Dark Tower Found

16 January, 2006. 457 words.

I finished the Stephen King Dark Tower books last night… I’ve had the last two books for like six months but just now got around to reading them. (My life is such that I have to deliberately exclude things from my plate in order to read.) I started with book five and went on through to the last two. All I can say is: Wow. I didn’t think there was any way SK could pull off an ending to fit such a monumental story, but he did.

And yet it’s not over. It still has a life of its own, like all the great epics. Even if he doesn’t write another word about that world, there are so many unanswered questions that one could ponder them for a lifetime. How did John Farson betray Gilead? What happened at Jericho Hill? What about Ted and Dinky? All backstory, true, but subjects for much debate.

The Gunslinger. Interesting and strange. The first edition was not very SK-like, but unfortunately you have to slog through it. The revised edition is better, but still has a very “flat,” unemotional feel to it. (But then, when we meet Roland for the first time, he is very flat and unemotional.) It’s like a rough pencil sketch of a rich, fascinating world, and you end up wanting to learn more about it.
The Drawing of the Three. Excellent. Very fast-paced. Lots of emotional “punch” with the introduction of Eddie and Susannah.
The Wastelands. Excellent. Riveting. The return of Jake and the introduction of Oy. Roland’s heart begins to melt. Perhaps the best of them all.
Wizard and Glass. Pretty good. At first I found the tale of Roland’s early days in Mejis kind of tedious-I was a lot more interested in his present-day ka-tet-but it grew on me. It gave Roland a life. It was pretty long, though.
Wolves of the Calla. Not bad. A lot of exposition and backstory about Father Callahan, which is kind of a drag to slog through. There wasn’t a great deal of “action” in this one until the very end.
Song of Susannah. Not the best. More exposition. Very interesting plot twists, though. Not much “action.” It just seemed like a “segway” between Wolves and The Dark Tower.
The Dark Tower. Excellent. Perfect pacing. This book alone felt like an epic. As a bumbling, stumbling sometimes-writer myself, I found the portrayal of the relationship between the story and the story-teller very fascinating. I also enjoyed how Roland, and the feel of the narrative, changed through the course of this book. He and it became more and more “flat” as the book went on. I don’t know if that was intentional, but it worked out brilliantly.

Good job, Steve-o!

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