Stephen King's Dark Tower series

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I really really like the series. The only problem is he takes his damn time in between books. And the bitch about that is you have to re read everything so you can get caught up.

 

I think I liked 2 and 3 the best. 4 was alright, but it was all backstory of something that you don't know if you'll need to know about later (I hope that made sense)

 

In 4 he revealed that Randall Flagg was the big bad. He was also the bad guy in The Stand and Eyes of The Dragon. And I think that could work out pretty good...if he ever continues the story.

 

I've read 1-4 twice through. And I've been waiting on 5 forever now.

 

Anyone else read these?

[Guest Vyce]

I've read the first two. Haven't bothered with the others. Not because I dislike the series - I think it's pretty damn good.

 

I just have the same problem with this series as I do with Robert Jordan's massive "Wheel of Time" series - I'm NOT going to invest a great deal of time into a series of novels unless I can read them roughly all at once, without there being a LONG period of waiting for the next book in the series to come out. Jordan's dragging his feet. King is taking forever with this.

 

When and if he concludes the series, I'll be sure to give them all a read, but until then I'm not going to read more than the two I already have.

 

But Flagg's the nasty, huh? It figures. King seems to have adopted him as his Satan figure.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

But Flagg's the nasty, huh? It figures. King seems to have adopted him as his Satan figure.

Sorry...had I thought about it I wouldn't have thrown out a big spoiler.

[Guest MaskedDanger]

First off, allow me to say that I'm not a Stephen King fanboy, nor am I a reactionary, literarily snobbish King detractor. In my estimation, he's written some incredible novels (IT, The Stand), some truly top-notch stories ("Rage", anyone?) and generated the seeds for some of the most beloved movies in recent cinematic history (Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile come to mind). But, he's also written his share of lazy, by-the-numbers crap. In other words, I feel I am capable of a neutral, unbiased judging of his work.

 

With that said, let me say, unequivocally, that The Dark Tower series is the shit.

 

Aside from writing some damn fine, entertaining novels, King's trying something REALLY ambitious here with the series as a whole. No one's quite knows what the entire story of the Dark Tower will be (well, except for King himself...at least I hope), but it's big, so big that, according to King himself, this'll be the last thing he writes for public consumption, his swan song, if you will. (Speculation about what King is planning range from the silly to the jaw-dropping. If you're interested in these "conspiracy theories," and other strange tidbits about the series---what other King books are cross-referenced, for example---there are a ton of DT sites and messages boards on the net, some of them actually good. Personally, I suggest the Dark Tower Compendium.) Whether this turns out to be true or not remains to be seen, as King's toyed with the idea of retirement before.

 

Anyway, the series is set to wrap up late this year / early next year. Book five will be out in September, six will be out in November, and seven (the final one) will be out in March of 2004. Of course, all these dates are subject to change, blah, blah. Just thought you guys might like to know.

 

By the way, although I agree that Wizard and Glass was dry in places, it's also the book with my favorite scene in the entire series. When Roland gets pulled into the Wizard's Rainbow and SEES the Tower...his response is fantastic. Spine-chilling.

[Guest IDrinkRatsMilk]

I like the series, but also haven't read 4. I just haven't gotten around to it, I'm in the middle of several books as is. The presence of Flagg isn't all that surprising. In a way, I think he's the evil behind (almost) all of King's work. He goes by different names, but it seems like he's the same entity. I'd say he's It with the capital I, and his true name is probably Tak. This thread has brought the Dark Tower series back to the forefront of my mind. I'll probably pick up the fourth book directly.

[Guest Mad Dog]

I have the first book and want to read it but I want to make sure that he actually finishes it before I invest my time.

[Guest netslob]

some truly top-notch stories ("Rage", anyone?)  

 

oh yeah, "Rage" is my favorite King book/story ever. i've re=read it at least 5 times. i've never identified with a character more then i did with Charlie Decker.

 

"THROW US YOUR PANTIES!!!"

[Guest Youth N Asia]

Anyway, the series is set to wrap up late this year / early next year. Book five will be out in September, six will be out in November, and seven (the final one) will be out in March of 2004. Of course, all these dates are subject to change, blah, blah. Just thought you guys might like to know.

Where did you get these dates? That'd be great if they held true, cause I don't think I'm going to re read the story a 3rd time untill I know when the last or next to last one is coming out.

 

And I like The Long Walk better then Rage, both are great stories...the Bachman Books is worth owning for those 2 alone though.

[Guest MaskedDanger]

I got all those dates off of that Dark Tower Compendium site I linked to in my first post. I checked, and the same dates are posted on King's official site, so I believe it. And if the guy at DTC doesn't know when the books are coming out, no one does. You should check out the site; it's incredibly informative. The webmaster's actually writing a book (the Dark Tower Companion, or something like that) about the series, so he knows what he's talking about.