Dark Tower Series - Stephen King

[Rawr]

In my opinion, also the general consensus among the readership, things get significantly better as the first few books progress. I think the first was written by a much younger and rougher King and it shows, there are some great scenes, one of my faves is the conversation with the man in black towards the end, but things certainly pick up now and you're in for a wild ride.

[Endless]

Loved the first four I keep meaning to read the last three but I heard V-V11 aren’t as good as the first four.

[BigWords]

I think the first was written by a much younger and rougher King and it shows, there are some great scenes, one of my faves is the conversation with the man in black towards the end, but things certainly pick up now and you're in for a wild ride.

 

That "younger and rougher" tone may not be to King's liking - there was a comment somewhere about him re-writing (parts?) of the earlier books to bring the tone of the series into a uniform style. It wouldn't be the first time that a remastered edition of his books has appeared (The Stand, although very nice, didn't exactly dispense with all of the editing problems the first edition suffered), and I have a dreadful feeling he will turn into George Lucas if left unchecked...

[jankensan]

Looking back through this thread now after just finishing the7th and final book in the series. I can't recommend them enough!

 

I disagree with posts saying that The Gunslinger was slow - it is still my favourite of all 7, although the final book comes close.

 

I have never been so 'involved' with a story. I decided that I wanted to take it slow and not read them all one after the other so that they remained fresh and something to look forward to and I think this was the right move. In the end I stuck to a strict one on 3 rotation - so one Dark tower book, then at least one other fiction book and at least one other non-fiction book in between. This meant every time I picked one up I was raring to go and super excited to 'watch' the next part of Roland's journey.

 

The scope of the books is immense, and I think there is still a lot more left to explore in the graphic novels etc (which I can now read without fear that they will have any spoilers in).

 

The final book I read over the Christmas holidays and it really was the perfect indulgence!

[James1986]

I hadn't read any Steven King prior to the dark tower series, but I'm quite hooked now (currently on book 5)

 

I'd say that the first one is quite hard to get in to, I found that a lot of it didn't make that much sense, and felt a bit too "drawn out". It took me well over 6 months to read purely because I couldn't handle too much of it at a time (sounds like I'm downplaying it, but thats my style of reading).

 

Second book got absolutely AWESOME, some really cool stuff in there. The third was pretty good too, but the fourth....oh my god, that is THE best in the series so far. The fourth one also took me a while to read, I started off not liking it too much but it grew on me.

 

As you progress through the series you find out bits of Rolands past, and then suddenly it'll click and you'll think to yourself "Ah, now I know what they were talking about in book 1", I've had at least 3 of those in the past few reading sessions.

 

Definately my favourite book series so far, just jump in and go for it.

 

They are apparently making it into a TV series + films in 2013. I've also heard rumours that an extra book is being written that will fit in between (between 4-5 I believe).

 

Go, for there are other worlds than these...

[Lefty_UK]

I am currently reading The Dark Tower V: The Wolves of Calla and so far it is my favourite of the series although I also loved The Drawing of the Three. Am a little bit nervous of it being made into a movie/mini-series combination. It's a huge task to get them anywhere near right.

[Amesy]

I am currently reading The Dark Tower V: The Wolves of Calla and so far it is my favourite of the series although I also loved The Drawing of the Three. Am a little bit nervous of it being made into a movie/mini-series combination. It's a huge task to get them anywhere near right.

I'm on this one ATM too. How far through are you?

I'm also quite worried about the tele-adaptation of this. Unless someone like Stevie Spielberg is doing it (he like doing King stuff), then I won't be so anxious.

Edited February 8, 2011 by Amesy

[Lefty_UK]

I'm on this one ATM too. How far through are you?

I'm also quite worried about the tele-adaptation of this. Unless someone like Stevie Spielberg is doing it (he like doing King stuff), then I won't be so anxious.

 

I am (according to my Kindle) 42% of the way through. Callaghan is half way through his story.

 

Ron Howard is making them, there will be three films and a couple of mini-series'. There's only one person perfect for Roland and that's the man he was based on... Clint Eastwood. He's a bit too old now though

[Amesy]

Not too bad. He's done some biggies in his time.

[catwoman]

I got the third one in a charity shop the other day, as it is on my Lost book club list. I'm glad to hear a few good reviews as I am kinda in the dark with this series.

[Michelle]

I've read most of King's books, but for some reason have avoided this series. Audible have just released the audio versions, which I think I will prefer, so I've bought the first one.

[Sedge]

If anybody has finished the series and is desperate for more, you might also like to check out his short story collection 'Everything's Eventual'. It includes 'The Little Sisters of Eluria' - a nice little Dark Tower story.

[Michelle]

I've started The Gunslinger, and I really can't decide how I feel about it. I was always under the impression the series was far more fantasy than horror, but I've found some of it to be quite disturbing so far! Such as..

his meeting with the preacher women, and especially the way he shot everyone in the town (Tull?)

[Timstar]

I enjoyed most of the series but felt it went a bit downhill after number 4. Has anyone read the latest addition?

[muggle not]

I think the Dark Tower was some of King's best writing.I would certainly think that writing a series and keeping the writing on a high level would be extremely difficult. Any fan of Stephen King owes it to themself to read the Dark Tower as it takes the reader through many different phases and makes one wonder where it will lead and how it will end.

 

It was a supereb bit of writing.

Edited June 22, 2012 by muggle not

[bobblybear]

I found The Gunslinger to be a difficult read, but the three after that are very good, and they seem to have a different feel to them. Reading them is a different experience from reading the first one. My favorite is the fourth book, and then after that I think they went downhill, maybe because there was such a long gap between King writing the fourth and later ones.

[pontalba]

I've collected the series, second hand, but haven't started it yet. When I recently re-read The Stand, well, I thought it was a re-read. Now I'm not so sure. I'm thinking I possibly read the first part of the DT series. /sigh/ It's been so long, I'm just not sure anymore, at least till I start the series.

[Andie P]

Thanks for starting this thread, I will have to try and get the series now! More on my TBR list!!

 

Andie P x

[king_is_king]

I read book one and two a while ago. From what I remember they were great books, but I must admit I did rush them a bit (curse me, I know). But I am attempting to right my wrongs and I also plan to sit down and read the whole series myself!