What a let down. The first 4 volumes of this series are worthwhile, gripping, interesting, mysterious, cryptic (although the 4th started showing some signs of weakness). But the last 3 are sorry excuses for Dark Tower books. I think Stephen King was scrambling to finish his series after his nearly-fatal injury, and even he realized that these last books were disappointments. Many artists lose the fire & vigor of their youth, especially those surrounded by mega-riches and mega-adulation, and that is the case with this author & series. A young King bit off more than the old one could chew--and I think he feels some serious regret that he waited so long to finish it that he could no longer do his wonderful series justice.
The last few books of the series have him making these very criticisms about himself. But what is really annoying is the sense one gets that King is projecting some of his frustrations onto his audience (he literally pauses and chastises readers eager to know what happens when Roland comes to the Tower). Well excuse us for caring in the first place, Mr. King! Taking the time to warn people away from writing him or visiting him? I've always been fond of King, for a popular writer, but his tone in the afterword just leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.
I feel like those reviewers praising the last 3 DT books are, in some way, dishonoring the first 4 by not being keen enough readers to notice the obvious differences between the quality of the first half of the series and the last. Sure, the last 3 DT books are a fun, "action-packed" read that will have you turning pages quickly, but c'mon, you could turn to any comic book or "young adult" novel for that, and the first few DT books were MORE than that. I get the sense that the big fans of these last 3 DT books also heap praise on Star Wars novels, Sci-Fi channel TV movies, and other junk-food for the mind that takes no real discernment or taste to appreciate. And hey, that's fine if you're a teenager whose reading tastes aren't yet that sophisticated or nuanced, or just someone stuck at the reading-level of an adolescent, but I feel that the first DT books were really something more than dorky, fan-boy fodder, which is what the series ended up sinking to.
Stop and think about it: King using inventions/ideas from the Harry Potter universe?! Geez, how desperate must he have really been to resort to such cheap corner-cutting?! Even basic rules of writing, such as "Show, don't tell" are violated by King in these last books. His book _On Writing_ clearly shows that he knows a lot about the craft of writing intelligently and telling stories well, so what in the hell happened to his judgement? Not to be disrespectful or crude, but I suspect that getting hit by the van and being put on heavy medication might have really affected his abilities, even to the point of brain-damage. The lure of the mega-bucks these last books would bring probably played a part in bothering with them, as well.
Praise these last Dark Tower books all you want, fan-boys, but don't assume that it means that you appreciate the series as much as those of us who feel seriously let down! It would have been a better end if the series remained incomplete---much more mystery and magic would have been retained, and the series might have gone down as a classic, with everyone left to imagine to themselves, "What was going to happen to Roland? What about the Tower? What did it all mean?" Well folks, now we know (sort of)--and it really isn't worth knowing. By rushing the job & quickly hacking away at these last 3 books, King has unfortunately tainted the original promise that the series once held.
If that damned fool in the van hadn't nearly killed King with his reckless driving, maybe things wouldn't have ended like this...
The last few books of the series have him making these very criticisms about himself. But what is really annoying is the sense one gets that King is projecting some of his frustrations onto his audience (he literally pauses and chastises readers eager to know what happens when Roland comes to the Tower). Well excuse us for caring in the first place, Mr. King! Taking the time to warn people away from writing him or visiting him? I've always been fond of King, for a popular writer, but his tone in the afterword just leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.
I feel like those reviewers praising the last 3 DT books are, in some way, dishonoring the first 4 by not being keen enough readers to notice the obvious differences between the quality of the first half of the series and the last. Sure, the last 3 DT books are a fun, "action-packed" read that will have you turning pages quickly, but c'mon, you could turn to any comic book or "young adult" novel for that, and the first few DT books were MORE than that. I get the sense that the big fans of these last 3 DT books also heap praise on Star Wars novels, Sci-Fi channel TV movies, and other junk-food for the mind that takes no real discernment or taste to appreciate. And hey, that's fine if you're a teenager whose reading tastes aren't yet that sophisticated or nuanced, or just someone stuck at the reading-level of an adolescent, but I feel that the first DT books were really something more than dorky, fan-boy fodder, which is what the series ended up sinking to.
Stop and think about it: King using inventions/ideas from the Harry Potter universe?! Geez, how desperate must he have really been to resort to such cheap corner-cutting?! Even basic rules of writing, such as "Show, don't tell" are violated by King in these last books. His book _On Writing_ clearly shows that he knows a lot about the craft of writing intelligently and telling stories well, so what in the hell happened to his judgement? Not to be disrespectful or crude, but I suspect that getting hit by the van and being put on heavy medication might have really affected his abilities, even to the point of brain-damage. The lure of the mega-bucks these last books would bring probably played a part in bothering with them, as well.
Praise these last Dark Tower books all you want, fan-boys, but don't assume that it means that you appreciate the series as much as those of us who feel seriously let down! It would have been a better end if the series remained incomplete---much more mystery and magic would have been retained, and the series might have gone down as a classic, with everyone left to imagine to themselves, "What was going to happen to Roland? What about the Tower? What did it all mean?" Well folks, now we know (sort of)--and it really isn't worth knowing. By rushing the job & quickly hacking away at these last 3 books, King has unfortunately tainted the original promise that the series once held.
If that damned fool in the van hadn't nearly killed King with his reckless driving, maybe things wouldn't have ended like this...
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