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I received the book before the allotted time and it's in perfect condition. I'm very happy with my purchase.
I will admit that I very much liked the ending from the get-go, but I have had to digest it for a few days before really knowing what to make of it. Could the Horn of Eld symbolize the line of Eld, meaning that Roland is to save Jake thereby restoring "love and light" into his world (and also ensuring that his son will continue in the line of Eld) before the Tower will let him rest. He seems to be learning to love, particularly in the case of his adopted son Jake, as well as the rest of his ka-tet. I will admit that it didn't turn out as bad as I feared (I half expected Stephen King to be in the top room of the Tower), and I do appreciate that it ties the story to reality through something other than the fictional Tet Corporation in NY.
The world had moved on, a world that had been "full of love and light", and the gunslinger that we meet in book I is a hero, but can't be described as "full of love". In doing so, I have realized that this ending has evoked a lot more emotion and thought from me than I expected, and clearly almost everyone else who has read this book has had the same experience, for better or worse. Are Roland's enemies (Flagg, the CK, etc) so desperate to kill him because they are caught in his loop and aware of it. Roland, while heroic, has been cold hearted throughout the saga. Mordred may have been powerful, but he was still a child; and a sick, dying child at that. As for the Crimson King, while the battle may have been brief, it was still exciting and not without great word play between Roland and the CK.Ok, so most of us want opinions and theories on the end, right. While this is nice, I could have done without King ever having been in the story.Others were bothered by the quick deaths of Mordred and the Crimson King.
In this scene, Roland promises that he will sacrifice himself to save Stephen King rather than Jake, and his decision is made when he jumps from a moving vehicle to do just that. As with most reviews, there will be many SPOILERS ahead, so go read the book first if you haven't.I can cover what truly bothered me pretty quickly; King's importance in the plot and Flagg's death. I feel that what was good or great about the book is enough for me to dismiss what annoyed me about it. He had to make an ill-advised move out of desperation, and I think it was wonderful that Oy was able to die defending Roland. I believe this, along with the care he gave to the rest of his ka-tet toward the end of the journey is what finally pleased the Tower, which awards him with the Horn of Eld.
After all, King does state earlier in the book that there is "only one place for the poem", which is at the end, as the poem reveals Roland's final journey.I don't want to make light of the sadness that comes with this ending, because it is certainly sad. Let's look back to Jake's final death, a sad scene that will bring even the most cynical reader to tears in light of life's harsh truths. Not that I need a 150 page battle between Roland and Flagg, but to be so easily dispatched by a child who would later prove to be absolutely no threat to Roland seems wrong. I wasn't. When Roland arrives in the Mohaine once again, he is given the Horn of Eld. I don't know, it just doesn't add up. It could be that Browning's poem actually IS the final journey, meaning that the end of Roland's quest is actually right there for you to read about, or it could just be a vision of what his final journey will be like.
It looks like most reviewers have this pretty well covered, but I'd like to throw in my 2 cents, mostly because I've spent so much time reading these books and it just plain feels right. Will he meet Jake again on this journey. We all know how it turns out, but the point is that the gunslinger has changed since first letting Jake drop into the abyss in book I. I think it can go either way, the point is that we know that Roland will have peace, and soon.Need proof. Why is this a good ending. This can signify many things, but I believe that it signifies that he has pleased the Tower and this will be his final journey.
Would we have ever guessed from the pages of "The Gunslinger" or even "The Drawing of the Three" that Roland would have such an emotional reaction to Susannah finally leaving him at the end of the story. I suggest anyone else that has recently finished the book do the same. Was this really the best that Roland's lifelong enemy could do. King appends Browning's poem, which has Roland blowing the "slug horn" at the end of his journey. So why do I give it 5 stars.
The Tower, it seems, is more than just an anchor for existence; it is holy, and will judge those who enter it. In my opinion, this alone is proof that the ending is very powerful.So, let's just say it, we find out that Roland has been repeating his journey from the Mohaine Desert, where we first meet him in book I. Long days and pleasant nights. The hope combined with sadness and the endless possibilities are what makes this ending so brilliant. I'll start by saying that this book is not perfect, and there were times when I was convinced that the story would end horribly. When Roland arrives at the Tower in Browning's poem, the spectators (roses in King's story) in the final stanza are "met to view the last of [him]". I think that King interprets the last of Roland as in the last time that he will arrive at the Tower.
