I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

Solo voy a decir que: éste es uno de los mejores libros que leí en mi vida. Quisiera olvidar que leí esta saga para poder empezarla de nuevo.

Wow. I tell you what, wow.

I've been sitting on this review for months, and have decided I'm going to take the easy way out and not say all the things I could about this last book in Sai King's Dark Tower series.

For the most part, I have loved reading this series over the past year. It's had it's ups (books two and five) and downs (books one and four), but on balance is one of the most imaginative, terrifying, satisfying things I've ever read. I will definitely be revisiting in the future.

I actually heard about this book being a little controversial back when it was first published, which was when I still thought I could never read Stephen King books because they were scary. (I think I was under the impression they would be like slasher/horror movies in book form? Having Cell be my first Stephen King did not help with that opinion.) I heard it was sad and that some people hated it. And during the process of reading the series, I was also spoiled for a couple of things (which I didn't mind, honestly, because it let me prepare emotionally).

What really blew me away is that I guessed the ending. Well, part of it, anyway. At the end of the first book when Roland meets the man in black in front of the fire and he shows him the universe, I had this hunch, knowing what I did about people's reactions, that  there would be a reset, and this would just be one iteration of Roland and his journey to the Tower. I thought I might be right about that when people started talking about the movie this past summer being a sequel but not really. Sure enough! Kinda proud of myself. But also, I'm glad I had that hunch, because it allowed me to get used to the idea, and I'm not at all sure what my reaction might have been had I not had that time to mentally prepare. I might have been pretty pissed. Honestly, I still might be a little bit? OY AND EDDIE.

But in this case, I think I'm okay with it. Those kinds of stories (resets button stories) always run the danger of you asking yourself, Well, okay, but what was the point? But I think King answers that question throughout the series.

Feel very accomplished for self in having finally tackled and conquered this series. Now if only I could finish Wheel of Time . . .

Whew! Finally finished the massive last book of this massive series. I feel exhausted, but in a good way. And now for the intimidating task of trying to review this thing.

First off, I know this is going down as a review for The Dark Tower, but it is also going to be my feelings about the series as a whole. After all, this is the book that wraps up the whole crazy story in one nice package. So, since this was a re-read I guess I'll back up and start with a little history about my first encounter with Roland Deschain.

Having been a Stephen King fan from the very beginning, reading Carrie when first published and then just about every other book he wrote along the way, I think it's accurate to say that when I first came across The Gunslinger in the early 80's, I found it to be quite a head scratcher. Is it a Western, fantasy? What the hell? Not only was it a mystery, but I could tell by the way it ended that there just had to be a sequel, and yet there didn't seem to be any on the horizon. So just about the time I was beginning to forget about it, along comes The Drawing of the Three, and BAM! Okay, so know I am really enthralled with the tale, I have gotten to know Roland a little better and there is now a Ka-tet in his party to help him on his quest to find a tower. I'm ready for the journey, and... nothing. Or so it seemed for several more years, once again.

Well, now I can't really tell you why, but because of the lag and just life in general, I couldn't find the desire to read the other books when they were published. It wasn't until around 2008 that I finally finished the series because a friend gave me the books. I loved most of the final books , but because of the gap in time it took me 26 years to read the entire series. I knew there were details I had forgotten and I was impressed with the ending so I knew that eventually I would have to re-read the series. And now, here I am.

The final book didn't quite have the "wow" factor that it did the first time I read it, but that goes without saying because this time around I knew what was coming. Still, in my opinion, The Dark Tower has to be a 5 star novel. It's obvious that King borrowed from many tales and myths like the Arthurian tales, The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, etc. to create this epic story, and yet, even though it sounds contradictory to what I just stated, this is one of the most unique pieces in literature I have ever read. Stephen King was and is a master of horror, but with the Dark Tower, he has given us a spaghetti western, Oz, vampire, fantasy, Sci-fi, horror with characters from The Stand, Salems Lot, and Hearts in Atlantis, and some guy named Stephen King. In a way, this 36 year journey in reading and re-reading The Dark Tower series has put me on the same path as the gunslinger. Going back and repeating it all over again. "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

