Quijote Light Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in thinking that it's one of the best books of the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 Yeah, it's my second favorite in the series, after Wasteland. Quote I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in thinking that it's one of the best books of the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I can see why Wizard and the Glass is devisive - especially for people who were reading the series as it came out. The odd thing is that I think I maybe like it for the reasons some hate it. It isn't as balls to the wall crazy as books 2 and definitely book 3 were (although I think people tend to forget about the bookends when considering W&G). Book 3 was my favourite in terms of King seemed unafraid to try any crazy notion or storytelling technique and it somehow congeals into an amazing book. Wizard and the Glass is much more grounded and lacks the frenetic pace of the earlier books but the pace is still very deliberate. It also made midworld feel real for the first time. Due to the chaotic nature of the other books that world never seemed real but W&G changed that with some great world-building and an insight into how the people of that world (at least used to) behave. Plus you get to know Roland did have a life and his ka-tet are nicely developed leaving that sinking feeling that you know they will die and possibly due to Roland's obsession with the Tower. In a sense I think those reasons also make it a much better fit for TV than the other books. 2 hours of madness is great but 12 hours of say "the wastelands" could be overbearing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Rhinos Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I read the series right after it was completed. The Wasteland is my favorite and I do really like the first 50 pages of Wizard and Glass which wraps up the Wasteland plot with Blaine the Mono, but the main flashback to Mejis is terrible. Why are Roland and Susan in love? Ka. Why don't the Gunslingers deal with the Big Coffin gang? Ka. It is front to back hack writing where instead of having decisions made because of proper characterization major plot points are simple decided because of Ka, which is just a code word for "because Stephen King wants it this way". It's some of the laziest writing I've ever read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veltigar Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 It's been a long time since I put the series down in disgust after Song of Susannah. However, from what I still remember, Wizard and Glass was by far my favourite installment in the series. Nothing in that entire series beats Roland earning his guns for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 2 hours ago, Lord of Rhinos said: I read the series right after it was completed. The Wasteland is my favorite and I do really like the first 50 pages of Wizard and Glass which wraps up the Wasteland plot with Blaine the Mono, but the main flashback to Mejis is terrible. Why are Roland and Susan in love? Ka. Why don't the Gunslingers deal with the Big Coffin gang? Ka. It is front to back hack writing where instead of having decisions made because of proper characterization major plot points are simple decided because of Ka, which is just a code word for "because Stephen King wants it this way". It's some of the laziest writing I've ever read. I thought it was because they were teenagers and both of them had a soft spot for knights in shining armour and damsels in distress. I think there's a very deliberate Romeo and Juliet vibe with the young love and infatuation not being the most sensible of things. The second is trickier but I thought it was because they were wanting to gather as much intel as possible and they felt that taking the big coffin gang would make the whole town clam up. That and Roland was busy being infatuated so not in any rush to escalate things. Cuthbert got very angry about it and it eventually transpired that while Roland was playing a waiting game (was over-confident) he was also letting blood go from his brain to his dick. I think it was a bit weak how easily the ka-tet took down the Big Coffin gang and the dozen or so extras after so much calculation. If anything Roland overestimated his enemy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Spoiler I thought it was because they were teenagers and both of them had a soft spot for knights in shining armour and damsels in distress. I think there's a very deliberate Romeo and Juliet vibe with the young love and infatuation not being the most sensible of things. The second is trickier but I thought it was because they were wanting to gather as much intel as possible and they felt that taking the big coffin gang would make the whole town clam up. That and Roland was busy being infatuated so not in any rush to escalate things. Cuthbert got very angry about it and it eventually transpired that while Roland was playing a waiting game (was over-confident) he was also letting blood go from his brain to his dick. I think it was a bit weak how easily the ka-tet took down the Big Coffin gang and the dozen or so extras after so much calculation. If anything Roland overestimated his enemy. Spoiler Roland's reasoning was to wait until the bad guys had all the plunder (mostly the oil, but other things as well) in one place). Not that he wasn't distracted, but he did have a good reason. He also underestimated his enemies actually, because they ended up moving on him first. Jail, remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 6 hours ago, Martell Spy said: Hide contents I thought it was because they were teenagers and both of them had a soft spot for knights in shining armour and damsels in distress. I think there's a very deliberate Romeo and Juliet vibe with the young love and infatuation not being the most sensible of things. The second is trickier but I thought it was because they were wanting to gather as much intel as possible and they felt that taking the big coffin gang would make the whole town clam up. That and Roland was busy being infatuated so not in any rush to escalate things. Cuthbert got very angry about it and it eventually transpired that while Roland was playing a waiting game (was over-confident) he was also letting blood go from his brain to his dick. I think it was a bit weak how easily the ka-tet took down the Big Coffin gang and the dozen or so extras after so much calculation. If anything Roland overestimated his enemy. Hide contents Roland's reasoning was to wait until the bad guys had all the plunder (mostly the oil, but other things as well) in one place). Not that he wasn't distracted, but he did have a good reason. He also underestimated his enemies actually, because they ended up moving on him first. Jail, remember. I was more meaning the ease with which the kat-tet eliminated everyone in the final act. Sure they planned it well but they went down like complete suckers. But they did make out Roland and Eldred were locked in a chess match or a bit like the samurai/ninja films where the adversaries play out all the angles as a mind game before finally acting. I certainly didn't think it was hack writing at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lessthanluke Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 On 23 September 2016 at 6:29 AM, Quijote Light said: I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in thinking that it's one of the best books of the series. It's my favourite by a distance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Rhinos Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 Red Snow, Roland and Susan explicitly fall in level at first