The Stand
By Stephen King
Really tried, but couldn't stick with it. The stories were somewhat compelling, but there was just too much exposition that didn't seem relevant to the story overrall. I don't always consider that a bad thing, but didn't find that it was worth the cost in the end.
Also, it seemed so odd to me that even as people were clearly dying from a plague that was highly contagious, characters still consistently seemed to seek out other people while taking no precautions like masks or distancing. I guess that's the hindsight that Covid provides us now, but it made the book less believable.
And on that note, I found the supernatural elements to be unnecessary. There was so much to draw from already - lab leak, government cover-up and misinformation, apocolypse, dissolution of society, etc. that the fantastical elements were a bit overkill. But I'm willing to concede that perhaps it would have all made sense in the end if I could have stuck to it.
Tags:
DNF1200 pages
Published Aug 6, 2012 by Vintage
Fiction - Horror - General
Fiction - Thrillers - Suspense
Fiction - Science Fiction - Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic