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The Dark Tower Thread of Ka'
- Thread starter Veidt
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blainethemono
Member
I really enjoyed them. I have the single issues though, which have these awesome little mid world legends included. I don't think those are in the trades, which sucks because those might be my favorite parts. The actual comics are interesting because you see a bunch of stuff that wasn't in the books at all. I haven't read the last couple storylines though, I'm gonna have to start over from the beginning at some point
Other than that, there's always the vast amount of interconnected SK books that relate to the Dark Tower series in different ways. The Stand is great, so is The Talisman
Other than that, there's always the vast amount of interconnected SK books that relate to the Dark Tower series in different ways. The Stand is great, so is The Talisman
melichrous
Member
It's been a long while since I've read this series. Seeing this thread pop up makes me want to read it again, this time including the new novel.
blainethemono
Member
I dont remember ever hearing any official word about it, but I would say so. I think the stories are straight from King + Robin Furth, the writer of the dark tower concordances, which are basically compendiums of all information regarding DT. Before he started writing the last 3 books, King needed her to go back and gather up all the information she could so that he'd have a reference for all the shit he didn't remember. Then the information she ended up compiling was so thorough that they went ahead and published it. So if it comes from her and/or King it's canon to me
PartlyCloudlike
Member
I'm finishing up Book 6, Song of Susannah. It's taken me almost as long to finish this edition as it did for me to complete the first 3 books. It's my least favorite of the series so far, but I owe it to Roland to see it to the end. I am a newcomer to the series and the first book put its claws in me deep, and I devoured the first 3 books in a month. I'm not sure how I feel about one of the the major revelations in this book:
. I still have 100 pages to go though. Maybe it will pick up.
Stephen King exists in this world as a character
The baby hasn't been born yet.
Fair enough. I'll try to pick them up when I'm done with the series.
blainethemono
Member
Probably, if only because it might feel awkward to go back and read it after finishing the last 3 books in the series without waiting a few years at least. I think the whole magic of it for most longtime fans was that nobody really expected a new DT book after the 7th one, and after all those years it was pretty cool to get another one after all. Knowing what happens later and how it all ends might make it harder to go back without a break, I would think. But maybe it wouldn't really be an issue
You can do it either way really. I liked 4.5 more than 5-7
Question: I started this long series a few years ago after college, got halfway through wolves of the calla then got a new job that destroyed all free time.
I'm finally starting to get back into it, and want to finish this, but it's been so long, is there a nice site that can concisely summarize the previous books, I need to polish up on the backstory!
I'm finally starting to get back into it, and want to finish this, but it's been so long, is there a nice site that can concisely summarize the previous books, I need to polish up on the backstory!
The ka-tet gets better and more interesting throughout the series, but the narrative and the world building goes right off a cliff after (book 3-4)
dies. It became far to weird for my tastes. I had a good time reading the entire series, but the last 3 books left a bad impression and the universe isn't one I'm particularly fond of anymore.
Blaine the Mono
I love this idea.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Just finished Wind Through The Keyhole.
Absolutely fantastic. I'm ashamed it took me this long to finally read it.
Absolutely fantastic. I'm ashamed it took me this long to finally read it.
| Praxis |
Banned
Great series, really enjoyed the audio books.
I'm about to read Wind Through The Keyhole for the first time having cleared a hefty backlog of books in the past year. I read the original seven DT books a few years ago and I'm a massive fan.
For some random reason, ahead of delving into WTTK, I felt like glancing through The Gunslinger. I don't know whether this confused me on my first readthrough but I'm really unsure on the chronology of the opening chapters.
The book starts with Roland chasing The Man in Black across the desert. The first chapter ends with him starting a fire. But then the second chapter begins with mention of a mule that wasn't in the first chapter. Roland tells Brown that he bought the mule in Pricetown on his way to Tull, where he obliterates everything in sight. The mule dies while in the company of Brown.
So the first chapter takes place either before Pricetown or after meeting Brown. But after leaving Brown he heads to the Way Station where he meets Jake. I feel really stupid and I'm blaming it on the time passed since reason and murky recollection.
