The Dark Tower by Stephen King (CBR-III #20)

Series: The Dark Tower Book VII
Cannonball Read III: Book #20/52
Published: 2004
Pages: 1072 (9,551 total so far)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

I finally finished the series! It was a little rocky in some parts, but am I glad I finished? Yes. Will I ever read this series again? Probably not. I'm going to review the final book first, then do a brief review of the entire series as a whole.

So, I was not a huge fan of the last couple books in this series. However, the final book in The Dark Tower series was what I wished the entire series had been. It flowed well and King didn't go off on hundred page tangents that had little to do with the central story. With each book, I just wanted Roland and his group to continue their journey to the Dark Tower without taking detours that took up entire books, such as the whole fighting with the wolves in The Wolves of the Calla or Rolands 600 page backstory. They covered more ground in this final book than I think half the other books combined.

One thing I love about Stephen King is his ability to bring his characters to life. Even if these weren't my favorite books ever, I really fell in love with the characters.

***SPOILERS! THE NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES***

Okay, so we have to talk about the ending. First of all, I love when authors aren't afraid to kill of main characters. It's dramatic and emotional. However, I HATED how Susannah just randomly left right before they got to the tower. She went all that way and sacrificed everything (including Eddie!) and then just leaves to go back to her world hours before they reach their goal? I'm not even going to comment on the stupid "afterward" with Susannah in NYC.

As for the very, very end: I kind of liked it. It was TOTALLY unexpected and yes, it might have been a total cop-out ending, but in a way it kind of worked. It did feel a little rushed and anti-climactic (really? He can just literally erase the bad guy at the end?), but it was completely unexpected if nothing else.

***END OF SPOILERS***

Okay, I already apologize for this being so long. What did I think of the entire series?

Honestly, it felt a little disjointed. Probably due to the fact that it took King something like 35 years to write the whole thing. I probably would have liked it better if it stayed more focused and cut out a lot of unneeded tangents. I rushed through a lot of that just to get back to the central story of the actual journey to the Dark Tower because that was the story I was invested in and wanted to read.

The series had it's ups and downs for me, but overall it's a decent read if for nothing else than to tell people you made it through the whole thing. I do hope they end up making the movies/tv series that's been rumored because I think this would be awesome on the screen.

Song of Susannah by Stephen King (CBR-III #19)

Series: The Dark Tower Book VI
Cannonball Read III: Book #19/52
Published: 2004
Pages: 560 (8,479 total so far)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

**Possible spoilers if you haven't read the previous books in the series.**

Six down, one to go! This is the next-to-last book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series which continues with Roland, Eddie, Susannah, and Jake on the path to the Dark Tower.

Again, I found this book to be very dull. It was mostly filler so not much really happens. After leaving Calla Bryn Sturgis in The Wolves of the Calla, our heroes are transported back to New York City. However, Susannah and Jake end up in the year 1999 while Eddie and Roland arrive in 1977.

Basically, the whole book is everyone wandering around New York. Susannah is trying to keep her demon baby from being born while the others are searching for her. The only halfway interesting part was when Roland and Eddie meet up with Stephen King in 1977.

Thankfully, King kept this book to reasonable 500 pages (it's sad how short that sounds after reading this series) so it went quickly, but it was still very, very dull. Here's to hoping the final book is more interesting than the last few.

Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King (CBR-III #18)

Series: The Dark Tower Book V
Cannonball Read III: Book #18/52
Published: 2003
Pages: 960 (7,919 total so far)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

Wolves of the Calla is the fifth book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It continues to story of Roland and his "ka-tet" (Eddie, Susannah, and Jake) as they journey to the Dark Tower.

They didn't really journey anywhere in this book since it all took place in Calla Bryn Sturgis (a town in Mid-world). The town has been plagued once per generation with a visit from "the Wolves". Calla Bryn Sturgis has an unusually high birthrate for twins (singles are very rare) and the Wolves come once every twenty or so years to steal one out of each set of twins and send them back later "roont" or mentally and physically damaged. Roland and the other gunslingers decide to help the town fight back against the Wolves - and to find out what they really are.

I'm sorry, but this book bored me to tears. It took me weeks to finish it because half the time I couldn't even bring myself to pick it back up. The whole battle with the wolves only lasted about ten pages out of the almost 1000 page book. Unfortunately, that was about the only interesting part to the book.

I guess now I'm moving on to the sixth book in the series. Here's to hoping the sixth and seventh are much more entertaining than these last two.

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King (CBR-III #17)

Series: The Dark Tower Book IV
Cannonball Read III: Book #17/52
Published: 1997
Pages: 752 (6,959 total so far)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

**I'm going to include a spoiler warning just because this is a book in a series and it's almost impossible to talk about it without any spoilers if you haven't read any of the previous books.

Well, this definitely wasn't my favorite book of the series so far. It starts out interesting enough: continuing with the travels of Roland and his friends. Then we have to drudge through hundreds of pages of Roland's past. I've said before that I wasn't a fan of reading Roland's backstory in The Gunslinger and I'm still not a fan. The odd thing is, it's hard for me to grasp WHY I'm so disinterested. Usually backstory on a character is a GOOD thing.

