The Dark Tower

by Stephen King

Book Overview

All good things must come to an end, Constant Reader, and not even Stephen King can make a story that goes on forever. The tale of Roland Deschain's relentless quest for the Dark Tower has, the author fears, sorely tried the patience of those who have followed it from its earliest chapters. But attend to it a while longer, if it pleases you, for this volume is the last, and often the last things are best.Roland's ka-tet remains intact, though scattered...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1880418622
• ISBN13: 9781880418628
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Donald M. Grant Publishers
• Length: 864 Pages
• Weight: 3.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.3" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

One of my favourite books.

This book is super intense to read and has no extreme "horror" elements but some parts are a little weird, and you do have to read all the books in order for this one to make sense. The book is the last one in the Dark Tower series and it does a great job of wrapping up the series and the cliffhanger at the end makes you think hard about the earlier books. I really like this book because it is fast and intense to read. I think the series as a whole should only be read by people over 18 because of some of the weird parts.

A great ending to a great series.

The book tied up all the questions from the series admirably.

Points to consider in the Dark Tower - Spoilers, beware

Wow. So many reviews, so many that are very negative. I am honestly surprised that so many people are so strongly opposed to this story, specifically the response to the fashion in which characters' roles are fulfilled and the tale which is ultimately told. For me, a GREAT story is simply one that takes hold of your imagination and brings you into it. I truly felt this story did just that for me - in my mind. That is what it is all about. Many readers appear to find disappointment in this last installment. I would like to comment on some of these controversial points. The Ending. Although the ending took my breath away, it was right on. I must digress. I started reading the books on a beach on Labor Day weekend last September, my older brother was finishing The Dark Tower. And I was sittting next to him when he completed the saga, in the sand, waves crashing around us. He looked at me, sadness in his eyes, and said "Poor Roland". He futher laid this land-mine in my path: "You will understand when you read the last line of this book". The effect of this, on me, was like "19", whispered by Walter into Alice's ear. And ultimately, it was very sad. It was unexpected. It was monumental. It also left me with hope. Hope for Roland that he is, in fact, on his last and final journey back to the Tower as the book comes to a conclusion. It was his insight this time to grab the horn of Eld on Jericho Hill years ago - which will seem to ensure this will be his final quest and allow him to gain redemption for all of the trials and lives sacraficed and ended, for his own quest. I do wonder what this horn will do, what purpose it will serve, once he reaches the Tower again. But that is the great thing about this book is that it leaves so much up to the imagination of the reader to decide and speculate for themselves. Another tangent: I have read in other reviews questions as to why Roland is transported back to the desert, and not to his birth. I recall reading a line very near the end indicating he was sent back to the exact moment in time when he realized he would finally catch up to the Man In Black. It was not just an arbitrary point in time, which is compelling. It is also interesting in that this is exactly the moment when the entire saga began so many years - and wheels - ago. A final note is the immediate sense of impending transportation that is described as the Tower's door is opened...the smell of alkali wafts out of the Tower, foreshadowing the desert to come again - which once again resides through the Tower's pinnicale doorway. It did leave me with hope, however, that ultimately this will be Roland's last quest and he will finally have peace, rest, and ultimately redemption, when it is done. Patrick Danville/The Demise of the King. Some have felt the addition of Patrick at the end of the book was a cop out. I disagree. In fact, the entire saga is based upon the success of the ka-tet due to the random meeting -the

