Rating: 
Summary: Exhaustive resource of The Master¿s work
Review: Stephen King is one of the most prolific authors of American 20th-21st century literature, hands down. With approximately 300 million books in print worldwide and more than 30 book titles to his name (to say nothing of screenplays and adaptations), he enjoys a popularity that is unrivaled by any other contemporary author. His books have been made into movies, audio versions, and e-books. As of this writing, there are at least 3 more screenplays in the works and at least that many new novels on the horizon.What makes Mr. King different from many other authors is how interconnected all his works are. The same characters pop up in different, seemingly unrelated works: the evil Randall Flagg, for example, is a pivotal character in both "The Stand" and "Eyes of the Dragon". Minor characters are constantly turning up and playing bit roles in his fiction. The main thrust of "The Stephen King Universe" (abbreviated as SKU by the authors themselves) is to explore just how interconnected the works of Mr. King are. They submit that Mr. King envisions more than one reality than just the one we live in (called the "prime reality"), but the gateways between these worlds is starting to break down, allowing people and things to cross over from one to the other. At the heart of this multiverse (multiple universes) is The Dark Tower: the axis on which all other realities (including ours) rotate. The authors classify the works of Mr. King into different categories, each one of which is examined in depth. For example, "The Dark Tower" discusses the books in that series as well as characters who are drawn in from other works: Ted Brautigan is a renegade Breaker in the book, "Hearts in Atlantis", for example. The fictional town of Derry, Maine, is a common setting for a lot of King's works, including "It" and "The Sun Dog", and stories that take place there are noted in a separate chapter. Other King fans have noted that this book has some errors in it. Though I've read about 85% of the works of Mr. King, I myself have found this book only helpful and revealing to the SKU, noticing more interconnections in his works than outright errors. The casual King fan or the Constant Reader (King's term for followers and fans) will likely find this book more helpful than not as well. I did find some of the writing a bit disorganized, however, and if I have a complaint it is that, and not any factual confusion on the part of the authors. Their writing often veers around from poetical to technical, and a paragraph eloquently discussing the world of the Tower might be followed up by a paragraph dense with references to characters and events from a short story in "Skeleton Crew." This makes for some confusing reading, making one feel like they're casually discussing the underpinnings of a different universe, only to be hammered with bit characters from a story 15 years ago. It's interesting to note that they're all related-- "Hearts in Atlantis" was published three years after the last Dark Tower book, but there is clearly a connection there-- but the authors sometimes seem more interested in making every connection between every different book, even if it's attached by gossamer threads, than they are in truly exploring and theorizing on the different universes of Mr. King. Prior to reading this work, I was deeply impressed with Mr. King and had noticed only a few, obvious connections between works (the above-mentioned "Hearts..." being one). Having read The SKU, I now notice so many MORE connections and am more impressed than ever with Mr. King's mind. The SKU is a worthwhile book, then, but I fear quite a few folk will find it frustrating or lacking, either in fact or in style. Still, it's worth a glance through while you're waiting for the next work of Mr. King to come out.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good, Watch Out for Spoilers
Review: The authors do a great job of showing the links between the various Stephen King books and giving some insight into Stephen King's worlds. Anyone who is a devoted Stephen King fan should have this book. If you are a fan, you will have noticed that almost all King's books have connections to several other of King's works. This book will help you remember the links and will also be a helpful resource if you are reading a book King publishes in the future and you think there is a link to an earlier work but can't put your finger on it because this book also provides short synopses and descriptions of the main characters of every book, screenplay and published short story. This book will also give you a clue about which Stephen King books you must read. However, you have to be careful while reading about a book or story you haven't read yet. This book tells the complete story, including the ending of all the King works. Thus, if you think you might want to read a book after reading the first couple of paragraphs about the book, stop reading the chapter and buy the book. Otherwise, the ending will be spoiled for you. Finally, for fans of the Dark Tower series, even if they are not yet devoted King readers, or devoted readers of King's non-Dark Tower series this will be a very interesting book. It will show you how King is connecting his works through the Dark Tower series and should get you interested in other King works. And a postscript: The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because of a couple of editing errors (e.g., in discussing It, the book mentions at one point that Mike Hanlon lives in Derry still and then at another point, mistakenly says that he lives in Nebraska--which is actually where Ben now lives).
Rating:
Summary: Very Good, Watch Out for Spoilers
Review: The authors do a great job of showing the links between the various Stephen King books and giving some insight into Stephen King's worlds. Anyone who is a devoted Stephen King fan should have this book. If you are a fan, you will have noticed that almost all King's books have connections to several other of King's works. This book will help you remember the links and will also be a helpful resource if you are reading a book King publishes in the future and you think there is a link to an earlier work but can't put your finger on it because this book also provides short synopses and descriptions of the main characters of every book, screenplay and published short story. This book will also give you a clue about which Stephen King books you must read. However, you have to be careful while reading about a book or story you haven't read yet. This book tells the complete story, including the ending of all the King works. Thus, if you think you might want to read a book after reading the first couple of paragraphs about the book, stop reading the chapter and buy the book. Otherwise, the ending will be spoiled for you. Finally, for fans of the Dark Tower series, even if they are not yet devoted King readers, or devoted readers of King's non-Dark Tower series this will be a very interesting book. It will show you how King is connecting his works through the Dark Tower series and should get you interested in other King works. And a postscript: The only reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because of a couple of editing errors (e.g., in discussing It, the book mentions at one point that Mike Hanlon lives in Derry still and then at another point, mistakenly says that he lives in Nebraska--which is actually where Ben now lives).
