on horror movies and genre) up there.






















EDIT: I put all the images here to facilitate discussion.
EDIT #2: Number 57 is Rage. I don't know why they used that cover.

[Seak]

I could only put 10 images in the last post, so here are the rest:

[Loerwyn]

I've not read enough King to truly say, but I'd have put Carrie and The Eyes of the Dragonhigher and The Drawing of the Three above all other Dark Tower books (with the second being The Wind Through the Keyhole.

[Seak]

I've not read enough King to truly say, but I'd have put Carrie and The Eyes of the Dragonhigher and The Drawing of the Three above all other Dark Tower books (with the second being The Wind Through the Keyhole.

Wow, that's high praise for Wind. I liked where they put Wizard and Glass and thought they put The Gunslinger way higher than it should have been. It's been my least favorite up through WaG.

Sadly, I can't really comment outside of Dark Tower books.

[Loerwyn]

I'm not a huge fan of Wizard & Glass, but I don't think I was in a position to appreciate it at the time. I'm sure I'll enjoy it more on a re-read, especially as I've come to enjoy the adventures of Young Roland through the Marvel graphic novel/comic series.

The Gunslinger is a tricky one because of its nature. It's distant from the others by years, but it's also just a bunch of short stories turned into a novel and that doesn't quite work. I've always argued the series doesn't 'properly' start until The Drawing of the Three, which is also my favourite book of the series despite its lack of a 'true' ka-tet for the most part.

The Wind Through the Keyhole is a tricky one. It doesn't quite work outside of the Russian Doll narrative style, but it easily could. Maybe I appreciated it more after having read all of the graphic novels to date (and thus I understood Young Roland more than most, perhaps), but I thought it was a compelling story in all parts.

[Bob Gray]

No, IMO, it is way off

My top 20:

1. IT
2. The Shining
3. Pet Semetary
4. The Stand
5. Insomnia
6. Salem's Lot
7. Night Shift
8. The Wastelands
9. Misery
10. Bag of Bones
11. The Talisman
12. Full Dark No Stars
13. Skeleton Crew
14. Different Seasons
15. Four Past Midnight
16. Gerald's Game
17. Cell
18. Song of Susannah
19. The Dark Tower
20. Needful Things

[Hobbit]

Loved IT.... up to that awful ending, where it all seemed to fall apart.

Think it's problematic to see The Dark Tower books as separate books, as they are parts of the same tale. I haven't read all of them, but they do seem to be books you only 'get' properly having read most of King's other books. One to be appreciated more, having read lots of other King first.

Think my own list is probably nearer Bob's, allowing for all that. IT would be lower, Insomnia's too high up that list for me. Interesting placing of Full Dark, No Stars. Under the Dome is WAY too high on that original list for me. I tend to think of Firestarter as a good one, as it was the first King novel I read, but suspect with the passing of time it's not as good as I remember. Hearts in Atlantis was better than I thought it would be too...

Trying to give a little distance, as it is my most recent King read, but 11.22.63 might be in that list for me. Dead Zone too, Pet Cemetery possibly. Cujo?

Mark

[Loerwyn]

Think it's problematic to see The Dark Tower books as separate books, as they are parts of the same tale. I haven't read all of them, but they do seem to be books you only 'get' properly having read most of King's other books. One to be appreciated more, having read lots of other King first.

wrt Dark Tower, you have different levels of books.

1. Core 'Dark Tower' (8 books)
2. Moderate-to-Heavy links ('Salem's Lot, The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon)
3. Minor-to-Moderate links (Duma Key, for example)
4. No link.

You don't need to read anything from 2-4 to get The Dark Tower, but Level 2 generally has characters that appear in the TDT, Level 3 contains very light links or references - a name, a number, a company - and if you're not looking for them then chances are you'll miss them. Finally, level 4 speaks for itself.

Most of King's books are in level 3. His more popular ones tend to sit in or close to level 2, however.

[Mark_P]

I absolutely agree with The Stand as #1. Amazing book. The biggest surprise for me on the list is Needful Things at #48. That's another favorite of mine, but it was also the first or second King book I ever read, so maybe there's a bit of a nostalgic factor there.

