This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides - or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail - and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

In 1978, Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.

Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition includes material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who heard The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are listening to The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.

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Listening Length	47 hours and 47 minutes
Author	Stephen King
Narrator	Grover Gardner
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	February 14, 2012
Publisher	Random House Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0078XQQIC
Best Sellers Rank	#22 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #1 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #1 in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction (Books) #1 in Horror Literature & Fiction

Customer reviews

5 star		81%
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3 star		4%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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P. E. Hall

After reading King for 40 years, The Stand is still one of my top 10 fiction reads!

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2016

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Ive been a Stephen King fan for 40 years. The Stand is and will remain my favorite of his books. I like all of them but I love a select few and The Stand is at the top of the list. If you are already a King fan and you haven't read The Stand, you'll love this book. The overall theme is Biblically related and he sticks close to details in well known Biblical stories. But, don't get me wrong, this is not "Christian Fiction". This is the best of Sci-Fi/Horror you'll find in King's books. The characters are fully developed and totally interesting. The dystopian story is compelling and believable. If you are a fan, since this is one of his earlier works, you'll see familiar types of characters, ie..Randy Flagg and Tom Collin. If you're a new King reader, you will get to know the characters and you'll care about them. This isn't a read in one sitting book. Rather, it is a day after day reading that you'll enjoy and hate to put down. Though some may say King is extremely verbose, I think his detailed telling of the story connects the reader to the characters like very few authors are able to do. This is my sixth reading of the book and the first time I listened to the audio book. It was just as good this time as the last. With a hour long ride to work and back, my time in the car seemed shorter because of the quality of the reader and the quality of the story.
I won't give away anything, I'll only say take your time and enjoy the ride with King's epic. I loved every word.

405 people found this helpful

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T. Hix

Brand new book falling apart. DEFECTIVE BINDING.

Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2018

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This story is incredible. Five stars over and over again. The reason for this bad review is the defective binding. I bought this book a few months ago and just started reading it last month. Ever since I opened the book, the pages have been falling and peeling out. I’ve been trying to tape the pages back in, but more and more fall out when I read. I spoke with a customer service agent who didn’t once apologize for the defective product, but rather asked if I was aware of the return date. When I said I wasn’t trying to return, but would merely like a replacement book, after making me wait, she said she would make an exception and send me a replacement. I’m grateful to be getting a replacement, but this isn’t the service I’m used to getting from Amazon. Amazon really needs to take a hard look at the suppliers for this book. Obviously there is some sort of quality control issue here.

154 people found this helpful

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La Rose

An amazing piece of work

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2017

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I have a long commute to/from the office, so I wanted something nice and long to focus my attention on while riding the bus. The Stand is a classic that has stood the test of time. The audiobook is well read/acted without going over the top.I read the edited version when it first came out, and devoured the unabridged version when it was released a few years later. However, it wasn't until I was listening to the book that I realized why it is so engaging and captures the imagination. Not only is it one of King's most well-written works, it is also one of his most poetic. His ability to describe the most disgusting situations is unquestioned in any King book. However, in The Stand, he is able to describe elements of emotion in such a way that one is enraptured and engaged on a completely different level than you'd expect. I think this book stands (pun not intended) as King's finest work. Even if you've read the book, do yourself the favor of 'listening' to it as well. You won't regret it.

120 people found this helpful

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Barry J.

Stop your complaining about the page count - just dive in and REALLY enjoy yourself.

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2017

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While repairing my mother's Kindle, I noticed that she had a copy of The Stand installed, and after the repair was done, I felt kind of a duty to test the repair by reading a bit of her copy. My experience was that I wound up buying a copy for my own Kindle, and then spent an entirely inappropriate amount of my waking hours reading it.
It's totally engrossing, and very interesting in enough different ways that you just don't get tired of working your way through all those damn pages. A great premise, great plot development, interesting and believable characters, and a scope that constantly reminds how transient we all are. Great stuff that got ME so involved that when I went to hospital for a relatively normal visit, I was ACUTELY aware of everyone who coughed or sneezed, and though I snickered at myself almost immediately for my temporary transportation from reality to plot, the snicker wasn't quite as immediately convincing as it might have been. So, yeah, it was THAT engrossing.

154 people found this helpful

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Melissa Cline

His best work!

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2020

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The Stand is the ultimate Stephen King novel. Huge and spellbinding, it sucks you in and doesn't let go. At the time of this review (3/23/20), the entire world is dealing with the pandemic Crorona Virus aka Covid-19. Thousands upon thousands of people have had it all over the world and unfortunately many thousands have died and there is no proven vaccine as yet. The world is freaking out over it.

