The Running Man – DaneCobain.com

Title: Roadwork

Author: Stephen King

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 264

Rating: 4/5

This is one of those stories that took a while to grow on, but which once I was invested, I really enjoyed. My only real criticism that I’d have for it is that I think it might have worked better if it had been called “Demolition”, but that’s just a matter of personal taste.

I think what King does well here is that he manages to create a sort of antihero that we’re all secretly rooting for because he symbolises the fight between us as individuals and the big companies that dominate our modern lives. It’s arguably more relevant now than it was when it was first published in the 1970s.

I did read this one a little slower than the other stories in the bound up edition of The Bachman Books that I have, and I think this one and Rage are slightly weaker than The Long Walk and The Running Man, the other two. Either way, though, I’d definitely say that it’s worth checking out.

It’s also interesting because Bachman and King have two different writing styles, despite the fact that the two of them are the same person. It’s interesting how King used his alter ego to explore a different style of writing and I think that the Bachman books as a whole are definitely worth reading whether you’re a King fan or not. Roadwork isn’t the best of them, but it is still a damn good entry into King’s epic bibliography.

Click here to buy Roadwork.

Stephen King/Richard Bachman – The Long Walk | Review

Title: The Long Walk

Author: Stephen King/Richard Bachman

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 246

Rating: 4.5/5

The Long Walk has a lot of hype and I’ve heard from quite a few die-hard Stephen King fans that this is one of their favourites of his novels. That meant that I already had high expectations going into it, and while it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting it to be, I still enjoyed it. I especially liked the concept, which is reminiscent of a cross between a battle royal and the forced death marches of the Nazi Party during the final solution.

Basically, the idea is that we have 100 teenage kids who all have to keep walking until there’s only one left standing. If people stop walking or if they fall below a certain pace, they get a bullet to the head. And that’s all you need to know.

My only real complaint about this is the ending, but it’s still better than some of the others that I’ve seen from King and we all know at this point that he’s not the best when it comes to the way he finishes his novels. Here, the journey itself is pretty much the point of the novel, and so it doesn’t really matter. I think I still prefer The Running Man out of the Bachman books, but this is definitely a close second. And I understand why people like it.