I struggled with whether this deserved four or five stars or not. The ending is bittersweet – after all, isn’t it about the ending since the journey is over? – so why not mention it upfront? The series is one epic, long, torturous journey. Rarely have I read a quest type novel, and this is certainly the longest series I’ve experienced. No matter how complicated King incorporated a blend of genres, (fantasy, science fiction, mystery, even a small amount of romance), it still remains ultimately a seek and find quest.

As said, the ending is bittersweet and makes one a bit angry but it also makes sense. I think there is definite hope when the horn is raised next. Being careful not to leak spoilers here, hopefully those who’ve read the books know what I’m talking about.

I didn’t expect all hearts and roses – it’s King, for one thing, and the man has the tendency to hammer brutality into his words. This isn’t a happy ever after story and was never promised or meant to be one, but damn, depressing stuff. I cry at the drop of a hat when it comes to books anyway, and this one made me positively weep.

Characters got to shine to finish off the tale. Mordred fascinated me, although I could have done without the stomach issues (ew). He’s a villain who stands out as tragic, truly evil, and twisted. Despite gripping villains, showdown scenes kind of sucked. Randall Flagg is especially a letdown. Also King is back into the books, literally, and it feels a little off this time. Maybe part of this is a catharsis from the accident and finishing the series so quickly as a result.

King saturates the pages with grim tones and shattering loss. The price of reward is expensive. The ending, as I’ve said, actually makes sense and is an ironic filled touch. I don’t like the very end wrap up for some of the characters though as it feels unreal and forced.
When the journey ends Roland is a changed man, nothing else would make sense. If he has changed enough is an answer up to the reader.

I'm not sure I know where to begin with this series. I can't for the life of me understand why everyone loves it.

I started The Gunslinger on Jan 14th, 2016. I was immediately intrigued. As a dark western with a hint of fantasy, horror, and drenched in mystery, I found myself immediately drawn to the world. The events in the town of Tull, the backstory of Roland challenging Cort, and the heart-wrenching event that occurs under the mountains-- all of it was gripping. The Man in Black prophesied of mysteries yet to come, including a battle with someone named "Legion." It was a bit like watching the first season of the TV show "Lost" (if it starred Clint Eastwood in a post-apocalyptic western). There's even mention of an evil and enigmatic Crimson King, which immediate made me think of Robert Chamber's King in Yellow, and the various tie-ins with the Chutulu mythos.

2 days later, after finishing The Gunslinger, I was absolutely hooked. I ordered the next 2 books in the series.

It didn't take long for the rest of the story to go downhill. *SPOILERS* follow, and yes, all of this is REALLY in the books:

It seems as if King began pulling ideas out of a hat.

- Book 2: Let's add magic doors that travel to other worlds: Why do these appear on a beach, cater made for Roland?who put them there? Gan/God? Who knows!? Who cares?! just because. It's never explained. In terms of storytelling, at this point, the world Sai King created in The Gunslinger (that dark, magical, post-apocalyptic western) begins to become diluted. When every world is accessible, then your fictional setting becomes "everywhere/anywhere."

- Making the main antagonist in book #2 the living racial stereotype of "an angry black woman." Sure. Why not? Let's have her multiple personalities inexplicably fuse into a new personality at the end of the book, because Deus Ex Machina. That's why.

- Next book. Let's throw in a 10-story cyborg bear. You see, this cyborg bear, an incredibly advanced piece of technology (that's filled with worms for some reason), is defending the 'beams' that hold the multiverse together, but its creators never thought that if someone shot the huge spinning satellite sticking out of its head, then it would instantly die. So, they shoot the satellite, and it dies.

- Next, our heroes allow the horribly stereotyped and handicapped black woman to be brutally raped by a hermaphrodite demon. Why not? In the same scene, we revive a character that already died a meaningful death in the first book, because we miss him, and Deus Ex Machina, if it does ya.

- Add a talking dog.

- Let's add a demon possessed train that speaks in ALL CAPS, ALL THE TIME, and likes riddles, and has a sister train that's dead (say sorry). Oh, and he's almost literally the living incarnation of Thomas the Train...but EVIL! Ooohhh!

