Anyone read the final installment of Stephen King's epic? Just wanted some other people's views on how it ended. ************SPOILERS**************** I've never been a big fan of King, but overall, I thought the series was great. I enjoyed reading them all, especially the first four and the final book. At first I didn't like King writing himself into the story, but the more I read, the more I began to like it and thought it ended up fitting into the story rather well. As far as the ending, I actually liked it. Yes, it's not the happy ending that alot of people probably wanted, but as King said it was the right ending. It goes back to how in the beginning you don't know whether Roland is the protagonist or the antagonist. I really liked how the final book ended will the opening line of the first. Overall, very enjoyable reading, and I would recommend it to all. Thoug hts?
I remember an old board game named Dark Tower. It was really cool - had this electronic plastic tower in the middle. I always wanted it, but never got it. (there's even an online Flash version here). Sorry - don't mean to de-rail your thread. But every time I hear about "dark tower" I think of that game. -- droxford
Wow, Droxford. That childhood flashback almost hurt. That memory must really be stored in a deep cellar of my brain. I think a door had to be busted down to access it. Same here, always wanted the game, but never got it.
Fantastic series. I was really worried as well when SK wrote himself into the books, but he handled it brilliantly....
I thought (and still think) that writing himself into the story was ridiculous and should never have happened. King has a huge ego. I agree. I really liked the ending. I actually didn't see it coming, although I probably should have. As for the rest of the book..... meh. Marginally better than 5 and 6, but still not great. Here are my final rankings: 1. The Gunslinger -- awesome setting. The most "western" of the series. Has an aura of mystery. 2. The Waste Lands -- some great settings in this one (the forest with robots, the ruined city, the dead world outside the train) and the whole Blaine riddle section was probably my favorite part of the whole series. 3. The Drawing of the Three -- the beach segment got a bit repetitive, and I hated the idea of Roland losing a finger at the time (shows how much I had grown attached to the character when I first read it). Still not bad. 4. Wizard and Glass -- I loathed the flashback scene, which sucks because it makes up about 70% of the damn book. The opening and closing chapters are sheer magic though, as usual. Loved the conclusion of the riddle challenge (got goose bumps when Eddie fried Blaine) and loved the imagery created with the Crystal Palace. 5. The Dark Tower -- the best of the last three books, although they all sucked. I liked the ending. The rest was ho-hum. 6. Song of Susannah -- not as bad as book 5, but still pretty awful. I liked the description of the ruined castle, but that's about it. King really pissed me off by writing himself into the story as a godlike character. 7. Wolves of the Calla -- unreadable. This one is utter crap. The accents that the characters develop make me want to put my fist through a pane of glass and then lick the broken shards up with my tongue. I hate this book so much. Nothing actually happens, either. The entire story can be summed up like this: i. The group goes to a settlement called the Calla, where robots show up every few years to steal the villagers children. ii. They spend a bunch of time talking like idiots and kill the robots in the end in an anti-climactic, one-sided gunfight. iii. A bunch of other stupid, annoying crap happens including King writing himself into the story as a godlike figure, blast his eyes. Anyway, good series overall, although I would probably have been happier if it ended with a modified version of Wizard and Glass (with the Crystal Palace being the Dark Tower and Roland killing Walter instead of missing him). At least then I wouldn't have had to read through all that other garbage. It goes back to how in the beginning you don't know whether Roland is the protagonist or the antagonist. Could you elaborate on this? I'm not quite sure that I agree. Roland was always the hero in my eyes.
I also would have preferred if Roland killed Flagg/Walter instead of Mordred eating him (in a rather lame way to kill off one of King's most famous antagonists.) I liked the ending. The SK stuff was difficult to swallow at first, but I dryswallowed the pill and I didnt die. If you think about it, Steve's been writing about himself for years. Think of how many of his books feature an author/teacher as the main character: Stuttering Bill in IT Paul in Misery Jack in The Shining Ben in Salems Lot Glen Bateman in The Stand Andy McGee in Firestarter Gordie in The Body (which became Stand By Me) (Thad in The Dark Half etc etc ....so why not finish it off with himself. At least he made himself a loser. Eddie's death was too laissez-faire. Wolves of Calla was crap, except I loved Callahan's story. The first 4 books were amazing, the next 2 ok, but the finale returned to the weirdness of book 3.....so I dug it!!!! ("Faithful" is pretty amusing, btw.)
