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The Stand

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The Stand

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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About this listen

 First came the days of the plague. Then came the dreams. Dark dreams that warned of the coming of the dark man. The apostate of death, his worn-down boot heels tramping the night roads. The warlord of the charnel house and Prince of Evil. His time is at hand. His empire grows in the west and the Apocalypse looms.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are listening to The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.

©1978 Stephen King (P)1978 Random House Audio Ghosts Horror Scary Haunted Dream Royalty

Critic Reviews

'As a storyteller, he is up there in the Dickens class.' ( The Times)
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This is one of my most played audiobooks, the narrator does the book justice and tells the story well. I struggled to read the book myself, now I know what happens.

One of my favourites

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Stephen King's books always have some good ideas and characters... it's just everything else that seems to fall apart. This book is no exception. It really does have some awesome, creatively written, and diabolically evil characters. It has great premise (super-flu epidemic), and it has a captivating supernatural-like good vs evil theme going on. Unfortunately, it is waaay too long. You will get bored. Probably. The book's first 6 hours serve essentially no purpose to the plot and drag the pace back, and the last 2 hours seem like unnecessary filler. Moreover the middle of the book is also a complete drag. Seriously Mr King? Y u no cut the boring bits out? The prose is average at best, there's little-to-no action, and nearly every female character seems really wimpy and cries all the time. I mean, it just gets a little irritating. But again, despite all that, there's still plenty to like about The Stand; it's just I feel it'd be twice as good in half the length.
The narrator does an excellent job, and his accent is pin-point perfect in evoking an image of rural America. He also is excellent in giving different accents for each character.

Has its moments, but its slow pace and length drag it back

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The classic comes to life with superb narration from Grover Gardner. A long but thought provoking journey through the end of days that showcases the human spirit, the good and evil in everybody. This work might be older than I am but it stands up to and kicks the test of time's butt. At times heart wretchedly sad and despairing, its the characters that make this a read you wont forget.

Gripping characters

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It's a long listen but worth it! Narrator is great and the story had me hooked.

Awesome audiobook.

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A bit too blokey for me. The sexism was hilarious. The writer certainly wasn't ahead of his time. it's great if you are looking for a long story to do the ironing

good long story

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