good......but the contradiction....
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it is good, and that's a relief. i read Wolves, Susannah and Tower in one sprint after years of hating Wizard and Glass. The final 3 work well, curiosity is constant and the characters are well drawn - and thankfully King even remembers to explain the Insomnia link that had been bugging me since about 1997.
what goes wrong? The Crimson King needed more legs, the Turtle could have done with a little more breakfast and the finale - though it didn't annoy me as much as some it does horrifically contradict itself in the space of 2 paragraphs. as i said, i didn't mind the ending, it is the ending i imagined when i was 14 and read vol 1 (i'm 32 now) - but the contradiction is huge and deflates the cleverness king was aiming for.
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King bored of writing
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What is this? The Dark Tower books was gradually getting better and better with each novel, right up until Wizard and Glass. After that the series got poorer and it felt that King was rushing to finish them.
This final instalment was a huge let down, King trying to tie lose ends without using his imagination to the fullest. Jericho Hill is brought in near the end when it should have been built up. Getting into the Tower is a fairly simple process, I was hoping some time would be spent in the Tower but this is over in a matter of a few pages. The Crimson King is never explained, I was hoping more about Farson either as 'flashback' or within the story. Nothing.
And especially I felt cheated at the whole Maertyn (sp?) scenario.
Rubbish. Read Wizard and Glass again instead.
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Fantastic
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I highly reccomend this book to anyone who has read the previous six. If you have - you will love this book. King writes better than ever. The story takes dramatic turn after dramatic turn. It really is fantastic. As I neared the end I, quite literally, could not put the book down. It is that good. Read it.
However if you have not read the previous 6 books, you are missing ut. I suggest that you read them. Now.
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And in the end...
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No, no spoiler. But after months of pondering the end, wondering if it was a cop-out, or a stroke of genius, I have finally reached a conclusion: It is a stroke of genius. It is unexpected, original and in the final analysis, probably the only thing that makes sense. Now, it took some time to get to this concluson and it is not difficult to see why the ending caused some controversy among fans of the series. It was not immediately pleasing, but the deeper it sunk, the more sense it made. It also has some of the qualities of a good mystery novel; when you know the whole story, you can see that the author has been honest all the time. Not exactly dropping hints or anything, but a lot of earlier incidents and lines suddenly got another meaning. I hope Stephen King has some more stories to tell, but this is without a doubt his magnum opus and I believe it will be read for many, many decades. I'm not so sure that will be the case regarding his more instant hits and bestsellers.
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Ka, do ya ken?
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where to start? . after being introduced to DT by my friend Dave back in 2004 i was totally hooked. i've followed Roland, our last Gunslinger, and his Ka-tet through everything. i developed the strongest bond with these characters and felt one of their tet by the end of book 7. they affected my dreams and my waking. this book has made my laugh out loud, cry as my heart broke into what felt like 1000 tiny pieces and then left me hanging with the ending, and this final episode could not have been more perfect. in true king style he has left us wanting more, although under the circumstances i don't think that's likely to happen!!! i will say that this series has left me feeling emotionally drained though, i feel now it has ended i have lost a part of myself. I have been out and bought The Stand, but it is sitting on my bookshelf untouched as i do not yet feel emotionally stable enough to step back into that particular frame of mind! Long days and pleasent nights to thee sai...........
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