This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides — or are chosen. A world in … world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail — and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.
In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.
Now Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral comlexity of a true epic.
For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King’s gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.
From the Hardcover edition.
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This is a great book. And it’s fantasy. BookBub lists it as Science Fiction, which is just wrong. Unless of course your definition of science fiction includes books like The Bible. Listing this as Science Fiction could only be the conclusion of a person that doesn’t understand Science Fiction or doesn’t care about the difference between science fiction and fantasy.
It’s irksome enough that booksellers lump fantasy and science fiction together, like there’s not enough difference between the genres to bother about. Sigh.
At least at the time it was written, a science fiction story must present a fig leaf of plausibility that roots the story in the “it might actually happen” category. It can’t simply describe miraculous things or occurrences.
I remember reading this in one week-end, could not put it down. Stephen King writes the BEST characters, I always feel like i know them. No movie has ever done this boom justice.
Classic Stephen King epic. Must read. Well portrayed good vs evil with great characters and plots.
A little dated now – racism and sexism abound, but if you can reimagine yourself in the time King wrote this instead of now, you’ll be better off with this book. Has a lot of meaning for our day and age too.
King’s best book. If you are an avid reader you will notice converging characters and themes from many of his worlds. The wheel of ka spins for us all…
This is the book the made me come back to Stephen King over and over again.
In humble opinion one of his best.
This is a classic. I’ve read it several times over the years and always enjoy it.
The end of the world with a twist you don’t see coming. Watch out for the Trash Man!
The book goes much deeper than the made for TV mini-series, and I mean really deep!
Of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of books I’ve read this is the best example of good versus evil. It also happens to be my favorite book ever.
Read it years ago and is one of my favorites. This is the standard for dystopian stories IMO.
Good vs Evil as only Stephen King could bring it to life.
I read the stand when I was a teenager… and never stopped. The book is an amazing tale of a world gone dark, with those left to pick up the rubble fighting for not only their own lives but the fate of humanity. A brilliant study in people at their best, worst, and the struggles in between. Plus, King fans will find it to be one of the lynchpins to his world of novels and novellas. A must-read, soon-to-be classic.
Twists and turns, thought provoking, couldn’t stop reading it.
This book is one of my all-time favorites. Couldn’t put it down & then had to figure out how to get to bed without turning off lights behind me!
The Stand was a re-read for me and I did so because I wanted to compare it to Robert McCammon’s excellent novel “Swan Song”. So now this review will become a comparison in some aspects which may help somebody to decide to check out McCammon’s work as he is surprisingly underrated and unheralded. The Stand has always been one of my favorite books, but after reading Swan Song I can honestly say that King’s extended version of The Stand may have been too much. There is a lot to be said for character depth and world-building, however the extended version of The Stand adds to neither. Instead, the extended version feels a bit bloated and slows down what would otherwise be a faster paced novel. This slowing of pace is also magnified as the ending is not a climactic experience, but rather a winding down of both story and characters. I’m not sure if the original version of The Stand can be found (old copies on Amazon / eBay perhaps), but I’m a bit curious to experience that read as I imagine it could be even better. For what it’s worth, The Stand is an excellent novel and did a great job of creating a believable situation of end-of-the-world as we know it. As a direct comparison to Swan Song, the extended version of The Stand might fall slightly behind McCammon’s work. With bloated material cut out, The Stand might push slightly ahead. Either way, you can’t go wrong with either. The Stand (extra pages and all) is still a very fun, page-turning read that I think readers will enjoy. Highly recommended, especially as a back-to-back reading challenge with Swan Song.
The Stand was a fabulous story. It was unlike most of the books Steven King had written. It had depth. I have been reading Steven King for many years. He is a great author, usually quite dark and scary. This story is more real.
Good vs/ evil. But not just that , much much more!
The first and best book Stephen wrote. Can’t wait to reread
Best horror book ever, well how about apocalyptic book ever? I love King’s books and this one was one of my all-time favorites. I love a big thick book you can really sink your teeth into so to say lol and this was one of the best! Loved it. Love how King makes his charecters so real!
One of my all time favorite reads