I also like some of the films, so I tired to read “The Stand” as it was one of his more lauded books. My mistake was buying some anniversary edition which came in two tomes and was apparently a longer uncut version the author had initially written, that was then edited down to the produce the initial release.
Couldn’t finish even half of the first tome. King writes good, but loooves to write a lot. I quickly understood why the classic version of the book was cut down so much - I was screaming for all this exposition to cut to the action finally, and it just didn’t come, always being teased as being behind the corner.
Also I found out that as any classic his style has been immitated so much in literature and other media, that by now I’ve basically consumed a ton of Stephen King-like stories and I really don’t get much more from reading his books. So I just gave up on that front, while appreciating him as an author and perpetuum-idea-generator.
I generally don’t pre-order, probably won’t this time too as release has creeped so close anyway. But definitely buying it full price, just waiting for some day-1 reviews to check if it needs patches or not. I love the STALKER series, played them all and I definitely feel I own GSC some more money for the FPSs I’ve most enjoyed in the last 20 years or so.