I believe the Dark Tower series deserves to be considered a classic masterpiece in literature. As a whole I would have to give it a 4 star rating, only because in my opinion, I did not like Wizard and Glass. I think the way King has tied so many of his novels and characters together through the years, especially through the Dark Tower, is genius. He may have a few stand alone books like, It, The Stand, The Green Mile, etc. that might be considered better novels, but love him or hate him, when he is gone, Stephen will be remembered, and I guarantee that The Dark Tower will be remembered whenever he is mentioned. His story will live on. And the gunslinger, Roland Deschain, will still be trudging through the wastelands in search of his elusive Dark Tower.

Whew, I did it. All the way. Not quitsees, even on the last Coda. So. Much. Happens. Brilliant stuff, Sai King, just brilliant. I feel like I've lived another life.

For the record, great ending. It's what the story required.

More to come...

I was really hoping a second reading of this book and trudge up the steps of the Dark Tower would change my mind and prior rating. Sadly it didn’t.

Sometimes I like literary junk food; books that read fast, sweep me along from page one to book's end, and leave me with a satisfied (symbolic) belch. I have a couple of prolific authors that I can always depend on when I'm feeling the need for the equivalent of a literary Big Mac or bag of chips; Jim Butcher (Dresden Files) is one, and the old schlockmeister, Stephen King, is another. Just as junk food provides little nutritional value, these books are short on literary value, but they are easy, fun, and generally a guaranteed "three star I liked it rating."

That's likely why it took me so long to get to reading King's Dark Tower series. At seven books long, this represented a significant reading commitment rather than the quick, bag-o-chips-thank-you-belch category where I had him pegged. Also, it was often spoken of as a great work of fantasy, often included in must read lists of that genre. This just didn't fit what I knew of King's writing, and I was skeptical. Between that skepticism and the commitment demanded, I put it off for years.

Yet I kept hearing this work called his magnum opus. (Really? Better than IT?) I began hearing how King's entire universe was tied in to this series. (Intriguing!) So I finally ordered The Gunslinger and began my quest.

What did I find? A slow start. While The Gunslinger had some compelling scenes, it showed all the signs of being the first novel of a young writer. Still, a decent three star effort, and the reviews assured me that it got better.
It did get better, a little. The story picked up and I felt that old familiar rush from page to page, but at the end of The Drawing of the Three, I still essentially had a three star story. The next few books were more of the same. King, as always, could sweep me along in a junk food haze, but no great fantasy magnum opus was emerging. There was no solid world building — for that the author depended more on a pastiche of other familiar works: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, The Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Magnificent Seven, even unacknowledged little nods to things like Dr. Strangelove. There was no real, coherent plot from book to book. And while his protagonists were interesting sketches, their character arcs didn't change and develop as you would expect in a work of this size, but rather remained sketches. He increasingly depended on referencing his other works and mining them for material rather than creating a coherent world in which this story could develop.

So no, no great fantasy magnum opus here, but at least what I expect from Stephen King - a collection of fast, fun, three star junk food. That is, until I got to The Dark Tower. The book slowed to a crawl, possibly to try to mask the fact that King clearly wasn't able to deliver on all the promises that the series made in getting to this point. What action there is felt stilted. Conflicts that had been set up over six books simply evaporated. I found myself skimming sections. And folks, when you are skimming a Stephen King book, the entire rationale for reading Stephen King books disappears. Halfway through The Dark Tower, I just stopped, making this one of the extremely rare books that made it onto my permanently abandoned list. I am thankful that my commitment to this series covered only five months rather than the twenty plus years that some fans spent with it.

Și cu asta călătoria s-a încheiat sau poate doar a început.... Dar ce călătorie a fost. Extraordinară. Da nu an fost de acord câteodată cu toate deciziile autorului dar pot să trec peste. Și sfârșitul cărții a fost perfect. And with this volume, the journey to the Dark Tower ends. And what a trip it was. Yes I didn't a lways agree with all the author's decisions but I can get over it because the journey is worth taking and that ending was perfect

I've done it! It's taken a year but here I am at the end of the Dark Tower series. I'm elated!