The End of the Quest

After more than 20 years and 4000 pages, this series ends. Some of the seven books in this series were very good, even excellent. I believe my favorites were the first, "The Gunslinger," and the fourth, "Wizard and Glass." I think the book I struggled with the most was the fifth, "Wolves of the Calla." This book falls somewhere in the middle, with the exception of the ending. I am loath to speak much of the details of this book. If I do I threaten to reveal things that are better for the reader to discover. Discovery is one of the most important parts of reading a story. In the case of this story, King specifically states in his afterward that this book, and the series by extension, should be read not for the ending, but for the journey, and I agree. The ending has little meaning unless you have taken the journey through the seven books, one, by, one. However, I must reveal a few details to entice you to start and carry on through the series. We have followed the ka-tet of Roland Deschain, Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, also known as Odetta and Detta and for a while as Mia, Jake Chambers, and Oy the billy-bumbler, for a long time. The end of all things is, as is often the case in real life, sad. The end of all things is bound to cause some to see the wisdom in the ending, and others to cry foul. In this rare case I must admit that I agree with Stephen King that the story has written itself, and the end is the only way it could have ended. I tried considering other alternative endings, only to discover that none of them worked. I will get back to the ending shortly, because there is a corner that King painted himself into early on in the series that provided the basis for the ending (which I still will not reveal). This story is long and complex. We pick up the story at the time of Mordred's birth, and the escape from Fedic. The story travels back and forth between New York, Maine and the Tower keystone world. We learn that Mordred is complex. We learn of Ted Brautigan, from the book "Hearts in Atlantis," though it is not important to read that book to understand this story. We also see Roland and his ka-tet stop the Breakers from destroying the beams, as we knew they must. It is from this point that Roland and the ka-tet then go forward to seek the Dark Tower. Mixed into this story are a multitude of complexities, which I have little time and even less desire to reveal. Roland travels to New York and meets characters previously introduced at the Tet Corporation. We meet other characters with incredible powers, and see potential in them that Stephen King should also have seen, and either needed to explain away, or accomplish. For example, why is it that Patrick did not draw himself a new tongue? Further, Patrick should have had the ability to draw Susannah new legs. While King often explains the weaknesses in his epic story as being ka, I think it shows that King struggled at times with the complexity of his own story. Th

More needs to be said.

So many reviewers felt Roland "deserved" better. So many readers apparently don't pay attention to what they read, for when was the last time a Stephen King book "rewarded" someone for being a good guy? For that matter, I "deserve" better. I'm a hell of a guy. I deserve fame, riches, and to play centerfield for the Cleveland Indians. Funny how none of that has happened for me, eh? Is a book life? Nah. Is a fantasy epic life? Not the last time I looked, no. But is a well written story reflective of life, regardless of genre? Ahh, there's the rub. If Sai King had written a neat little wrap up that had everyone safe, sound, and living happily ever after, then I would have had to hurl. Both my lunch and the book into the fire. Life doesn't have neat wrap ups, sad to say, and neither should good fiction. You want a neat wrap up? Go watch Matlock. They catch the bad guy AND everyone lives happily ever after. All in 42 minutes. The ending? Ahh, yes, there is that ending. Rare is the review that points out the fact that Roland's quest for the Tower turns out to be bogus long before the ending. It seems Roland's mission was to SAVE the Tower, not reach it. Reaching the Tower turns out merely to be his own personal obession. And we all know how healthy those obessions are for us, don't we? They always lead to happily ever afters, don't they? So let's just shout it out for those in the peanut gallery: "Roland screwed up, folks. Roland ain't perfect. Hell, Roland isn't even real. And Roland's obession with the Tower; with seeing, touching and conquering the Tower? That's his downfall. He brought it all on himself." Hamlet had nothing on this guy when it comes to tragic flaws. Patrick? The note at the Dandelo's house? Dues Ex Machina so thick you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a god machine? Well, duh. It's a book that acknowledges that it's a book, written by a guy who knows he's writing someone else's reality. The thick as flies Machina madness wasn't a convience. It was a point. It was THE POINT. Flagg? The Crimson King? No cymbals crashing and drums beating for a final, messy, 200 page confrontation? How boring would that have been? Does anyone out there think Roland wasn't going to beat the King, and wouldn't have also dispatched Flagg if it came to that? Well who the hell wants a long drawn out description of what you know is going to happen? Look, Flagg was a snot. He's been a snot since The Stand. Snots don't usually end well, and the end is usually precipitated by overconfidence. Now here's a guy who got what he "deserved", yet people are all pissed off about it. I, for one, was shocked at Flagg's demise, and I loved that King could shock me. Right there I was, in the early stages of the final doorstop of a tome, and I was flabbergasted. I didn't expect to be flabbergasted by anything in the book after 6 previous volumes, and here King goes and smacks me upside the head. Bravo, Stephen. A