I THINK the first chapter is set between speaking to Brown and encountering Jake at the Way Station. It isn't really made very clear though. Was just looking for confirmation from someone really.
Also, WTTK - good? Valid new entry in the series? I'm starting it this evening.
For some random reason, ahead of delving into WTTK, I felt like glancing through The Gunslinger. I don't know whether this confused me on my first readthrough but I'm really unsure on the chronology of the opening chapters.
The book starts with Roland chasing The Man in Black across the desert. The first chapter ends with him starting a fire. But then the second chapter begins with mention of a mule that wasn't in the first chapter. Roland tells Brown that he bought the mule in Pricetown on his way to Tull, where he obliterates everything in sight. The mule dies while in the company of Brown.
So the first chapter takes place either before Pricetown or after meeting Brown. But after leaving Brown he heads to the Way Station where he meets Jake. I feel really stupid and I'm blaming it on the time passed since reason and murky recollection.
I THINK the first chapter is set between speaking to Brown and encountering Jake at the Way Station. It isn't really made very clear though. Was just looking for confirmation from someone really.
Also, WTTK - good? Valid new entry in the series? I'm starting it this evening.
Yes, it's really good in my opinion.
I just finished Tome 6, can't wait to start the last one!
Also, what's up with the movies/TV series? Are they going to me made after all?
Prince of Space
Banned
Very much so. It was great to see young Roland in action again, and the story-within-the-story is really well done, too.
I thought so too on first read, abandoned it after a hundred pages. Picked it up again a few months later, started from scratch and steamed through it. Didn't look back, read all seven within the space of a year.
Roland Deschain
Member
Wttk is good. Book 7 is also pretty good compared to the previous two books. Still, King felt forced to finish the Dark Tower in his lifetime so he kind of rushed them out. Wonder what they'd be like if he wrote the last couple of books now...
Song of Susannah and the beginning of DT7 dragged horribly for me. Was really worried the series was limping to a conclusion, but I loved the ending. Really, really loved it. Didn't see it coming and I thought it was the perfect way to round the saga off.
I hated the painter guy that was randomly introduced in DT7 and played an undeservedly-big role in the climax.
Read WTtK last week and really enjoyed it. Seemed like a true return to form and MUCH better than the last 3 in the main series. My biggest gripe is that it was over too soon!
Even got me interested in the comics. Saw there was a big omnibus out, are they all good? Should I start from the beginning?
Even got me interested in the comics. Saw there was a big omnibus out, are they all good? Should I start from the beginning?
Roland Deschain
Member
As much shit as King gets for failing to stick the landing with regards to the ending in a lot of his books, he really nailed it in book 7. It was pretty much perfect.
Yeah his weakest skill is endings (Gerald's Game, Under the Dome, even The Stand to a large extent greatly disappointed me) and yet DT is wrapped up so magnificently.
slaughterking
Member
Funny seeing this thread as I finished Waste Lands today.
I started that book years ago after breezing through the first two in a couple of days. I read a little over 300 pages before I put down Waste Lands as it bothered me immensely how trite and ill thought through the whole setting and its fantastical elements became. The doors in Drawing of the Three already were pretty convenient and random ways to make that particular story work, but I found that easy to ignore as those were not really the focus. The way book three took forever to
was just teeeerrible, though. Characters just continued to have visions and dreams that showed them all these arbitrary and incomprehensible things they had to do in order to accomplish the thing. Then the goofy house scene happened and the book lost me completely. I quit. I assume in the early 90s I would have found that considerably less offensive, but reading it today was just hard work.
Anyway, earlier this week, for no reason, I decided I should finish the book and I did so in a couple of days. I still had issues with the last half of the book, but I generally found that to be alright-ish. Now I wonder if I should bother with the rest of the books. I already have Glass as I bought that together with Waste Lands years ago when I was so excited after finishing the Drawing, but I don't wanna start another book I wont finish for a couple of years...
