[J3Vr6]

Have anyone of you read the Dark Tower series from King?  I had read the first one, The Gunslinger, like 10 years ago and didn't read it again.  Then I had to do laundry a week ago and didn't have a book, so I picked it up again and read it.  I am now hooked on the series.

It is nothing like his other type of horror genre books.  This series is an epic, one he didn't plan on completing when he first started, as he saw this epic having more than 8,000 pages.  He considered it his Cantebury Tales.  The Gunslinger was the first story that he worked on and one of the longest he spent on (I think it got published in 1978).  He decided a few years ago that he'd like to finish the series.

Anyway, I'm on the 3rd book now, The Wastelands, and should be finishing it tonight.  He has just finished working on book 6, Songs of Susannah (I believe).  I think there's only one left after that.

FYI, the story takes place in another world that is very much like ours, but milleniums after nuclear war.  The world is very much like a western (like cowboys, good bad and the ugly, etc) civilization.  The protagonist is Roland of Gilead, a gunslinger who are very much like Knights.  Anyway, his order was decimated and he's now the last of his kind.  The first book takes place 12 years after he became the last gunslinger and has been hunting down the man responsible for it, The Man in Black, ever since.  

I won't share any more just in case you'd like to read it, but the series is the gunslingers (and the people he encounters along the way who apparently are part of fate) quest for the Dark Tower, a place where everything will be answered (and saved).

The only complaint I seemed to have was when I started to read book 2.  You could really tell Stephen King's writing style had matured and changed by the second book (which was published I think in the mid to late 80's), and the main character seemed a little different from the first book.  But, as I finished book 2 and started book 3, the consistency in his writing and characters got better.   What's good about that, is that in an epic like this you really see how characters develop over time and relationships change.

Anyway, I was just curious if anyone else had read any of these books.

[Nico]

I've read the two or three first ones, liked them, but stopped for some reason.

[ionia23]

I've read all five numerous times.

I've always described it as Larry Niven and J.R.R. Tolkein writing the screenplay to "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".

The series is stunning and brilliant, rich and full of imagery without any story dragging like in the unabridged version of "The Stand".  King's finest work in my humble opinion.

[J3Vr6]

Book 6 just came out here, Ionia, u should pick it up.

Did u notice how Roland seemed to change between the first book and the second one?  Mostly his language and dialogue changed, but even his demeanor.  He was a lot harder in the first book than he was in the 2nd or 3rd.

[Bri_Dog]

I can't wait for the last 2 books

IMO this series is King's best

[J3Vr6]

I'm a HUGE King fan.  I can't believe I let this series sit there without touching for sooo long.  Although, I'm kinda glad I did, since he's finallly reaching the end.  I can only imagine how people felt when they picked up the first book in '78 to have to wait almost 27 years for the conclusion.

Is it just me, or did The Gunslinger (book 1) seem perfectly written for a movie?  In that book I could imagine how the movie would be PERFECTLY.  This probably had to do with his early style of writing, as most of his books do not adapt well to movies.

The other 2 books (Drawing of the Three and The Wastelands) could be adapted well also, but they didn't have the climax that book one had.

[ionia23]

Originally posted by J3Vr6
Book 6 just came out here, Ionia, u should pick it up.

Did u notice how Roland seemed to change between the first book and the second one?  Mostly his language and dialogue changed, but even his demeanor.  He was a lot harder in the first book than he was in the 2nd or 3rd.

Aww, man, cut the guy some slack .  After what happened on the beach?  hahaha.

"Hey Roland, need a hand?  hahahahaha"

"You are very amusing, Prisoner.  Ka Ka"

[J3Vr6]

Lol.

It's not just that, though.  In book one he seemed to TALK like you'd expect a gunslinger from the old west to talk.  He was HARD.  In book 2, his dialect suddenly turned to something like old english.

Anyway, it's been consistent since.  I think I'll definitely finish book 3 while doing laundry today and probably will start book 4 there too.

[ionia23]

Originally posted by J3Vr6
Lol.

It's not just that, though.  In book one he seemed to TALK like you'd expect a gunslinger from the old west to talk.  He was HARD.  In book 2, his dialect suddenly turned to something like old english.

Anyway, it's been consistent since.  I think I'll definitely finish book 3 while doing laundry today and probably will start book 4 there too.

Yeah, I noticed it a bit as well.   He is kind of a knight in a way...

I'm buying book 6 on the way home.

[Setekh]

*does a double take*

Sorry. C. S. Lewis once wrote a partial short story (never completed) called The Dark Tower, and I've read that (and loved it). Never read King's series, my bad.

[Turnsky]

actually, the Dark tower series has references, and is referenced in several other books..

The talisman,
Black house (its sequel)
The Stand.

i've gotta go to the bookshop and pick up the new release..  

[J3Vr6]

How can a series have a sequel when it's not done?  Hmm, I'm gonna have to look into that.

Where is The Dark Tower referenced in The Stand?