Probably one of the main reasons I...moreWell, this definitely wasn't my favorite book of the series so far. It starts out interesting enough: continuing with the travels of Roland and his friends. Then we have to drudge through hundreds of pages of Roland's past. I've said before that I wasn't a fan of reading Roland's backstory in The Gunslinger and I'm still not a fan. The odd thing is, it's hard for me to grasp WHY I'm so disinterested. Usually backstory on a character is a GOOD thing.

Probably one of the main reasons I didn't care for it was because it was like reading a Twilight novel (although better written) with sex. Lots of teenage sex. That's right, people. Roland's entire backstory was one big romance novel with some shooting thrown in for good measure. Not really my cup of tea. Especially when you realize that he was FOURTEEN. Fourteen year olds in love isn't really romantic unless you are actually a teenager.

Basically, I think this book was overly long and had an unnecessary full length novel thrown in the center of the real story, which I actually wanted to get back to. However, the end loops back around to our regular travelers and regains my interest enough to make me excited for the next book.

The Waste Lands by Stephen King (CBR-III #16)

Series: The Dark Tower Book III
Cannonball Read III: Book #16/52
Published: 1991
Pages: 608 (6,207 total so far)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

This is the third book in the Dark Tower series and I'm definitely glad I kept reading after being not so impressed with The Gunslinger. I loved the second book and this one was good as well. I did find it a bit slow at times, but it really picks up during the last third and keeps going until the cliffhanger ending.

***I'm going to try and keep out any major spoilers, but if you haven't read the first two books in the series, there could possibly be spoilers ahead***

The Waste Lands follows Roland and his companions as they cross the country following "the beam" to the Dark Tower. I think if Tolkien was on LSD, this is how he would have written Lord of the Rings. Seriously, this book is insane, but in a good way. For instance, we begin with a giant parasite-infested cyborg bear who has a satellite dish on his head and we end with a cranky, talking monorail. Very, very strange stuff.

I'm a little confused as to why it's called The Waste Lands when they don't actually get to the waste lands until almost the very end. But like I said, the last third of the book gets intense and then it ends on a cliffhanger that makes you immediately want to pick up the next book.

I'd give it 4/5 stars. Definitely pick up this series if you're at all interested in the fantasy genre.

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (CBR-III #15)

Series: The Dark Tower Book II
Cannonball Read III: Book #15/52
Published: 1987
Pages: 480 (5,599 total so far)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

This is the second book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series and I have to say I liked it much better than the first. The story flowed a little better and we added a few much-needed characters to keep the mystery of Roland from becoming too dull.

This book continues right where The Gunslinger ended. Roland wakes up on the beach and immediately enters a battle with these giant lobster-like creatures that results in him losing a couple of fingers and toes. After defeating the creatures, he continues his journey up the coast until he finds a door standing upright in the sand.

The door is labeled "The Prisoner" and enables Roland to enter the mind of a heroin addict named Eddie Dean. Eddie is in a completely different world and time than Roland - 1980's New York City. Roland must convince Eddie to join him in Roland's world and go with him on his journey to the Dark Tower.

There are also two other doors placed in intervals down the beach. The second enters into the mind of a schizophrenic woman in 1960's New York. Sometimes she's the calm, mild-mannered rich woman named Odetta Holmes and other times she's the crazy, white-person hating woman named Odetta Walker. Through the third door, Roland enters into serial killer (or "pusher" as he calls himself) Jack's head.

The purpose of this book is pretty much to set up the main characters for the remainder of the series. King introduces us to some pretty interesting (and unconventional) characters and I'm excited to read the rest of the series now. I wasn't so sure about it after the first book, but this one definitely got me hooked.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King (CBR-III #14)

Series: The Dark Tower Book I
Cannonball Read III: Book #14/52
Published: 1982
Pages: 264 (5,119 total so far)
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure

I actually tried reading The Gunslinger years ago, but never finished it. I really want to try and make it through the entire Dark Tower series, so I decided to try again. Hey, even Stephen King himself in the forward says that you need to get through the first three books before you can really get into the story.

Roland is the last gunslinger (he's possibly very old - this book seems to be very vague on a lot of things) and has been following The Man in Black for a long time. The Man in Black has information that Roland needs in order to find The Dark Tower. Again, it's very vague as to why Roland wants/needs to find the Tower, but I'm assuming that's what the other six books are for.

Along the way, Roland wipes out an entire town, meets a strange man who lives in the desert with his corn patch and pet bird, and rescues a boy who has vague memories of living - and dying - in New York City before he was deposited at an old coach station in the middle of the desert. The boy joins Roland in the rest of his journey to catch up to The Man in Black.

The Gunslinger is different than most King books (I should know - I've read most of them!). It's an adventure story, but I found this first book to really drag in places. Luckily, it's a short book or I probably would have abandoned it again. I really enjoyed the actual adventure parts and wish it would have focused more on Roland's travels or on some of the things he encountered such as the mutants or the Subway ruins.

Again, I found parts of the book slow or hard to follow because you weren't given a lot of information to go on, although I do understand that this is basically an introduction to the series. Hopefully everything will make more sense as the books go along because the core story is pretty interesting, but I don't know if I can read one of the 800 page ones in the series if it's only 50% adventure, 30% rambling, and 20% vagueness.