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jena_33's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jenmat1197's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the story of a small town in Maine. A big winter storm is coming and the town is deep in preparations. The news is telling them that this will be the biggest storm for their area in a century and they should prepare for the worst. A man named Linoge has arrived in town, killing one of its oldest residents. He let's himself get arrested. He tells the constable and the other residents that he has come to the island for a reason. If he gets what he wants, he will go away. But unspeakable things start to happen before Linoge agrees to tell the town what he wants. And what will happen to all of them if he doesn't get it.
This was a great book. This has always been one of my favorite Stephen King mini series, and I understand that came first and then this book. He wrote it as a screen play, and that is what this book is. I ended up watching the movie along with my reading and it is almost word for word the same. It is well written, and a well told story. It is creepy and a good horror novel. The characters you are supposed to love, you do. The ones you are to hate - you do that too. It has a nice ending with a future look at the towns folk. I would say for me this takes a close second behind The Stand as far as quality for King's books.
avrorae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
erhyka's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
constant_reader_19's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Okay…this book/screenplay was so good until the last 20 pages. The end…WTF!
kaylovestoread's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jimhart3000's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
hakimbriki's review against another edition
4.0
Stephen King : So, what do you think ?
Constant Reader X : This is quite unusual. A movie script ? I love it. So, I have a few ideas as to why Linoge is toying with these poor people.
Stephen King : You do ?
Constant Reader X : I do. I read all your books, and at a certain point, sorry to say but you become quite predictable.
Stephen King : I do ?
Constant Reader X : Let's put it to the test!
...
Stephen King : So, what's the gist ?
Constant Reader X : It appears as if I have underestimated your abilities sir.
Stephen King : Some people do.
Constant Reader X : This is quite unusual. A movie script ? I love it. So, I have a few ideas as to why Linoge is toying with these poor people.
Stephen King : You do ?
Constant Reader X : I do. I read all your books, and at a certain point, sorry to say but you become quite predictable.
Stephen King : I do ?
Constant Reader X : Let's put it to the test!
...
Stephen King : So, what's the gist ?
Constant Reader X : It appears as if I have underestimated your abilities sir.
Stephen King : Some people do.
tcgarback's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
⭐️⭐️💫
Critical Score: C+
Personal Score: C
From a hugely famous author, with such an exciting title, and the screenplay sold commercially, Storm of the Century warrants so much hype. But it doesn’t deliver on the suspense and epic drama I hoped for. The story is too plain and full of cheesy tropes. It just lacks…a lot. I felt nothing watching this—no dread, no coziness, no amusement. It’s just so bleh.
And don’t get me wrong; it has its moments. This story isn’t terrible. And a lot of people love this miniseries, so obviously there’s something there that I’m missing.
Really, my opinion just shows how good King’s prose is by virtue of how much his typical strengths are missed in this screenplay. The characters lack depth, the themes are shallow, the atmosphere is underwritten. King is no great screenwriter; he’s a natural novelist.
This is more of an issue with the show itself rather than the screenplay, but the guy who plays the villain comes across as a dollar store Hannibal Lector. It distracted me and left a hole where I wanted an awesome villain.
Also, the wizard and fantasy stuff is so misplaced here and translates to the screen as hokey as I feared. Plus, the more I think about the wizard’s actions throughout, the more contrived the whole plot feels.
It’s entirely too long.
Now to the ending. (Spoilers) The dilemma in the last act is so easy that I didn’t resonate with the conflict; like obviously giving up one kid to live with the wizard is better than murdering literally the entire island…so dumb. Yet, this portion of the screenplay was kind of riveting in the moment.
Reading the screenplay was at times an empty experience, which is to be expected because screenplays aren’t meant to be read. But I liked being able to move through the slow-paced story more quickly. On the other hand, watching the show was the complete experience and made some things click for me that felt confusing on the page.
King was restrained in content, structure, and effects because this was written for network television. Maybe Storm of the Century would have worked a lot better as a novel. I guess we’ll never know.
Critical Score: C+
Personal Score: C
From a hugely famous author, with such an exciting title, and the screenplay sold commercially, Storm of the Century warrants so much hype. But it doesn’t deliver on the suspense and epic drama I hoped for. The story is too plain and full of cheesy tropes. It just lacks…a lot. I felt nothing watching this—no dread, no coziness, no amusement. It’s just so bleh.
And don’t get me wrong; it has its moments. This story isn’t terrible. And a lot of people love this miniseries, so obviously there’s something there that I’m missing.
Really, my opinion just shows how good King’s prose is by virtue of how much his typical strengths are missed in this screenplay. The characters lack depth, the themes are shallow, the atmosphere is underwritten. King is no great screenwriter; he’s a natural novelist.
This is more of an issue with the show itself rather than the screenplay, but the guy who plays the villain comes across as a dollar store Hannibal Lector. It distracted me and left a hole where I wanted an awesome villain.
Also, the wizard and fantasy stuff is so misplaced here and translates to the screen as hokey as I feared. Plus, the more I think about the wizard’s actions throughout, the more contrived the whole plot feels.
It’s entirely too long.
Now to the ending. (Spoilers) The dilemma in the last act is so easy that I didn’t resonate with the conflict; like obviously giving up one kid to live with the wizard is better than murdering literally the entire island…so dumb. Yet, this portion of the screenplay was kind of riveting in the moment.
Reading the screenplay was at times an empty experience, which is to be expected because screenplays aren’t meant to be read. But I liked being able to move through the slow-paced story more quickly. On the other hand, watching the show was the complete experience and made some things click for me that felt confusing on the page.
King was restrained in content, structure, and effects because this was written for network television. Maybe Storm of the Century would have worked a lot better as a novel. I guess we’ll never know.