This has been a long road for me and one that I haven't particularly enjoyed.

I'm a massive SK fan so it's a massive shame that I haven't really enjoyed this. There we books along the way I really enjoyed but the last couple haven't left me particularly enthralled. I haven't hated the journey, but I'm not skipped along either, each time I've put a book down it's felt a slog to pick it back up again.

However I really loved this ending. Weirdly the ending makes me want to go back to the first book and start all over again, I can see why Dark Tower fans get into this loop!

Maybe one day, when I've made my way through the whole SK universe I'll restart and see if I enjoy it more a second time around.

For now I rate this book and the overarching plot of the entire series three stars. Didn't hate it, didn't love it, middle of the road.

I seriously don’t know how to write this review without sounding maudlin and turning into a blubbering love-fest for Stephen King. It was an extremely emotional experience reading the seventh, and final, book in the Dark Tower cycle.

“The Dark Tower” is masterful storytelling, but it’s more than that. It is the culmination and peak of King’s talent as a writer and a creator of worlds. His ability to take loose ends started in previous books, intertwine them with other storylines that seemingly have little to no connection whatsoever, and tie them together is amazing in itself. That he does it so flawlessly, without losing the story’s momentum, and without short-changing the wonderful character development is somehow superhuman.

About the characters: Throughout the seven books, the reader becomes increasingly emotionally invested, and in this book in particular, one is reminded why King is such a beloved writer of characters. Besides being believable and real, these characters become almost like family. Okay, not almost. They do become family.

So it is all the more upsetting when tragic things happen. And they happen in “The Dark Tower”. Blood will spill, people will die, tears will be shed. You will---unless you are a heartless bastard---cry your fucking eyes out at parts. Have a box of tissues handy. Seriously.

But, holy Christ, is this a great book. And a perfect culmination of a great series. “The Dark Tower” is the reason people love books. I put this entire series up there with Frank Herbert’s “Dune”, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy (Episodes IV-VI). Strong words, I know.

Somewhat Tangential Ramblings:

It took me a while to read this but only because I was literally savoring every word, the way some people savor a fine wine. But that analogy sucks, I think, because once a great wine is done, it’s done. Books are different in that one has the opportunity, if one so chooses, to re-read it as many times as desired. And the great thing is, it may be different every time one re-reads it. Sure, the words are the same, but the place where the reader is coming from may be very different, which is why I hated “The Scarlet Letter” when I read it in high school, but I consider it one of my favorite books of all time now. I’ve read Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” six or seven times throughout my life, and each time I find something new that I never saw before. Parts that I once thought were hilarious I suddenly find heart-wrenchingly sad, and parts that I once thought were ho-hum were exciting as hell. I’ve read “Dune” a dozen times, and I’m constantly amazed at how rich and nuanced Herbert’s universe is.

The Dark Tower series is one of those series that I will definitely be re-reading again. Probably not right away. I’m still processing a lot of it, and the emotions are still kind of raw, but I know that I will, one day, return to the world of Roland Deschain of Gilead to be reunited with Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and the billy-bumbler, Oy. It’s not even a question. Only death will prevent me from returning to the Dark Tower.

More Somewhat Tangential Ramblings:

Over the weekend, as I finished the last few chapters of “The Dark Tower”, news of the incidents in Charlottesville, VA was breaking. I was actually coming late to the news because I was attending a festival of blues music in Wheeling, WVa, and I was purposely avoiding all TV, Internet, radio, and newspapers. I was there to listen to blues legends Taj Mahal and Keb Mo, along with many other new and old names, most of whom I had never heard before. I was there to drink beer and eat festival food and sit on a folding chair for 12 hours under a sweltering hot sun and, in between shows, read a few more chapters of my book. I was unaware that, in one state over, events were happening which would have a devastating impact on our country.

On Tuesday, when I returned to work, I was still somewhat ignorant of the news. I always glance at the news feed during the slow times at Home Depot, where I work in the plumbing department. There are some days when I literally have two or three customers all day. It’s a slow town.

