It wasn’t in a book, just mentioned a few times. I’m pretty sure in Wastelands, but definitely in each subsequent book.
Also, he didn’t drop the Horn, Cuthbert did after he blew it. Roland just didn’t stop to pick it up. If you ever pick up the graphic novels that have been coming out, and I’d recommend them for sure, it is explained in more detail there.
It was actually this warning that pissed me off. It made what came after feel like an insult rather than the natural progression of the story. Had he not included the warning I probably wouldn’t have been as pissed (though honestly, that ending is about as interesting as “and then he woke up.”)
I do like that the cycle starts again very slightly differently than it started the first time, indicating that Roland might have the ability to change things the next time through.
I liked the ending. I thought it was well written and made narrative sense. I felt that Roland was learning how to be more sympathetic and to value people.
So, I wonder if he has to repair/rescue the Beams each journey or if the Tower was truly falling on this journey and he repaired it. Thoughts?
Like I mentioned above, I think the former is what’s happening. It’s significant that there were two Beams during the novels; the strong one on the opposite side of the tower, and the one the ka-tet traveled along that was being weakened and torn down. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for that strong Beam to exist; if this was supposed to be a one-off, it seems more dramatically appropriate to have Roland save the very last Beam and keep the Tower from falling. As it is, I think the books chronicled his second go-round. The next time, there will be two strong Beams and he and the ka-tet will be traveling along a third Beam that’s falling apart.
I’m glad you liked the ending; I always did. Imagine what a let-down it would be if Roland had pulled aside a curtain at the end to find The Great and Tewwible Wizard of Oz working away at a control panel.
It’s hard to imagine what would be inside(at the top) of the Tower anyway. Aside from fixing the Tower and saving the universe, what would be fulfilling for him to find up there?
His mother? Susan? Heaven?
It that is the case, then he will travel down a different beam the next time. That would significantly change his journey. Will he have a different ka-tet? Is it only Roland that gets recycled? Will the Man in Black be someone else as well?
I figure it’ll be the exact same story as before, with possibly a few changes (as minor as having the Horn of Eld).
King was very fuzzy on the topology of the world of the Tower. I got the sense that the Beams and the land along them were effectively parallel dimensions that still co-existed, or something like that.
Right. So this time around he repaired one of the beams that was failing. If each repeat progresses to a different beam it would follow a different path through the multiverse. It may nor may not pass through the same time periods/worlds as the first beam, but should not at the exact same times/places. The beams only cross at the tower, so once he finds the beam, his path should be different from then on.
The other option is that the same beam will be fading, but one of the other beams will be restored. He will restore the same beam each time, but on restart there will be more healthy beams.