Christopher

If someone was interested in Stephen King, I'd send them to the Gunslinger first. I feel it's his best work. If someone was already familiar with the Gunslinger books, I'd send them to "It" first and then, maybe "The Stand."As far as giant, epic stories go, it has all of the elements. But, it ends in a less satisfying way than I hoped.

Absolutely! He's extremely entertaining!

Tom Cullen.

Not exactly. No.

Overall, it's a fun ride. The overall story is so big and tries to wrap itself around so many characters, that it could have easily been turned into multiple books, each examining the events of the Stand from a different perspective.Instead, the cast grows and grows and grows. King himself felt that this was the biggest flaw of "The Stand" and, he was right. With a cast so big, I found it difficult to care for many of the protagonists, just because I could only develop a casual acquaintance with them, rather than a deep understanding.Also, at certain points, I felt the story went a little flat because the main antagonist was examined a little too closely, destroying my sense of mystery and dread about the guy.

Yes. I might.I've found the Dark Tower books to be a work worth going over a few times, partly for enjoyment, partly to study the craft of writing an enjoyable story. As a study of the Gunslinger's world, this story helps to round out a few details. But, personally, I found little in it to contribute to the major story arc of Roland's tale. It was certainly enjoyable.But, like a visit from an old friend ten years absent, it felt awkward. It was as if in our time apart, we (me, the reader, King, the author, as well as Roland's ka-tet) had each grown in our separate lives. And, coming together again, we were all forced to adjust and fit together differently than our usual accustomed places.It took some time to get used to King as a narrator. His performance is always a little caricatured when compared to the rich, nuanced performance George Guidall delivers for the majority of the rest of the series.All in all, I was glad to learn a bit more from Roland's world. But, maybe I was hoping for something else... a Gunslinger with a horn on his belt, for example...

Most of the story was about Tim. So, who else?

Of course. I have. And, many times.

No, not at all.

Whoever produced this audiobook did a HUGE disservice to the fantastic read done by Eli Wallach, injecting moments of horrible music here and there throughout the story.

The music shows up jarringly, spoiling the mood of the story moment and, worse yet, the sound mix is done in a way that seems to favor the god-awful racket rather than the voice actor. Thankfully, my iPhone has a convenient 30 second rewind button because I had to tap the thing several times to catch the lines over the "musical" noise.

I'm only partway into the first section. And, I foresee these musical interludes as something to dread as the book moves along.

If you are a producer of audiobooks, please remember:
1. The read performance comes first.
2. Music, if any, is always secondary and should be low and understated at best.

I get the feeling this producer had made an unsuccessful stab at being a composer for movies or TV and now, people who buy audiobooks that went through his studio must suffer through his attempts at either practice building his demo reel.

In spite of the injection of these musical turds, it's still an enjoyable read by Eli Wallach. If you can grit your teeth through a few painful interludes, it's definitely worth it.

Well-made audiobook of Frank Herbert's classic. Although, I have two major criticisms. First, the switching of parts. As the story progresses, the voice actors change parts in different scenes. I found that off-putting and somewhat confusing. Also, the effects-laden voice of the Baron Harkonen was awful.

Second, Scott Brick. When I first heard his voice poisoning the scenes he was in, I was instantly knocked out of the story. I decided to suck it up and endure, thinking "he's just the voice of Leto... and Leto dies early on!" Sadly, Brick came back voicing other characters even after Duke Leto's death.

After listening to this, I found an old tape version of the book and, although the production quality was worse, the absence of Brick's melodramatic reads made the experience more enjoyable.