# Dark Tower Series again...



## level9 (Mar 14, 2005)

I'm sure someone has commented on this, but I'm selfish so I started my own thread.  :shock: 

Seriously folks, King's Dark Tower series as a whole is good, it had me all the way through 6 books...but #7.... oh I pray to any mythological book Gods that it would MOVE ALONG. 

I am listening on my ipod, and unlike any other of this series, I keep catching myself drifting to the point that I literally don't know what the heck is going on and I have to rewind the last 15-20 minutes.  

I won't ruin it for anyone, but it just seems like King is introducing new characters and plot points when he should be tieing up things from over 6 books of story. 

Thanks for listening to my rant...go back to your normal programming.


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## Thekherham (Mar 18, 2005)

I think I'll have to rearead some of the books in the series.  I read them way back when, but I've forgotten stuff, so...  
And I think I still have to buy a couple of books in the series.

Does anyone have the titles, in order of publication?


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## Talia_Brie (Mar 18, 2005)

Thekherham said:
			
		

> I think I'll have to rearead some of the books in the series.  I read them way back when, but I've forgotten stuff, so...
> And I think I still have to buy a couple of books in the series.
> 
> Does anyone have the titles, in order of publication?



Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (now a revised edition is available, get that one)
Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
Dark Tower III: The Wastelands
Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower.

The general impression is that the books were great up to book IV. The last three were released within 6 months of each other, and they needed to be, because they are actually one story. Read the last three books that way and you'll enjoy them.

Level 9, get to the end, the very end of Book VII. I'd like to hear what you think. There's mixed opinions here. I thought it was brilliant, and very satisfying, which was always going to be hard considering the size of the overall project.


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## Thekherham (Mar 18, 2005)

Thanks, Talia.  I still have to buy the last three books.  

I'm going to read the entire series... starting soon.


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## level9 (Mar 18, 2005)

Talia_Brie said:
			
		

> Thekherham said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




I will let you know what I think!


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## semtecks (Mar 18, 2005)

I havent read the dark tower books, but i am considering buying them. Ive read a short story by Stephen King called 'the sisters of Eluria' which is backstory to the Dark Tower, it's about a gunslinger(called Roland) who gets in a tangle with some vampires.

I didn't think the short story was as good as King's usual work, so would you recommend that i try the dark tower series, or will i be dissapointed?


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## Thekherham (Mar 18, 2005)

I just went out today and bought Wolves of the Calla.  Whoa!  Almost 30 bucks (up here in Canada) for the paperback version.  The last two books were there too, but I didn't feel like spending another 90 dollars for them.  So I'll wait for the paperback versions of those two books. When I get them I'll read the whole series, 1 to 7.  

(After which I'll probably be sick and tired of SK lol.)


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## Kane (Mar 18, 2005)

I just finished Wolves of the Calla a few weeks ago.  I started the series in highschool about 12 or 13 years ago and have read them on paperback when the new ones have come out.  As I read Wolves of the Calla I repeatedly found myself questioning wether or not I liked King's style.  I've read many of his books, but none of them besides wolves in the last several years.  As the last two come out on paperback I will definately buy them, because I've followed the series for so long.  But for whatever reason i was dissapointed with wolves.


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## demonic_harmonic (Mar 20, 2005)

last book=horrible.


thats the short version of my opinion on this.


without ruining it for anyone, though it ruins it for itself, king took the easy way out of everything. i loved the first four. the last three were terrible.


its all like 'hey, look how easily this and this and this happens, when it shouldnt'


alright, if you havent read the last book, dont read this. its doesnt tell you everything but still, just... watch out. im warning you. scan down until you see the ********'s if you dont want to see the spoiler. (i imagine i can still get yelled at for posting a spoiler. its happened before on other forums, with all the warnings anyway. so, sorry...)

SPOILER ALERT


this is a spoiler: 


here it is: lets think about this. roland has to get to the dark tower. what should  be happening? he should be getting to the dark tower. duh. what happens? mutants eat their zits. the katet shoot things. people die. robots attack them. things that have no point or explanation happen. then roland gets to the tower. what happens? the ending is rushed, nothing is explained, there is NO detail, the crimson king is gone WAY to easily. over all, the ending sickened me. years of reading a series for THAT. blah.








