All I can say is, this book series drives me nuts. It’s almost blatantly not bibled, and at this point I’m just waiting for it to be finished, yet I keep fearing it never -will- be. King will pass on before hitting the end, and we’ll never get the answers to the zillion and one questions the books bring up. To make matters worse, the most recent book was about 90% flashback, none of which really seemed to have anything that -moved the story forward-.
I think that’s my big frustration. The whole story is a great quest, and yet -so much- of the books doesn’t move the quest forward at all. It’s poor storytelling, but I’m unfortunately hooked. (sigh)
Can anyone offer me words of encouragement over this?
Heck, Roland (and his world) is so interesting that I would welcome a whole dedicated series just on his previous travels. Wizard and Glass did not fail to present a great story, even if it did not progress the Dark Tower series a whole lot.
I’m re-reading these now and enjoying them as much as the first time. I guess folks’ tastes differ, but I absolutely love these books–very good storytelling. They’re just so different, drawing on so many disjointed elements and putting them into a plausible story (provided you like fantasy and mysticism). Their uniqueness is very refreshing. As far as the story “going anywhere”, at the risk of using a cliche, to me it’s the journey of getting there that’s the most important.
Slightly OT: Read “Hearts in Atlantis” and “Insomniac”. They both tie into the Dark Tower opus.
So does “The Eies of The Dragon”
While “Wizard and Glass” may not have had much forward motion, it did give us a better view of what Mid-world and End-world are, and let us see more into Roland. All the necessary things for crafting an epic.
Anyway, my thing about the books is, I’m a guy who loves storylines, and I love the -wholeness- of them. What aggrivates me is that there’s so many -questions- in the books, but no answers. None at all. There may or may not even be a continuity.
I’ll stop ranting now. It just bugs me.
The “Dark Tower” series is the core.
“The Eyes of The Dragon” takes place at the same time, but in a different part of Mid-world. (IIRC)In “The Drawing of The Three”, Roland makes a reference to running across Thomas and Daniel chasing a wizard.
“The Stand” takes place on the same level of the Tower that Eddie is from, but in a different “room”.
“Hearts in Atlantis” introduces beings that are held in slavery to break Beams.
“Insomniac” has characters that look like little doctors. They traverse the Tower, but are separate from it.
Hmmm… perhaps you’re right, afterall, Arrr. But, really, isn’t it the QUESTIONS that really draw you in?
I think the whole concept of the series is really neat: a plot that ties together most of an author’s very disparate imagination (other authors have written all in the same continuity before, but usually not juggling so many entirely different worlds). Sometimes the exectuion isn’t so great however, and the place is often painfully plodding. To wit: it’s been so long since I’ve read the last few books that I can’t even remember their names. Can someone give some sort of recap of the most important happenings/Kinguniverse revelations. I haven’t read Wizard and Glass yet though…
lol to say the series is poorly told is a great misreading on your part. King is probably the most gripping storyteller you can have the chance of reading.
Btw - he’s rewriting the first Dark tower to bring it in line with the other books. And for the DT rereleases precluding the fifth book, a novel that ties in the Dark Tower universe with the other books will be published. More info at stephenking.com.
I’m reading Everythings Eventual by Stephen King right now. Its a book of short stories. The next story I’m starting on is called Little Sisters of Eluria or something like that. Its about Roland before the Dark Tower series. Wonder if its any good. I guess I’ll find out
----lol to say the series is poorly told is a great misreading on your part. King is probably the most gripping storyteller you can have the chance of reading.—
Well… there’s a matter of taste here. I’ve read a lot of King, and after awhile certain things get grating and repetative. He’s no Robert Jordan, but there are definately times when it feels like he’s dragging things out with endlessly uninteresting description and tangents. That isn’t to say that he can’t be compelling: I AM compelled. I just wont go so far as to say he’s perfect.
I’d love to see him tie in “It” That was one of my favorite works of his. The only really chilling part of Tommyknockers was when some police officers made an offhand reference to Derry. Just a reference to it being nearby. oooo
Apos: From this page which links all King’s Works together:
IT—THE DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER
Henry Bowers’ favorite rhyme was “Beans, Beans, the musical fruit…” Zoltan was also partial to this little ditty in DT I.
IT—THE DARK TOWER III: THE WASTELANDS
The Turtle is an important figure in both novels
IT—THE WASTELANDS: DT III
Inside the house at 29 Neibolt Street, some of the walls were covered with wallpaper which showed, “roses and elves wearing green caps.” In the Mansion where Jake is nearly eaten by the woodmonster, one of the rooms has wallpaper sporting, “Elves with strange, sly smiles on their faces,” which peeked at Jake from “beneath peaked green caps.”
From that page ‘It’ also has links to Pet Semetary, The Shawshank Redemption, Children of the Corn, The Dead Zone, The Shining, The Stand and Desperation.
Whaaaaat? He should rewrite the other books to bring them more in line with the first! The Gunslinger had a surreal, episodic quality to it that made it a wonderful read, which the others (especially the mundane, confused and purient Wizard and Glass) were often sorely lacking.