I personally believe that he has probably accomplished this in the past journeys, but it doesn't really matter.
Did time rewind (which his watch rewinding as he approaches the tower and the re-installment of the Man in Black would suggest) or was he simply placed back in the desert.
During this journey, Roland has accomplished his purpose according to prophecy, which is to save the Tower.
As for King, I didn't like his part in the plot during Song of Susannah (narcissistic) and was hoping it would not dominate the final volume, which it doesn't.
Has he learned enough to save Jake rather than palaver with Walter.
It puts the entire story in perspective.
Probably not.
I think I've covered the main point, but perhaps Roland has still more to learn and atone for on his final journey, and there are other things to consider.
I could go on and on with these, and some of them may be reaching, but I think that if you believe that the Tower has finally begun to award his progress during his damnation then you can believe that he will be able to right all wrongs.I will miss reading these books, I hope the rest of you take as much from it as I did.
You just have to remember that Ka is a wheel. I thought this was a great book. I can understand why some people didn't like the ending, but I thought it was great. Overall, a very satisfying end to an epic journey. I'm just sad that it's over.
And finally, along the way, the Artist is drawn, to help accomplish the remaining tasks prior to the showdown between the Crimson King and Roland.Aside from the story, King actually changed his style of writing in some respects, and unfortunately the changes are not for the better. Again, this deviates from the previous volumes, and is an unwelcome change in his writing style.Another issue, this time in the story itself as opposed to King's writing style, is how King handled the character of Randall Flagg in this final volume. Around pages 570, it seems as if H.P. As the quest continues, the ka-tet is being followed by Mordred Deschain - the son of both Roland and the Crimson King, as well as the son of Susannah and Mia - who is plotting to kill anyone in his way to fulfill his destiny by killing Roland.
It seems as if King merely remembered he had to do something about him and decided "oh shoot, I'll just take care of him here, on this one page."All in all, the series was a blast. The growth of Roland is exceptional throughout the series and his change is dramatic from the pages of The Gunslinger to The Dark Tower. Roland Deschain of Gilead's journey to the Dark Tower began several thousand pages and seven books ago and King is finally wrapping up the story.This volume has many exciting and entertaining plot twists, and will keep the reader on their toes throughout all 830 pages (excluding the appendix, which includes Robert Browning's poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", the basis and influence for King's series). One of his writing changes is he now addresses the reader, and refers to the reader in his tale. (If you've yet to read this volume, perhaps you should skip this brief section).
His death is very unsatisfying. Lovecraft took the reins and wrote about one of his monsters for a few pages (a la At the Mountains of Madness). For example, "We have reached that point.and all I can do now is point here and there and hope you can bring your own order out of the general chaos" (370), or "This was quite a bit more than Roland actually said (as we should know, having been there)" (623), among others. While the length of the series (roughly 4,000 pages worth) may deter some readers, King had a particular quote in the final volume regarding such a concern:I hope you came to hear the tale, and not just munch your way through the pages to the ending.
The ka-tet is together again and their quest to the Dark Tower continues - and finishes - in the final volume of King's epic Dark Tower series. Throughout the series, Flagg is the antithesis of Roland. He is Roland's mortal enemy, one he has encountered many times (and appears in several of King's books). King did a marvelous job with his story telling, and brought to life some very memorable characters and developed them very nicely. When a particular happenstance takes place that affects one of the many characters (not necessarily the main characters, and for better or worse), King reveals it is going to happen well before it is able to unfold. For an ending, you only have to turn to the last page and see what is there writ upon. Along the way, the ka-tet finds itself in Thunderclap, at the place where the children from the Callas are sent to have their brains tampered with before being sent back roont and must save the beam - and in doing so find themselves in the company of a very old friend (and one that many fans will smile, upon reading about again).
