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What are readers saying about The Dark Tower: 7?
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-04 12:18:38.
(Language: English)
 
It was very sad for me when I first started reading "The Dark Tower" knowing that soon Roland's epic quest would be over, say sorry. Or is it? After finishing the book, enduring much anticipation, and some tears, it took me a minute to digest the ending and figure out whether I hated it, or loved it. It was such a shocking ending, but I quickly surmised that it was absolutely genius, and I continue to praise King for it. There really was no other possible way to end his magnum opus, and in actuality, he didn't. Roland's quest ended where it began."The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." But, as King states in the Author's Note, there is hope for Roland still, now that he has the Horn of Eld. He may now be on the path to resolution, or redemption. It still saddens me knowing that there will be no more journey's with Roland. But all great things must come to an end. I really enjoyed taking this journey with Roland, and I'm happy knowing I can go back and visit anytime. And I am very pleased that Stephen King has given us this fantastic, epic story. For that I say thankya. Long days and pleasant nights. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-02-22 05:26:38.
(Language: English)
It took me nearly 6 years to read all these books on and off and it is with a kind of relief that I'm finally. What a meandering journey to...nothing really.Started as such a good series though King has a tendency to let his character's ramble too much whilst losing the plot completely. Am I the only one who couldn't stand Susannah? And that sad excuse for a dialect that fills the last 3 books? Does it do ya? Please...The ending did feel rushed with the last 3 books spoiling much of the tension built in the previous 3 books. It sometimes seemed like a different writer's character. King should have left himself out and leave his precious vampires as well for a much more authentic series.Overall - decidedly average. Rather read China Mieville or Steph Swainston for similar worlds, but much better executed.
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Ronnie posted a review at 2009-08-16 12:16:59.
(Language: English)
The story of Roland at the beginning unfolds very slowly. You get a little bored at first( For me, I mean. ) and confused ( Maybe? ). The story runs in parallel with Roland's past. You get immersed in Roland's childhood which later on, gives you a hint about his motivation in the present time. The story gets to it's climax when it arrives to 12 last chapters ( I guess. ). Should you only read the last 12 chapters? No, since you would miss certain key elements which I hope ( Since I've just read the first book ) will give the story a twist in the other series. Please take your time and appreciate this great piece of work from Stephen King.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-08 01:50:20.
(Language: English)
The previous review was just in response to "The Drawing of The Three". I didn't realize this lumped the first four together. The other three, especially the first, The Gunslinger, were all quite good. The Gunslinger is definitely my favorite from the series, although "The Waste Lands" is also quite good. Wizard and Glass was okay but I thought the middle dragged on too long. I had a really hard time with this book. I came to it right after I read "The Gunslinger" and was amazed at how inferior it was to the first book. First, the direct symbolism of one card/character was a dissapointment for me and seemed incredibly superficial. Second, although I grudgingly accepted the black paraplegic as a gunslinger in the third book, it was a real tough sell for me. Eddie's scenes were classic, though, and saves this book from being a complete stinker for me.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-08 04:14:27.
(Language: English)
The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed. That’s how Stephen King’s magnum opus opens. The Gunslinger is the first volume in a seven-part tale full of magic and mystery.Part One-The Gunslinger introduces us to Roland of Gilead. The last gunslinger to walk the earth though it isn’t our earth. This is an earth over ten thousand years in the future, an earth where technology has receded and the devil grass grows high. We meet Roland who has undertaken the quest to find the Dark Tower, the nexus of all time and space. He is on the trail of Walter O’ Dim: the mysterious man in black. Walter is a powerful sorcerer who holds the key to the success of Roland’s journey. The first part is a series of integrated flashbacks in which Roland comes across a town known as Tull. Tull is filled with religious fanatics and like any Gunslinger, Roland doesn’t leave this haunted ghost town intact. He even manages to revert the birth of a child known simply as the 'Son of the Crimson King.'
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-20 01:32:44.
(Language: English)
This final book in the series was a perfect ending. Some people believe the ending was unjust of King, seeing how all we have been through to get this far and it ends like it did. Maybe I am the only one, however the ending was perfect. It left me speechless. King even said himself he did not like the ended but knew it HAD to be ended that way, and it did. Those of you who did not enjoy the ending of the Dark Tower series, perhaps should go back to the first installment and start again. Read a tad deeper than just the words on the page. Only then, will the end of Roland's quest be more appreicated in your eyes. To say Stephen King is a master of his craft is an understatement and quite possible an insult. This series proves he is above ALL other authors and "wordslingers" Perfect ending to a Perfect series....
