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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If this books was 100 pages shorter it would have been 5 stars
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
slow-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
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pretty slow for most of it but kept me interested, ending went from interesting to weird fast.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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
This series has become a bit of a chore. As much as the setting and the plot still fascinate me - and the fact that I've made it all these years without having any spoilers as to the end result spurs me on – this was for me the weakest installment so far. I can justify its point to a degree (days and weeks of preparation for an event that lasts all of five minutes), but that doesn't mean I particularly enjoyed it.
Roland and his ka-tet continue their quest for the Dark Tower, but are intercepted by farmfolk from The Calla, who are suffering a regular reaping of their children by the wolves from Thunderclap. They come from the east, taking one of every pair of twins (which is as common to Calla folk as having single offspring is to us, though it's never explained why, at least not in this novel) who come back 'roont' – suffering extreme and permanent mental damage – and die relatively young. No one knows what happens to them to cause this, but one in every pair of twins is taken. And this occurs every twenty-ish years.
It's a BRILLIANT premise, it's captivating from the word go, and I was really hopeful. I put this novel off for so long because I hated Wizard and Glass, and this installment marked King's return to writing the Dark Tower series after his accident. The break was long, and I was worried that the magic would be lost. From the first fifty pages, I believed I was wrong.
Then... it's just incredibly slow-paced. It has moments of interest, but it needed to be pared down enormously. Too much time is devoted to fleshing out Callahan's character and incorporating a weird tie-in with 'Salem's Lot' – which DOES have a purpose, but it's unnecessarily long backstory. The cost of this was, in my view, any real investment I had in a 'winning the townsfolk over' plot where many begin undecided about the idea of fighting the wolves.
It also feels very much like the direction has changed from what King originally intended. It's deviating worryingly into a 'Stranger Than Fiction'-esque main story arch, and going back and forth between worlds has become a little TOO easy now and loses its sense of urgency. I'm not sure what the original intention of the series WAS – maybe King didn't even know – but the sudden proliferation of self-insert definitely feels like a new idea.
But I SO love the setting and the characters, so I will be continuing my journey to the Dark Tower with them until the end...
Roland and his ka-tet continue their quest for the Dark Tower, but are intercepted by farmfolk from The Calla, who are suffering a regular reaping of their children by the wolves from Thunderclap. They come from the east, taking one of every pair of twins (which is as common to Calla folk as having single offspring is to us, though it's never explained why, at least not in this novel) who come back 'roont' – suffering extreme and permanent mental damage – and die relatively young. No one knows what happens to them to cause this, but one in every pair of twins is taken. And this occurs every twenty-ish years.
It's a BRILLIANT premise, it's captivating from the word go, and I was really hopeful. I put this novel off for so long because I hated Wizard and Glass, and this installment marked King's return to writing the Dark Tower series after his accident. The break was long, and I was worried that the magic would be lost. From the first fifty pages, I believed I was wrong.
Then... it's just incredibly slow-paced. It has moments of interest, but it needed to be pared down enormously. Too much time is devoted to fleshing out Callahan's character and incorporating a weird tie-in with 'Salem's Lot' – which DOES have a purpose, but it's unnecessarily long backstory. The cost of this was, in my view, any real investment I had in a 'winning the townsfolk over' plot where many begin undecided about the idea of fighting the wolves.
It also feels very much like the direction has changed from what King originally intended. It's deviating worryingly into a 'Stranger Than Fiction'-esque main story arch, and going back and forth between worlds has become a little TOO easy now and loses its sense of urgency. I'm not sure what the original intention of the series WAS – maybe King didn't even know – but the sudden proliferation of self-insert definitely feels like a new idea.
But I SO love the setting and the characters, so I will be continuing my journey to the Dark Tower with them until the end...