@valiantt:
The Stand was definitely an incredible read with the first two parts being remarkably well written in terms of its fluidity, but then it just bulldozes through the end for Part 3. Even though the book is incredibly long already, I feel King should have slowed down a bit more and gave us more of Vegas for Part 3 rather than just exploding through it.
I haven't read the original version so it is hard to say what he expanded upon. Though the Kid and Trashcan Man was really great. If only he had more of that to build upon his Vegas characters in Part 3.
Yep, after Dragon and Talisman, I'll be doing Wasteland (first time reading it). After that, I believe the following will be Wizard (which I heard mixed things about), Salem's Lot (which I read before and it was fairly good) and…another giant brick "It".
Stuff like the scene in the parlour with Frannie and her mother, the Trashcan man and The Kid, and the additional island ending are all extended. There are various others but those are the major 3 I can recalll off the top of my head.
I agree that the Las Vegans really needed more fleshing out, beyond Lloyd, Trashy and Flagg. However, it does contrast quite nicely to make all these suggestible techy style folks a bit faceless and uniform, it contrasts well with the real depth you get to the people in Boulder.
Wizard is actually a really good read, people's main issue with it is that the vast majority of the book is a flashback. I can understand people's frustration with lessened advancement in the current storyline, but in terms of fleshing out and world building, Wizard is really superb. The story focused on in the flashback is pretty damn good too.
I enjoyed Salem's Lot, King really has balls to the wall horror down to a tee, although SL is a bit more basic than some of his stuff. Classic vampire horror by the master, you've got to love it.
It, on the other hand, has so many layers to it, while maintaining the terror. Probably in the top 3 King books for me. You're right though, it is an absolute brick lol.