I think I was still reeling from some of the events in “The Dark Tower” when I read about the marches of white supremacists and then the car plowing through protestors and the death of the young lady and then Trump’s speech. It was all so disgusting, I didn’t know how to process it all, and on top of all that, I had just finished the scene in the book on the Maine highway where Roland and Jake were rushing to save Stephen King’s life from the idiot in the minivan, and I wasn’t sure how to process all that.

My one thought, I shit you not was this: the world has moved on...

King has done an incredible job creating a fantasy world that has plenty of reminders of our own world: nuclear wastelands, devastated cities inhabited by irradiated mutants, technological wonders going to waste in a future where no one is left that knows how to turn things on or even use them, dead religions, defeated governments, hopelessness, rampant fatalism.

Writing that paragraph makes me wonder how I managed to not only get through the series but to get through it unscathed and with a clear sense of hope for our future.

The ending of the book (and, yes, this is probably a spoiler, so skip it it if you don’t want to be told) is probably the most significant social commentary in the entire series. When Roland finds the Dark Tower and realizes that he has been at this spot numerous times before, that he is, indeed, cursed to relive his entire life over and over again for eternity, much like Bill Murray’s character in “Groundhog Day” (except Bill had only one day, Roland gets stuck with an entire lifetime), it reminded me of philosopher Friedrich Hegel’s statement, “We learn from history that we do not learn from history.”

And my next thought was damn, we as a nation and a people and probably as a goddamned species are like Roland, forced to relive our lifetimes for all eternity, never learning from our mistakes, coming close to revelations about our selves and almost reaching the truth and the light but always coming short because of our own fucking stupidity and arrogance and propensity for violence and self-loathing and irresponsibility, because all of those attributes can describe Roland throughout the series, which is perhaps why I didn’t like him at first, that I thought he was the weakest character of all of them because of all those weaknesses, only to ultimately realize that he was probably the most realistic character in the series because he is just like all of us... .

I'm scarred for life

i was going to write this long review with lots of funny and sophisticated metaphors

i was going to write about every thing i didn't like in this series from Susannah fascination with JFK and the need to say that he is the last gunslinger in every goddamn book to the way that king inserted himself in the story

i was gonna give the book a low rating but tag it as favorite non the less and bask in the glory of the paradox

i was gonna say how i love Susannah character and declare her as the best female i have ever read.

i was gonna say Eddie was amazing to.and good for him for finding her

and you know what ,after every fuck up i said to myself be patient he is a famously good writer ,he will fix every thing and make it OK.yes he will

but No No No

this book broke some thing in me

Okay, I worked thru all seven of these "Dark Tower" Books because the first one was short and sweet and really caught my interest. And because they were "non-King-like" compared to his other books (which I don't particularly like). While a few of the books in this series are pretty good, they are hardly comparable to the Lord of the Rings, which I'm not a big fan of either. But I can tell really good story-telling from wandering around.
Of the previous six books in this series, they had some truly memorable and exciting episodes. Book 4 "Wizards and Glass" was excellent and was enough to keep me waiting all those years with everyone else for the next installment. In other places, the series wandered around aimlessly in boring descriptions of what you usually find in most Stephen King books: Stephen King, via his growing-up days. Yeah, I know, one of the golden rules of writing is "write what you know." But c'mon. King even becomes a main character in this final book, and in the worst possible way!! Which you'll discover if you get that far. Another golden rule of writing: "When you're stuck for ideas, start killing off the main characters." Well, guess what. I could kind of forgive the first one in Book 6 (barely), but Book 7 was unforgivable. I put the book down halfway through and don't care about it anymore.
Obviously I liked the Dark Tower books enough to keep reading them, but like any series that takes years to finish, you feel that you really know the characters after a while. In this final book, there are a few genuinely moving moments toward the beginning, but that's about all King can sustain. All I can say is, the final book is a betrayal. Sorry.

«Ο μαυροντυμένος άντρας έφυγε στην έρημο και ο πιστολέρο τον ακολούθησε.»

Ολόκληρη η κριτική θα μπορούσε να είναι μόνο αυτή η πρόταση. Όποιος έχει διαβάσει το έπος του Μαύρου Πύργου θα καταλάβει. Είναι ίσως η καλύτερη φράση/έναρξη που έχει γράψει ο King και κατά την άποψη μου το νόημα της σειράς.