I started that book years ago after breezing through the first two in a couple of days. I read a little over 300 pages before I put down Waste Lands as it bothered me immensely how trite and ill thought through the whole setting and its fantastical elements became. The doors in Drawing of the Three already were pretty convenient and random ways to make that particular story work, but I found that easy to ignore as those were not really the focus. The way book three took forever to
get Jake into Rolands world
Anyway, earlier this week, for no reason, I decided I should finish the book and I did so in a couple of days. I still had issues with the last half of the book, but I generally found that to be alright-ish. Now I wonder if I should bother with the rest of the books. I already have Glass as I bought that together with Waste Lands years ago when I was so excited after finishing the Drawing, but I don't wanna start another book I wont finish for a couple of years...
Roland Deschain
Member
Don't know if you read the Kennedy book but that is one of his best endings. Really touching too.
Wizard and Glass is fantastic. I don't think I'm spoiling too much when I say a huge chunk of the book is a flashback tale, and it's an astonishing piece of work.
Wolves of the Calla is great too. Wasn't expecting such a side-story as the series finale fast approached, but it has probably the most epic and fascinating plot of any one particular book.
Not yet, it's sitting on my shelf. It looks so chunky, and after wading through DT, The Stand and Under the Dome in recent years I've been trying to cycle through my favourite authors and stick to smaller books (<400). But I've heard a lot of positivity about it. King seems to have really hit a new streak of form in recent years. Joyland is being well received too, and I thought all four Full Dark, No Stars novellas were great. With new entries in The Shining and DT series too he's been reborn after some pretty ordinary stuff in the previous decade.
Roland Deschain
Member
It is really good but I'm a King fanboy so I like all his stuff. But there's definitely been an upswing in quality the last couple of books.
Also make sure to give Joe Hill a shot. It definitely runs in the family ;-)
MCtalkfunny
Member
Whoa! Hold on there the ending to the Stand is great. I hated it when I first read it but grew to love it over time. I think it's perfect. Under The Dome I think has the worse ending has ever wrote IMO. 11/22/63 also is ok but I have a real problem one part of it. It is touching at the end though.
The Dark Tower was the same as the Stand for me, I hated it when I first read it, but over time it grew on me quite a bit. Now I'm just bummed how weird and strange the last 3 books were anyway. I really love this series though, the world and characters are just amazing. I would love to see a live action version hopefully while Aaron Paul is still young enough to play Eddie. But man there needs to be a director with enough vision to adapt these books. It would be really hard to pull off some of the stuff in the last 3
slaughterking
Member
Yeah, I already knew that it was mostly about flashbacks. I don't particularly care for that, but I wouldn't hesitate giving it a chance regardless if I didn't have all these problems with book 3.
I hate how
Glen, Ralph and Larry travel a zillion miles just to die. Their journey has absolutely no purpose.
The Stand was a weird experience for me. I enjoyed it but disliked huge chunks that were core to the story. Like Gerald's Game, I felt like there was a great story to be told without the supernatural. Surviving flu and then a war between two forces would have been great, but all the dark magic stuff made it a little kooky for me.
Oh you will. It's arguably the best part of the series. It reveals so, so much about Roland and his quest, really adds weight to everything. Usually characters that exist only in flashbacks (be it games, TV, film, books, whatever) are easily forgettable, but those in Roland's past are fantastic. One in particular shapes Roland's very being.
Incandenza
Banned
I think the chronology goes Pricetown -> Tull -> Brown -> Way Station. The flashback to Tull is prompted by Roland telling his story to Brown. The Gunslinger jumps around in time a lot. It contributed to the weird surreal vibe that makes that book feel way different from the others.
slaughterking
Member
Cool, I guess I'll read it at some point then. Thanks.
Cheers for the reply, but it's that first chapter that confuses me. It's hard to tell exactly where it falls amongst the stages you listed above. I don't think it's before Brown because in the first chapter he says he's been in the desert for months, but when meeting Brown he mentions being in the last town just weeks ago. So I think the desert trek of the first chapter must be on his way towards the Way Station.
Pricetown > Tull > Brown > Desert > Way Station.
It doesn't REALLY matter, I guess. I'm just annoyed at my confusion.
