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Post by Head Mutant on Sept 24, 2004 17:34:22 GMT -5
Dark Tower VII was just released, which might well be Stephen King's last novel. VERY excited to get my hands on this, and gratified to see that after part VI's relatively small book size, VII is a fat 825 pages of ka-tet goodness.
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Post by PoolMan on Oct 13, 2004 10:57:53 GMT -5
You might be interested to know, Justin, that I went out and bought my very own copy of the revised The Gunslinger last night. Read the first chapter right before bed and had seriously weird dreams and everything!
I've always been quite curious about the series, and the last time I tried to read one of the books (I read The Drawing of the Three when I was probably 13 or so) I was way too young to get it. I'm really looking forward to this. Plus, as an added bonus, I don't have to wait for the rest of the series to be released... it's already right there, waiting for me! Yay!
But if it sucks, I'm gunning for you, Olivetti.
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Post by Head Mutant on Oct 25, 2004 21:22:50 GMT -5
I had a good conversation with Pooly lately about the Dark Tower series, and I'm SO gratified he's gotten into them (on the second of the seven books, at last mention). They do tend to suck you in...
And speaking in a similar vein, I'm such a sucker for a good fantasy/sci-fi SERIES, so I'm absolutely craving the fourth Song of Ice & Fire book (Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martin). Very possibly the *best* fantasy series I've ever read, Tolkein included, and constantly innovative and surprising. Seriously, if you haven't read these, please PLEASE pick up the first book and give it a shot. I almost certainly promise you, you'll be hooked.
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Post by Al on Oct 25, 2004 23:07:14 GMT -5
I'm still avidly marching through #7, but the return in my life of schoolwork is making it difficult. It's irritating, considering how quickly I finished the last two (I read Wolves of the Calla in a day). This is the longest it has ever taken me to read a Stephen King book by about two weeks. Oh, the frustration!
Al
-dancing the commala in anticipation
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Post by PoolMan on Oct 26, 2004 17:19:43 GMT -5
I was SO wondering when Al was finally going to check into this thread... I'm currently about 80 pages away from the end of The Wastelands. So in the two weeks that I randomly decided I wanted to read The Gunslinger, I've probably read about 900-1000 pages of the series. So of course, it's a fair bet I'm hooked. It's also a fair bet when I finish book 7 I'm going to start a discussion thread. There are a LOT of things I want to ask people about, but I'm a little freaked out to do so for fear of spoiling the rest of it myself. I dunno about starting Fire and Ice afterwards, though... I don't think my already rapidly-drying eyeballs would be up to the test of another engaging fantasy series.  |
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Post by Magill on Oct 27, 2004 9:56:39 GMT -5
I motored through the first 3 pretty easily (I really liked the second book), but I really did not like Wizard and Glass.
But I really liked Wolves and Song of Susannah was also pretty good. I've read maybe the first 100 pages of VII when I was at a bookstore, as well as the ending (yes, I'm that kind of person).
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Post by Al on Oct 27, 2004 11:11:41 GMT -5
Really? Wizard and Glass was one of my favorites. Actually, it falls behind Drawing of the Three (my favorite) in terms of moving the plot and Wolves of the Calla in terms of action, but it was the first one that took me inside Roland's head and gave me a real sense of the character's pathos. ***NOT REALLY A SPOILER, BUT...*** I think it gives the reader a glimpse of the kind of life he had the potential to have. It is also the only time I feel a real sense of what Was and what Is has been fully explored. The world that he remembers but that no longer exists seems so important to his obsessive drive to restore the Dark Tower. If I remember correctly, W&G made me cry. But I was kind of a wuss back then  . Al |
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Post by PoolMan on Oct 27, 2004 11:26:42 GMT -5
So far, I have enjoyed Drawing of the Three best. Good action, great at moving the story, and the introduction of humour into the series. I'd put the Gunslinger behind it, and The Waste Lands behind that.
Waste Lands has been good (I'm trying to keep in mind that this is obviously all chapters in a much longer story), but it hasn't been my favourite, no. Also odd that the titular waste lands don't even make an appearance until about the last forty pages. Unless you want to get all metaphorical. And Justin slaps me when I do that.
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Post by Magill on Oct 27, 2004 12:36:39 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm with you Pooly. Of the ones I've read, here's how I would rank them:
The Drawing of the Three
Wolves of the Calla
The Gunslinger (it would be higher, but it took a while for me to really get into it)
The Waste Lands tie Song of Susannah
Wizard and Glass
spoilers below, so look out PoolMan
I just got tired of all the politics and endless waiting while they were in Mejis. Plus, it was really hard for me to see a 14 year old kid as some big romantic hero. Most of the 14 year old guys I knew, especially when I was 16, would not have been like that. I wish Roland had been older. I would've rather read more about Gilead during that time than Mejis. Susan was a cool character, though. I liked Cuthbert and Jamie, too.
I cried too, so don't feel wussy.
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Post by Al on Oct 28, 2004 0:03:09 GMT -5
Drawing of the Three
Wolves of the Calla
Wizard in Glass
Wastelands
Gunslinger
Song of Susannah
That's the way they've always come up in my head. SoS isn't bad (despite a big complaint, the same complaint I have about book VII), but I just feel like it's filler; the one he had to write in order to get to the stuff he wanted to write in The Dark Tower.
The Gunslinger has always rated so low with me only because it didn't fit into the series as well as the rest. The contrast in style between Book 1 and Book 2 is pretty egregious, I don't even think Roland has a name until the second part. I have The Gunslinger Redux that King did recently, but haven't read it. Assuming he didn't tinker too much (like Walter firing first), I may rerank it a little higher.
Al
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Post by Al on Oct 30, 2004 15:17:25 GMT -5
Whew! I finally finished Book VII as a way to avoid working on my research paper. I'm a little dumbstruck and not quite sure what to make of it--only that it was really good. I've gotta go ponder things for a bit.
Al
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Post by PoolMan on Nov 10, 2004 11:33:11 GMT -5
I'm drawing in on the end of Wizard and Glass... finally. I slowed off a lot on this book.
This must have been a FRUSTRATING book to fans of the series at the time. There was some years-long gap with a cliffhanger ending between Waste Lands and W&G, and then the entire of W&G is a flashback? That's just mean. What's that? There's an entire other world enveloped in plague? Try to ignore that. We're going back in time.
I'm liking it, mind you, but it's kinda strange.
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Post by Magill on Nov 10, 2004 15:58:01 GMT -5
I agree with you. It's one of the reasons I rate that one so low. Don't worry, V is better.
I wish we would've spent more time in that plague-afflicted parallel Topeka.
PoolMan--have you read The Stand?
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Post by PoolMan on Nov 10, 2004 18:01:28 GMT -5
I have not read The Stand, although I'm aware of the crossover. I have seen the quite excellent miniseries. Interesting that Flagg has already popped up in the Dark Tower series.
But that's all I want to say about that... NO SPOILERS!!!
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Post by siegeshot on Nov 13, 2004 3:19:57 GMT -5
w&g was my favorite, but i havnt read past w&g yet cuz i flat out havnt had time or $. im waiting for them to come out in paperback. they're all wonderful though. it was just something about w&g.
i think they need to be made into movies, if only for the battle with blain the pain. thats prolly the funniest/most interesting thing i've ever read. dont ask me why. i couldnt freakin put the book down for nothin
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