Steven King-The Dark Tower Series

[ethiostar]

My wife just got me all seven books as an early X-Mas present. From what i've read it combines three of my favorite genres, western, si-fi and mystery. I'm really excited about starting the series as i am so sick of waiting for the next book in A Song of Fire and Ice by George Martin.

I want to hear from those of you who have read all or some of The Dark Tower books.

Based on my readings of the reviews, it appears that the first four books are by far much superior than the last three. Most complained about how such a great and promising story started to unravel and became unorganized, confusing and anti-climactic in the last three books.

Was that also your experience with the series?

What's your take on it?

 

[YosemiteSam]

I have not read them, but an ex-girlfriend of mine once told me that King said he will never finish the Dark Tower series so I never even attempted to start reading it. I hate when **** is left hanging! :laugh2:

 

[vta]

I've read 3.
I absolutely love The Gunslinger and have read it multiple times. The great thing about it is that it could stand alone as is and still be satisfying.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I read the 1st four books when I was much younger. I started trying to read the 5th book in the series, Wolves of something or another, but I just couldn't get into it.

I started reading this series like 20 years ago and then tried to pick it back up when the 5th book was released but I just had a hard time getting back into it. You may not have that problem because you are going to read them all at once.

Let me know what you think.

 

[TheCount]

I have not read them, but an ex-girlfriend of mine once told me that King said he will never finish the Dark Tower series so I never even attempted to start reading it. I hate when **** is left hanging! :laugh2:

Uh, he finished it, so I guess you can start reading now.

I've read all the books and I loved them, he ties a lot of his other work in and if you're familiar or willing to do the leg work, it makes the series even more interesting. Some of the books were more interesting to me than others though.

Word is that J.J. Abrams bought the rights to the series some time ago, he planned to work on it after Lost was over, so hopefully that gets underway soon.

 

[ethiostar]

I have not read them, but an ex-girlfriend of mine once told me that King said he will never finish the Dark Tower series so I never even attempted to start reading it. I hate when **** is left hanging! :laugh2:

Well you can read them now if you want, book 7 is the final volume. :laugh1:

I've read 3.
I absolutely love The Gunslinger and have read it multiple times. The great thing about it is that it could stand alone as is and still be satisfying.

Are you talking about The Gunslinger specifically or any of the books in the series?

And which other books have you read and what do you think about them?

I read the 1st four books when I was much younger. I started trying to read the 5th book in the series, Wolves of something or another, but I just couldn't get into it.

I started reading this series like 20 years ago and then tried to pick it back up when the 5th book was released but I just had a hard time getting back into it. You may not have that problem because you are going to read them all at once.

Let me know what you think.

I can see what you're saying, 16 years between the 4th and the 5th books is a very very long time.

I take it you enjoyed the 1st four books?

Wolves of the Calla is the name of the 5th book by the way.

I will keep you posted on how i like them. I'm going to finish the book I'm reading now and then read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest so i can finish with that series before I start with The Dark Tower.

 

[ethiostar]

Uh, he finished it, so I guess you can start reading now.

I've read all the books and I loved them, he ties a lot of his other work in and if you're familiar or willing to do the leg work, it makes the series even more interesting. Some of the books were more interesting to me than others though.

Word is that J.J. Abrams bought the rights to the series some time ago, he planned to work on it after Lost was over, so hopefully that gets underway soon.

I actually have never read anything by Steven King, not because i don't like him (obviously i haven't read him) but the opportunity never presented itself and I've never made the effort for some odd reason until very recently. I recently bought a couple but i haven't read them yet. If you want to recommend a few that would be great, especially ones that will help with The Dark tower series.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I actually have never read anything by Steven King, not because i don't like him (obviously i haven't read him) but the opportunity never presented itself and I've never made the effort for some odd reason until very recently. I recently bought a couple but i haven't read them yet. If you want to recommend a few that would be great, especially ones that will help with The Dark tower series.

The only book I've read from him was The Green Mile. The book is so good, I'm actually surprised I haven't read any other books from him.

 

[63echo]

I loved the series! I took a loooong break between Wastelands (that whole Blaine the Mono thing really irritated me for some reason) and Wizard and Glass and even when King pumped out the last several novels, I didn't know if I'd bother finishing the series because it just seemed to...meander.

Yawn.

Fast forward a couple of years and I picked up Wolves of the Calla because I didn't have much else to read and I was hooked. I thought it REALLY picked up with that book and the last two books just totally blew me away. It might get rough for you in the middle of the series, but do yourself a favor and power through it. You'll be gad you did.

As an aside: cannot wait for the movies(s). I've seen Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) floated out there as a candidate to play Roland. I had to think about that for awhile, but man...what a sublime choice that'd be..

 

[vta]

Are you talking about The Gunslinger specifically or any of the books in the series?

And which other books have you read and what do you think about them?

The Gunslinger specifically. I love that book.
I'd read the subsequent two: The Drawing of The Three and The Wastelands. I probably can't give too detailed any specific example, since I'd only read them once and don't have the same remembrance as I do The Gunslinger.

I didn't find them as captivating as The Gunslinger and found them to be going into an area, though I know King is very known for it, but one that I didn't really care for. Which is the overtly supernatural and sort of monster-y kind of area.

