A few weeks ago, I thought of reading all of Stephen King's novels in the order they were published, like I did with Lisa Jewell's. It's really interesting to watch an author change over time; Jewell went from being sinle (I think) to being married with children, and her books do reflect that.
King is a little more challenging, for a few reasons. Firstly, he's written almost a book a year since 1974. Secondly, he doesn't publish in chronological order. In one book, a character who's also an author holds on to manuscripts when he writes more than one a year, and submits them to his publisher, sometimes years later, when he lacks other ideas. I believe that, in the introduction to that one, King admits to doing the same.
A lot of my physical books I intend to buy either as Kobo or Kindle editions, in order to reduce weight. Last time I moved, I had somewhere between 15-20 boxes of books. It was insane. I am never doing that again. I've reduced the books I'm keeping to one bookcase, and most of those are either sets, which look so nice together - like Gollancz Sci-fi and Fantasy Masterworks, or my Point Horrors - or books which were simply never made available as digital editions, like Marlys Millhiser's The Mirror, or William Sleator's Singularity, both are which are awesome, and which I highly recommend.
I also have a collected edition of books published under Richard Bachman's name, Bachman being King's pseudonym. I intend to keep those because they include Rage, which King and his publishers are no longer comfortable with republishing. Rage is about a school shooter, and its similarity to actual school shooters is what makes King so uncomfortable.
I was going to write about how expensive old copies of Rage are to buy, which is still sort of true; new editions of the original run go for over a thousand, while used copies are over £200. But Rage appears to be included in the Kindle Edition of The Bachman Books - it's not so clear from the description, but the 'look inside' option shows the introduction from the edition I have, and mentions Rage as being included. The Kindle edition goes for £5.99. Since I already have a copy, I won't be buying it, but that's still pretty interesting to know. Plus, £5.99 is a steal for four Stephen King novels in one.
Anyway; I'll be reading in the order published rather than the order written, so here's the list, courtesy of wikipedia. Books I've read before are bolded - all the rest will be new to me. I absolutely intend to read other books between these - including trying to get my unread pile down - so this will take a while.
Carrie - 1974
'Salem's Lot - 1975
The Shining - 1977
Rage - 1977
Night Shift - 1978
The Stand - 1978
The Long Walk - 1979
The Dead Zone - 1979
Firestarter - 1980
Roadwork - 1981
Danse Macabre - 1981
Cujo - 1981
The Running Man - 1982
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - 1982
Creepshow - 1982
Different Seasons - 1982
Christine - 1983
Pet Sematary - 1983
Cycle of the Werewolf - 1983
The Talisman - 1984
Thinner - 1984
Skeleton Crew - 1985
It - 1986
The Eyes of the Dragon - 1987
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three - 1987
Misery - 1987
The Tommyknockers - 1987
Nightmares in the Sky - 1988
The Dark Half - 1989
Four Past Midnight - 1990
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands - 1991
Needful Things - 1991
Gerald's Game - 1992
Dolores Claiborne - 1992
Nightmares & Dreamscapes - 1993
Insomnia - 1994
Rose Madder - 1995
The Green Mile - 1996
Desperation - 1996
The Regulators - 1996
Six Stories - 1997
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass - 1997
Bag of Bones - 1998
Storm of the Century - 1999
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - 1999
The New Lieutenant's Rap - 1999
Hearts in Atlantis - 1999
Blood and Smoke - 1999
"Riding the Bullet" - 2000
On Writing - 2000
Secret Windows - 2000
The Plant - 2000
Dreamcatcher - 2001
Black House (with Peter Straub) -2001
Everything's Eventual - 2002
From a Buick 8 - 2002
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla - 2003
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah - 2004
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower - 2004
Faithful - 2004
The Colorado Kid - 2005
Cell - 2006
Lisey's Story - 2006
Blaze - 2007
Duma Key - 2008
Just After Sunset - 2008
Stephen King Goes to the Movies - 2009
Ur - 2009
Under the Dome - 2009
Blockade Billy - 2010
Full Dark, No Stars - 2010
Mile 81 - 2011
11/22/63 - 2011
American Vampire (with Scott Snyder) - 2011
"Throttle" (with Joe Hill) - 2012
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole - 2012
A Face in the Crowd (with Stewart O'Nan) - 2012
"In the Tall Grass" (with Joe Hill) - 2012
"GUNS" - 2013
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County - 2013
Joyland - 2013
The Dark Man: An Illustrated Poem - 2013
Doctor Sleep - 2013
...so, I just spent the last half hour or so editing that (with a break to go to the library), and, Jesus Christ, what have I let myself in for?
I cut out a few of the reprints - the Salem's Lot and It 25th anniversary editions, for instance - and The Bachman Books collection, since I'll have read everything in it by the time I get there. I have Carrie (and I'm already halfway through), I just borrowed Salem's Lot from the library again (the illustrated 25th anniversary edition, thank you very much), The Shining is in my unread pile, Rage is over on that shelf, and Night Shift is only £3.99 in the Kindle Store. Wish me luck!
