Rating: 
Summary: Stephen King's Best Novel
Review: This book takes the classic story of good vs. evil and puts a new and terrifying spin on it. In light of the Anthrax outbreaks in the United States and the other threats (however overexaggerated) of bioterrorism, I find the idea of a "superflu" particularly mortifying. Once most of the world has died, we join the journeys of several survivors as they converge from around the country onto one of two locations in the West. One in Colorado (the good) and one in Vegas (the evil). The ensuing struggle creates a gripping plot that will not soon be forgotten by the reader. This book came out years ago, but its message rings true even today. Even non-King fans will love this one. It's atypical horror. The only monster is a personification of Satan. It's fiction, yet it could happen. The best kind of fiction there is. A must read for anyone!
Rating:
Summary: The Best of Mr. King's Works
Review: I make it a point to read this book every summer, I love it that much. The concept of good versus evil, God versus the Devil, appeals to us all, I think. Count me as one of the "cult followers" of this book. Exceptional! This is the very best of Mr. King's long list of books.
Rating:
Summary: The Best King Book By Far
Review: I first read The Stand earlier this year, and I have to say, it blew me away! Ive never read a book as lengthy as this one, and ive never read a book as remarkable either. It is a whopper of a novel, but youll barely notice. The characters could all be your neighbors, theyre so realistic. Stephen King isnt just a horror writer, he writes about everyday people like you and me and combines supernatural elements into their world. The Stand is an apocalyptic tale of a group of people, the survivors of a terrible plague, traveling across the world to ban together to stop evil forces and find a new way of life again. Its a good vs. evil type of story that is fast paced and packed with beautiful writing. Its scary, romantic, and chillingly real, when compared to religious beliefs. Reality is frightening at times, and The Stand is about an epic struggle to work together, and stay strong; to make the final stand. Excellent, excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars, you believe that happy (...)?
Review: I became a Stephen King fan the moment I finished The Green Mile. I had read 6 of his books before I began The Stand, and I can safely say that The Stand is his best book so far. The whole mess begins when a US government made superflu kills 99.4% of the world's population. This would leave about 36 million people left on the world, not too many considering how large the Earth is. This story just tells about what happens in the US, so the fates of the global human race is unknown to the reader. The survivors have dreams about two very different individuals. The benevolent Mother Abagail Freemantle and the malevolent Randall Flagg. The remaining people work their way across the country to either one or the other. The ending is not as bad as people say. At first I thought "what was the point of people from the Free Zone going over there if that happened", but then I figured they weakened Flagg to allow the ending to happen the way it did. Even if the ending isn't on par with the rest of the story this book is still Stephen King's masterpiece. Definately in the top 100 of the best fiction books ever. My favorite character...Tom Cullen. M-O-O-N, that spells Tom Cullen.
Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: This is a great book and I recommend it to anybody. But most likely all Stephen King fans have read the book, so this review is for people who are just discovering King or looking for a good book to read. I've read five of King's books, so I am certainly not an expert on his writing. Most of King's books involve horror or the supernatural or other creepy subjects, and that doesn't interest me. But several of his books are first great fiction with just a bit of the supernatural. The Stand falls into that category. Even though it was written about 25 years ago, it has withstood the test of time. The book opens with a super flu infecting the country. We learn about this while meeting several interesting characters. As I read, I thought about the current threat of biological warfare and it made the Stand that much more relevant. King excels in breaking down a worldwide problem into a few individual stories, therefore making the story intimate enough for you to care but broad enough to understand the death and destruction going on. Though long, I kept reading because King allows the reader to role play. What would I do if I was the only survivor in a town that once was home to 30,000 people. King lets you follow along as his colorful characters band together to reform a livable society called the Free Zone. But of course there are the bad guys, led by the evil Randall Flagg. Is he human, or a demon or both? Whatever he is, he is forming his own society and you know the societies of Flagg and the Free Zone are going to have to do battle. I don't think it is the primary theme of the story, but King draws heavily from the Bible to create the Stand. The good guys are drawn to Boulder because of a angelic women named Mother Abigail who seems to be one with God. Flagg has obvious ties with the devil and demons and has supernatural powers. Normally, I wouldn't like this because I can't picture a story like the stand being a realistic occurrence in a world governed by the Christian God. To me, the two don't mix. But King, the great author that he is, makes me believe that God just might have a hand in the happenings of the Stand, and I give him credit. It helps that he has given a framework with which to read the story. I guess I read the edited version, so I'm sure I missed out on a lot. But with a story this long, there isn't a surprise, twisting climax at the end like so many stories have today. Instead, King ends with a natural, satisfying conclusion. One more thing. It took me 2 months to read this book. I remember back when I was reading the parts about the flu and characters sneezing and coughing, I found myself turning when hearing someone sneeze in real life. Did they have the super flu? King's characters seem so real to life, that sometimes its hard to separate the two.
Rating: 
Summary: Good apocalypse, not great, but pretty good
Review: The Stand is Stephen King's grand apocalyptic epic. And while perhaps not great literature, it's a very good book. The nearly 1200 pages are well worth reading if you're a fan. Otherwise, I'd steer more towards his shorter books.
Of course, The Stand is about a massive man-made plague wiping out most of humanity, and the survivors having to restart civilization. Simple concept, it's been done before, but of course with King's flare we have an interesting new take on an old idea. And he's quite successful in this undertaking.
