briartherose's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
- The Long Walk: simple premise executed brilliantly. Seriously underrated as far as King stories go.
- Roadwork: not bad. Some interesting stuff about capitalism, but if any other writer's name had been on it I probably never would have picked it up.
- The Running Man: fast-paced, but that's about all it has going for it. A miserable story with a miserable protagonist that you simply cannot sympathise with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
postmodernblues's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
h4wke's review against another edition
4.0
The Long Walk and The Running Man were absolutely fantastic while Roadworks was bland and bloated with occasional sparks of emotional brilliance. Overall most of this collection was good, but maybe skip the middle third.
Also I’m not a detective but I’m pretty sure Stephen King is ghost writing for Richard Bachman... I’ll keep everyone updated on my future findings.
Also I’m not a detective but I’m pretty sure Stephen King is ghost writing for Richard Bachman... I’ll keep everyone updated on my future findings.
akuma_kaoru's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
The Long Walk: 5☆
Roadwork: 1☆
The Running Man: 4☆
Roadwork: 1☆
The Running Man: 4☆
prab's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a collection of 4 novellas. Please find my review for each novella below;
Rage
This is a very disturbing story and I understand fully why Stephen King has allowed this to ran out of print.
This story highlights King’s strength in writing characters. It was impressive how flesh out those characters are in such a short novella.
Verdict: 3.5/5
The Long Walk
Only Stephen King can write a story about 450 miles walk such an interesting story. This is an intense story about pain and trauma which was very well written. Considering the fact that this was written when King was 18 is mind blowing.
Verdict: 4.5/5
Road work
This is the weakest story of the 4. Though I love the depth in which King explore the character, I wasn’t engaged much with the story and felt that it could have moved a little bit faster. This is the only story in this book that I wished it could be shorter.
Verdict: 3/5
The Running Man
What a thrilling story! The fact that it was written in 1982 was crazy. I can clearly see why people are saying that the Hunger Game is a ripped off version of this story.
Verdict: 4/5
Overall: 3.75/5
Rage
This is a very disturbing story and I understand fully why Stephen King has allowed this to ran out of print.
This story highlights King’s strength in writing characters. It was impressive how flesh out those characters are in such a short novella.
Verdict: 3.5/5
The Long Walk
Only Stephen King can write a story about 450 miles walk such an interesting story. This is an intense story about pain and trauma which was very well written. Considering the fact that this was written when King was 18 is mind blowing.
Verdict: 4.5/5
Road work
This is the weakest story of the 4. Though I love the depth in which King explore the character, I wasn’t engaged much with the story and felt that it could have moved a little bit faster. This is the only story in this book that I wished it could be shorter.
Verdict: 3/5
The Running Man
What a thrilling story! The fact that it was written in 1982 was crazy. I can clearly see why people are saying that the Hunger Game is a ripped off version of this story.
Verdict: 4/5
Overall: 3.75/5
breeisreading_'s review against another edition
3.0
Rage - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I had wanted to read this for years, especially more so since I found out as a young teen that this had been found in the locker of one of the guys who committed the Columbine massacre and that got this book banned (if I’m remembering correctly). Honestly, it was less subversive than I expected so I was a little disappointed; mostly long rambling speeches about everything wrong with the poor protagonists life, although I found the reactions of his classmates very interesting and it did examine the psyche of a school shooter well.
The Long Walk - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I ended up getting bored in the middle of this one, it was definitely too long and could have done so much more with the concept and the world created, but instead King just let us see inside the mind of a horny teenager whose only thoughts seemed to be about sex. The relationships between the boys were great though.
Roadwork - ⭐️⭐️ - This one nearly did me in, literally nothing happens! It is boring until basically the last 10 or so pages.
The Running Man - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I’ve just reviewed it separately so won’t go into detail but definitely the most action packed of the collection, the world King created was so interesting, and I loved that it was set in 2025 as a reader in 2023. We’re closer to the dystopia King created than I think he would believe if you’d have told him back in the 70s.
——
An interesting collection that is clearly King, but slightly falls flat by overly long, drawn out stories that could be much shorter.
The Long Walk - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I ended up getting bored in the middle of this one, it was definitely too long and could have done so much more with the concept and the world created, but instead King just let us see inside the mind of a horny teenager whose only thoughts seemed to be about sex. The relationships between the boys were great though.
Roadwork - ⭐️⭐️ - This one nearly did me in, literally nothing happens! It is boring until basically the last 10 or so pages.
The Running Man - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I’ve just reviewed it separately so won’t go into detail but definitely the most action packed of the collection, the world King created was so interesting, and I loved that it was set in 2025 as a reader in 2023. We’re closer to the dystopia King created than I think he would believe if you’d have told him back in the 70s.
——
An interesting collection that is clearly King, but slightly falls flat by overly long, drawn out stories that could be much shorter.