King is a little more challenging, for a few reasons. Firstly, he's written almost a book a year since 1974. Secondly, he doesn't publish in chronological order. In one book, a character who's also an author holds on to manuscripts when he writes more than one a year, and submits them to his publisher, sometimes years later, when he lacks other ideas. I believe that, in the introduction to that one, King admits to doing the same.
A lot of my physical books I intend to buy either as Kobo or Kindle editions, in order to reduce weight. Last time I moved, I had somewhere between 15-20 boxes of books. It was insane. I am never doing that again. I've reduced the books I'm keeping to one bookcase, and most of those are either sets, which look so nice together - like Gollancz Sci-fi and Fantasy Masterworks, or my Point Horrors - or books which were simply never made available as digital editions, like Marlys Millhiser's The Mirror, or William Sleator's Singularity, both are which are awesome, and which I highly recommend.
I also have a collected edition of books published under Richard Bachman's name, Bachman being King's pseudonym. I intend to keep those because they include Rage, which King and his publishers are no longer comfortable with republishing. Rage is about a school shooter, and its similarity to actual school shooters is what makes King so uncomfortable.
I was going to write about how expensive old copies of Rage are to buy, which is still sort of true; new editions of the original run go for over a thousand, while used copies are over £200. But Rage appears to be included in the Kindle Edition of The Bachman Books - it's not so clear from the description, but the 'look inside' option shows the introduction from the edition I have, and mentions Rage as being included. The Kindle edition goes for £5.99. Since I already have a copy, I won't be buying it, but that's still pretty interesting to know. Plus, £5.99 is a steal for four Stephen King novels in one.
Anyway; I'll be reading in the order published rather than the order written, so here's the list, courtesy of wikipedia. Books I've read before are bolded - all the rest will be new to me. I absolutely intend to read other books between these - including trying to get my unread pile down - so this will take a while.
Carrie - 1974
'Salem's Lot - 1975
The Shining - 1977
Rage - 1977
Night Shift - 1978
The Stand - 1978
The Long Walk - 1979
The Dead Zone - 1979
Firestarter - 1980
Roadwork - 1981
Danse Macabre - 1981
Cujo - 1981
The Running Man - 1982
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - 1982
Creepshow - 1982
Different Seasons - 1982
Christine - 1983
Pet Sematary - 1983
Cycle of the Werewolf - 1983
The Talisman - 1984
Thinner - 1984
Skeleton Crew - 1985
It - 1986
The Eyes of the Dragon - 1987
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three - 1987
Misery - 1987
The Tommyknockers - 1987
Nightmares in the Sky - 1988
The Dark Half - 1989
Four Past Midnight - 1990
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands - 1991
Needful Things - 1991
Gerald's Game - 1992
Dolores Claiborne - 1992
Nightmares & Dreamscapes - 1993
Insomnia - 1994
Rose Madder - 1995
The Green Mile - 1996
Desperation - 1996
The Regulators - 1996
Six Stories - 1997
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass - 1997
Bag of Bones - 1998
Storm of the Century - 1999
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - 1999
The New Lieutenant's Rap - 1999
Hearts in Atlantis - 1999
Blood and Smoke - 1999
"Riding the Bullet" - 2000
On Writing - 2000
Secret Windows - 2000
The Plant - 2000
Dreamcatcher - 2001
Black House (with Peter Straub) -2001
Everything's Eventual - 2002
From a Buick 8 - 2002
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla - 2003
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah - 2004
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower - 2004
Faithful - 2004
The Colorado Kid - 2005
Cell - 2006
Lisey's Story - 2006
Blaze - 2007
Duma Key - 2008
Just After Sunset - 2008
Stephen King Goes to the Movies - 2009
Ur - 2009
Under the Dome - 2009
Blockade Billy - 2010
Full Dark, No Stars - 2010
Mile 81 - 2011
11/22/63 - 2011
American Vampire (with Scott Snyder) - 2011
"Throttle" (with Joe Hill) - 2012
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole - 2012
A Face in the Crowd (with Stewart O'Nan) - 2012
"In the Tall Grass" (with Joe Hill) - 2012
"GUNS" - 2013
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County - 2013
Joyland - 2013
The Dark Man: An Illustrated Poem - 2013
Doctor Sleep - 2013
...so, I just spent the last half hour or so editing that (with a break to go to the library), and, Jesus Christ, what have I let myself in for?
I cut out a few of the reprints - the Salem's Lot and It 25th anniversary editions, for instance - and The Bachman Books collection, since I'll have read everything in it by the time I get there. I have Carrie (and I'm already halfway through), I just borrowed Salem's Lot from the library again (the illustrated 25th anniversary edition, thank you very much), The Shining is in my unread pile, Rage is over on that shelf, and Night Shift is only £3.99 in the Kindle Store. Wish me luck!
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