[templarsaint]

I am a very regular viewer of this forum but an irregular poster.

After finishing the final book in the Dark Tower series I feel compelled to express my sadness and relief that my 20 year into mid world is now over.

This last book took me longer than most to read because I didnt want to miss a word - a bit like savouring the last bottle of vintage wine you have left, knowing that you probably will never taste the like again. Yes there will be others but none quite the same.

Whilst the ending may not be to everyones taste I felt it was in keeping with the series - it was ka.

I would recommend this series to all - the scope of imagination and the manner in which some of his other works interact with the series is enthralling.

TS

[clockwirk]

I loved the series as well, but I personally thought the ending was a complete cop-out. Instead of taking a chance and trying to tie things up in a way that required a commitment, King chose a way out where he really didn't have to write an ending at all. Not to mention that it completely trivializes the sacrifices made by all of the characters throughout the series.

I'll probably never read them again because of the sour taste the ending left in my mouth.

[lonely arthur]

Easily the most beautiful of his works, possibly the most disappointing ending. Any thoughts?

Check my cheese at www.purevolume.com/fickleyouth

[Erfael]

I've said it in other threads and I'll say it again in this one. I think the ending was just about perfect. Given the way the world and Roland were set up, I think it should have turned out no other way. And I think it takes a lot of guts for King to not just punch out the cookie-cutter, everyone-lives-happily-ever-after ending that one might expect from a quest like this. And he does warn people that they can stop reading before the ending, which I think is fair. I wonder if anyone did stop there?

[Rob B]

Here are some of the Dark Tower threads:
Does King's "Secret Window" tie in at all with the Dark Tower Series? (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8250&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
Dark Tower series (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7598&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
Dark Tower series ... quick question about storyline closures.. (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6828&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
SK's Gunslinger series crossover with other novels .. (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6815&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
The Dark Tower (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6164&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
Stephen king gunslinger - Wolves of the Calla (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5542&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
Stephen King as a fantasy writer!!! (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4850&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
Stephen King's "Dark Tower" (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)
Steven King's Dark Tower : WOW! (http://www.sffworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2017&highlight=Dark+Tower+Stephen+King)

[Andrew J]

I've said it in other threads and I'll say it again in this one. I think the ending was just about perfect. Given the way the world and Roland were set up, I think it should have turned out no other way. And I think it takes a lot of guts for King to not just punch out the cookie-cutter, everyone-lives-happily-ever-after ending that one might expect from a quest like this. And he does warn people that they can stop reading before the ending, which I think is fair. I wonder if anyone did stop there?

There are some SPOILERS below for the series.





Yes, I agree. I also have to say that if you missed the huge foreshadowings to the ending, which occur throughout every single book of the series in some way, and more so as they go on, then I don't know what to say!

I don't see how it can be a copout, as King repeatedly tells you how there "might not be redemption for the damned" and "Ka is a Wheel" and Roland's senses of deja vu (starting sometime in book three)--to me, a copout is something tacked on and just thought of on the spur of a moment.

But I think the best thing about the ending is that for once, I walked in a character's shoes.

Everyone told Roland to stop, and there was no need to go to the Tower anymore because everything is OK (and he needlessly risked the Crimson King getting his guns and becoming the Lord of the Tower/all of creation, not to mention put the nail in Oy's coffin, and drove off Susannah). In the same way, King told us to stop, no, sorry, there's no need to go on, there's nothing but heartbreak for you ahead (real endings are heartless, after all), but I, like many others, didn't listen. We jepordized our hearts--saying, "No sir, damn it, but I came all the way to see this Tower and this Tower alone"--and some of us paid for it. Relentless bastards we are, we had to see the top of the Tower and forget everything else.

[dragonheart1]

i just finished the waste lands one and i hated it that roland and them got stuck with blaine the mono, can someone please tell me that they're gonna be all right, i liked blaine, he seemed like fun, but i'm worried about the people, especially roland cause he had an attitude towards blaine, please tell what happens! someone! anyone! i'll love you forever if you do!

[Erfael]

Blaine is a Pain....

But to find out what happens, you'll have to read Wizard and Glass.

[Quagmire]

i just finished the waste lands one and i hated it that roland and them got stuck with blaine the mono, can someone please tell me that they're gonna be all right, i liked blaine, he seemed like fun, but i'm worried about the people, especially roland cause he had an attitude towards blaine, please tell what happens! someone! anyone! i'll love you forever if you do!


wha? why don't you just read the next book, Wizard and Glass?

[DragonReader]

*********Potential Spoiler***********


I loved this series. One of the best I have ever read. Having said that, I was initially put off by SK writing himself into the story. But it didn't bother me too much. And I thought the ending was quite good. It did not bother me at all.