They weren't bad books by any means, I just kind of lost interest in where it was going and didn't continue. It's purely my personal preference and not an indicator that what King was doing as bad or anything. I've read a lot of his books and like each for different reasons. Some I couldn't finish.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I can see what you're saying, 16 years between the 4th and the 5th books is a very very long time.

I take it you enjoyed the 1st four books?

Wolves of the Calla is the name of the 5th book by the way.

I will keep you posted on how i like them. I'm going to finish the book I'm reading now and then read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest so i can finish with that series before I start with The Dark Tower.

I did enjoy the 1st two immensely. The 3rd and 4th were OK but not as good at the first two IMO. Keep in mind that When I started these books, I did not have a family or a lot of the responsabilities that would come later in my life. It could have been that I just did not have the same kind of time to devote to the effort in the later two books. Anyway, I liked them all but I did like the 1st two better the 3 and 4 as I recall.

 

[vta]

I actually have never read anything by Steven King, ...

The only book I've read from him was The Green Mile. The book is so good, I'm actually surprised I haven't read any other books from him.

The Shining, Carrie, 'Salems Lot and Different Seasons - a short story collection including Shawshank and Apt Pupil are all examples of some of his better writing.

 

[63echo]

I actually have never read anything by Steven King, not because i don't like him (obviously i haven't read him) but the opportunity never presented itself and I've never made the effort for some odd reason until very recently. I recently bought a couple but i haven't read them yet. If you want to recommend a few that would be great, especially ones that will help with The Dark tower series.

As you might know, a lot of King's work tie back in with the Dark Tower world. Some in obvious ways, and some very subtle.

Something I'd recommend that has very strong ties to that world is a book he did with Peter Straub called Black House. It makes a fantastic adjunct to the series and is a great book in its own right, with possibly the most evil villain King has ever written (and yes, I'm including Pennywise).

It was probably my favorite King book behind The Stand, even though he was only a co-author.

As a standalone book, I'd recommend Pet Sematary (it's the only book that has ever actually scared me), The Stand (the uncut version), and It. I'd also check out both Desperation and The Regulators. Read those books together...King really did some weird and unusual things with those.

 

[ethiostar]

I loved the series! I took a loooong break between Wastelands (that whole Blaine the Mono thing really irritated me for some reason) and Wizard and Glass and even when King pumped out the last several novels, I didn't know if I'd bother finishing the series because it just seemed to...meander.

Yawn.

Fast forward a couple of years and I picked up Wolves of the Calla because I didn't have much else to read and I was hooked. I thought it REALLY picked up with that book and the last two books just totally blew me away. It might get rough for you in the middle of the series, but do yourself a favor and power through it. You'll be gad you did.

As an aside: cannot wait for the movies(s). I've seen Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) floated out there as a candidate to play Roland. I had to think about that for awhile, but man...what a sublime choice that'd be..

That's interesting because most of the reviews that i've read say almost the exact opposite. Most say that they liked the 1st 4 but were disappointed with the last 3, especially the last one.

I'm going to stick with it and finish it i'm sure. I don't like not getting to the end, if i can help it.

I'll have to get back to you on the Hugh Laurie thing after i read the books.

 

[ethiostar]

Thanks for the recommendations and feedback guys.

I think the reason i never made the effort to read his books might have to do with the fact that he has been very commercial. Not saying that is necessarily a bad thing but i think just the number of books he churns out is so high and quite a few of them are made into feature films and/or TV movies that I'm a bit put off about it, at least subconsciously. I don't know really i'm just trying to figure out why i've never picked a book of his since its seems to be all around me and easily accessible.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

I enjoyed the first 4 books. Books 5 and 6 were the weakest of the series, IMO, but 7 was great.

My favorite of the series was book 4 I think.

 

[dback]

I am currently reading the fourth book. The first three are quite spectacular and are certainly some of the most entertaining books that I have read. Book 2 stands out as my current favorite of the 3.5 that I have finished.

 

[arglebargle]

The Shining, Carrie, 'Salems Lot and Different Seasons - a short story collection including Shawshank and Apt Pupil are all examples of some of his better writing.

I liked King's early writing better. He eventually got to where he was writing 1000 page novels that had a good 350 page novel inside them. He seriously needed a good editor, but since he's such a 'name', he doesn't appear to get much of that.

So maybe series writing is the best way for him to go now.

 

[Seven]

The only book I've read from him was The Green Mile. The book is so good, I'm actually surprised I haven't read any other books from him.

The Green Mile was his easiest to follow. King usually goes off on these weird tangents during chapters and you feel as if you've read 5 pages for nothing.


He is one of my favorites and may I suggest Insomnia.

 

[Khartun]

I've read 3.
I absolutely love The Gunslinger and have read it multiple times. The great thing about it is that it could stand alone as is and still be satisfying.

I remember loving The Gunslinger when I was younger. I picked it up recently so I could finish the series (there were only 3 books when I initially read it) and didn't get into The Gunslinger as much as I remembered. However, it picked back up for me with the next book. I'm currently taking a break from it to read The Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

The Shining, Carrie, 'Salems Lot and Different Seasons - a short story collection including Shawshank and Apt Pupil are all examples of some of his better writing.

I think The Stand is his absolute best work IMO. Not the mini series but the book.