dread pirate davos Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I've been considering jumping into the dark tower series for a while now but people have gave me differing reviews. Some have said it's nonsensical, random and had trouble getting through it. Others have told me it's some of the best sci-fi/ fantasy around. What I've read by Stephen king I've enjoyed ( Salem's lot, misery, the mist and the shining) but I'm still insure. So yeah, I was wondering if any of you well read people could weigh in. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derfel Cadarn Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I enjoyed it, though it has its flaws. If you can get it cheap or free from the library its worth checking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spring Bass Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I'd recommend reading it, with reservations. The quality of the books is very uneven, with 1. The first three books being very good, and I recommend reading them wholeheartedly;2. The fourth book being bad, although my opinion on that seems to be a minority one;3. The fifth book being entertaining as a standalone read (although it has a long flashback that was literally my least favorite thing to read in the entire series), but whatever as part of the series;4. The sixth book being mostly awful;5. The seventh book being incredibly bloated even if parts of it are extremely good (and I like the ending, although it was divisive among readers IIRC). It does have sort of a random, WTF world-building feel to it as a setting. There's an in-universe reason for that, although it makes trying to mentally image the characters as they progress through it rather strange. None of the books are really among King's best works IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyphillip Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I'd recommend reading it, with reservations. The quality of the books is very uneven, with 1. The first three books being very good, and I recommend reading them wholeheartedly; 2. The fourth book being bad, although my opinion on that seems to be a minority one; 3. The fifth book being entertaining as a standalone read (although it has a long flashback that was literally my least favorite thing to read in the entire series), but whatever as part of the series; 4. The sixth book being mostly awful; 5. The seventh book being incredibly bloated even if parts of it are extremely good (and I like the ending, although it was divisive among readers IIRC). It does have sort of a random, WTF world-building feel to it as a setting. There's an in-universe reason for that, although it makes trying to mentally image the characters as they progress through it rather strange. None of the books are really among King's best works IMHO. The fourth book was such a monumental waste of time, that I quit the series. The first three were actually really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myshkin Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 It is a deeply flawed, though ultimately enjoyable series. I'd say go for it. ETA: You will either hate fourth book, or it will be your favorite book of the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 FWIW, which is probably nothing, i also hate book 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted June 30, 2014 Share Posted June 30, 2014 I quite enjoyed the series, even the fourth book, because it is so different from most other F/SF that I have read. I do have an obsessive streak and I can understand a character that also has one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis21 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I was told by several people that the series was great. So I read the first book and wasn't that enamored with it. It seemed pretty drawn out. People told me it gets better. So I read the second book and it was okay as well. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Then people told me that the first three books were probably the best of the series. At that point I figured that I would cut my losses and just stop before I actually get into what I was reading. I think I enjoyed the idea of the series more than the books themselves. The whole setting and premise of the book sounds great. Maybe I was expecting too much out of King or too much from other people's reviews of the series, but I think it could have been a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thistlepong Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dread pirate davos Posted July 1, 2014 Author Share Posted July 1, 2014 Thanks for the thoughtful replies everyone. I'll probably give the first book a try and see how it goes, after I'm finished with Prince of Fools that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Son of Blue Hills Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 I personally own the first five books, but I haven't picked the first book up to read it - I guess it's because I have too many books to read right now, to put so much effort into reading such a big series but I'll get around to it eventually. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gendrymander Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Spoilerish answer here: Honestly, the first book was pretty cool. The first line on the first page hooked me:" The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." So,I read it. Overall it was pretty uneven, but I was interested enough to keep reading. The intro as much as anything intrigued me; he wrote about how he wrote a few chapters then put it down for a decade or so, then found it again and finished the first book. The next 2 jumped around in tone. They are a weird mix of fantasy and 70s gritty New York realistic violence. It's not set only in this alternate universe of magic like any other author would have done.After he wrote the 2nd and 3rd, he took a break, wrote some other stuff, and apparently fired his editor, because the rest of the books were humongous tomes; inevitably, as you read them, you will sigh at least a hundred times and say aloud to the universe, hoping it will some how relay your message directly to Stephen King, "Dude, get to the point!" Eventually he does, after several excessively and pointlessly long passages that would have been removed entirely by the previously mentioned, now absent editor. The setting bounces back and forth between the fantasy world he started with and 70s New York City before devolving into a futuristic, post apocalyptic blah blah blah, even though it didn't fit what he was doing with the story line up to that point. I think he went to a future-Earth post apocalyptic setting because he ran out of ideas. Maybe he thought it would be really neat to slip in characters from some of his other books, or maybe he wanted to see if he could rely on those other, already finished characters to carry the story (big spoiler:he doesn't really even try- they make cameos, then are never mentioned again; their presence in the story line makes no sense and actually only serve as a reminder that Stephen has no idea what to do with his books when he doesn't employ an editor.)And as always, as was implied by others in this thread, you get the Stephen King endings. Honestly, I wish books 4-6 were much tighter plot wise (i.e. shorter). Personally, I'd recommend you read books 1-3, skip 4-6, and read the last one. I mean, the 7th, because he pointlessly added an 8th book that was supposed to fit in the series between books 5 & 6, I think. I'm not going to read it.Oh! And if you can get an old copy of the first book, get it. He went back and changed a lot of little things here and there in the first book and republished it in 2003. It was much better the first time; the changes he made were similar to George Lucas tinkering with the original Star Wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Well, all his books have referenced bits of each other from at least as far back as Cujo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowborn Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Stephen King Universe Flowchart... (There are spoilers, of course) I've only read four of his books. It was awesome, the others were good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazydog7 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 The first three are. The others are not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Stephen King Universe Flowchart... (There are spoilers, of course) I've only read four of his books. It was awesome, the others were good. Heh. Spoiler: Stephen King is insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wight Bear Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Overall it's a solid series. The biggest flaw to me was the pacing. Some parts were so long winded that I found myself speed reading entire pages (something I hate doing) and some parts were rushed. You should be able to snag the series on the cheap so I say go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unJon Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Read first book then stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsay B. Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 I say read it. I enjoyed book 4 unlike many others here although it does drag a bit, but then again it is Stephen King so that is to be expected. Book 3 was easily my favorite of the entire series. The last 3 books had some highs and some baffling lows but I enjoyed the ride as a whole and was glad I read the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lawrence Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 I loved the series, a masterwork. It's so varied that everyone will see flaws but they'll be in different places. I adored book 4, best of the series. The last book is divisive - I loved the idea, not so keen on the execution. Definitely give it a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.