***********************************************
***************SPOILER OVER********************
***********************************************


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## Talia_Brie (Mar 20, 2005)

Still on spoiler alert.






DH, we've had this discussion before. I think you need to read the last three books as if they are related to every other Stephen King book, because I think we both agree that they are. So at the end he's not just tying up a story that has lasted 7 books. It's more like 17. So while the Dandelo section seemed unneccesary, it wasn't really. It introduced the need for Patrick Danvile. The shoot out at the little town was the ka tet protecting the last Beam. Do you really think that wasn't necessary? That with the Beams failing, they wouldn't have to take steps to stop the low men?

If that's how you feel, what was the relevance of Blaine the Mono? They should have just been getting to the Tower. What was the relevance of Wizard and Glass at all. It was completely unneccesary. We don't need to know about Roland's past. We don't need to know about the things that turning him into what he is? He should just be getting to the Tower.

If things don't happen while he's getting to the Tower, that would make for a pretty boring couple of pages, don't you think?


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## level9 (Mar 20, 2005)

demonic_harmonic said:
			
		

> last book=horrible.
> 
> 
> thats the short version of my opinion on this.
> ...




*****************spoiler's below********************












Ok, I haven't even finished the book, and I am not surprised by your "spoilers". I am close to the end though. My MOST disappointment was how the "man in black" bought the farm. I mean this guy is super powerful, an absolute menace to Roland over his entire life.  The entire series starts out with Roland chasing the guy. Over and over he is made out to be almost unbeatable. I just couldn't wait to find out how the Roland vs. the Man In Black final battle would go. 

When he bought it, I am like reading (actually listening) in disbelief. It was just to easy, to quickly over and like this menace has no ability at all except when menacing Roland. 

The second disappointment was Eddie and Jake both buying it so close together. I just don't think it was necessary, and I thought it would be much more traumatic than it was. 







********************************END SPOILERS************

Overall, I'm trying to get through it. I don't know what happened to this last book, but maybe we would have been better served if King had made us all wait a few years before finishing this series.


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## mskramst (Mar 22, 2005)

*Stephen King*

I would steer clear of this series.  Stick with his earlier novels if you want to enjoy him.  I prefer his Eyes of the Dragon to this series.  His best piece of recent writing was probably his memoir on writing.  Other than that, he fell victim to the bestseller bug.  I think that's why he stop writing.  He wasn't getting the fan reaction as his earlier successes.  You will probably understand why if you read his memoir.


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## Talia_Brie (Mar 22, 2005)

*Re: Stephen King*



			
				mskramst said:
			
		

> I would steer clear of this series.  Stick with his earlier novels if you want to enjoy him.  I prefer his Eyes of the Dragon to this series.  His best piece of recent writing was probably his memoir on writing.  Other than that, he fell victim to the bestseller bug.  I think that's why he stop writing.  He wasn't getting the fan reaction as his earlier successes.  You will probably understand why if you read his memoir.



He hasn't stopped writing.


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## eggo (Apr 8, 2005)

spoilers!!




whoa,

I completely disagree. The last book inthe series was a finely crafted that satisfied everything the story asked. He closed many of his short stories as well.

He folded the story upon itself three or four times as well as introducing himself as a character at three different stages of his life. The characters walk into his life and interact with the author while his still maintains the plot. No mean feat.

The scene when the Father and Jake walk into the resturant is one of the best i seen King write.

Jake dieing was fortold in the first book, as well as Eddie in the "drawing of the three". At no point did he decieve us into thinking this was something other than a tragedy.

The only other story that i have read that was close to this was " The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" by Robert Heinlen.


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## Aevin (Apr 9, 2005)

Well ...  I love the series to death.  It has its ups and downs, but overall I think it's one of the best series out there.  King was NOT simply trying to pump out bestsellers--he was trying to produce a lasting work of literature.   And I think he succeeded.  

Books 5 and 6 didn't quite seem up to the level of the others, but I loved them anyway.  Book 7 was genius--heck, just the ART of it was genius!  It's one of the most visually beautiful books I've ever seen.  Story wise, I can't decide whether "The Dark Tower" or "The Wastelands" was my favorite of the series.

--SPOILERS!!!!!!!---



King writes himself as a character into his own novel, has his characters stumble upon books he's written.  Has them wonder, in effect, whether he is able to control their fates by writing.  That is deep thematic material not aimed at just selling books.  Heck, the majority of his readers are probably too dense to understand such a questioning of the relationship between reality and fiction.

