The Stand by Stephen King is a classic story of good versus evil. It starts with the spreading of a virus from a government research facility that goes on to ravage the population of the United States - I can't recall other continents being mentioned - save for a few survivors.
The survivors are then seperated into two camps. Those that serve evil (in the shape of randall flagg) and those that serve good (in the god-like form of Abigail). As the good camp, set-up in Boulder, Colorado attempt to live in peace, the evil camp begins salvaging weapons for an attack to wipe out their fellow survivors.

it's a gripping read from start to finish, with a Tolkien-esque split of good and evil (there are no in-betweens). The characters are well developed and their individual story arcs blend nicely when they meet up in their respective locations.
It suffers from pacing issue due to the density of some chapters (a popular fault with Kings work) but it levels out towards the end.

An excellent book. A little dense in places but Kings best by far.

Stephen King, The Stand - Synopsis:
"First came the days of the plague. Then came the dreams. Dark dreams that warned of the coming of the dark man. The apostate of death, his worn-down boot heels tramping the night roads. The warlord of the charnel house and Prince of Evil. His time is at hand. His empire grows in the west and the Apocalypse looms".

The Stand first appeared in 1978 and has since been regarded by many as Stephen King's greatest book. However, a considerable amount of the original work had been cut from the published version. Now this material has been restored, with a foreward by the author in this complete and uncut edition. King's forward explains his reasons behind re-releasing the novel fully uncut, briefly mentioning what was originally taken out of the novel.

The novel is another take on the 'everyone except a very few survivors has been wiped off the face of the Earth by a plague' plot, which has been done so many times. King's The Stand is a masterpiece of good against evil, reflecting on the basic survival of mankind and their apocalypse. His writing style is descriptive, creating a vivid landscape within the mind of the reader and such outstanding characterization that you actually feel you know them. Unfortunately, with this comes King's over-describing and at times he just waffles.

When I started to read this novel, I thought 1421 pages...there's going to be a hell of a lot of unnecessary over-describing and sheer waffling. But no, this was not the case! Well, if I'm honest, the first 400 pages did drag a little. I understand the need to build up the characters, which is one of the greatest aspects about the novel...but it does drag on a bit.

Once the book gets going (around the 400 page marker), it really gets going. You'll be sucked in to the book, and find yourself gripped by the powerful storyline that unfolds. It spirals to a climax that is like no other, as King brings down the judgment on the rest of mankind. I won't ruin the ending for you, but this is where I felt a little disappointed... cheated even.

All, in all, an epic tale that was well worth the time and effort you put in to it. There was a mini TV series / film made of the novel by Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers, Quicksilver Highway, The Shining-TV version) back in 1994. As is standard with any Mick Garris film, the creation is appalling. It really doesn't do the novel justice, so I strongly recommend that if you get the chance, read the book beforehand.