99...100 or The Dark Tower VII Ending For Dummies *SPOILERS*

To offset all the negative reviews with spoilers I thought I would provide a positive one. There are numerous spoilers ahead so PLEASE don't read until you finish the book! Ok, I'll admit that I didn't get it immediately after finishing (I felt like I'd just been Matrix-Revolutioned to be honest)....but after re-reading it a few times I did get the ending and I must say it is ABSO-FRIKKEN-LUTELY the best damn ending King could have possibly written. Sheer genius no matter what others might think. Reread it, think about it, let your subconscious play with it and you will be enlightened....or read on and I'll spoil it for ya and you will ken the ending....you will ken it well. First off the bad, the expected and the good of this final DT book. The Bad: - No real antagonist. Of course Lord of the Rings suffers the same problem. I didn't care much for Flagg as spider chow or the finale with Mordred. They rang flat. Maybe in the final loop.....100..... - No 'Traveling Jack', Pennywise or Buicks. I was hoping for more stuff from his other books but I guess they can't all be in the path of the beam. - Santa Clause and the Snitches. I guess I have to re-read 'Insomnia' but I still think King should have delved deeper into the Crimson King....I was always under the impression the CK was Pennywise/The Spider from IT. - Oy! - The first part of the Coda where he apologizes to the reader for what is to come. This should be yanked out. The ending is pure genius and needs no apology. The Expected: - King tossing his characters aside like Rag Dolls. ....just like in everything else King has written. Of course all characters are just there to help Roland get to the Tower.... The Good: - A wonderful, imaginative journey. The settings were very cool and the characters very enjoyable. - King including himself in the story. Many folks don't like this but I find it is ingenious. Not only does he get to tie his accident into the series (and his motivation for finishing it), this plot device also works well in tying the series to our 'Keystone World'. Does King believe he sings the song of Gan and that the events in DT occurred? I believe he does on a certain level and who knows maybe they have! The ABSO-FRIKKEN-LUTELY Genius: For those of you who want the ending spelled out for you. Here it is. I encourage you not to read this until you have thought about the WHOLE series and the last 20 pages of the book for at least a week. If you have not had a head slapping AH-HA moment like I did last night, then come back. Still here? Ok. Hint #1 The real ending to Roland's saga wasn't written by King Hint #2 "It'll be your damnation, boy. You'll wear out a hundred pairs of boots on your walk to hell." - Cort Hint #3 The Dark Tower series is Robert Browning's poem in narrative form....except for one glaring difference. Hint #99.....100 Get it? Ok. Here's the deal-io. The story is fundamentally about addiction, in this case Roland's addiction to the song of the Tower

"Ending is just another word for goodbye."

I closed the book after turning the last page, and sat for a time, thinking. How can I possibly sum up what I was feeling at that moment? I've been reading about Roland and his companions for about 16 years -- just over half my life, do ye ken it -- and now it's finally done. King reached the ending to his long tale, and I came along for the ride with him, all the way to the very end. Though some moments were wondrous, some terrifying, and some sad beyond words, I saw it through. Because King saw it through. Because Roland saw it through. I owed them this much, after all they've given me. Having finished, I know I owe them more than that. This final volume, over 800 pages long, did not want me to put it down once I had opened it. Quite simply, it never lets up. Soon after beginning it, I found myself spending every spare moment reading it. Racing through it. Devouring it. I was compelled, by the power of the tale King was spinning and by the palpable presence of the Tower itself to reach the end of this long quest. Is it good? Oh my, Constant Reader... it is much more than that. "The Dark Tower" is a fitting conclusion to all that came before, and that is saying a great deal. In this book there are wonders to behold and terrors to chill the blood. Surprises abound within these pages, both good and ill. There is little here that is predictable, but there is much to satisfy. This is a book with much meat on its bones, and this reader will likely be digesting the rich banquet of the Gunslinger's tale for quite some time. In this book, Stephen King presents us with the final course in a meal for the imagination, and it is one which I will not forget. This is a tale which will remain with the reader long after the final page is turned. I will not give any of its substance away here, I will leave that for sai King to do in his own way, that the reader may enjoy it all the more. The ending, which I have been anticipating and dreading with equal fervor, comes with a touch of sadness, because as sai King himself has pointed out, endings are heartless. "An ending is a closed door no man can open," and having walked through that door, I find it difficult to look back without sadness. King has brought this story and these characters to life for me, and frankly it breaks my heart to have reached this ending. I knew it had to come, and I would be drawn to it as Roland was drawn to the Tower, but having reached it my heart is shrouded. "Ending is just another word for goodbye," and now it is time to say goodbye to this story, to these people who give it life. And to give my thanks for their story, which I have treasured unlike any other. Thankee-sai to Oy, of Mid-World. Thankee-sai to Jake, Gunslinger of New York. Thankee-sai to Eddie, Gunslinger of New York. Thankee-sai to Susannah, Gunslinger of New York. Thankee-sai to Roland, Gunslinger of Gilead. And most especially... thankee-sai to Stephen King, Wordslinger of Maine. We were well-met on this path