Rating:
Summary: King's "Constant Readers" Won't Find Anything New
Review: The Stephen King Universe is a pretty decent attempt to consolidate all of the best-selling Author's stories and characters into one cohesive "Universe", I.E. all of his stories and characters exist in the same reality, and the various struggles between good and evil that King relates are all skirmishes leading to the eventual war that will be fought for control of the mythical Dark Tower. (Comic Book fans are familiar with this type of scheme- The Marvel Universe, The DC Universe, et al....)Sounds good. There are a few problems, though: 1)- Die-Hard King fans, like me, already know pretty much everything they have to say in this book. That's ok, though. Sometimes it's nice just to see that someone else agrees with you. 2)- There are some glaring errors, most of which other reviewers have spoken about, so I won't. (Well....just one! It drove me NUTS that they say on one page that Mike Hanlon, from IT, lives in Hemingford Home, Nebraska. A few pages later he lives in Derry. Come on, guys...Where's the Editor? There are a LOT of little things like that.) 3)- Towards the end of the book, the Authors seem to just lose interest in tying all King's work together, and just start summarizing stories. The Richard Bachman chapter especially suffered from this.... King Fans will probably find The Stephen King Universe a pleasant way to spend a few hours, kind of like a trip down memory lane. Everyone else should probably just go right to the source, and pick up one of Mr. King's books. Ain't nothing like the real thing.....
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but flawed
Review: This book begins with a fascinating, revelatory concept -- that all of Stephen King's fiction is telling one massive story about the eternal struggle between good and evil (or, in King parlance, the Purpose and the Random) -- and then proceeds to expound upon just how that is the case. And when the authors stick to their thesis, they are on solid ground. However, the book is flawed in more ways than one, and as such I can't give it any praise but faint praise. For one thing, the book's thesis virtually disappears about halfway through, and the result is about two hundred pages that don't amount to much more than plot summary. For another, even in the sections that really deal with the question of a King Mythos, there is never any sort of summation, never a conclusion as to What It All Means. And for criticism to really work, a conclusion is necessary; it isn't enough to point interesting things out, you have to show why they're interesting in the first place. I don't think the authors succeeded in that respect. Perhaps this is worth your time, but if you really want to explore the Stephen King universe, you should just go straight to the source. Oh, and if you haven't read the novels, then by all means, avoid this book, as there is a spoiler in practically every sentence.
Rating: 
Summary: The Stephen King Universe is unbeatable
Review: This book gives away most of Stephen King's stories and endings in a brilliantly described way and gives a lot of interesting information about him. Unfortunately there are a few errors.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful... writers have no clue what they're talking about.
Review: This book is awful. First of all, major errors galore. One example: THE STAND. They say Harold Lauder went to Las Vegas... no. Last time I checked, he lost control of his motorcycle (courtesy of Flagg) and went down a hill, where he broke several bones and later commited suicide. They also wrote down Nadine Cross, as a sad, poor character. They forgot to mention she planted the bomb (they only say Harold did the deed.) They do profiles on minor characters (Ace High; this character is mentioned, like 8 times at the highest in the book. He does nothing) yet exclude characters such as Dayna Jurgens (she was one of the three spies sent to Las Vegas; a MAJOR part of the book) Also, someone wrote a review saying how he liked the book said that King is writing a meganovel finale that ties up all his previous works. (basically, assorted villians from King's works team up and assorted heroes from King's works team up, and the two groups fight.) Besides sounding so cheesy it belongs in something like Power Rangers, they mention characters from both sides which can't fight; they're dead! They spoil the plot in pratically each book (probably ruining it for new readers who checked it out to see which books are good). Want to read a good book? The Stephen King Compendium. No spoilers, yet sufficient info, good quotes, no false info, no errors... just don't waste your money on this...
Rating: 
Summary: Kind of amusing
Review: This book tries to link together everything in Stephen King's books. Sometimes it tries too hard. Like finding a character name from one book simply mentioned in another. Not too mind-blowing. Some of the interconnections were intersting, but overall nothing to write home (or a book) about.
Rating:
Summary: Kind of amusing
Review: This book tries to link together everything in Stephen King's books. Sometimes it tries too hard. Like finding a character name from one book simply mentioned in another. Not too mind-blowing. Some of the interconnections were intersting, but overall nothing to write home (or a book) about.
Rating:
Summary: A great reference book
Review: This is a reference book, an insider's guide to King's work. There is no other book on the market at the moment that equals this one.
| 
