See, this might almost be plausible but for the fact that Tolkien kept Sauron nebulous right to the bitter end. There was no revelation about Sauron’s physical form, and he did not turn out to be an evil Hello Kitty aficionado or something equallEEEE sillEEEE. Since the dread was maintained, the reader was able to accept that Sauron drove the entire plot of the book without really appearing in it. Tolkien’s evil may have been banal (although I’m sure many would beg to differ about this), but it was never ludicrous.
The problem with DT7 is that this powerful adversary was so bizarrely written. The moment the Crimson King starts squealing like a stuck pig and starts lobbing grenades, the whole atmosphere goes from tense to ridiculous. You just lose all respect for him and that shouldn’t happen with the primary antagonist.
Agreed. I really wouldn’t change anything about the actual end. The hopelessness of repetition…I thought it was perfectly Roland. I just wish King had tied all the loose ends better.
God I hated the ending to the DT series, as well as the last few books to be honest.
The first one was a great introduction, and I still think The Drawing of the Three is one of King’s best books. I loved it; just a great story, wonderful characters, all around a fantastic tale. The 3rd and 4th I also really enjoyed, but Christ, the last few books were terrible. The stupid Harry Potter tie ins, the utterly disappointing death of Randall Flagg, the Crimson King described as a mad, frittering old man, the aforementioned deus ex machina of ERASING the most evil force in the multiverse, the death and reboot of major characters (do I really want to imagine Jake, Eddie, and Susannah with their minds wiped, the journey we have traveled together forgotten?) - I don’t know what King was (not) smoking that made the last three novels such trash compared to the first four.
It could have - and should have - been so much more. An appropriately epic showdown with Flagg and the Crimson King befitting a seven book build up, the sacrifices of his ka-tet acknowledged without cheapening it with their rebirth without memories in some other land, an ending without the deus ex machina of erasing the most badass evil force in the multiverse, I mean, come on. I get what he was trying to do with the very end with Roland beginning his journey again, and while I didn’t like it, I can accept that at least.
I have read many of King’s works, and really enjoyed them, but sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better if he had never returned to the series after Wizard and Glass.