Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
A little disappointed with the ending... it felt unfinished (more so that the other cliff-hangers of the series) but now I'm finally on the to the conclusion of the their tale!
3.5 stars - good, but probably my least favorite of the series so far
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
My father's second wife died in 2010. She was a massive Stephen King fan, and read everything he had ever written up until then EXCEPT The Dark Tower books. She, originally, avoided them because she worried that either he or she would die before the books were completed. I never asked her why, after he completed the orignal seven books, she didn't pick them up.
I was living with friends who were also Dark Tower fans when the last three Dark Tower books came out in neat succession. One of these roommates picked each book up the day they came out, read them,and then passed them on to me.
Apart from the basic premise, and my disappointment in the end of the final book (which I'd been warned of by mutiple friends), I didn't remember much about the books. [b:The Gunslinger|43615|The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375776480s/43615.jpg|46575] and [b:The Drawing of the Three|5094|The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1370918050s/5094.jpg|2113248], I knew inside and out. [b:The Waste Lands|34084|The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, #3)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389762449s/34084.jpg|1810634] and [b:Wizard and Glass|5096|Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327946510s/5096.jpg|750558], I remembered many scenes from but there were a few details I misremembered. But [b:Wolves of the Calla|4978|Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1419360231s/4978.jpg|2754911] and [b:Song of Susannah|5093|Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1372296326s/5093.jpg|1178083] were so fresh, it was like I hadn't read them before.
I loved Wolves Of The Calla, and the beginning of Song Of Susannah seemed really promising. But as it went on, I kept getting distracted. The commalla verses at the end of each "stanza" are incredibly hacky for a writer who's dominated the best seller lists for decades. The slamming in of The Breakers, the Can-toi, and The Low Men seems incredibly forced. They're all working to destroy the beams of the tower, but why? And why have they been barely mentioned in the main series until now? The anti-Asian racism is really off-brand from 21st Century Woke Stephen King. This isn't the youngish, addition-feuled guy living in the 20th century where many of us were unaware of how our language and stereotypes affected people, this was 2004.
In addition, there's the sloppy handling of Stpehen King becoming a charater in the series. It's his series. He can do what he wants. But it was excruciating to read in this volume. Not as bad as his first person Roland story in [b:The Wind Through the Keyhole|12341557|The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower, #4.5)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328001524s/12341557.jpg|15678889] but close.
I can't decide whether I was more annoyed that he spent the whole book leading up to an event, but unlike Wolves Of The Calla, where you get to see the immediate aftermath of the event, and then he gives you a mini-cliffhanger, this time he builds up three storylines, gets the main one right to the climax, and then just stops. Or, whether I was morea nnoyed by the epilogue, which is the fictional career notes of Stephen King leading up to the car accident in 1999.
Either way, despite its interesting beginning, and a few cool story beats, this book was a massive disappointment.
I was living with friends who were also Dark Tower fans when the last three Dark Tower books came out in neat succession. One of these roommates picked each book up the day they came out, read them,and then passed them on to me.
Apart from the basic premise, and my disappointment in the end of the final book (which I'd been warned of by mutiple friends), I didn't remember much about the books. [b:The Gunslinger|43615|The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, #1)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1375776480s/43615.jpg|46575] and [b:The Drawing of the Three|5094|The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1370918050s/5094.jpg|2113248], I knew inside and out. [b:The Waste Lands|34084|The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, #3)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389762449s/34084.jpg|1810634] and [b:Wizard and Glass|5096|Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327946510s/5096.jpg|750558], I remembered many scenes from but there were a few details I misremembered. But [b:Wolves of the Calla|4978|Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, #5)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1419360231s/4978.jpg|2754911] and [b:Song of Susannah|5093|Song of Susannah (The Dark Tower, #6)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1372296326s/5093.jpg|1178083] were so fresh, it was like I hadn't read them before.
I loved Wolves Of The Calla, and the beginning of Song Of Susannah seemed really promising. But as it went on, I kept getting distracted. The commalla verses at the end of each "stanza" are incredibly hacky for a writer who's dominated the best seller lists for decades. The slamming in of The Breakers, the Can-toi, and The Low Men seems incredibly forced. They're all working to destroy the beams of the tower, but why? And why have they been barely mentioned in the main series until now? The anti-Asian racism is really off-brand from 21st Century Woke Stephen King. This isn't the youngish, addition-feuled guy living in the 20th century where many of us were unaware of how our language and stereotypes affected people, this was 2004.
In addition, there's the sloppy handling of Stpehen King becoming a charater in the series. It's his series. He can do what he wants. But it was excruciating to read in this volume. Not as bad as his first person Roland story in [b:The Wind Through the Keyhole|12341557|The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower, #4.5)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328001524s/12341557.jpg|15678889] but close.
I can't decide whether I was more annoyed that he spent the whole book leading up to an event, but unlike Wolves Of The Calla, where you get to see the immediate aftermath of the event, and then he gives you a mini-cliffhanger, this time he builds up three storylines, gets the main one right to the climax, and then just stops. Or, whether I was morea nnoyed by the epilogue, which is the fictional career notes of Stephen King leading up to the car accident in 1999.
Either way, despite its interesting beginning, and a few cool story beats, this book was a massive disappointment.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Dark Tower series of seven books is an epic tale created by Stephen King over the course of his entire writing career. It pulls together characters, locations and concepts from many of his other books. It is an incredibly long read, but a must for anyone who has read and enjoyed Stephen King.
Just can’t put these books down. This book might have jumped the shark a bit compared to the others, but it works and reads as quickly and as exciting as a movie. Make sure you actually read to the end if you’re reading on a kindle... you might miss some of the actual book. I almost did.
The penultimate book in the Dark Tower series. I was starting to feel my interest waning and looking towards the bookshelf for something else to get into...but this book brought me fimly back into the thrall of the series. The Ka is split up and Stephen King himself makes a cameo in this part of the story. It also just so happens to have the best cliffhanger in the series.
This novel wasn’t as good as earlier books in the series. I also don’t like authors inserting themselves into the story. It never works.
I listened to the audiobook.
I listened to the audiobook.