I am so happy to say that as of today I have finished The Dark Tower series. Excuse me for getting emotional, but I honestly can't believe it's finally over... or partially over. I want to stress this: If you have not started/finished the last book in The Dark Tower series, I highly suggest you click away from this review. There will be spoilers contained below, be warned. I am still trying to peice together exactly what I want to say about this amazing book, so I've decided to split this review into two parts. The first part will end before the journey begins its end. The second will pick up after the final ka-tet is broken. Along with the normal lists, I'm going to include a different kind of ending to this review. You'll see! My pros and cons are included below, and thank you again for reading.
Pros:
- How can I even begin to list my pros for this book? I find it best to just keep it simple. This book was the perfect ending to The Dark Tower series (I can't include much because part two is yet to be started). I'll just say that through all the ups and down of this journey, the last book really was the icing on top.
- This book really tested the loyalty of the reader. There were many times throughout The Dark Tower VII that things happen to the characters we've come to love. It proves to me that a truly good story needs no happy ending, only a meaningful one.
- Broad generalizations aside, the epic journey contained in just the last book is inconceivable. Not only do our gunslingers successfully form the Tet Corporation (for protecting the rose), but they also meet another gifted person along the way (quite a few actually), they reunite with Sheemie from Mejis, and discover the truth about the Dark Tower, Mordred, and The Crimson King. It's a fantastic journey, heartbreak aside.
Cons:
- As with many wonderful journeys (LOTR and Harry Potter are the first two to come to mind), there are many deaths along the way to victory. During the first half of The Dark Tower VII, Father Callahan dies at the hand of the lowmen at the Dixie Pig. The ka-tet remains strong until after Thunderclap is taken... where, blowing many readers out of the water, Eddie is shot fatally. This truly when the ka-tet breaks, as Susannah stays behind to care for Eddie while Roland and Jake (and Oy) return to Keystone World (the "real" world, where time moves correctly). The three are returning to protect Stephen King from a fatal car accident. To the horror of readers everywhere, Roland is able to save King's life... but Jake dies in the process. It just kills me to think of how broken Roland must have felt to have lost his son again.
- I'm sorry to say that this a con, but I couldn't handle how close the deaths were together. There didn't seem to be any real space between Eddie and Jake's deaths. That caused a hard emotional time for me (I get very involved in the story, bite me).
Now for the rest. I loved this book. It brought me to tears several times and still makes me sad to think about... but also curious. That's the beauty of Stephen King's writing abilities... no matter how dark the story, he is always able to grab ahold and cling on to readers. That's just a beautiful thing to me. This series is not for someone who get overly involved/emotional about the story... a lot of terrible things happen. But a lot of good things do too, a lot of universes and ideas. I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes to be taken for a ride. But I'll include more in part two of this review.
As always, and with love,
Keep reading,
K.
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