The Dark Tower

[childroland]

Stevem King one of the worlds greatedt authors (in my opinion). Wrote a series called the Dark Tower. This series is awsome although I a only at his fourth book Wizard and Glass. I have also read Insomnia recently. They are all great books. If you have read them then talk about them here. :D

[Zeromus_X]

You better bet I love this. I am an avid King reader anyway, and I adore how all his other books, and an appearance by him in one of the books (xD) all tie into this series. :cat: I've only finished the fourth book (which was more of a flashback then anything, but meh, I like back-stories), and I can't wait to get the other three. :cat: :love:

[childroland]

I havent finished book four yet, btu that isnt quite my fault cause my dad is being lazy and wont go get the books Damn him.

[Zell's Fists of Fury]

The people who matter know my feelings on the Dark Tower.

I loved the series. I adored it. When I learn King was going to finish it, I squealed in delight. The fifth book came, and it was good, not as good as the others, but still good. Until the last ten pages. The sixth book came. My excitement dwindled. The seventh and last book came. I cried.

Stephen King ruined his greatest work by finishing it. He tried to finish it too damn quickly. He didn't take the time necessary to give his great epic story the ending it deserved. It seems to me the publishers said "Say, you know what would make alot of money? FInishing your story withing a six month period." And so he did. He crapped out three turds and everyone bought them.

He even admits that the end was <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">.

Blech.

But the first four were amazing!

[DK]

I'm currently halfway through Book five. But now Spiff has ruined my enthusiam. That <img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif"><img src="/xxx.gif">. :mad2:

[Zell's Fists of Fury]

Good. Maybe you'll spare yourself the misery I went through.
Seriously. I was depressed for about a week.
The end of book five will give you a good idea why.

[fire_of_avalon]

I finished the series in March and I still love them. Even if the end of it all IS bad, do you really see it ending any other way?

I'm not going to say it was perfect, and I'm not going to make any claims that Song of Susannah was a great book, but overall I think the series is amazing.

Dan, if you stop reading I will come kick you.

[Pheesh]

Haven't read this series yet but I looooove Stephen King. Just finished on writing and am about to start on 'the girl who loved tom gordon', then 'the running man, the 'the dead zone' and finally 'cell'. Very sad that he has put down the pen though :(

Stay Essential
EE

[DK]

I'm not going to stop reading. Even if it turns out to be the worst two books in the world, I can't leave it without some sort of closure. :{

[Zell's Fists of Fury]

I finished the series in March and I still love them. Even if the end of it all IS bad, do you really see it ending any other way?

Yes. Written with some thought. Not crapped out in six months to make a quick buck. Written with less "wtf" moments. Not full of anti-climatic scenes. And on and on and on.

[RSL]

I share a similar opinion as Spiff. I discovered this series back in 1995, when there were only three books published. I think the wait was the best part. Waiting for book 4 to be released. Then the long wait to book 5. 5 was good, but as Spiff said, the last couple pages are going to floor you. It never looks up from there.

Reading Book 7 is something I did because I felt I had to, but it was tough. Really tough.

A couple months ago I finished a complete re-read of the series, all in a row. The last three books fare better on a second read through, because you no longer have any expectations.

[kikimm]

I just finished The Gunslinger a few weeks ago and I loved it and now I am afraid that I love it. :( I hate being disappointed. But oh well, I trudge on. I won't read on with high expectations.

[Cid]

I'm halfway through the second one... and it is much better than the Gunslinger, in my opinion.

[childroland]

SK is a great writter and his series has been good so far. I hope it stays that way til the series end. After I finish the DT series I am going to read his books connected to the DT series.

[Zeromus_X]

Well, the series is over. :p :cat: I haven't read the fifth book and up on yet. (Although I do know a little about what happens...meh.) There are seven books in the series, I believe. :cat:

[DK]

I'm halfway through the second one... and it is much better than the Gunslinger, in my opinion.

Yep. I didn't like the first book all that much to be honest, but I bought it and the second one at the same time, and the second one was inifinitely better, IMO.

[childroland]

I liked rwo better as well although it sucked When Roland lost his two fingers.

[Alive-Cat]

I have rarely EVER posted here, but this thread has made me do it.
I've read all of the DT books, and I think they are the number one books ever written. I have no queries with the last 2 books or the ending, I can't see it ending another way.

[RSL]

Are you guys reading the original Gunslinger or the revised version? They are so different that they are pretty much different books entirely!

[DK]

I think I'm reading the revised versions. Is that good or bad? D:

[RSL]

Only the first book was re-written.

Here is my opinion on the first book. The way it was originally written is a much, much better read. However, the revised version definitely fits in with the rest of the series better.

I read the revised when it came out to see what he had changed, but if I was going to read the series over again, I would probably read the original.

[fire_of_avalon]

I... I don't know which one I read. Well I'll just have to start all over again! :D!

