Liver&Onions

http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/book...ing/index.html

The prolific King of Horror said as much in an
interview in Sunday's Los Angeles Times.

After he publishes five more books, two of which
already are scheduled for 2002 -- including a
collection of short stories -- as well as work on
a limited series for ABC, he's ending his career
in publishing, he said.

"Then that's it. I'm done. Done writing books,"
he told the Times' Kim Murphy.

Why? he was asked.

"You get to a point where you get to the edges
of a room, and you can go back and go where
you've been and basically recycle stuff," he said.

Referring to the novel "From a Buick Eight,"
scheduled for release in the fall, he noted, "I've seen it in my own work. People when they read
'Buick Eight' are going to think 'Christine.' It's about a car that's not normal, OK?"


I sure as hell hope he finishes off the Dark Tower Series as part of the last 5... 3 more are due.

BigPete

I just saw that, too. For my money, i don't know if there is a better story teller out there right now ...

renaldow

'Jeez, Mr. King. You reached that point about 12 years ago,' the interviewer replied.

CharlesC

He is definitely going to need some heavy security if he doesn't finish the Dark Tower series.

The Antipodean

I take these "retirement" stories with a serious grain of salt until they're confirmed by the subject. Remember Anthony Hopkins retiring, or Elton John retiring? Untrue in the end.

Still, if he does, I do hope The Dark Tower gets finished first.

While "Dreamcatcher" was just OK and I didn't watch "Rose Red" (I don't think there's been but a handful of his TV/Movie projects that I've liked), "Black House" was fantastic and "On Writing" another great book.

We'll see, I guess...

detox2009

lately his books have sucked horribly. i love it when he writes horror novels, not pre teen novels involving boning chics and ****in playing games. get to the god damn point and start writing about evil clowns again. It II

Alien Redrum

Didn't he say something similar right before he got hit by the car?

-Steve

Dr. Dean

I think his latest books have been amoung his best...Desparation/ Regulators (Excellent), The girl who loved Tom Gordon (Good), Hearts in atlantis (excellent), DreamCatcher (Good), Bag of Bones (Excellent), The Green Mile (Extremely Excellent), and the list goes on...I think his work has gotten better since the Gerald's Game years...And The Dark Tower series is the ultimate of them all (including Insomnia)

tor_greg

I want the sequel to The Eyes of the Dragon that's hinted at in the text.

Christo

I'm definitely in the right place. Upon seeing the thread title, the Dark Tower series was the first thing I thought of too. He can finish that series for me in one of two ways: writing books that I can purchase in a bookstore or telling me in person as I stand in his doorway in a frustrated and threatening manner.

I'm glad to hear Black House is fantastic. Is it necessary/worthwhile to read The Talisman first? I have a tough time with his self-proclaimed "diarrhea of the mouth." Insomnia had some great stuff in it but I think it could have been cut in half.

As for retirement, the man writes like you and I breath. It's hard to believe he could quit one without quitting the other.

JAA

It is always beneficial if you read a first installment before a sequel. Why would you want to bypass it?

Alien Redrum

I re-read The Talisman before I read Black House and I was glad I did. There was a lot I had forgotten from The Talisman and I enjoyed it more the second time around.

-Steve

ziggy

I always wonder when people say that his new stuff sucks - I wonder if they are calling Needful Things or The Tommyknockers "new" stuff, or if they just have bad taste. I had a few problems with the green mile and I didn't care for The Regulaters too much. The plot was a little odd in Dreamcatcher. Otherwise everything he has written in the past decade (or nearly that long) has been great. Hearts in Atlantis is freakin' beautiful to me. I'm glad one of his next five (last five, I doubt) is a short story book. His short stories are great. Does anyone know about Clive Barker's short stories? I've read most of his novels but haven't read any of the short stories - are they any good?

Josh-da-man

True, but publication order is generally more preferable.

Isaac Asimov published his Foundation books out of order. Chronological order is as follows: Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation, Foundation, Foundation & Empire, Second Foundation, Foundation's Edge, and Foundation and Earth.

Publication order is: Foundation, Foundation & Empire, Second Foundation, Foundation's Edge, Foundation and Earth, Prelude to Foundation, and Forward the Foundation. This is, as far I'm concerned, the preferable reading order of the books.

If you read the two "Prelude" books before the rest of the series, it will spoil certain things in the latter books.

Josh-da-man

Some are excellent. Some are good. Some are duds. They're spread over the six Books of Blood: Books of Blood 1-3, The Inhuman Condition, In the Flesh, and Cabal.

The first three Books of Blood are probably the best, though not all of the stories are that great. The first three BoB have "Midnight Meat Train," "Pig Blood Blues," "In the Hills, the Cities," "Skins of the Fathers," "Rawhead Rex," and "The Yattering and Jack."

kvrdave

He may slow down, but he won't stop. There will always be a story that writes itself that he puts on paper in the future.

Mister Beefhead

The thing that makes me nervous is that he specifies retiring from publishing, not writing. His big fans know that he will never be able to stop writing, but I think he has the resolve to stop publishing.

Oh well, here's hoping it's not true.