Review of 'The Dark Tower'
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
7th book in the 'The Dark Tower' series
And so it comes to this, the final novel in the Dark Tower series, the series that King himself has suggested is his masterpiece. This book, of course, contains a number of endings and strangely, beginnings as well. With this novel, even more so than the other novels, it is important to have read all six previous chapters in the tale of Roland and his ka-tet.
The relentless journey to the Dark Tower continues, initially, with the band finally re-united to stop the destruction of the threads that link the world to the dark tower. The story does lag at this point but it is after this fateful encounter that things move very quickly towards the ultimate destination. King once again makes an appearance in his own novel which is a bit odd and, perhaps to one more familiar with King's work, perhaps quite interesting. To me the links and insight to these other works was wasted. The connection here with King's real-life near death accident is played out to it's inevitable end. The Red King waits for Roland at the Dark Tower, but will any of them actually make it there?
Certainly another door-stop of an effort from King and essential reading for Dark Tower followers (though they likely will have read it a lot earlier than myself). I put it down and picked it up several times with the culmination of events really becoming quite emotionally overwhelming. The violence here is throughout and is to be expected.
Regarding the ending (which I will, of course, not give away here): Though others may disagree, I think it was entirely appropriate and not, at least to myself, unexpected. It was a long slog but I think it was worth it.
Rating: “Really good but I have some issues”
Review Date: 2012-06-24
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Hodder
Publication Date: 2004
Other reviewed books in the 'The Dark Tower' series:
- The Gunslinger (Book 1)
- The Drawing of the Three (Book 2)
- The Waste Lands (Book 3)
- Wizard and Glass (Book 4)
- Wolves of the Calla (Book 5)
- Song of Susannah (Book 6)