King makes the unbelievable seem real through his ability to see both the big picture as well as the minor, little things we see very day but only notice subconsciously--a regular in a coffee shop, a squeeky door, etc. He then populates his world with real characters that, while mostly unmemorable in the long run, are well-constructed and sympathetic. We also have the advantage of seeing them before and after the plague, which brings in some excellent personality development. King's talent for horror comes in handy in many points of this novel, and enjoyably so. From the terrorfying escape of Stu Redman from the government facility, to Larry Underwood's journey through the tunnle of the dead, and even Harold Lauder's chilling expressions, King brings the frightening situation to the reader while still not making The Stand into a horror novel.
While most of my complaints dissipated as the novel went on, I do have three specific problems with it. Not the length, mind you, which is mostly superficial and shouldn't bother anyone who enjoys reading. First of all, there is a strong conservative bent within the story, sometimes subtle, sometimes painfully obvious. This bias might not always be present, but when it is it can be quite distracting. Second, Flagg is not a good protagonist. I realized this when I saw that the dreams and the thought of him were more threatening than the actual person. Maybe if we saw more of him, I'd think differently, but as it stands he just wasn't frightening enough. Third, the supernatural element might have been essential to the story, but oftentimes King seems to use it as an excuse to take the easy way out. Yet, none of these grievances ultimately diminishes the book. If the length doesn't bother you I don't see why you wouldn't enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Stephen King ever
Review: Stephen King is often telling stories about the Good and the Evil. The Stand is one of them. An epic story which, by today's happenings, appears to be so actual, unfortunately.
It's the story of the "day after". But this time, it is after a global contamination by an artificial virus, escaped from a biological research center. Is the story of the reconstruction too, incredibly detailed from a sociological point of view.
And then the story of the battle against the Evil.
Characters are incredibly well defined and vibrant, that you really get inside them. I don't think King has never managed to reach this point again, at least until today.
Long, but not too much, The Stand is "fascinating" and I suggest THIS as the first reading from Stephen King to anyone interested by not yet convinced.
Rating: 
Summary: Stephen Kings The Stand
Review: The Stand takes place in the quiet Texas town of Arnette where a man named Charles Campion crashes into the local Texaco station. When the locals go in to investigate they find Charles wife and kids dead from some kind of strange disease along with Charles who also has the disease. What the locals didn't know was that the disease is extremely contagious and would soon cause a plague over all of America.
Later in the book King introduces other characters such as Fran Goldsmith who recently became pregnant, Larry Underwood a cracked-out musician who wants to put his life back together, Mother Abigail a 108 year old woman, Nick Andros a deaf-mute wanderer, Harold Lauder, a young boy, Lloyd Henreied a criminal and the list goes on.
As the book goes on you see these characters come together and have complications as many characters pass on. You watch America fall apart while seeing them rise up and over the plague to fight the realities of an empty world and fight evil.
The ending of The Stand will not be revealed because you shouldn't read it from my hastily written review but from the mastermind himself, Stephen King. Steve d. 1st period.
Rating:
Summary: If you want a super-epic, here's what you're looking for.
Review: **contains spoilers** In my personal opinion, this is King's second best book to date; the top honors go to NEEDFUL THINGS. But while that book has the feel of an action film, this is more like a true epic (think "The Godfather"). King creates a superb cast of characters. Will you root for the good guys such as Stu Redman and Nick Andros? Yes, but you can't help but like most of the 'villains.' Lloyd Henreid, Harold Lauder and all the rest turn out to be surprisingly sympathetic characters. They aren't really bad, just a little. The only one you really hate is the dark man Randall Flagg. And you hate him not just for the misery he causes the heroes, but the way he takes the 'villains'--any of whom could have turned good--and made sure to keep them on the dark side. Some people call this novel too long, and for them it may indeed be. But I am a super-fast reader. This book may take many people weeks, but I was able to finish it in the space of a single day. That attests to not only my reading ability, but also to King's writing ability. The 'journey home' sequence from Las Vegas--featuring Stu Redman and Tom Cullen--in particular kept me hooked. THE STAND didn't scare me; but no book has since I was 9. However, it did grip me to my seat. Highest possible recommendation!
Rating:
Summary: An awesome and thought provoking book
Review: I have been a Stephen King fan for quite a while, and I must say that this book really takes the cake. At first glance it can be a bit intimidating because it is so long, so I put off reading it for years...But finally I just dug right in and...'wow' is all I can say. This is definately Stephen King at his finest, probably better than the whole Dark Tower series put together, and that is really saying something. And it's not just the story, which could stand all by itself even with crappy writing. His choice of words continue to amaze and delight me. I have a new favorite line in literature now: "...he had thought her conversation seemed like a careless spray of diamonds on the green felt of a billiard table." (chapter 35) How beautiful is that line?!! And so poignant.
This story is about a U.S. government-bred disease that breaks out into the unsuspecting public, and within weeks kills off 99.9% of the world's population. The remaining survivors in the U.S. flock either to Mother Abigail (the epitome of goodness), or Randall Flagg (evil incarnate). What results is the ulimate battle between good and evil. Although the climax of the book is a bit dissapointing at first("I read 1,000+ pages for THAT!!??"), it doesn't matter because the preceding 1,000 pages tell such a marvalous story that you can't help but not mind too much about the climax.
The characters are so real you really think you know them and feel what they are feeling. You find yourself feeling sorry for sorry characters (Harold), and disgusted with yourself for having originally liked a character that you shouldn't have (Nadine), and crying tears over simple, good old fashioned heroism (Tom Cullen).
This is a book that everyone needs to read in their lifetime, whether they are a Stephen King fan or not. It is not horror, per se, but more science fiction/philosophical. Five stars!
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