King or Koontz

[billc]

I have read a lot of Stephen King and a lot of Dean Koontz. It seems like Dean Koontz is more of an optimist as a writer than is King. What say you?

 

[Big Don]

Never thought of them in those terms. I never liked King. I've read all of Koontz's books but, I won't buy anymore of them. A few books back he forgot how to right a good ending and hasn't in 5 books or so.

 

[Omar B]

Neither. Popular fiction for the masses works for the most part, but when whole climaxes involve a kid praying and then everything works out, I'm out, that's stupid.

But then the horror and similar genres never appealed to me.

 

[billc]

King's early stuff was pretty good. Salem's lot was a great vampire story. Let me try this. Stephen King and Dean Koontz are like Monty Python's flying circus and Fawlty towers. I always thought that Monty's circus wasn't that funny but once in a while they were really funny. Fawlty Towers I thought was more consistently funny than Monty python. King after the first few were not as good. I think Koontz has managed to keep his novels consistently more entertaining than king, although just recently he has lost his mojo. I think Koontz is more of an optimist in that more endings of his books end up on a positive note. I think King ends his novels on more depressing notes.

 

[Omar B]

Don't compare good stuff like Monty Python and Fawlty Towers to garbage like King and Koontz. There's trying to make a point and then there's disrespecting truly good shows.

You think King ends his novels on a depressing note? You think Koontz is more of an optimist? You should be more sure of things like this considering you have read them. Or just looking for an opinion you can link to from another thread.

 

[billc]

Omar, chill, please. I like parts of Monty python, I like faulty towers more. Stephen King's first books were good, but I Like Dean Koontz a little more. Yes, King tends to be a depressing read where as Koontz usually ends on a positive side.

 

[girlbug2]

King is a much better writer than he is popularly given credit for; he also has the rare ability to cross genres seamlessly. I wonder how many people are aware that King wrote The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption?

Koontz, I liked almost as much as King, but he was starting to repeat plotlines about 10 years ago so I dropped him altogether.

 

[mmartist]

King is a much better writer than he is popularly given credit for; he also has the rare ability to cross genres seamlessly. I wonder how many people are aware that King wrote The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption?

Koontz, I liked almost as much as King, but he was starting to repeat plotlines about 10 years ago so I dropped him altogether.

You are right. King is probably one of the most influential autohrs of fiction, since he started writing. And the ease with which he can change genres and still produce great works is just one more reason he is probably the author with most movie adaptations of his books

 

[Steve]

I am a huge fan of King's early works. I see a clear divide between pre-It and post-It Stephen King. Carrie, Christine, Pet Semetary, Firestarter, Salem's Lot, The Shining, the Dead Zone, Cujo... the Bachman Books. The short stories from Night Shift and Skeleton Crew... man, I read those voraciously as a teenager. He was up there with Michael Moorcock, Andrew J. Offutt, Robert E. Howard and HP Lovecraft.

Then I read It and felt EXACTLY how Omar described him. Hundreds of pages, great story and then at the end, they basically pray, there's some wierd Hindu reference and Deus Ex Machina saves the day.

On the topic at hand, I wonder how you're defining optimism and pessimism. I'm not sure I understand how you're using the terms in this context.

 

[Touch Of Death]

I like a bit Clive Barker, but for the most part I prefer authors that use a bit of plausibility. Rather than a five part story about a mouse with the powers of God, Green Mile, Can't you just write about people and their struggles?
Sean

 

[Haakon]

I never really cared for King books, good movies but never got into the books. I've read a lot of Koontz books, I think you're right he is more of an optimist. I've read a lot of his books, he's definitely got a formula that works for him. Take a 'broken' hero who had something bad happen to him when he was younger, add in some supernatural(ish) stuff, make it looks like something tragic is going to happen but in the end the good guy wins, bad guy loses.

A bit formula, but you can count on the good guy winning. Much better than John Saul books (at least the ones I've read) where it looks like the hero has made it, he's won and then gets TOTALLY SCREWED at the end of the book. Depressing.

 

[mmartist]

Exactly this predictability is the ting I don't like about him. If I can figure what is going to happen in the end why finishing reading ?

 

[Gnarlie]

I like them both, but I think they are very different authors. Koontz is more feelgood, certainly. I have a rather darker disposition, so I prefer King. His Dark Tower series is brilliant and I would suggest if you've not read that, then you don't really know what he is capable of. The epic plot arcs and character development over such a long time really made those characters alive to me. Man, I felt like I had lost an arm when I finished that series.

As an aside, I would also totally recommend Clive Barker's Weaveworld to anybody with a little imagination.


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[Buka]

I've liked and disliked books by both authors. One thing is for sure, they can both write their asses off.

Koontz's "Watchers" and "Phantoms" were corkers. My favorite book by King was "On Writing", which was half about his life history, and half about the craft of writing.