Two things -
- I have no idea why I decided to read this right after Way Of Kings. I don't recommend reading two 1000+ page novels in a row unless you like to feeling that you'll never finish a book again.
- I read this right before Coronavirus started to become an emergency outside of China. I even tweeted about it which in retrospect seems like poor taste since I've been working from home for the last month. (I'm writing this in April)
Now, about the book. It's good. Does it need to be this long? No, it definitely does not need to be this long. Does the length make it worse? No, the length also does not feel cumbersome at any point.
What you have is almost two books. In part 1 you have the virus, and you have a lot of deaths. You see how the world falls apart and how, slowly, the cast of characters is assembled and brought across the country to Denver. Or, for the opposition party, you see them brought to the desert in Las Vegas. This is all very interesting and deeply develops the characters and how they change in the aftermath of such widespread destruction.
Show me a man or a woman alone and I'll show you a saint. Give me two and they'll fall in love. Give me three and they'll invent the charming thing we call 'society'. Give me four and they'll build a pyramid. Give me five and they'll make one an outcast. Give me six and they'll reinvent prejudice. Give me seven and in seven years they'll reinvent warfare. Man may have been made in the image of God, but human society was made in the image of His opposite number, and is always trying to get back home.
In part 2 we have the clash between these dueling societies. It is inevitable, and not just because Stephen King tells you so. They are essentially incompatible worlds. One is run by a strong man. It is a dictatorshio where he controls every aspect and the citizens simply carry out his orders - or they die. The other is attempting to be a representative democracy and is willing to grow and change as people trickle into Colorado. With only the mountains separating them geographically - not to mention a boat load of abandoned weapons lying around - they are bound to clash.
What makes The Stand so good is the depth that Stephen King goes into to develop this post apocalyptic world and the characters who inhabit it. The story also carries all the familiar mysticism the seems to be King's trademark. But what really sets it apart from some of his other novels is the way all the storylines coalesce into a good, well thought out conclusion. If you want to read Stephen King, this book still holds it own decades later. Just maybe wait until we're not actively caught in a global pandemic.