[RSL]

Oh my...

foa, in your Gunslinger, was Allie all obsessed with the number 19? Because 19 is something King added to the series late in the game, and was never mentioned in the original Gunslinger. That's just one of the changes, but it's one of the more annoying ones (as the obsession with the number 19 was really annoying in general).

Some of the stuff he changed was just to fix stuff he messed up on. In the original Gunslinger, Farson was a town name. But then he started using Farson as the name of a person. In the revised Gunslinger, he changes the name of the town Farson to something else to avoid confusion.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

It is an excellent series, though otherwise I feel that King is a sort of hit-and-miss author. My favourite book in it remains book 1 because of the suberb imagery and metaphors, as well as the philosophical banter between Roland and the Man in Black at the end. It's also illustrated very well in my version. I've heard that it was "revised and expanded" but I expect King ruined the excellent style. I feel the first book is already near perfection so rewriting it sounds foolish and bound to wreck it.

I also enjoyed book 2 a lot for the action, but I was dissapointed when he lost his style from book 1 (as a writer King was a lot different when he was younger, perhaps for the better?). I have yet to finish the series (I've read books 1-3), though I own all the books (1-7).

Also, I really enjoyed Misery and the Tommyknockers (though the latter was rather slow to start). I hated the Dead Zone and Kujo... those were just lame.

King is highly over-rated. His writing can be sloppy, and he's obviously very ego-centric due to the way he writes his introductions/epilogues etc.

[RSL]

My favourite book in it remains book 1 because of the suberb imagery and metaphors, as well as the philosophical banter between Roland and the Man in Black at the end. It's also illustrated very well in my version. I've heard that it was "revised and expanded" but I expect King ruined the excellent style. I feel the first book is already near perfection so rewriting it sounds foolish and bound to wreck it.

What you fear is true. King has a different opinion of his writing when he was younger than you and I do. The new version just doesn't have the same feel.

[childroland]

Since we are talking about originals. My dad has the magazines his original version of the Dark Tower was writtin in.

[Shoeberto]

I've read the first three and started on the fourth, though I've never finished it. The first remains my favorite in the series.

[Leeza]

At the moment I am reading the last book and I will be sad when I finish it. I am of the same mindset as Spiff though because I find that King seems to always start off a book/series extremely well, but then seems to get bored and then just throws in some dumb ending. For example, <i>Misery</i> was an excellent read until he started in the the flying lawnmowers, etc. That was just dumb.

All in all though I have read all of his books (except a few of his latest ones that I didn't have time for yet) and they were all very entertaining and I would not call any of them a waste of time.

I did not know that there was a revised version of <i>The Gunslinger</i>. I have it, but I just thought it was only a new cover and stuff. I guess I'll have to actually read it. <i>The Drawing of the Three</i> was my favourite in the series.

[childroland]

I have read the first three half of the fourth, but my favorite part has to be the riddle contest between Blaine the Pain and Roland's Ka-tet. I like riddles and these were challenging.

[Bart's Friend Milhouse]

there seem to be tons of good films I see and it ends up that they had some sort of Stephen King influence

[childroland]

I know his writting is awsome and inspirational. Even his movies are great.

[DK]

There is an Actor or Musician who I can't figure out what his name is, but I see his face in my head every time I read this series because to ME, that is EXACTLY how I picture Eddie Dean to look. But I can't for the life of me remember who it is, and it makes me weep.

[RSL]

Danny Devito?

[childroland]

I dunno but let us know when you remember.

[Ishin Ookami]

So far I've read everything but Song of Susannah (couldnt find it in stores, but the mass market paperback edition is due out this month, I'll read it then), and personally I thought it WAS a great story. The ending was not half assed, the dutch translations for Rolands loast name is "In Chains". Roland is every bit a prisoner of fate as Eddie once was with his drug addiction. He is so obsessed that he can shrug off despicable acts such as allowing jake to fall or remaining in a town he knows is a death trap for him, and thus putting himself in a situation where he has to kill EVERYONE there, all for the sake of his quest. He calls it Ka, while everyone else see's it for what it is, obsession. That's why the ending is so bitter sweet. Susannah is tired of bloodshed and death, and opts out of that mess and lives happily ever after. Roland however cannot, will not due to how much a prisoner of Ka he is. And thus the ending, it's his simultaneous reward and punishment. A chance to be better, a chance at redemption, a chance to free himself. But he must also face the same choices and choose differently, which this time it appears he has, and does, and will.

And for those dissatisfied... Um, hello. King himself chimed in before the climax and says "STOP!" Dont go into the tower if you want a happy ending. just put down the book, and walk away. He states that the book cannot have ended any other way, that this is how it was meant to be.

as for the confrontations, I thought they all worked fine. I loved how Crimson King went down, very inventive. The showdown with the breakers worked out fine. And yes, I did see the confrontation with the wolves of the Calla coming. And if you couldnt see the literary connections, implications, and connotations coming by book three, then you just wern't paying attention.