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-22 09:07:35.
(Language: English)
This is the beginning of a saga that might one day evolve from a cult classic to a widely appreciated work of art. As some have mentioned before me, this type of Fantasy is no mere Tolkien-clone. It tastes like a delicious mix between Sergio Leone westerns, Indiana Jones, King Arthur and doomsday sci-fi. If you enjoy a setting that you've never come across before (and believe me, you haven't), if you prefer characters that aren't fleshed out in thirty essayistic pages of psycho-analysis but are captivating and a bit mysterious nevertheless, if you devour pageturners, or if you secretly identify with those movie heroes that have 'cool' written all over them (Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name comes to mind), this is your series. Try it, and I dare predict you won't be disappointed. Long days and pleasant nights, sai.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-11 09:24:24.
(Language: English)
I feel ripped off at the ending. But he did warn me. I was looking forward to a better ending, now actively warn people not to continue reading after Stephen king's little warning. They'll probably read on anyway. I enjoyed the Dark Tower Series, despite knowing that at points Stephen King had no idea how to proceed (See Wizard in Glass), and some of the plot stretches (Randall Flagg = Walter, Mordred having two fathers--Roland and The Crimson King), Randall Flagg/Walter dying without putting up much of a fight (Despite having magical powers in The Stand), and the The Crimson King with all his power only throws sneetches at Roland... However, the ending of the series made every thing I just said stand out. King didn't know how to effectively end the series, so he took whatever came to mind. I'm glad that only checked this series out from the library, instead of purchasing them.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-06 01:31:26.
(Language: English)
I've finished it. A year and a half worth of Steven King novels to read this series and as much of his other material i could before needing to push on. Wonderful experience. Near flawless ending if not bitter sweet.. (though that tends to be his thing.) But i highly reccomend it to everyone and anyone. I Dont know what I'll be reading next as I'm afraid my opinion of it will be hurt by reading it right after this epic. Plus.. not quite done saying goodbye to Roland, Eddie, Jake, Sussanah, and Oy, say thankya. :-) Long Days and pleasant nights!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-11 01:09:16.
(Language: English)
Let me say that I had not read a single King novel before the Gunslinger and on that same note, I am a fan. Though there were some portions of this journey that dragged on far longer than others, following King's anti-hero Roland Dechaine on his quest for the tower was an amazing journey. Roland is both awesome and the same time, one of the saddest characters. As devout as he is to his quest, he pains deeply because he knows that every katet that forms through his travels will eventually break and that he will suffer great loss. Despite that, he is addicted and bound to attaining the Dark Tower no matter what the physical and emotional costs to him and the ones that he loves and calls friend and family. Despite the slower parts of the tale such as most of "The Wolves of the Calla" and portions of "Song of Susannah", I still had to read on to see what would befall the four companions and was surely not disappointed. I think this series may inspire me to explore more of Stephen King's work.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-07-01 12:00:16.
(Language: English)
I first started reading the dark tower series at university nearly sixteen years ago, and after the first two books was horrified to find that Mr. King hadn't written any more. So, when he finally started to finish the saga I went out and bought every new book religiously. Unfortunately I have to say that he should either have left well alone, or finished the story while he still had enough imagination to think up a decent ending, rather than the impossibly weak cop-out that there is here. I don't think I have seen such a dramatic fall off in creativity over the course of what is, in effect, one story as is on show in these books. Although he does pander to his long standing fans by connecting many of his other stories to the events in this, the whole flow of the story seems to be connected to fitting in as many of these congruences as he possibly could. I truly think that he just got so fed up of getting flak over the years for leaving everyone hanging and not finishing it off that he did just that without any real clue as to how to do it, just to be done with it. Such possibilities, and such disappointment.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-29 04:09:51.
(Language: English)
Crappiest ending I've ever read. After slogging through several thousand pages to find out what happens to Roland, I get: The supernatural villian, The Crimson King. He gets trapped on a second story balcony, throws holy hand grenades, and shouts "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" like a girly man. The Dark Tower. THIS is what all the multiverse is supposed to revolve around, supposedly consisting of several levels of existence (see "Insomnia"). Ho hum...a spiral staircase goes past rooms which show scenes from Roland's life...that we've already visited. Boring, but surely at the top of the Tower, there's something.... Why, it's a doorway....that takes Roland right back to the beginning of the Dark Tower series! Geez, it's like watching that season of Dallas where Bobby wakes up and "it was all a dream"! This was probably THE biggest disappointments I've EVER read. King even tries to dissuade the reader from reading the end, too, even though he claims that this is the "right" ending. I have my doubts.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-11-12 10:37:30.
