The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (King, Stephen) (v. 7)
by Stephen King
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen KingIllustrator: Michael Whelan
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2004-09-21
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 864
Publisher: Donald M. Grant/Scribner
Book Reviews of The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (King, Stephen) (v. 7)
Book Review: An incredible series comes to an end: O Discordia!
Summary: 5 Stars
I still can't believe it: The Dark Tower series is over. Did the final book live up to my expectations? Yes and no. King is an absolute master, and to criticize this amazing masterpiece of his in any way would feel sacrilege to me. But as King himself says in the author's note which ends the book, "It was all about reaching the Tower...and that has finally been accomplished." Say true. There is no way to sufficiently recap this book in a manner that would do it justice (and, at the same time, not give anything away), so I'm just going to share some of my own highlights:
*Upon opening the cover of this book, the first thing that struck me was the wonderful illustrations by Michael Whelan, who also illustrated the first Dark Tower novel, The Gunslinger. At last, someone was able to portray the characters almost exactly as I've seen them in my mind's eye: from depicting Roland as a rugged cross between Clint Eastwood and Viggo Mortensen to capturing Eddie's brash and cocky demeanor right down to bringing Oy's gold-flecked eyes to life.
*Although many will disagree, I felt that King's own continuing presence in the series was completely justified and made absolute sense: how could King's own fate NOT be intermingled with that of Roland and his ka-tet? I'm convinced that no other author but King could pull this off; his ability be completely self-deprecating was one of the factors which made this unconventional strategy work so well.
*When the movie The Shawshank Redemption was released in the 90s, I think that many non-King fans were astonished to discover that King could write such an emotionally evocative story. Those of us who have been with King from the beginning have long recognized that injecting real emotion into his works is one of his great talents, and in this aspect, The Dark Tower does not disappoint: I cried frequently and unexpectedly throughout the book.
*A minor disappointment to me was that the fates of Walter, Mordred, and the Crimson King all seemed terribly anti-climatic. With Mordred in particular, his role appeared to gradually fade away over the course of the story, making me wonder if he had been a necessary character at all; also, I'm not sure that the Crimson King's appearance was completely consistent with his portrayal in other related King works. But as I said, these issues were mostly insignificant, at least to me.
*Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention the ending. Like others, I found myself feeling a bit frustrated with Roland's fate, although the redemption suggested by the final two pages served as an atonement for me; also, if you remember that ka resembles a wheel, the ending makes more sense. Furthermore, I was genuinely moved by a few of the final lines in the book's penultimate ending (King actually suggests stopping here-as if any true fan could!-rather than following Roland into the Tower): "And will I tell you that [they] lived happily ever after? I will not, for no one ever does. But there was happiness. And they did live."
Perhaps the highest praise I can give for this book and the six which preceded it is this: I can't wait to go back and read the entire series from the beginning. "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." Mr. King, thank you-you made us smell the dust too.
Summary of The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (King, Stephen) (v. 7)
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. The final installment in the epic series that began 33 years ago with The Gunslinger, completes the quest of Roland Deschain, who works to outmaneuver the increasingly desperate acts of his adversaries.At one point in this final book of the Dark Tower series, the character Stephen King (added to the plot in Song of Susannah) looks back at the preceding pages and says "when this last book is published, the readers are going to be just wild." And he's not kidding.
After a journey through seven books and over 20 years, King's Constant Readers finally have the conclusion they've been both eagerly awaiting and silently dreading. The tension in the Dark Tower series has built steadily from the beginning and, like in the best of King's novels, explodes into a violent, heart-tugging climax as Roland and his ka-tet finally near their goal. The body count in The Dark Tower is high. The gunslingers come out shooting and face a host of enemies, including low men, mutants, vampires, Roland's hideous quasi-offspring Mordred, and the fearsome Crimson King himself. King pushes the gross-out factor at times--Roland's lesson on tanning (no, not sun tanning) is brutal--but the magic of the series remains strong and readers will feel the pull of the Tower as strongly as ever as the story draws to a close. During this sentimental journey, King ties up loose ends left hanging from the 15 non-series novels and stories that are deeply entwined in the fabric of Mid-World through characters like Randall Flagg (The Stand and others) or Father Callahan ('Salem's Lot). When it finally arrives, the long awaited conclusion will leave King's myriad fans satisfied but wishing there were still more to come.
In King's memoir On Writing, he tells of an old woman who wrote him after reading the early books in the Dark Tower series. She was dying, she said, and didn't expect to see the end of Roland's quest. Could King tell her? Does he reach the Tower? Does he save it? Sadly, King said he did not know himself, that the story was creating itself as it went along. Wherever that woman is now (the clearing at the end of the path, perhaps?), let's hope she has a copy of The Dark Tower. Surely she would agree it's been worth the wait. --Benjamin Reese
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