Stephen King frequently references people and places from previous works. Does this create the effect of a unified world, or does it distract the reader from The Institute’s story? Are there writers who do this more effectively, and how so?

What events at the time of the story’s publication (2019) might have influenced its themes?

Explain Friedrich Nietzsche’s aphorism of “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” Is Nietzsche right or wrong? Perhaps, it takes a monster to fight a monster. What other stories have you read that explore the same idea?