(Language: English)
The Dark tower series is by far the best piece of litertiture on the shelves today. In it's seven volumes is a world(in fact multupile worlds) filled with collorful carictors amaizing backrounds some of witch are other books written by Stephen King like "The Stand"(Wisard and Glass) and all focus around one cental figure Roland Dechcain "The Last Gunslinger" In a world that has "Moved On" His world is a post apocoliptic setting and he is bound to one single goal.A quest to find the Dark Tower, the nexus point of all worlds and the senter of the space/time continuim.Sound complex,not really.Unlike the rest of Stephen Kings works this is not a horror story. It is ,in fact ,fantasy.Much like "The Lord of The Rings" but on a much grander scale.Roland traveles takes himacross his own war torn world,into OUR world at 4 differint points in hystory,Fans of King will no doubt see fermillar caricters. Randal Flagg From "The Stand" one of the main bad guys. My Bragatan from "Hearts in Atlantis" among many others. Haroleded as Sai Kings Magnum Opus I would have to agree. Any fan of fantacy MUST read this series! 5/5!!!
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Micah posted a review at 2011-05-25 08:22:24.
(Language: English)
This one took me about as long to get through as the first 6, partly because I was subconsciously delaying the inevitable, and partly because the book did seem to slow down substantially after a great beginning. Ultimately I feel like the ending did the epic story justice, and while it seems like King was callous with the way he seemingly discarded some characters, as a reader I have to accept the story no matter where it goes. As far as modern fiction goes, this series is close to LOTR in scope and that counts for a lot.
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Terri posted a review at 2009-07-27 03:57:40.
(Language: English)
Overall, I enjoyed it ... I read the series a while ago. Steven King could have done better for an epic series - he is a fantastic story teller, but this doesn't touch a candle to some of the great epic stories unfortunately - one of the novels could have been eliminated all together without affecting anything. And what is it with his fascination with spiders ?? That being said, the ending was really quite fantastic - not at all what you expected and it left you saying "what the ....?" But how else could it have ended and been as good really....
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-30 12:08:09.
(Language: English)
King rushed to finish this series after he was hit and almost killed by an irresponsible driver in Maine. This is not a biography, this is a story synopsis of the final book in the Dark Tower series. Reading the last three episodes of the Dark Tower was difficult. The world has moved on, and so has the writer who wrote the GUNSLINGER and THE WASTELAND. The book was a narrative nightmare. It's written with plenty of God (Gawd) machines and construction gaps--The Dark Tower is far too similar to Jurassic Park's Dino DNA (if you catch my drift). Hodgepodge. As a singular book, I'd rate it much lower. As a conclusion to an interesting series, I'm disappointed to give it a low three stars. My suggestion is to read the first four books as entertainment, and the seventh as a manner to see the end. Reading the last three books is the reader's chance to walk through a world moved on. For God's sake, stop reading when King suggests it! If not, Blaine always has room for one more.
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A Reader posted a review at 2012-02-10 11:26:07.
(Language: English)
I read this book a few years ago, but anyways... This is a classic example of 'give creative people all the leeway they need, but don't accept everything they give you'. Mood-wise this is up there with the original 'Gunslinger' book (which is a classic, but bound together, forever, in an epic of, what became in time, a series). Like with all Stephen King's books it's either tripe or excellence for you, or with a grin, I say both. Does the "warning disclaimer in the last act" make me cringe? Yes, absolutely. But enough to sink this series? No. All the highs and the lows make perfect sense, here, in the dunes.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-22 12:48:08.
(Language: English)
this si so hard to review. you finally get to see rolands end, and damn if it dont hurt. mainly because i never wanted it to end. i think no matter how it ended i would feel hollow cause these are the greatest modern books and i didnt want to ever quit reading the story. if you really want to know i do think that the other books came more naturally and this one he had to push and stumble through parts. but i hate criticizing one of the greatest stories ever told. i dont know why im reviewing this if you got this far its not like your not gonna read it...
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-12-25 01:58:47.
(Language: English)
I finally finished the last of Stephen King's Dark Tower books. I was hoping to have finished it before the end of Christmas Break, but since I was sick the two weeks before break, I didn't get in as much reading time as I would have liked - and after all, the book is over 800 pages. The book was great! I really enjoyed it and it was a perfect ending to a great 7-book series. I'd like to think it could be made into a movie some day, but I'm not really sure. But I guess if they can make the Lord of the Rings into a great movie series, anything is possible. And like is always the case for me, I hated coming to the end of a good book - especially when this was the end of such a long series. But I'm quite content with the way King ended the story. I have a few more of his books now waiting on my "to-be-read" shelf. Hopefully they will be as good as the story of Roland and his journey to the Dark Tower.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-07 02:43:51.