- Let's make it so that the continued existence of the multiverse depends on protecting a rose, because the rose IS the dark tower, and the dark tower is GOD for some reason that's never explained, and GOD can't protect himself from someone who might want to step on a rose.

- Next book. We're given a surprisingly focused and tragic backstory about Roland's first love. There's even a clearly defined theme that relates to book one, and easily the most memorable moments and action of the series. But let's ruin it. Let's turn it into the Wizard of Oz at the end, complete with a green palace, ruby slippers, heel clicking, and a big illusion of a wizard. Why? Who knows?! Why not? Oh, and in this book, Roland says he will destroy the dark tower, even though that's the opposite of his goal. But who cares about sloppy writing, right?

- Next book: Let's throw in Robots that are really Doctor Doom from the Fantastic Four comics, but use weapons (sneetches) from Harry Potter. Let's kill the robots by throwing sharp plates at them. Why not.

- Let's add vampires, except there are 3 different types of vampires. Oh, and giant talking rats that wear human masks.

- Let's make it so that Stephen King is part of the metafiction; let's make him a central character in the real world, once that's writing the fictional characters in mid-world. Now that Stephen King is here and can literally write anything into existence, let the real Deus Ex Machinas begin.

- Plot twist! Remember our overtly stereotyped black woman who was raped in book 3? Well, it turns out the hermaphrodite demon implanted her with Roland's borrowed sperm, making her pregnant. However- there's more - the physical woman isn't carrying the baby. Instead, they physical woman is possessed by a 4th PERSONALITY that's carrying the baby, and the 4th personality was raped by the Crimson King, so the baby is really the child of Roland, the Crimson King, the black woman, and the demon that comprises her 4th persona. Why not. Oh, and the baby is a giant spider.

- Next book: The hero Roland goes to visit Stephen King at his house in Maine, and along the way encounters a random backwater resident in a convenient store named John, who turns out to help save the universe/rose/dark tower/God. Cool?

-Next book: So, there are these psychics, called "The Breakers", right? And for some reason, they are using their mind powers to destroy the 'beam' that the cyborg bear was protecting in book 3. These psychics are managed by human-sized talking weasels and birds.

- Now, let's have the characters encounter a killer clown insect disguised as a nice old man, and the killer clown insect is keeping prisoner an artist who can draw anything into existence. One of the artist's first contributions is helping a character get rid of a herpes sore by drawing it, then erasing it from existence.

-After maybe 3000 pages, THE GRAND FINALE! Turns out, the evil and mysterious omnipotent Crimson King from book 1 is just some guy who locked himself out of the Dark Tower and is stuck on the frickin' balcony, and does nothing but throw grenades from the Harry Potter stories. Do he and Roland engage in an epic battle for the fate of the universe?!

No, of course not. The artist/Deus Ex Machina just erases the bad guy from existence with a pencil eraser. Easy, say thankya.

-In the end, the Dark Tower / Rose / God / Gan is mad at Roland for not bringing a horn with him from (a horn that was mentioned VERY briefly in the story as belonging to King Arthur), and because of this out-of-left-field mishap, Roland is sent to an alternate universe (or back in time), back to book 1 to do it all over again. Because he forgot his horn. SERIOUSLY.

I know this review is a bit of a rant, say sorry, but I can't for the life of me understand why SO man people laud this series with praise. It's completely random, and sloppily written jibberish. Remember the character named "Legion" that the Man in Black mentioned? He never even showed up in the story. King simply forgot or neglected to include it.

In the story, the character Stephen King says he "doesn't write outlines for his stories." That appears to be true of the real Stephen King. This entire story was haphazardly pieced together on-the-fly, and as a result, the focused theme and dark narrative of the first book were completely and utterly lost in a disorganized, meaningless cacophony of randomness.

Can ya say 'hallelujah', and drop a 'GAWD BOMB' on it?

Updated to 4. Those issues I had prior to the ending are bothering me a lot more as I prepare my video review so felt it was necessary to update.

I actually really enjoyed the ending. My issues, which are only a few, were prior to the final 100 pages.

Thankya Sai King, one of the best adventures I've been on.