Πάμε όμως λίγο πιο αναλυτικά:

ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ! Από εδώ και κάτω θα υπάρχουν SPOILER:

Η κριτική μου θα βασιστεί σε όλα τα βιβλία και όχι μόνο στο τελευταίο. Είναι ένα απίστευτα ολοκληρωμένο έργο που μόνο λίγοι συγγραφείς θα μπορούσαν να καταφέρουν να γράψουν κάτι αντίστοιχο.

Αρχικά, ο κόσμος του Μαύρου Πύργου είναι πολυδιάστατος. Όπως έχουμε μάθει, ο κόσμος, πραγματικά αποτελείται από πολλούς διαφορετικούς κόσμους. Έτσι και τα βιβλία, περιλαμβάνουν μέσα άλλες ιστορίες του King από διαφορετικούς κόσμους. Είναι ένα έργο που θα μπορούσε να συμπεριλάβει όλα του τα έργα. Που σημαίνει ότι ο Μαύρος Πύργος είναι ο αληθινός και οι υπόλοιπες ιστορίες του King είναι απλά σε άλλες διαστάσεις. Τύπου inception δηλαδή.

Το να μιλήσω για τους χαρακτήρες, για την εξέλιξή τους και το πόσο συμπαθείς ή αντιπαθείς είναι, δεν έχει νόημα. Αυτό είναι κάτι που οποιοσδήποτε ξεκινήσει να διαβάζει θα το καταλάβει απευθείας. Κάθε, μα κάθε χαρακτήρας των βιβλίων είναι πολύ ολοκληρωμένος και σε κάθε ιστορία εξελίσσεται. Βέβαια αυτός με την πιο τραγική ιστορία είναι ο Ρόλαντ. Θεωρώ πως είναι ένας από τους καλύτερους χαρακτήρες βιβλίων που έχουν γραφτεί. Η ιστορία του, το παρελθόν του και το μέλλον του είναι πολύ καλογραμμένα και ειλικρινά δεν γίνεται να μην συμπάσχεις με αυτόν τον ψηλό και μόνο πιστολέρο. Ειδικά διαβάζοντας το Μάγο και τη γυάλινη σφαίρα και φτάνοντας μέχρι το τέλος του Μαύρου Πύργου… Τα σχόλια είναι περιττά…

Τα θετικά της σειράς πολλά. Πάμε λίγο σε τρία βασικά σημεία που μπορούν να θεωρηθούν και αρνητικά:

1) Ο ρόλος του King. Δεν ξέρω αν ήταν μια προσπάθεια αυτοπροβολής την οποία βέβαια δεν χρειαζόταν καθόλου. Ήταν λίγο «άκομψο». Μπορώ να καταλάβω ότι πλάθοντας τον κόσμο του (όχι μόνο του Πύργου αλλά και όλως των υπόλοιπων ιστοριών του) ήθελε και ο ίδιος να είναι μέρος του. Αλλά κάτι με χάλασε. Κάτι μου φάνηκε ξένο.

2) Οι πολλές περιγραφές. Κάποια στιγμή ήταν λίγο κουραστικές. Με αυτό τον τρόπο όμως o King περιγράφει απόλυτα τον κατεστραμμένο του κόσμου και σε κάνει να νοιώθεις κομμάτι του.

3) Η τελική μάχη και ο Πορφυρός Βασιλιάς. Ίσως όχι ακριβώς ότι περιμέναμε. Χτίζει τόσο πολύ το μύθο του απόλυτου κακού και στο τέλος βλέπουμε έναν τρελό γέρο που φωνάζει ΙΙΙΙΙΙΙΙ και πεθαίνει από μία γόμα. Τραγικό? Ίσως. Αυτό σκέφτηκα όσο το διάβασα αλλά μετά καθώς δεν μπορούσα να μη σκέφτομαι τον Πύργο κατέληξα στο ότι ο King δεν έγραψε τέτοιο τέλος επειδή βιαζόταν να ολοκληρώσει. Πιστεύω ότι το έγραψε επίτηδες γιατί θέλει να τονίσει ότι σημασία έχει το ταξίδι όσο κλισέ κι αν ακούγεται αυτό. Ο Ρόλαντ όπως και ο υπόλοιπος κόσμος είχαν πλάσει στο μυαλό τους έναν επικίνδυνο, δυνατό και παράφρον βασιλιά. Πέρασαν όλο το ταξίδι τους με στόχο αυτό και στην τελική απλά ήταν μία απογοήτευση που πεθαίνει με έναν «χαζό» τρόπο. Προσωπικά δεν με ενόχλησε τόσο.