Overall, interesting list - thanks for sharing!

[Bob Gray]

Loved IT.... up to that awful ending, where it all seemed to fall apart.

Think it's problematic to see The Dark Tower books as separate books, as they are parts of the same tale. I haven't read all of them, but they do seem to be books you only 'get' properly having read most of King's other books. One to be appreciated more, having read lots of other King first.

Think my own list is probably nearer Bob's, allowing for all that. IT would be lower, Insomnia's too high up that list for me. Interesting placing of Full Dark, No Stars. Under the Dome is WAY too high on that original list for me. I tend to think of Firestarter as a good one, as it was the first King novel I read, but suspect with the passing of time it's not as good as I remember. Hearts in Atlantis was better than I thought it would be too...

Trying to give a little distance, as it is my most recent King read, but 11.22.63 might be in that list for me. Dead Zone too, Pet Cemetery possibly. Cujo?

Mark

Absolutely loved the ending to IT.

Truth is that I really wanted to include all of the Dark Tower books as one choice but felt that it was cheating. People just didn't like some of the books. I've heard people say that The Gunslinger was boring, or that Wizards and Glass took away from the series, and Song of Susannah was just horrible. I don't agree with those sentiments at all but I figured that since most people have an opinion about each individual books that I should do them separately.

I have not read Under the Dome or 11/22/63 yet so I couldn't possibly put them in my list. Firestarter is very low on my list, I love King but that one just doesn't do anything for me. I liked Cujo but didn't feel it ranks very high on my list. The Dead Zone is one I want to do a re-read on soon, the first time I read it I didn't care for it at all.

Hearts in Atlantis was the one I forgot about, if I would have remembered it would have made my top twenty.

[Seak]

Loved IT....

Loved what?

[Westsiyeed]

My top 20 would be:

1 It
2 Christine
3 Pet Sematary
4 Night Shift (This and Skeleton Crew are some of the best short story collections around IMO)
5 Skeleton Crew
6 The Dead Zone
7 The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
8 The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
9 Different Seasons
10 'Salem's Lot
11 The Shining
12 Carrie
13 Four Past Midnight ('The Langoliers' is also a favourite)
14 The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
15 The Stand
16 The Talisman
17 From a Buick 8
18 Dolores Claiborne
19 Desperation
20 The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

But I totally agree with previous posts - it's often the first book or so of an author that has the biggest impact.

[Mark Lawrence]

I'd agree with the general trend. Some point exceptions though:

i) Every component of 'The Bachman Books' is there on its own ranking higher than 'The Backman Books' ... how does that work.

ii) I'd rate the Long Walk & Wolves of the Calla higher than they are there

iii) Tommyknockers should be a lot higher - it was a LOT better than Black House for example (IMOHO)

Nice exercise though and a reminder there are quite a few King books waiting for me.

[Alrin]

On Writing certainly deserves its high placement. It's one of the best examples of its kind. I'd probably keep it bookended with IT and The Stand, though the former at #1 and the latter at #3.

The remainder of my Top Ten would definitely include The Talisman, The Drawing of the Three, Salem's Lot and Pet Sematary. I'd probably round it out with Wizard and Glass, Black House and Desperation.

It was only when looking over the list I realised just how much of King's work I've read. Love him or hate him, man knows how to tell a yarn.

[Bob Gray]

My top 20 would be:

1 It
2 Christine
3 Pet Sematary
4 Night Shift (This and Skeleton Crew are some of the best short story collections around IMO)
5 Skeleton Crew
6 The Dead Zone
7 The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
8 The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
9 Different Seasons
10 'Salem's Lot
11 The Shining
12 Carrie
13 Four Past Midnight ('The Langoliers' is also a favourite)
14 The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
15 The Stand
16 The Talisman
17 From a Buick 8
18 Dolores Claiborne
19 Desperation
20 The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass

But I totally agree with previous posts - it's often the first book or so of an author that has the biggest impact.

Yeah, From A Buick 8 should have been on mine too, I loved it. Most people thought it sucked but IMO it is 100% better than Christine.