(Language: English)
After more than twenty years since the saga begin, the final volume of The Dark Tower, whose title gets its name from the saga's namesake, will bring the long and complex story to a conclusion. This final volume picks up from the multi-pronged cliffhanger from the previous novel. This is the longest and perhaps the most mysterious of the volumes in the saga, and all questions will be answered. All lose ends are closed, and this amazing story is brought to its epic and startling conclusion. This novel is also the most emotional of all seven novels, especially for the readers that have followed Roland and the other characters since this story began in The Gunslinger. A literary masterpiece of the fantasy genre, The Dark Tower is a worthy conclusion to a great saga. Highly Recommended.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-17 03:40:22.
(Language: English)
The book starts out strong, but slowly fades to "Is it over yet?" The character's death start out meaningful and detailed, then as it gets toward the end it's as if on one page a character is alive and the next their dead with no real impact. King delivers a good story and proves he can write fantasy and creates a very visual picture is book. He also knows his characters and his readers, so when he tells you to stop reading after the first ending, do so. The ending left me with a feeling like, "Why did I bother to read this?". It's a beautifuly written book and I enjoyed the "Odd's Lane" chapter a lot. Probably the best written part in the series since Blaine the Monorail. Still if I had stopped reading after the first ending I probably would have liked this book a lot better.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-19 12:20:58.
(Language: English)
What an amazing book, and the series as a whole, even more so. I highly recommend the Dark Tower series to anyone who has enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Star Wars saga. Yes, this is Stephen King so there will be some horrific descriptions, about one per book (there's 7 in the series), but the richness of the tale is comparable to the other classics mentioned above. This was so very worth the time to conquer these many pages. And the ending.... ? Well, it was perfect.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-13 07:26:37.
(Language: English)
The first book didn't particularly spark my interest, but I kept going. It was merely an introduction to a series you never wanted to end. The characters had such vivid personalities. I loved how Stephen King offers extras at the end that talk about how the idea of The ...Dark Tower wasn't actually an idea at all, but more like a "calling". Everything that can possibly happen; good or bad, happens. It really brings the story to life making it rich and dynamic. The Twilight Saga doesn't come close to touching this.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-04-16 12:36:36.
(Language: English)
The Gunslinger, while a little slow in getting started is a fantastic piece of writing that perfectly sets up the story. The Drawing of the Three was my favorite of the books for a while, simply because it is so rich in symbolism. The showdown Eddie and Roland have at Balazar's is amazing writing. I feel like I am in the room. The Wastelands beauty comes from how horrible the town of Lud and Blaine (Blaine is a pain) the train are. They are like the worst nightmare I have ever had X 10. I still long to be with the ka-tet in the town of Lud. "Wizard and Glass" is currently my favorite out of the ones I have read so far. It is such a beautiful love story between Roland and the girl at the window(Susan). I felt like I really got to know Roland in this story, because he was younger and not so bitter from his quest yet. I cried like a baby for a half an hour when I read the end. But I really love how this book shows exactly how crazy people became when the world began to move on.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-16 12:40:16.
(Language: English)
(3 stars from 5) After beginning the concluding novel with the best action sequence of the entire series, the story turns muddy with unexciting encounters and (excepting a heartbreaking sacrifice during the ka-tet's inevitable but too-short battle with one of the series' later villains) inexplicably cold deaths and exits of main characters. King does give several tributes to his characters, including an amazing poetic sequence in the section entitled "In This Haze of Green and Gold," but ultimately these treatments of character passings and the consequences that follow, like those in the Deathly Hallows, seem more of an internal reflection by the author rather than an aid to the plot or the grief of the remaining characters in the story. The ending, although including a twist that made it valid and interesting, feels hurried. Famously included in the midst of the final chapters is an unnecessary note by King himself that thinly veils his own hatred and unsureness about what he is writing. As a side note, King stated that he had copius notes while writing the ending, including notes taken by Bev Vincent and Robin Furth which properly tied the former books and their references in his other novels together. King knew of the often-mentioned contradictions in the last few volumes of his magnum opus, as evidenced by the poor plot device he had to introduce to seemingly get through his own guilt for being lazy. It's rumored that King may rewrite the series, and until that is actually done, the last volume stands as the one that could've been the best, but that ultimately nearly drowned in its own self-doubt.
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