K. Edwin Recommends The Following Good Reads
- Stephen King
- While there are almost too many to mention, K. Edwin recommends (in alphabetical order) as his top 5 picks...
- Duma Key: A retired contractor moves to Florida to recover from an accident and a divorce. He picks up a paint brush for the first time in decades, and it turns out he is not just good, not just talented, but magical. It was King's constant, respectful (and oftentimes enlightening) references to this other artistic realm that stood out as most memorable. Also, it's a pretty creepy tale.
- IT: Every twenty-eight years or so, a horrible evil comes to the town of Derry, Maine and kills dozens of children. This epic story is really two simultaneous tales: that of 7 kids who battle the thing in the summer of 1958, and these same kids coming back as adults in 1985 to attempt to kill it once and for all. This is by many people's opinions the scariest story ever told. This is the only book K. Edwin has read in which he was too frightened to turn the page.
- The Dark Tower series: King's magnum opus. A 7-book series that spans the elements of alternate realities, travel through time, and possibly the meaning of life itself. Anyone who has read them has strong opinions about Roland Deschain and his band of friends... you can't call yourself an SK fan until you've read this epic tale about the quest for the nexus of all worlds. K. Edwin's favorite detail: the 'stuffy guys' of book #4.
- The Long Walk: Each year 100 boys enter a simple contest. They line up, and at the start of the gun, they walk. If they slow down too much, they get a warning. If they earn a third warning, they die. 99 will perish. Only one will survive. Yet the prize is such that they all volunteer. The simplicity and finality of this tale allows King's masterful touch to not just shine, but illuminate.
- The Stand: When a superflu wipes out 99% of the population, the survivors begin to find each other and naturally group themselves into two distinctive factions destined to collide. A classic tale of good vs. evil. This was the first story that became so real for K. Edwin that the outcomes of the characters' lives actually mattered.
- Jean Auel
- The Earth's Children series (5 books so far) begins with The Clan of the Cave Bear, a prehistoric tale about a little blonde girl who is raised by Cro-Magnons. That she looks different is but her smallest struggle. While readers will need to endure overly-long descriptions of the flora and fauna of the locale (Auel is nothing if not an extreme researcher), the story itself is brilliant. This was the most powerful story of overcoming hardships that K. Edwin has ever read.
- Dean Koontz
- Again, too many too choose from, but Lightening has always stood out in K. Edwin's mind. Koontz has a fast-paced style that is always wound together with great story. Also check out Tick Tock, Midnight, and the Frankenstein series.
- The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffeneger
- A combination of time travel and love story. Few time travel stories do the concept true justice. This one is unique, creative, and heartwrenchingly compelling.
- Douglas Adams
- Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is humor writing at its best. He's random, silly, and still manages to lay out a number of deeply thought-provoking concepts.
- Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
- This classic story of the breakdown of societal-approved rules of behavior may just be the ultimate look into human nature. It won a Pulitzer and has been a great inspiration to thousands of fledgeling writers, including K. Edwin Fritz
- William Shakespeare
- The greatest of all time? Perhaps. Better to see a performance than read, but all things being equal, check ouf Hamlet for a great tragedy and Much Ado About Nothing for a great comedy.
- Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury
- While Bradbury is renowned, and rightly so, for his vast work in the world of sci-fi, this "great American novel" is one of the best coming-of-age tales ever told.
- Cemetery Dance Magazine
- A horror magazine that has been running since the early days of Stephen King (indeed, he was featured in their 2nd issue). Each issue features 8 or 9 short horror stories by upcoming or well-established authors of the genre as well as another 8 or 9 non-fiction pieces, including a regular column which discusses the current goings-on of the King himself.
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