sight because of ka and Cuthbert points out to Roland that they should take out the Big Coffin gang but Roland over rules him and explicitly states that ka is the reason they don't confront them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted September 25, 2016 Share Posted September 25, 2016 1 hour ago, Lord of Rhinos said: Red Snow, Roland and Susan explicitly fall in level at first sight because of ka and Cuthbert points out to Roland that they should take out the Big Coffin gang but Roland over rules him and explicitly states that ka is the reason they don't confront them. Doesn't everyone fall in love because of "ka" or "fate"? Not sure it's the romantic notion of love if it's for some definable reason. What criteria did the two characters require to fall in love in a legitimate way? Even with Cuthbert's argument and Roland's response, I wouldn't put "ka" it down to lazy writing. There are plenty of honour codes like Chivalry and Bushido (karma even sounds similar) where people would do what appeared to be stupid for no other reason than they felt this way the way it was meant to be done. It's frustrating for outsiders but it makes complete sense to them (or feels right because it makes no sense). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isalie Posted September 27, 2016 Share Posted September 27, 2016 Teenagers, or anyone, falling in love based on hots and status doesn't seem all that far fetched to me. I do remember the book as somewhat frustrating though, seeing how they knew who the bad guys were and that we knew that the girl would die etc. Still, as far as fandom goes, I really like many of King's books, even if he can't write endings, and I look forward to watching this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Well this is unfortunate, but hopefully it helps them succeed with the series. http://www.ew.com/article/2016/11/03/dark-tower-film-postponed-stephen-king The Dark Tower film is being postponed to July 28 Exclusive: The adaptation of Stephen King's books will shift from February to summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 On 11/11/2016 at 10:55 AM, Martell Spy said: Well this is unfortunate, but hopefully it helps them succeed with the series. http://www.ew.com/article/2016/11/03/dark-tower-film-postponed-stephen-king The Dark Tower film is being postponed to July 28 Exclusive: The adaptation of Stephen King's books will shift from February to summer Gives me a bit more time to finish the books before the film's released. Given the hints this may be a pseudo-continuation of the books, I'd like to have them all done. On 27/09/2016 at 11:53 AM, Mikael said: Teenagers, or anyone, falling in love based on hots and status doesn't seem all that far fetched to me. I do remember the book as somewhat frustrating though, seeing how they knew who the bad guys were and that we knew that the girl would die etc. Still, as far as fandom goes, I really like many of King's books, even if he can't write endings, and I look forward to watching this. I'm currently reading "wind through the keyhole" and I'm not sure if it's King retconning things but Roland while still sad about the death of Susan seems more cut up about killing his mother (I guess he did actually do the killing in the latter case) but I get the impression it's someone mourning his first teenage love as opposed to someone losing the love of their life [/spoiler[ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaIsAWheel Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 Loved this series. Amazing work in my opinion...wouldn't chalk any of it up to lazy writing. And I know a lot of folks gripe about the ending...but holy cow. I thought it was pretty damn powerful. Ka is a wheel, and all that. As for the movie, I am soooo happy they decided to make it a new go-round. Roland starts his journey with the Horn of Eld this time, and I have also read that the flick will not cast Eddie or Susannah Dean. Which is kind of a let down for me, if true, as Eddie was my favorite character in the series next to Roland. (Also, I would have killed to see Aaron Paul alongside Idris Elba as part of his ka-tet. He would have made an awesome Eddie.) All that being said, I am looking forward to this movie very much. Also, making W&G a TV series was a brilliant idea, and I am excited for it as well. Thankee sai. Long days and pleasant nights, constant readers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martell Spy Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 Quote I have also read that the flick will not cast Eddie or Susannah Dean. Which is kind of a let down for me, if true, as Eddie was my favorite character in the series next to Roland. (Also, I would have killed to see Aaron Paul alongside Idris Elba as part of his ka-tet. He would have made an awesome Eddie.) I think they will be cast in the next movie, assuming the first one is successful enough that we get a second movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Anti-Targ Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 I guess I probably should finish reading the series, I only read the first 3 books and at that time King hadn't written the 4th and I just forgot about it. And if I watch it on screen I will never read the remaining books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrddin Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 The Dark Tower trailer is finally out. I read the first book nearly 20 years ago and never got around to reading the sequels. I always meant to, but when the last few came out, the negativity toward them put that plan to rest. My memory of the book is slight. A few images, really. So, watching this, I'm not sure what to think. I love the idea of Elba in the role of the Gunslinger. Been a fan of his since The Wire. I just pictured more classic Clint Eastwood smoldering attitude. Less empathy for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 15 minutes ago, Myrddin said: The Dark Tower trailer is finally out. I read the first book nearly 20 years ago and never got around to reading the sequels. I always meant to, but when the last few came out, the negativity toward them put that plan to rest. My memory of the book is slight. A few images, really. So, watching this, I'm not sure what to think. I love the idea of Elba in the role of the Gunslinger. Been a fan of his since The Wire. I just pictured more classic Clint Eastwood smoldering attitude. Less empathy for some reason. I've never read this series. I've pick up the Gunslinger a few times but just never could get into it. That looks quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 looks good. I like how they are keeping a lot of the iconic quotes and how there's a sense of familiarity to the books. McConaughy should be a joy as the villain and hopefully they make him the key antagonist as Randall Flagg seemed to suddenly get a demotion and crappy send off in the final two tower books after seeming to be the villain of the Kingverse . I agree that Elba's approach does seem more empathic. I guess this could be because stoic is trickier in film without the benefit of voice-overs but it could also be a plot point given this is a new revolution in the wheel of Ka it may be that a "softer" Roland is the key to success. It definitely will make the final act interesting if Jake is put in a situation where Roland has to choose saving him or pursuing the man in black . I still think the approach for the movies could well be a stroke of genuis in that it frees them from being slaves to the adaptation while maintaining enough of a hook to keep many fans on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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