My Stephen King Collection - Ranking the 2010's (15 Books Ranked)

[@markgillespie3971]

I love that you put 'Full Dark No Stars' so high AND picked out what I think were the two best stories, 'Big Driver' and 'A Good Marriage'. I'm 40 books in and it's probably my favourite one so far (not read your 1 and 2 here yet!).

[@SKFirstEditions]

Thanks so much for the comment! I’m glad to meet another lover of FDNS. I was just thinking about the novellas in general - it seems to be a sweet spot for SK - long enough to really build a world and resonate but short enough that they temper his occasional tendency to overwrite.

[@markgillespie3971]

@@SKFirstEditions From the ones I've read so far (FDNS, If it Bleeds, Elevation, Gwendy's BB) I would agree

[@im1ru122]

Greetings! I really like the progression of your choices here - well... except for #1... since 'DS' is a novel that really underwhelmed me. It's one I read after a l-o-n-g break from reading SK's work and I did finish it but I still found it... forced. On the other hand, '11/22/63', to me, is SK's BEST.

[@barbaralin3053]

I have a similar feeling toward Revival. I makes me feel that I know his spiritual stand. It's nice to know this aspect of a genius author.

[@SKFirstEditions]

Thanks for the comment!

[@RonanRead]

I absolutely loved Finders Keepers

[@SKFirstEditions]

It was a huge surprise to me! I loved it, too.

[@baalrogg]

I loved Doctor Sleep as well. And I think 11/22/63 may definitely go down as a classic in the next few decades! I'm a 2010's apologist for sure, definitely a lot of gold in that decade/era. Also... I'm glad I'm not the only person that feels that way about Magic Feather/Final Task. Magic Feather had good world building, but world building was almost all the book comprised of. I thought for sure they were going to do push the resolution of the murder/mystery into another book since no real progress had been made at all and no pertinent plot threads had been created or progressed and then... the crime was solved by one of the biggest deus ex machinas I've ever read. Final Task felt like a bit of a mess to me as well, I wonder how much input King actually gave on that one. As a big Dark Tower fan who was looking forward to reading the book and finding more connections, I was really disappointed with how everything was kind of shoehorned in. The book tried it's hardest to be as impactful as possible but in doing so just felt like fanfiction.

[@SKFirstEditions]

Thanks for the comment! I agree that 11/22/63 will ultimately join the ranks of his all-time classic works. I think it just takes time, but I clearly remember lots of marketing targeted towards "people who don't read Stephen King" and how many people gave it a shot and really liked it. It could be an SK "gateway novel," which creates Constant Readers! What a cool idea. I thought Button Box was decent - modest but a fine story/idea and a good addition to the Castle Rock mythology. Magic Feather was terrible, in my opinion. And Final Task was, like you said, barely more than fan fiction with SK's name on it. His contributions must have been minimal - maybe an idea or two, rubberstamping Chizmar's idea, agreeing to put his name on it - who knows? But it's definitely one of the worst things with his name on it, in my opinion. Richard Chizmar isn't a bad author in his own right - I thought Chasing the Boogeyman was excellent - but he's also pretty shameless in capitalizing on and monetizing his friendship with SK. I'd say the final two Gwendy books are a prime example of him wringing as much revenue as possible out of his SK connection. The saving grace to me is that SK seems to be totally fine with and supportive of it. That's his call, I guess!

[@heathen6165]

Great video, enjoyed very much, and I agree Doctor Sleep reigns supreme for me too. I would rate The Outsider much higher than yourself, It's a very dark novel in places. However I put The Institution lower, its written excellently, but I just got fed up of being in that facility virtually the whole of the book, and it became very claustrophobic in a literal sense ...through reading, if you know what I mean. Became a little tiresome being stuck in there all that time with the kids.A nod to Revival, which for me has got to be the most crazy end to a book he's written. Loved it

[@SKFirstEditions]

Thanks for the comment!

[@llllemomn]

“maine titles” haha