The Dark Tower

[NaOH]

Just finished the last book in the series, and I must say I'm going to miss it.

I feel distinctly lonely without Roland.

Anyone else finished what I'd consider to be King's magnum opus?

 

[Jon.]

I'm about a hundred pages in.. I bought the book two weeks ago. I've been very hesitant to power my way through it, since as you say, it won't be the same when I'm finished..

 

[NaOH]

Aye, but it's worth it, I think.

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

Opening line is something like that, right?

 

[JeffS]

I finished it about a year ago. I have to admit I was quite upset that it ended
but it was a great work. I wasn't terribly thrilled at the end, and I'm curious
if others felt the same. I won't say anything more, as I don't want to give
away the remainder of the book for those still reading.

-Jeff

 

[VicAjax]

aw man. i was hoping this thread would be about that great, 80s-era electronic board name called Dark Tower.

there's a flash simulation somewhere on the Intraweb.

 

[VicAjax]

oh, and if you're sad about finishing the Stephen King books, start reading Gene Wolfe's brilliant series, Book of the New Sun. Truly one of the most mesmerizing stories i've ever read.

 

[saturnine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffS I finished it about a year ago. I have to admit I was quite upset that it ended but it was a great work. I wasn't terribly thrilled at the end, and I'm curious if others felt the same. I won't say anything more, as I don't want to give away the remainder of the book for those still reading.

Totally agreed. I was a huge DT geek for many years, but the way King decided to end the series was both unexpected and angering. I wanted a definitive ending damnit

The series is definately good, and it would be good material for a movie

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I'm almost done the 3rd book. Great series, like The Talisman but less gory. I decided a while ago not to start reading it until he finished the series.

Biggie.

 

[Zanth]

I have about 60 pages left of the first book. I have read a handful of his other works, and I mainly enjoyed them though I always feel like he drops the ball at the end.

He is a master at getting at the minds of the characters and therefore those of the readers...and apparently, each of his novels (the supernatural ones) are all somehow interconnected and this interconnection stems from the Dark Tower realm.

So what did I do? Well...go out and buy the first in the series once I knew he would be around to finish it. I eventually started reading it and well...I'm underwhelmed. I realize this is an earlier work and hopefully the others in the series will really develop into something incredible, but after reading say...the Stand Unabridged, I have to
More say, that this is crappy crap in comparison.

The only novel of his that I felt he did justice with in his ending was the shining, next best was Insomnia, of the ones I read anyway. Of course...the Long Walk is likely my favourite by him.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

Zanth the first book is not that good and seems to be written in a different style then the next 2 books. Just to give you some hope hehe.

Biggie.

 

[TheGhostBelow]

The dark tower is a good series by king but i would have to say that the Stand is his best most complete story. If you havent read it you should because some of the people in The Dark Tower are also in the Stand.

 

[dhwilkin]

The Dark Tower series is tremendous, and well worth reading. It's my opinion that, much like your average sandwich, the best parts are found in books 2-6, as book 1 was somewhat uninspiring and book 7 was, while having its moments, overall a disappointment w/ some very questionable plot and character/enemy choices, IMO. Don't get me wrong, it ended the only way I thought it reasonably could've and should've, at least. But, the journey to reach the Dark Tower was simply amazing and I strongly recommend reading it. I was genuinely sad when it was over.

And for those mad that there's no "final" conclusion, let's just say I read a very interesting theory on another message board that says that final conclusion you guys want is actually described in brief but precise detail in the book already, you guys just didn't recognize it. I personally think that theory is brilliant and correct. Go find it yourself, I'm not saying where it is.

On another note, while I enjoyed The Stand, I read it after I read the DT series, so Flagg didn't seem nearly as dangerous or mysterious, and that kinda spoiled the book for me. My top three standalone books from King are probably It, Desperation, and Black House.

 

[NaOH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhwilkin The Dark Tower series is tremendous, and well worth reading. It's my opinion that, much like your average sandwich, the best parts are found in books 2-6, as book 1 was somewhat uninspiring and book 7 was, while having its moments, overall a disappointment w/ some very questionable plot and character/enemy choices, IMO. Don't get me wrong, it ended the only way I thought it reasonably could've and should've, at least. But, the journey to reach the Dark Tower was simply amazing and I strongly recommend reading it. I was genuinely sad when it was over. And for those mad that there's no "final" conclusion, let's just say I read a very interesting theory on another message board that says that final conclusion you guys want is actually described in brief but precise detail in the book already, you guys just didn't recognize it. I personally think that theory is brilliant and correct. Go find it yourself, I'm not saying where it is. On another note, while I enjoyed The Stand, I read it after I read the DT series, so Flagg didn't seem nearly as dangerous or mysterious, and that kinda spoiled the book for me. My top three standalone books from King are probably It, Desperation, and Black House.

Though not as prolific, there are a few ties between Desperation + Black House and the Dark Tower as well.

I only recall that the term "Can-toi" (the "Low Men") had some significance in Desperation, but I don't recall what.

I would immediately be both supportive and afraid of a movie. Who would play Roland? Clint Eastwood (King has admitted that Eastwood was one of his greatest inspiration's for Roland), of course. But they would have to drop out so much of the intricate detail, detail that King is famous for in his writings. We'll see where things go, I suppose.

 

[TheGhostBelow]

Lol i read the stand when i was 10 and Flagg has been forever etched into my memory. I watched that movie when i was like 6 to i didnt sleep for a week i was so scared. I dont know what a six year old was doing watching that though.

 

[JeffS]

I'm one of the few that has yet to read The Stand. I've seen the movie, but
I'm sure from what I've read, that it doesn't do the book justice.

I actually got into the DT series because of a crossover from another book.
I was reading the first story in Hearts in Atlantis, and suddenly had to find
out more about this tower thing.

As for what some have said, the Gunslinger (book 1) isn't the best. But if I
recall correctly, he started it about 13 years before finishing it. Afterwards
the rest started coming more timely until the end of 4. I think the story
definitely improved after the first book. I also think that it started down
around the 6th book. Overall, though I still loved it, just some frustration with
the choices he made for the plot.

Because of DT, I went to the website and started trying to read all the books
that had crossover. I wanted to get more of the story while waiting for the
new books to come out. The only one I didn't understand was that From A
Buick 8 was supposed to be related. I couldn't really tell how, or why it was
supposed to be related. That plus what I thought was a really weak story
made me requestion some of Kings work.

Black House though, I thought was terrific. I force myself to read Tailsman
first to get the character background. All in all, great stuff. I'd like to see
him do more like that.

-Jeff