The current situation is unnervingly similar to the story I just finished re-reading for the umpteenth time. Thankfully Covid-19 isn't a constantly mutating virus like Project Blue aka Captain Trips which had a almost total mortality rate. The book starts with an experimental manmade virus in a secret government installation on a military base accidentally exposed and unfortunately for the world a sentry manages to escape thanks to a delay in the system that is supposed to completely lock down the entire base and keep the infected area contained. He grabs his wife and baby and runs for it. Unfortunately, he had already been infected and it only takes seconds for the virus to be passed along. He crashes into a gas station in East Texas and passes the virus to the small group of men hanging out there. That starts the beginning of the end of almost the entire world. The story then deals with that situation and it's aftermath. Good & Evil duke it out for pitifully small remaining survivors. You will not be able to quit reading until the end of this nail-biter. Enjoy the ride, I do every time I read it!

51 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Bill

The best End of World Post apocalyptic novel of the genre

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 30, 2019

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This is the #1 bestseller in th Post Apocalyptic genre. I read this book when it came out in 1979, and have read it every 3 to 5 years since. You may ask, why leave a review now, well Amazon wasnt about then, think I bought it in WH Smith. Then I bought and read the complete and uncut edition. And the Audible edition a couple of years ago. I simply love this story, as do millions of others who love the PA genre .

So as regards a review, I'm going to rip off the synopsis from Stephen king.com

One man escapes from a biological weapon facility after an accident, carrying with him the deadly virus known as Captain Tripps, a rapidly mutating flu that - in the ensuing weeks - wipes out most of the world's population. In the aftermath, survivors choose between following an elderly black woman to Boulder or the dark man, Randall Flagg, who has set up his command post in Las Vegas. The two factions prepare for a confrontation between the forces of good and evil

Go ahead and read it, if you like it, welcome to the throng of millions who also like it.

If you dont like it, well - maybe the best in the genre is not for you, try Swan Song by Robert R McCammon, similiar plot , characters and timeframe, or Earth Abides by George R Stewart written in 1948 - a gentler take on the theme .

Sorry, why am I writing a review now, borrowed out my dog eared copy of the complete and uncut edition to God knows who, was enraptured to learn the Kindle version is that version, so my 15th and subsequent rereads will be on my Kindle from now on.

58 people found this helpful

King's best book and my favourite of all time.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2017

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If you know Stephen King then you know what you are in for with this, in my view his stand out piece of work. Lots of reviews criticise the first part of the book as taking too long to develop but I don't agree. I've never read 1400 pages so quickly and I think the extra detail he puts in over the original version only adds to the colour and texture of the storytelling.

The book tells the story of the end of the human race as we know it, brought about by a deadly flu strain, developed by the US military. The social science is a bit simplistic but the quality of the storytelling and character development are both excellent.

42 people found this helpful

Another Avid Reader

A Timeless Classic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2019

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I remember the first time I read this book during my early teens, seeing for the first time all of the different levels within the story. On the surface it’s a post apocalypse tale, underneath it’s so much more the eternal struggle of good v evil. This is one of the books that epitomises the human condition, cheer the triumphs, laugh with friends, cry for the losses. Between this book and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings it set me on a literary path that I’ve enjoyed for many years.
So if you want to be entertained with a story that has meaning then read on. Even if you don’t like anything else by the author (unlikely I know) then this one is worth it.

15 people found this helpful

Sarah Gordon

My favourite Stephen King Novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2019

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I couldn’t put this book down. I was hooked from the first chapter and didn’t want it to end (except for the fact that I really needed to start conversing with my friends and family again, before they started to worry!) I have never read the original and downloaded the long version by accident, but wasn’t put off when I read the preface - I love long books!

Unusually for a Stephen King book, The Stand was not too scary for me to read at bedtime, but this did not detract at all from the suspense. It kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and I feel like it tuned right in to my own fears about the future of humanity.

Maybe a few politicians ought to read this and then gave a long, hard think...before it’s too late!

12 people found this helpful

Tracie

My Favourite Stephen King book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2018

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I've been wondering whether to buy the Kindle version of this book for a very long time (own it in paperback) and im so glad I did! This is the authors extended version - so probably had at least another 100 pages (difficult to tell in kindle to paperback). Most of the extras are nearer to the beginning, so you feel like you get to know the main characters even better. If you like The Stand, you need this version in your life!

14 people found this helpful

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