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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dark Tower. Roland gets lucky. Father Callahan from Salem's Lot returns. What's not to like?
As I dive into the world of Stephen King, I'm starting to feel as though the Dark Tower is my least favorite. Granted, the entirety of what I have read has consisted of It, Pet Semetary, his memoir On Writing, and up the fifth book a n the Dark Tower.
While there are aspects I enjoy in this series, so much reminds me of why I grew tired of the X-Files and Fringe: Red Herrings. Perhaps, I'm judging too quickly, but so far most of the "mysteries" do not interest me. When the answers are revealed, I find it very lackluster. I'm determined to finish this series even though it's a bit of a grind, but I hope things get a little more exciting.
Stephen King himself has admitted that this series was a very casual project for him and, until his van accident, wasn't too motivated to finish the Dark Tower.
I also have to admit that I'm not into Westerns. This series is heavily influenced by Clint Eastwood's spaghetti Westerns and it shows. I do enjoy Westerns on occasion, but many are just too predictable for my tastes. That being said, this book seemed like a VERY drawn out version of The Magnificent Seven / The Seven Samurai. Only instead of fighting greedy rancher thugs, they're fighting robot werewolves heavily inspired by Dr. Doom. Yeah, alright...
I have some knowledge that the series becomes 'self-aware' and it turns out King is like a god in this world. I recently watched the John Carpenter movie "Into the Mouth of Madness". In this film, a sort of Stephen King character finds himself with God like powers in which the characters he's written become real people. I'm curious if King used this as inspiration for this revelation in this series?
In any case, The Wolves of the Calla was a grind to read. I think this is in part because King had to completely restructure how he wanted the series to end. As a result, much of this book was set up. I just didn't think it should take 700 pages between the set up of the confrontation with the Wolves to finally have a battle that was actually a bit 'meh'.
While there are aspects I enjoy in this series, so much reminds me of why I grew tired of the X-Files and Fringe: Red Herrings. Perhaps, I'm judging too quickly, but so far most of the "mysteries" do not interest me. When the answers are revealed, I find it very lackluster. I'm determined to finish this series even though it's a bit of a grind, but I hope things get a little more exciting.
Stephen King himself has admitted that this series was a very casual project for him and, until his van accident, wasn't too motivated to finish the Dark Tower.
I also have to admit that I'm not into Westerns. This series is heavily influenced by Clint Eastwood's spaghetti Westerns and it shows. I do enjoy Westerns on occasion, but many are just too predictable for my tastes. That being said, this book seemed like a VERY drawn out version of The Magnificent Seven / The Seven Samurai. Only instead of fighting greedy rancher thugs, they're fighting robot werewolves heavily inspired by Dr. Doom. Yeah, alright...
I have some knowledge that the series becomes 'self-aware' and it turns out King is like a god in this world. I recently watched the John Carpenter movie "Into the Mouth of Madness". In this film, a sort of Stephen King character finds himself with God like powers in which the characters he's written become real people. I'm curious if King used this as inspiration for this revelation in this series?
In any case, The Wolves of the Calla was a grind to read. I think this is in part because King had to completely restructure how he wanted the series to end. As a result, much of this book was set up. I just didn't think it should take 700 pages between the set up of the confrontation with the Wolves to finally have a battle that was actually a bit 'meh'.
I can't even begin to explain this mess. How dare you, Mr. King.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Violence
Minor: Death
Really enjoyed this one. Finally has the ka-tet going on a gunslinger-style quest, while still moving forward the quest for the tower. Also sets up some big questions for the final two novels to answer. Enjoyed the Salem's Lot tie-in as well.
3.5 stars
while decidedly better than #4 this one was still ~200 pages over written and the pacing wasn’t great. the climactic finale made it all worth it though, and it sets up books #6 and #7 in ways that i am quite excited for.
while decidedly better than #4 this one was still ~200 pages over written and the pacing wasn’t great. the climactic finale made it all worth it though, and it sets up books #6 and #7 in ways that i am quite excited for.
The best entry so far. Regardless of the way this series ends, this is my favourite series I've ever read. I am so insanely immersed and invested in this world that I don't want to leave it. The characters, plot, setting, genre-blending fun and just all around weirdness is so incredible. Fucking loved this book and love the series so much. The main characters feel so real, and the level of immersion I feel in this world is so real, to the point that catch phrases and sayings in these books I'm legitimately thinking during my day to day life. I will re-read these books for the rest of my life and I dont re-read books. All this praise and I haven't even finished the series yet.
I believe Stephen King is overrated as all hell, but I want to do my due diligence which is why I persist in reading his stuff. Nothing about this series so far has changed my mind. His characterization of Odetta/ Suzannah is completely without heart, and based on the number of times he mentions her breasts, her hips, and her genitals it seems that's all she brings to the story. One token female for gangbangs, collective lust, and all the things they do with their tits and hips is classic Stephen King. I'm open to having my mind changed, he's so well-spoken of that I'm positive there's something I'm missing about his body of work. But so far all I can see is that he's churned out a lot of product, the bones of which occasionally make for fun films. Seems a happy accident, but I still don't get the amount of attention he gets.