4) ΤΟ ΤΕΛΟΣ: Εδώ σηκώνει πολύ κουβέντα. Ο King το λέει ξεκάθαρα. Όποιος δεν θέλει, ας σταματήσει εκεί που όλα ήταν χαρούμενα. Δεν υπάρχει λόγος να μπούμε μέσα στον Πύργο και να δούμε την κατάληξη. Το ξέρει όμως πως κάτι τέτοιο δεν γίνεται. Όταν έχεις διαβάσει περίπου 5000 σελίδες, δεν γίνεται να μην μπεις κι εσύ στο τελευταίο δωμάτιο. Θα μπορούσε να έχει πολλά φινάλε που να ήταν απογοητευτικά. Αν πχ ο Ρόλαντ έμενε εκεί και ήταν πλέον φρουρός του κόσμου, θα απογοητευόμουν. Πολύ! Αν στο τελευταίο δωμάτιο έβρισκε τον ίδιο τον King θα απογοητευόμουν πιο πολύ από πολύ. Δεν θα μπορούσε να υπάρξει happy end σε αυτή την ιστορία. Για εμένα ήταν το ιδανικό κλείσιμο. Και πάμε λίγο πιο βαθιά τώρα. Αφού περνάει την πόρτα ο Ρόλαντ και ξανα επιστρέφει στην έρημο έχει μαζί του κάτι που δεν είχε την προηγούμενη φορά. Οπότε ίσως κάθε φορά που φτάνει στο Πύργο και ξαναρχίζει, έχει και κάτι περισσότερο. Έτσι και ο αναγνώστης. Είμαι σίγουρος ότι αν ξαναδιαβάσω τη σειρά θα έχω κι εγώ κάτι περισσότερο. Θα είμαι ακόμα πιο έτοιμος , θα γνωρίζω περισσότερα πράγματα και θα κατανοήσω περισσότερα. Θα μπορώ να αντιμετωπίσω καλύτερα κάποιες ανακρίβειες που βρήκα στην πρώτη ανάγνωση. Με το που τελείωσα το βιβλίο, ήθελα να ξεκινήσω από την αρχή. Ένοιωσα το ίδιο χέρι που ένοιωσε ο Ρόλαντ να με παρασέρνει και πάλι στον κόσμο του και να διαβάσω για ακόμα μία φορά την εναρκτήρια φράση.

Ο Μαύρος Πύργος χωράει πολύ ανάλυση. Τόσο για κάθε βιβλίο ξεχωριστά όσο και για το σύνολό του. Θα μπορούσα να συζητάω για ώρες ολόκληρες και να αναλύω κάθε σημείο ξεχωριστά. Είμαι πολύ χαρούμενος που επιτέλους διάβασα αυτό το έπος και τώρα σειρά έχουν όλα εκείνα τα βιβλία που αναφέρονται στην ιστορία. Ο King πρέπει να είναι περήφανος που έστησε αυτόν τον κόσμο. Είναι ένα αριστούργημα που γράφεται μόνο μία φορά (ή και καμία) σε ολόκληρη τη ζωή ενός συγγραφέα. Πιστεύω θα μου μείνει χαραγμένο στη μνήμη. Θα μπορούσα να κλείσω την κριτική μου με πολλούς διαφορετικούς τρόπους αλλά νομίζω μόνο ένας είναι ο πιο ταιριαστός.

«Ο μαυροντυμένος άντρας έφυγε στην έρημο και ο πιστολέρο τον ακολούθησε.»

THE END?