But endings are heartless. This is either new to the seventh volume, or very unnoticeable in the previous volumes and the change takes away from the story, ever so slightly.Another unfortunate change in his writing style is that King reveals what is going to happen well before it happens. Examples include (names are omitted to protect anything from being given away) "little did he know that he stepped on the glass that will eventually kill him", or "this is the last time _____ would ever be together", and many more instances take place in the book. This is easily the best epic tale, spanning several books, since Lord of the Rings and should not be bypassed by any curious reader looking for a wonderful tale full of many stories that are sad, happy, exciting, thrilling, and will leave the reader with a sense of wonder unrivaled in modern fiction. An ending is a closed door no man (or Manni) can open.And that sentiment echos in the heart of the series, as the true glory and wonder is the tale that takes place, not the ending itself.And remember, ka is a wheel - Say thankya.
(Spoilers lie within)The latter half of the book is much stronger than the first, in my opinion; it seems that when it really started picking up was when characters started dying and forcing the remaining characters to interact more fully. This is one case, however, where I do not agree, contrary to his ramblings--like the ending revelation of Sixth Sense and the fact that in Bioshock Atlas is actually Fontaine and has been manipulating your Ryan-clone genetic programming the whole time (lol spoiler alert), this is a surprise that, while it might give a few tiny details more meaning in the initial read if known already, is really better left unknown; after all, you spend seven books on a journey to find out what's in the top room of the Dark Tower. His tendency to periodically point out to non-Christian people how inconsequential and not-with-the-picture they are is especially present in this book, going beyond the "you must be this Christian to live" theme of some of his other books and finding excuses to randomly ejaculate "say Gawd." and "say Gawd-bomb." more often than is really necessary, and it might just be that I'm jaded but I sort of get the impression that audience members are supposed to be prompted to raise their own fist and give a yell of triumphant faithful solidarity at these moments.
I found that I wanted to keep reading about their unconventional friendship, and their bemusement over the behavior of the can-toi. Lewis sense that he's nonetheless talking about Christian mythology.ANYWAYS, yes, the ending does justify the long read; the defeat of the Crimson King is just barely weird and campy enough to work, there's almost a sense of a happy ending for Susannah and the rest of the tet whom we saw killed in the books, although since they're actually other-world versions of the characters and not the characters themselves it doesn't really change the fact that they died, and also they don't remember what happened anyway, and what Roland does finally find in the Tower raises the question of whether it actually matters at all in the end. Not to say that the first half was devoid of interest; it's just that they all sort of felt like characters that had been introduced so thoroughly in the previous novels that not much effort was expended to prop up their likability, which was a bit difficult to come back to after taking a break from the series.For instance it was bizarre to find that Prentiss and Finli, a human and a weasel-headed taheen respectively, were the far more interesting and identifiable options during that part of the novel, which is sort of not what I was supposed to feel, I think, given that, yeah, their work was sort of evil and "that bastard" killed Eddie, but then again they were only management and bringing about the end of reality is a lot more abstract and easy-to-ignore than actually torturing and killing people.
He almost patches this up with occasionally referring to "Gan" instead, and some smaller deities, but you still leave with the very C.S. So it was understandably jarring when suddenly Roland and the lot burst in and started shooting everybody and burning the place to the ground, and suddenly Prentiss and Finli were the bad guys who were evil evil bastards and that horrible Prentiss guy killed Eddie when all they did was ruin everything he had, fatally wound him, and kill his best friend, who from what all we saw was a pretty decent taheen.However, it ended much better, in part, yes, due to characters being killed off and King having to reassess his character interactions. There are the usual gruesome things you'd find in a Stephen King novel but since during the latter half of the book there really aren't that many people, he has fewer subjects to slaughter horribly and the people killed by the main characters have pretty swift endings anyway.
Still, there is that: Roland does find something in the Tower, and it's not anticlimatic.I won't spoil this one for you though, even if you never read it; as King says in the afterword, the joy is in the journey, not the destination, and in an interpretation of this I will gamely be spoiled for just about anything and not be much bothered by it because I'm more interested in the how than the what. Sure, you'd probably still enjoy most of the read, but where's the suspense.
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