With The Wind Through the Keyhole recently released and talk still bubbling of a film/TV adaptation, I figure we ought to have a thread on here for Dark Tower fans (or new readers!) to palaver, lest we forget the faces of our fathers.
If you've never read The Dark Tower before, I highly, highly recommend you check it out. I've read a fair portion of the "must-read" series that get tossed around the internet (A Song of Ice and Fire, Harry Potter, The First Law, etc) but for my money, The Dark Tower has them all beat. Mid-World is one of the strangest and most enticing fictional worlds I've ever encountered, mixing fantasy, spaghetti westerns, post-apocalyptic sci-fi, and horror into one enormous tale. On top of that, nearly all of Stephen King's other books connect back to the Tower, so fans of his other works have even more to enjoy.
The inspiration for this thread was finishing my reread of The Gunslinger, the first in my planned reread of the whole series (and my first time through The Wind Through the Keyhole, once I get to that point). Honestly, it's just as good as I remembered it, and I took on a whole new appreciation for it the second time through. The first read feels like a fever dream, as you try to figure out this weird-ass world and are bombarded with High Speech and references to events you haven't yet learned of. The second time, that layer of confusion goes away, but you get to really focus on how the book foreshadows the future events of the story. You also see how well King paces his hints and reveals about the scope, mythology, and history of Mid-World. Every chapter he peels back another layer that makes you re-question just what exactly Roland's world is, and it's part of why The Gunslinger is so cool the first time around. My advice to someone going into the series for the first time: know as little as possible beforehand! That way you can try to puzzle out the world as you read and really get the atmosphere King is going for.
Anyway, now I get to jump into The Drawing of the Three, the point where The Dark Tower really finds its voice, and one of my favorite books of all time, standalone or series. Is anybody else here on Tested a fan of this series and would like to discuss it? (Of course, using spoiler tags where appropriate, I say thankya)
Hold the phone... Wind through the Keyhole is out??
I am a huge DT fan, I'll even go so far as to say that I don't see how you could be a King fan and not be a fan of the series. I loved the ending, which I won't even begin to discuss.
The Dark Tower is one of my favorite series of books. I think it's Kings best work. I have not read Wind Through the Keyhole yet because I'm waiting for the swedish translation.
Wind Through the Keyhole is out?? I just started re-reading Ender's Game because I never got to read the rest of the series. I think I'll finish this and put the series on hold. The Dark Tower series is the best series of books I've read and I can't wait to get into it again!
Have read DT series through twice, recently finished Wind through the Keyhole. I was pleased with "Keyhole" though it was hardly epic and didn't really extend the oeuvre. If we're being fair, however, I have to point out the one deepest flaw in the whole series, that is when King puts himself in the book--horrifyingly inept, poorly executed, ill-advised, didn't work. I never heard King speak to this but many commentaries have called him out for this.
I love the DT series. I haven't got around to wind through the keyhole yet. I've got a couple of trans-Atlantic flights coming up, might get the ebook version to pass the hours.
Are we really not going to talk about the ending of the 7th book? I remember finishing the books in high school after thousands of pages and being pissed off because of the last pages. Looking forward to the 8th/ 4.5th book!
@RustySpoon: haha No i understood Steven King's reasoning behind his ending as indicated by Roland possessing the horn and other hints King gave. (i dont want to put any spoilers in my comment) I just didn't like the ending. King has to have known that ending the series that way was still going to annoy some readers. i wrote my last comment to find out if anyone else felt the same way i did.
With The Wind Through the Keyhole recently released and talk still bubbling of a film/TV adaptation, I figure we ought to have a thread on here for Dark Tower fans (or new readers!) to palaver, lest we forget the faces of our fathers.
If you've never read The Dark Tower before, I highly, highly recommend you check it out. I've read a fair portion of the "must-read" series that get tossed around the internet (A Song of Ice and Fire, Harry Potter, The First Law, etc) but for my money, The Dark Tower has them all beat. Mid-World is one of the strangest and most enticing fictional worlds I've ever encountered, mixing fantasy, spaghetti westerns, post-apocalyptic sci-fi, and horror into one enormous tale. On top of that, nearly all of Stephen King's other books connect back to the Tower, so fans of his other works have even more to enjoy.
The inspiration for this thread was finishing my reread of The Gunslinger, the first in my planned reread of the whole series (and my first time through The Wind Through the Keyhole, once I get to that point). Honestly, it's just as good as I remembered it, and I took on a whole new appreciation for it the second time through. The first read feels like a fever dream, as you try to figure out this weird-ass world and are bombarded with High Speech and references to events you haven't yet learned of. The second time, that layer of confusion goes away, but you get to really focus on how the book foreshadows the future events of the story. You also see how well King paces his hints and reveals about the scope, mythology, and history of Mid-World. Every chapter he peels back another layer that makes you re-question just what exactly Roland's world is, and it's part of why The Gunslinger is so cool the first time around. My advice to someone going into the series for the first time: know as little as possible beforehand! That way you can try to puzzle out the world as you read and really get the atmosphere King is going for.
Anyway, now I get to jump into The Drawing of the Three, the point where The Dark Tower really finds its voice, and one of my favorite books of all time, standalone or series. Is anybody else here on Tested a fan of this series and would like to discuss it? (Of course, using spoiler tags where appropriate, I say thankya)
Hold the phone... Wind through the Keyhole is out??
I am a huge DT fan, I'll even go so far as to say that I don't see how you could be a King fan and not be a fan of the series. I loved the ending, which I won't even begin to discuss.
I love these books. My only complaint with the Wind Through the Keyhole is that there wasn't enough of it.
The Dark Tower is one of my favorite series of books. I think it's Kings best work. I have not read Wind Through the Keyhole yet because I'm waiting for the swedish translation.
Wind Through the Keyhole is out?? I just started re-reading Ender's Game because I never got to read the rest of the series. I think I'll finish this and put the series on hold. The Dark Tower series is the best series of books I've read and I can't wait to get into it again!
Have read DT series through twice, recently finished Wind through the Keyhole. I was pleased with "Keyhole" though it was hardly epic and didn't really extend the oeuvre. If we're being fair, however, I have to point out the one deepest flaw in the whole series, that is when King puts himself in the book--horrifyingly inept, poorly executed, ill-advised, didn't work. I never heard King speak to this but many commentaries have called him out for this.
I love the DT series. I haven't got around to wind through the keyhole yet. I've got a couple of trans-Atlantic flights coming up, might get the ebook version to pass the hours.
@Navyseils: @Navyseils: If you have a kindle and a really long flight, check out God Bless The Dead. Great tech read, great characters.
Are we really not going to talk about the ending of the 7th book? I remember finishing the books in high school after thousands of pages and being pissed off because of the last pages. Looking forward to the 8th/ 4.5th book!
@RustySpoon: haha No i understood Steven King's reasoning behind his ending as indicated by Roland possessing the horn and other hints King gave. (i dont want to put any spoilers in my comment) I just didn't like the ending. King has to have known that ending the series that way was still going to annoy some readers. i wrote my last comment to find out if anyone else felt the same way i did.