The Stand by Stephen King: I would not exactly classify this as an “epic terror to chill your dreams,” as proclaimed by the back of the book, but I may just be desensitized. Even without an obvious horror aspect, the plot was pretty good. The many characters were mostly distinct and believable. By and large, however, the whole thing was just too danged long. A story about a superflu that wipes out 99% of the world’s population is interesting enough; was the supernatural element really necessary? I’m also surprised to learn that there is an “expanded edition” now available, which apparently contains more prose than the unabridged original version I just finished. This one was already pretty wordy and chock full of random asides that had little or nothing to do with the main plot. It wasn’t a bad book, mind, just one that could have used a bit of trimming.
Also posted on BookCrossing.