Incandenza
Banned
Yep, that's what I'd go with. I remember realizing on a reread that most of the first part is told in reverse chronology. He's in the desert, then flashes back to Brown, then flashes back to Tull, and even within the Tull story there's a flashback to Allie's experience before Roland showed up.
Ok, yeah, I'll go with that. Thanks for putting my mind to rest.
By the way, if you're looking for some reading material akin to DT I can highly recommend the David Hollow series by Ryan Christensen. Honestly, give it a chance, you won't be disappointed. And hey, it's only about one dollar for the first book. Believe me, it's excellent value for money.
David Hollow and the Guards of the Rim
Ben Pierce
Member
So my journey to the Dark Tower just ended.
God damnit
The moment that I finished the last page (the real last page) felt so surreal, and I read it many times over. This was the end of an era, and I'm going to be chewing on the experience for a while yet.
I applaud Stephen King for what he's been able to accomplish with this series; never will I forget Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy. The ka-tet of nineteen will always be with me.
God damnit
The moment that I finished the last page (the real last page) felt so surreal, and I read it many times over. This was the end of an era, and I'm going to be chewing on the experience for a while yet.
I applaud Stephen King for what he's been able to accomplish with this series; never will I forget Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Oy. The ka-tet of nineteen will always be with me.
small little update that shows the movies/tv shows are still alive:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/65837
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/65837
They're never going to get made and if they do they won't live up to the hype I have in my head. I've come to terms with this.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
I see this thread get bumped and I have to say this:
Wizard and Glass is my favorite book ever written. I actually had to force myself to finish it because I didn't want it to end. Since a majority of the book is a flashback, it's almost a self-contained experience that anyone could enjoy. I NEVER thought I would be able to enjoy a
novel. So. Good.
Wizard and Glass is my favorite book ever written. I actually had to force myself to finish it because I didn't want it to end. Since a majority of the book is a flashback, it's almost a self-contained experience that anyone could enjoy. I NEVER thought I would be able to enjoy a
western action drama romance
God Enel
Member
the cast would be quite cool. guy pearce as roland, aaron paul as eddie dean and zoe soldana as susannah.
Ben Pierce
Member
nice to see the film adaptation still in the works. Aaron Paul really would make the perfect eddie. When I think of Roland, I think of this guy:
I'm not really sold on Aaron Paul as Eddie. He's a great actor, but I don't know if he can pull off the wise-cracking New Yorker. Eddie is effectively the comic relief and I just don't know that Aaron Paul is the right actor for that. I'm thinking maybe Jensen Ackles.
As to Roland, there is only one actor I can see in the role and that's Guy Pierce.
As to Roland, there is only one actor I can see in the role and that's Guy Pierce.
I just finished book 7 and I can't think of a series that has more high and low points than this. I loved wastelands, wind through the key hole, and most of book 7. Gunslinger, wizard and glass, and wolves of the calla are pretty good. Not much of a fan of drawing of the three and song of Susannah. Just going to spoiler the rest to be safe.
Where to begin? Roland's world is incredible. So incredible that I hated when the story left it. Most of the plot in the real world felt weak compared to King's creation. I felt the same when it came to characters. I hated Susannah and Jake. I only warmed up to Eddie later in the series. Jake popping back into the story after his death in book 1 felt like a cop out and his New York chapters were some of the toughest to get through. On the flip side I love Oy. You have to be a monster not to love Oy. Roland, Flagg, Blaine, and Jonas were all memorable.
About that ending. I actually don't hate the ka is a wheel ending. I hate all the preceding events. I can't believe the long awaited confrontation boiled down to a hobo Crimson King throwing Harry potter balls at Roland. To compound the stupidity, there's a character who can erase things that popped up in the last 100 pages. Awful. It bothers me that King wasted Flagg and the Crimson King. He had a chance to do something special with them but completely dropped the ball. I would love to see a film or tv version take huge liberties with the series. Like not having Stephen King as a character, actually giving the Crimson King and Flagg something to do, and show more of the fall of Gilead. It was disappointing that the series never showed the Good Man. I wanted to know more about Farson.
Possibly.
I still think the cast of Justified would be pretty great.
Wait...how have I never noticed this before? Cast of Justified = Dark Tower cast
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