Wildly uneven series. I actually like the first volume in its original form the best. 2 and 3 were not quite as good but still entertaining. The whole rest of the series was a gigantic pile of shit studded with bits of brilliance.
Putting himself in as a character made me want to give King the taint punch of death. The way he took his best villain ever, Randall Flagg, re-wrote his whole backstory and then threw him away convinced me that King hates his readers on some level. It had echoes of “Misery,” his other great wallow in the burden of being a Popular Author. The much hated ending didn’t bother me. We’d been told umpteen trillion times that ka is a wheel. The authorial note just before the ending seemed like him begging me for that taint punch I’d earlier held off on.
Mod Note: On a note that should be obvious, open spoilers probably isn’t a good idea in a thread where someone asks whether or not they should start reading something.
Fully agree. I really liked the ending and thought it was basically the only ending actually possible. But after investing, shit, decades of my reading life in the web of worlds that he built, to get nothing! Nothing! in the way or explanation, closure or summary was more rage-inducing than the ending of Twin Peaks, the previous high-water mark of authorial fuckery as far as I’m concerned.
The original novella is excellent, the plot is a pastiche of pulp westerns and sci fi that treats the material earnestly. It is a bit dreamlike and surreal, and not everything is explained(but I liked it better that way).
The first sequel is good but has a totally different tone, so there is no way to tell by the first if you will like the rest.
After the third sequel the whole series goes up it’s own asshole, King himself is a character and things get stupidier.
I spend much of my internet time on a message board dedicated to SK collecting and discussions of the Dark Tower series.
I’m not a fan of fantasy at all, but really do love the Dark Tower series. I agree with a lot of what has been posted above and disagree with some.
Book 1 is hard to get into. It sets the stage well enough but doesn’t give you a good indication of the depth of character that is to come.
I really got into the whole parallel worlds idea, and the dystopian nature of Roland’s “when.” The mix of sci-fi, dark fantasy, and horror hit me just right. I also like the way King set up the language and the customs of the Dark Tower world.
I strongly hope you do give it a try. Book 2 is very good; Book 3 is amazingly good. Book 4 is my favorite.
I liked book 5, but 6 and 7 are hit and miss. Some very good parts intermixed with “What was King thinking?!”
I thought the ending was great. Brilliant. No other possible ending could have been anywhere near as perfect. Again, IMO. The lead-up to the ending, however, is perhaps the weakest part of the whole series.
I gave up on the series after Wolves of the Calla. Previous books hinted at other King works, but in Wolves, a character from 'Salem’s Lot becomes a major character in the Dark Tower series; I haven’t read 'Salem’s Lot, and it pulled me out of the story.
King’s reach definitel exceeded his grasp. All was well until he decided that his grand opus had to be tied to all the other things he wrote. Passing references from one book to another about earlier works were cute and a nice shout out to the devoted readers. When all this started to actually become important to the story, a good, firm editor should have given King a hard dummy smack and sent him back to rewrite.
I agree with those who say the first book isn’t a very good indication of whether you will like the rest of the series. I would recommend starting with the second book (I don’t think there is a lot of knowledge to be gained from the first book). If you like it, you can go back and read the first book for any missing back story. If you don’t like it, there’s no point in reading any more.
You need to read the fourth (not fifth as I said earlier*) story in the first book. It’s short, but if that’s not read, the whole bit with Jake in the second book won’t make much sense.
Definitely give it a shot, keeping in mind the first book is not typical of the rest of the series. Parts of it were originally published as stand-alone short stories, and it is also some of the first stuff King ever wrote. Go with the revised edition.
The second and third books are amazing.
The first time I read Wizard and Glass I was disappointed. Like others have mentioned, I’d anxiously waited several years to find out what happened next (Book 3 ends on a cliffhanger). The book spends the first 60 or so pages resolving the cliffhanger, then goes into a flashback which takes up the bulk of the book. I was frustrated. However, about 5 years ago I decided to do the entire series in one shot (I hadn’t read 5-7 yet), and knowing what to expect, I was able to focus on the Roland’s story rather than “what’s gonna happen next” . Now Wizard and Glass is one of my favorite King works.
I liked Book 5, although I found the meta stuff started getting a bit twee towards the end, especially when he started incorporated shout-outs to other pop culture universes like Star Wars and Harry Potter.
Books 6 & 7 run together in my mind and are uneven. Some truly moving bits …
such as when Eddie calls Roland “father”[/SPOILER] that brought tears to my eyes, and some goofy stuff that just made those same eyes roll.[SPOILER] Bringing in the Big Bad from The Stand, only to dispatch him quickly, the deus ex machina scene where King saves Odetta/Susannah
I didn’t have a problem with the ending, and though it was about the only way it could have ended. Although I could have done without the petulant bitchy author’s note.
Has anyone read The Wind In The Keyhole yet? How does it compare to the main series? Should a newbie like the OP read it after Book 7, or between 4 & 5 (chronologically in the story)
Well then I think you guys did it, I’m gonna jump into it this weekend and see how I like it.
The weather is gonna be crap here so I can’t take it to the beach or anything, but I’m eager to plunge into something new. I’m a pretty fast reader so I’ll keep everyone updated.
One other bit I loathed in Book 7. It was minor, but was insanely, throw-the-book-across-the-room annoying.
[spoiler]
Jake, Susanna and Eddie end up in a parallel world that’s all perfect and wonderful. Which is fine. They earned a happily-ever-after. But…then King goes on to explain why it’s such a great world:
Gary Hart beat Reagan. :rolleyes:
After all the cosmic stuff, he throws in the metaphorical equivalent of a fart joke. Tossing in a lame-ass political shot after all that? It was lame. It really felt as though I’d been listening to a great performance of the 1812 Overture and the conductor decided to end it with a fart rather than cannons.
(And I would say exactly the same thing if it had been a wonderful world because Bush 1 beat Clinton. It’s lame.) [/spoiler]
I haven’t read it yet, but it’s gotten some very positive reviews. A lot of people are favorably comparing it to books 2 and 3.
The Wind In The Keyhole is pretty good, but it adds nothing to the story of The Dark Tower (nor is it meant to). It does give some more depth to Roland’s character, and the world in general. I’d recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of the series.
Edit - I’d probably say read it after the main series, else there’ll be just too many flashbacks in a row.
