I think there's a reason Crichton and King's works adapt well to screen, especially King's: they have great ideas. King's just had so many lasting, punchy ideas, and the film career of his stories attests to that much. He is a person who thought of The Stand and The Shining and Misery all -- that's evidence enough that he has a hell of an idea-brain. Actually, I find his movies more watchable than his books are readable at times, and I don't entirely eman that as an insult.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell definitely numbers among my favorite books (in the top 20 or so), but it was hell of overhyped when it was in hardcover, its publisher put a lot of effort into trying to net non-genre readers as well as genre readers; I wonder how well it succeeded, on whole, it's definitely subsided back into its genre by now (where it belongs inasmuch as anything belongs anywhere, anyway, so I'm not complaining). I sometimes hear complaints that the writing is boring, but in fact I think those are mis-aimed criticisms because the problem isn't so much that the writing isn't engaging as it is that the plot pace is so slow that you get bored anyway even if you like the writing and characters. Which I did get bored anyway -- it was some 1/3 of the way in before I realized that I was genuinely invested and 1/2 before I was addictively page-turning. Just as a forewarning. Also, if you're not interested in The Vaguely Homo Frenemy Rivalry Of Mr. Willfully Impulsive And Mr. Bullheadedly Uptight, this book is probably not for you. But it has some of the most beautifully sketched fantasy concepts I've seen in real-world-based fantasy, ever, and I love it.
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Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell definitely numbers among my favorite books (in the top 20 or so), but it was hell of overhyped when it was in hardcover, its publisher put a lot of effort into trying to net non-genre readers as well as genre readers; I wonder how well it succeeded, on whole, it's definitely subsided back into its genre by now (where it belongs inasmuch as anything belongs anywhere, anyway, so I'm not complaining). I sometimes hear complaints that the writing is boring, but in fact I think those are mis-aimed criticisms because the problem isn't so much that the writing isn't engaging as it is that the plot pace is so slow that you get bored anyway even if you like the writing and characters. Which I did get bored anyway -- it was some 1/3 of the way in before I realized that I was genuinely invested and 1/2 before I was addictively page-turning. Just as a forewarning. Also, if you're not interested in The Vaguely Homo Frenemy Rivalry Of Mr. Willfully Impulsive And Mr. Bullheadedly Uptight, this book is probably not for you. But it has some of the most beautifully sketched fantasy concepts I've seen in real-world-based fantasy, ever, and I love it.