Everyone knows the most famous “Magnum Opus”. Stephan King’s The Dark Tower (groan, there she goes again talking about King, I heard that!) or rather the DT universe as it were. Why the universe? Dark Tower seeps into more than just the eight books that are exclusively The Gunslinger series for King. In fact, it seeps into books like Black House and Talisman. The Stand, even IT. Little hints and flourishes in other books, suggestive of either the “Low Men” were there or a “Breaker” had been present. Quite frankly, IT himself (itself?) is a “Low Man” in my opinion, who eats “Breakers” for breakfast and the occasional “normie”.
I, myself have my own Magnum Opus as a writer. That’s my Soul Series. It may not be as expensive as Mr. King’s is and it certainly doesn’t span across 100+ books written. A mere three books actually. My idea with these three books was that the reader could start with any book despite them being listed in a specific order. It didn’t matter where you began in the story, only that you did begin. All three will be linked to each other in some fashion, referring to each other and themselves. Funny how I speak (write) about the books as if they are alive (but aren’t they?) right. To me they are. I hope that to my readers they will be as well.
What is a magnum opus and do all writers have their own? Well, we’ve spoken about King’s, and mine. Some writers, one would say, just writing is their magnum opus. I think all writers have their preferred books, their life’s work so to speak. That’s what a magnum opus is, a life’s work. The one-piece of your work you will be remembered for. For King, it’s his Dark Tower, Gaiman, I’d hazard that he has a few like Sandman and American Gods. J.K. Rowling well we all know her magnum opus – Harry Potter. Twilight with Stephanie Myers, Anne Rice has her Vampire Chronicles (Oh Lestat, you amazing bitch you!) then there’s the Sonja Blue series from Nancy A. Collins. Quite a few pretty significant contributions from the literary giants out there and I hope to see many more. Both literary giants and their magnum opus work. As King might say, “Take my hand, Constant Reader”.
