The Dark Tower

I'm pretty sure I've read this before but there was so much I have no memory of at all! Lots of topics I was saddened over, some additional adventuring before all was said and done, and definitely surprised by the last few chapters.

All in all I don't think there were any loose ends which was surprising considering how long the grand story was.

This is the second time I've finished both this book and the Dark Tower series. While I still feel the first 3 or 4 books of the series are the strongest I can't deny that I finished this last book with a slight smile and a bit of sadness at saying goodbye to Roland and his compatriots. After Song of Susannah it's refreshing to once again return to Roland's world with it's many mysteries and rich backstory. If there's anything that King has managed to accomplish with this series, it's the creation of a richly detailed world with endless possibilities for future stories. I look forward to what he and others will be able to create using it's detailed tapestry of history.

It is difficult to judge this book on its own, without looking back at the rest of the series.

So the book itself is not quite worth 5 stars. However, for me, this rating also reflects the entire series. It is not your typical fantasy series. King is highly original, spanning multiple worlds, timeframes, genres, and employing metafiction.

That being said, I think the ending was brilliant. Although I can understand that for some readers who read the books when they were published, the ending might have been a bit unexpected and unsatisfying, I believe it was one of the few endings that could have been. Considering how King develops his themes, plays with time, characters, and places, it is a very logical conclusion.

I do have some minor grievances about how King concluded certain storylines, but these are easily overshadowed by the brilliant overarching storyline.

I finished it! I'm glad I started the series when I did, i.e. after they'd all been written. I wish I could say the same of the Song of Ice and Fire!

To be honest, I found this a bit of a slog in parts, particularly the bit about the breakers. But some of it was sublime. Stephen King was very humble and to read him writing of his own accident and making it a plot feature was pure brilliance. And the idea of ka's being a wheel I loved too. I was moved at one point to type out the enormous turtle rhyme.

Overall, not the best series I've read, but I'm glad I did. I have a feeling that it'll be something I think about from time to time and may one day get the urge to read it again.

Executive Summary: A satisfying ending to what has always been one of my favorite series of books.

Audio book: George Guidall was on par with his previous readings in the series. He's once again great for Roland, and so-so for everyone else. He neither adds to nor detracts from the book in my opinion.

Full Review
And so Roland's (and therefore my own) journey to the Dark Tower has once again reached its conclusion. I for one was very happy when I first reached the end. Both of them. I wonder if anyone really stops where he suggests?

I think both endings work well, though I prefer the actual ending to point where he tries to guilt you into stopping. He brings up the fact that the journey is always more important than the ending, and with the Dark Tower series, I certainly agree with him.

It is the journey part of this book, and not the ending that cost this book an extra star in my opinion. This books wanders a bit too much, and delves a bit too much into the background of new characters who in my opinion aren't that important to Roland's story.

This is only the second time I've read this book, and I enjoyed it about the same I believe. It's been many years now since I read it when it first came out in 2004 (I have a really nice Grant First Edition copy).

I've always felt the first half of the series (1-4) is much stronger than the latter half he wrote in one go after his near death experience. That isn't to say it is bad, or that I'm unhappy.

It might simply be changes to me, and not the series. I started this series in high school, and read and re-read the first four books more times than I can remember while waiting on Mr. King to finish. By the time the story was concluded I was mostly done with college.

On this audio journey, I got to revisit old places and old friends (and enemies) as Roland and his Ka-tet journeyed to the Dark Tower. I started it because I had some friends who were reading it for the first time. One dropped out after just the first book, but the other continued on and seemed to enjoy the series nearly as much as I have.

These days I don't have much time for re-reading. There are too many books that I want to read. This series might be an exception. I'm not sure if I'll ever read my physical copies again (listening is just a lot more convenient for re-reads), but I'm sure this won't be the last time I quest out for the Dark Tower. Say True, and I Say Thankya.

7/10

I have a lot of complicated feelings on this book and on this series as a whole but I am ultimately left dissatisfied. King does a familiar thing at the end here that he LOVES to do that I absolutely hate, and I wanted to lower the score on principle at that point. But there was a lot here I did like.

Ultimately it's very clear this book was mostly conceived of much later than the beginning of the story, and so much of the plot beats of this book felt like not organic parts of the Dark Tower Saga but moreso King working out some personal stuff. I don't mind the meta components to the story but I wish they were secondary or tertiary and not so central. I also think most of the character arcs were not wrapped up in a satisfying way for me. The villains in particular were very unsatisfying.

I think while writing this I may have talked myself into a three star but I will let the book settle and see how I feel.

There are other worlds than these.

I chose to wait until I finished the entire series before writing a review.
And this is a series review, mor than a book review.

I took on the task in March of last year to get through the entire series, and I only took a break here and there with a few other books as a breather.
This is a strange one to review as I am a huge King fan, but found this series extremely uneven. I'd even venture to say that I think he was stoned when he wrote some of this.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. And I became VERY connected to the characters. I just thought some of the ideas were a little too cutesy (Blaine and the riddles for example - which took up WAAAY too much of an entire book).
Also, I love that King is able to essentially come up with new languages and weave them into the story, but I feel he tried to get too clever sometimes, losing the flow of the words and therefore losing my interest and focus in places.

I definitely found the earlier books much stronger than the later books. With Songs of Susannah being by far my least favourite.
What makes this hard is that through the entirety of this, I discovered some of King's best and also worst writing. So this leaves me conflicted.

I thought the ending was actually perfect. I honestly couldn't see anything different for it, and it brilliantly played into Roland's self indulgent need to find the tower at all costs.

But I find myself fondly looking back on the earlier books, more so than enjoying the more recent ones.
Who knows. Maybe that's nostalgia playing a part in it. Which in itself is a beautiful thing.

I love it!! I am not in the right place to review this book now, and I think reviewing the last book of a long series is a bit silly (if you have already read the first six, you don't need my review to help you decide whether or not to read the last one). But I will make this one comment now and perhaps will come back later to flesh it out. When the book ends, stop reading. If you choose to read the tacked-on endings (the Epilogue especially but also the Coda) do so realizing that you have already finished the book. What follows is fanfic (which was written by the author, yeah, but still not part of the actual story). If you choose to go on to the Epilogue, make sure you settle within yourself that you are done with the book. Then proceed.