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The Dark Tower

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I just started re-reading this series, and even though I know every twist and turn of it, it still grips me the whole way through ...

For those that don't know, THE DARK TOWER is a 7-volume fantasy series by Stephen King, begun in 1970 and finished in 2004 (writing, at least - the first volume was published in 1982). It is described by many as King's magnum opus - while the series itself is 7 novels, most of his other works tie in in some way - some very directly, such as THE STAND, 'SALEM'S LOT, THE EYES OF THE DRAGON and INSOMNIA.

The general consensus by many fans is that the first four volumes - THE GUNSLINGER, THE DRAWING OF THE THREE, THE WASTE LANDS, and WIZARD AND GLASS - published between 1982 and 1997, are excellent, some of King's best writing, and, of course, the best of the series, while the final three - WOLVES OF THE CALLA, SONG OF SUSANNAH, and THE DARK TOWER - all published in 2003 or 2004, and written after King's accident, were quite poor in comparison to the first four, and that the ending was badly done. I, on the other hand, think the only two truly weak volumes were SONG OF SUSANNAH and WIZARD AND GLASS, while the others were some of the best writing I've ever read.

I was just curious as to how many people here have read these books or not, as they are really, in my opinion, the best fantasy written in a LONG time. I highly reccommend them, even if you're not a fan of King. I also reccommend that, if you start reading them, start with the revised edition of THE GUNSLINGER - the original is hard to get into, and is in many respects very inconsistent with the way the story evolved in the ten years between the writing of volume one and volume two. Although that may be akin to Lucas' redesigning of the originals to fit the new films, but that's a different debate entirely.

Anyway, has anyone read these books? If so, what did you think?
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I read the first one and thought it was excellent.

I read the second one and thought it was pretty good.

I read the third one and thought it was ok.

I read the fourth one and thought it was excellent (the backstory parts were, anyway).

I read the fifth one and thought it was stupid. (I mean, come on: robots dressed like Dr. Doom carrying lightsabers and exploding Harry Potter snitches?!)

I read the sixth one and thought it was even more stupid. (He put HIMSELF IN THE BOOK?!?!)

I read half of the seventh one, and I just couldn't take any more. I did skip to the end, so I could see how the series ended (I would've hated to have put all that time into a series to not know the ending), and I literally tossed the book against my wall. I thought the ending was one of the worst endings in the history of bad endings.

At that time I made a vow never to read another Stephen King book again. Those are many hours of my life that I will never get back.

Curse you, Stephen..........curse you...........


At least now I've learned how NOT to write a fantasy series.

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i've read them all...Drawing of the Three is my personal favorite

i'm a Stephen King fan, but the man really doesn't know how to create a satisfying ending

he can craft an excellent story. His character development is unmatched, he really makes these people REAL.

He can draw you into his world(s) & leaving you thirsting for more

Somewhere around the halfway point, the story starts to fall apart...or takes a turn that you'd rather it not take

the ending is usually anti-climactic, or just plain silly...often leaving a bad taste in my mouth & making me wonder what it was that kept me reading the whole damn book in the first place

This is evident in most of his books and The Dark Tower Series just illusrates this on a larger scale

The other big problem with The Dark Tower series is that it just took too long...much like The Star Wars Prequels, there was simply too much hype & expectations were too high

in the huge gap between the release of book 4 & book 5, too much time had passed.

the writer had changed so much in that many years (as had his audience) that it was impossible to create that same magic in the same way

the writer had been away from that world for too long, and just couldn't find his way back.

it was rushed; it was forced; and ultimately, it was destined to disappoint
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"the writer had been away from that world for too long, and just couldn't find his way back."

I disagree on that point - there was a 6-year gap between 4 and 5, the same amount of time between 3 and 4. The problem was the van hitting him, which A) changed the story tremendously, especially in DT7, and B) changed *him* too much to finish the story the way it would have finished before the "incident."

However, like I said, I enjoyed all of them, though I do agree on the weak ending - while the rest of that book was very good, the resolutions of major plot threads were just ... weak.
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One of my favorite Stephen King books is Rage, and it sadly isn't available for purchase anymore. I purchased the compilation "The Bachman Books" at a local used bookstore, but at the time I had no idea that Rage was no longer being published; I just thought the book was exceptionally difficult to find.

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I also have The Bachman Books - while RAGE is an amazing book, I can see why it's not published anymore, though I think that's stupid and it should be put back out there. It's a great book and it's too bad many people will never get to read it. THE LONG WALK is another good King-as-Bachman novel, in my opinion.
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I Googled Rage, and now I see what you guys are talking about. If that's reason enough for it to be pulled from publication, then the song "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats and Pearl Jam's video for Jeremy should be banned from the airwaves. This is really stupid.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Originally posted by: Nanner Split
I read the first one and thought it was excellent.
At least now I've learned how NOT to write a fantasy series.

I don't think I could write a seven book long series. I think the most I could get out of any one of my ideas would be 3 books at the most, maybe 4 but 4 would be pushing it.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

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Originally posted by: GundarkHunter
I Googled Rage, and now I see what you guys are talking about. If that's reason enough for it to be pulled from publication, then the song "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats and Pearl Jam's video for Jeremy should be banned from the airwaves. This is really stupid.


Rage wasn't banned by the usual group of wackos that tries to ban everything in this country...Rage was taken out of publication by King himself...stephenking.com used to have a statement about it. After Columbine, King thought it would be in poor taste to have that book still floating around out there

I disagree with this decisiopn because Rage is a great book, however, i'm glad to see that it was King who made this decision rather than having the book pulled from the shelves against his will
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I just think it's sad that he would have to make such a decision.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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The Gunslinger was my favourite book in the series. Unlike most DT fans, I never found Eddie or Susannah particularily likeable, so their absence in the book didn't bother me (in many ways, the book was better for it). I also liked Wizard and Glass, which is the second best Dark Tower book IMO.

The last three books were major letdowns though, saturated with mediocrity and outright crappiness, especially Wolves of the Calla. And don't get me started on the Crimson King's disappointing reveal in book seven ...