Anyway ...  I too was disappointed in the death of Flagg, Walter, or whatever he's calling himself these days.  He was King's ultimate villain, and in the end became nothing but fodder for another villain.  But the deaths of Eddie and Jake were perfect.  Though I loved both characters and actually went into a bizarre depression after reading Jake's end, both were handled very beautifully by the author.  Their deaths were sad, but they were RIGHT.  I didn't find them rushed or clichéd at all.

--END SPOILERS--

There were a few disappointments, but in any series there are bound to be some.  But all in all, I loved the series.  I'm now reading them all again--just finished "The Wastelands" for what must be the sixth time.  Would have started "Wizard and Glass" for the third, but a friend borrowed it.  I'll have to remedy that ...

Yeah ...  That was a pretty big blabbation.  Not sure I made any sort of point, but I LOVE the Dark Tower series!!!!


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## Kane (Apr 9, 2005)

I hate spoilers.  But I cannot look away!!!

I wish I didn't know Jake and Eddie were going to die, but I will read on anyway.  It's funny though, because after reading Wolves of the Calla, I thought that Eddie might carry on, as Roland's arthritis became worse.  I'd have already finished the books but I'm not paying the outrageous hard cover prices.  Boo to marketing strategies!


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## Thekherham (Apr 10, 2005)

I'll still read the series.  I mean, I've got five of the books, so I'm not about to stop there, with only two more books to go.


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## cwilson (Apr 10, 2005)

i loved 'em all, although in my oppinion Song Of Suzannah was the weakest of the seven. Wolves of The Calla i really enjoyed, even though i suppose there was little plot advancement in the entire thing; it was just a whole bunch of creative, well written, fluff. My favorite, however, would have to be Wizard and Glass. King really captures Rolands past perfectly in that book. It's one of those things that you don't predict, but when it happens you say "wow. that was perfect."


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## stereomuse (Apr 10, 2005)

_Wolves of the Calla_ wasnt exactly creative...


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## oskawizzkey (Aug 21, 2005)

cwilson said:
			
		

> i loved 'em all, although in my oppinion Song Of Suzannah was the weakest of the seven.



Gotta go with cwilson on this one, however I wasn't all that impressed with Wolves of the Calla.  I think it would have made a better stand-alone book than part of a series.  However, Wolves is still vital to the entire DT series, even if the plot seems to come to a brief respite.  Overall - probably some of the most enjoyable and uniques stories I've ever read.

-OW


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## FutureKubik (Jun 15, 2006)

I generally think that to truely enjoy The Dark Tower books, you HAVE to be a pretty big fan of Stephen King anyway. To try to tackle these books as a first foray into the world of King would no doubt confuse and put people off his books, and perhaps give them the wrong idea of the kind of writer King is (or in a side-wards way, furthur perpetuate his larger criticisms)
My own personal opinion is that you should try to read as much of his other works as possible (or at least his most famous books) before tackling the behemoth of The Dark Tower books, because by the point of picking up The Gunslinger, you preferably should be beyond the point of 'hate it or love it' with King's style and devices.  
For me, the series is a kind of 'ultimate fan service' for people who have read or are familiar with all his works to date.

I was incredibly frustrated with books #4, #5 and #6, and only persevered because I wanted to know the ending. 
Infact, when I recommend the series to people now, I advise them to intentionally leave out #4 and read later after they've finished #7.


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## Kane (Jun 15, 2006)

On the other hand, my first King book was the Gunslinger, read about 15 years ago when I was about 15.  I followed up with the Eyes of the Dragon.  Over the years, I've read a lot, but not all of King's books, and enjoyed most of what I read, although I think I enjoyed the first half of the Dark Tower series over the second.  For the most part, I do enjoy King's style--his way of connecting with reader, and not taking his work too seriously, like so many other writers do.  I don't mean to say that I think he cuts corners when writing, but just that he's not afraid to be a bit silly.


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## Deleted member 14306 (Jun 15, 2006)

My friend just bought "The Gunslinger" and when he's done I might check it out. 

Some other books by Stephen King that have sparked my interest were "The Shining" and "Cujo."


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## Turn The Page (Jul 5, 2006)

I just started reading this series and I'm hooked half way through the first book. I love it!


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