/lit/ - Literature

There isn't seven books worth of story, put it that way.

I don't really remember Roland like that in the books. It's possible though I haven't read the series in years...

I did read the entire series and after book 4 (really sometime during book 4) the rest of the series goes to hell. First 3 books were great and the last 5 were terrible. The ending is the most disappointing ending I've ever read, ever. I think I got a bit angry when I read it because it was so bad.

Be ready for biggest disappointment of your life.

bump

The Gunslinger on its own is probably the best book of the series.

The Wizard and Glass is my second favorite, since it's basically a stand-alone flashback story about Roland's past.

The rest are mediocre to okay. I remember thinking the last book was kinda good, especially the ending.

I think as far as King goes, it's a pretty good series. It will probably grip you just enough so you get to the end, but it's not like you will hunger for page after page.

I don't honestly know. I'm glad I read it when I was 13-14, I wouldn't get anything out of it if I read it now.

Roland isn't really like that past the first book. I didn't really like the Gunslinger that much, Wastelands was the best.

I remember Roland as being driven, but dog-tired after midway through Drawing of the Three.

I liked the first 4, and Wolves of the Callah, but The Dark Tower was disappointing.

I like it. It's a great fantasy book, the scenario is amazing in my opinion.

I even liked the fourth book, so most people will say that my opinion is completely irrelevant.

But it's quite simple: if you are not enjoying the figure of the main character, drop the book and go read something else.

But it is a great fantasy series.

Aside from the story itself, which we all have opinions on (except you, special one), watching an extremely popular writer write a long series of books that have such a close attachment to so many of his other works is a literary treat. No one here was alive while Dumas was serializing The Three Musketeers, or waited for Twain's next, or finished "The Fellowship Of The Ring" and waited for the next.

I enjoyed the series as a story, but also appreciated what he was/is doing from the standpoint of an author. Has there been any other writer so prolific that has tied together so much of his lifetimes work under a single banner?

>>2570358

A minor frustration of my life is the fact that I've read the series without reading anything else by Stephen King, ever.

I'm slowly reading other books by him - he misses a couple shots, by the way - and I hope that my second run on The Dark Tower, years from now, will be amazing. I may even forget the ending and get mad all over again.

>>2570372
I approached it from the other angle, I purposely left Dark Tower as the end-product of all the rest of the stories. I'm not going to say I was thrilled by the ending, because it was sort of a let down but for the fact that it was different than the beginning, which meant this could go on for a long while more. I knew I'd meet other characters again, so I wanted to get to know them before they were sucked into the other story line.

I like King's writing, but the last 2 books seemed a bit rushed or even truncated. That being said, I follow that from his perspective he wanted to do it right, and not lose the thread even though he ultimately did anyway. He sort of made up for it, but I don't think it'll cycle as well if he does another book progression like he did with Wizard & Glass and Wolves.

I could be wrong, but what the hell.. I'm still looking forward to Wind through the Keyhole.

Are they still planning a film adaption? I feel like it's one of those projects that will never see the light of day.

I'm much more curious and interested in the life of Jack Sawyer (Talisman, Black House). I don't know what SK and Peter Straub have agreed to, or not agreed to, so that's obviously a factor. But I found The Talisman as good as anything in the entire Dark Tower series.

>>2570435
It's an on again/off again kind of thing. LOTR was like that as well until Peter Jackson got behind it and made it a truly great series.

>>2570660
I sort of thought that too, but to me the tie-in with the Dark Tower was tenuous... Speedy/Snowball/Parkus as a Gunslinger was too forced, in Talisman, he was a sergeant or whatever in a royal court, but in Black House he was an old-west gunslinger... I couldn't suss it.

THAT might have legs, and based on that, you might see more, but DT has WAY too many tie-ins. It's like a fantasy Avengers, too many individuals that you have to do homework for.

>>2570792
You're right, the DT tie to Black House was a bit stretched. I wonder if Peter Straub rolled his eyes about it. I also wonder if Peter Straub echoed any of his other books in Black House. It's axiomatic.

Loved the first book, stopped reading after I read the second. I couldn't bear it.

>>2570975
Sorry, what's axiomatic?

>>2570992
Was quoting a character from the book who is always saying that. I had a feeling I'd see that meme, thanks.

>>2570975
> It's axiomatic.
LOL

I can't help but think that when I see Benny Hinn. He's about as smarmy as ol' Sunlight Gardener.

That being said, I suspect Straub understood how some characters echo into other works, and likely was okay with it, Parkus was like a gunslinger in the Territories, and the idea of flipping was echoed in The Drawing of the Three and even The Gunslinger (Jake 'flipped' when Walter brought him to the Way station through the doors, and later in the Wastelands and I think the Wolves of the Callah?).

I don't know about the Black House... I haven't read any of Straub's other works other than Ghost Story.