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Originally Posted by Chris_Morey
Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say the Magical Negro is a trope in King's writing, I think it's a certain level of oversensitivity. Yes, there are African Americans with special powers in six out of his seventy-five something novels. However, there are also *gasp* Caucasian folks who have special powers in many of those books as well. So, perhaps people with special powers is actually one of King's tropes? Or, perhaps, elements of the fantastic and dark! In fact, I think putting words on a page is a King trope... should I keep going?
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It's a trope in anyone's writing. In my entire body of work I have never written a magical negro, but if I DID it would fit the Magical Negro trope, and I damn well better do it well or I deserve to be criticized for it.
(Besides, the Magical Negro trope is more than just being black and magical (in fact, neither of those characteristics are required), you just have to be a minority, serve an advisory/mentorship role in the story and NOT save the day (that's reserved for the white Main characters).
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Originally Posted by Wikipedia
Desp you're right about the comic book artist profession being largely underdeveloped for Clay, and many folks dog on Cell, but hell, I found it entertaining. When I set that book down I didn't think it was brilliant, nor did I think it would stick with me for the rest of my life, but I did have a fun ride with it, and sometimes that's all I really want.
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Fair enough. We may want different things out of books. Usually, I'm not looking for mindless entertainment in my novels, I need something deeper if I'm going to devote the time to read. If I want a popcorn plot, I'm going to watch a movie and eat popcorn.
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Again, it's hard to generalize King's work when you've only read one of his books. Yes he has habits, yes he has reoccurring themes and ideas like any human writer has, but the fact of the matter is he's still one of the best at what he does, despite some low points in his career.
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Depends what we're defining as "Best" I will say that he's one of the most read authors in the world, but I really wouldn't consider him one of the "best" writers in the world in terms of skill (though once again, perhaps this opinion is un/under educated). Still I think most would agree that his work doesn't really compare to Vonnegut or Gaiman or Pratchett or Douglas Adams etc.