Stephen King, The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower

Stephen King's novel "The Dark Tower" is the seventh and last instalment of the epic "Dark Tower" series. The novel runs for 683 pages out of the series total of 3712 pages. The book does not include an introduction like in some of the earlier installments, but it does end with a final two page Author's Note that wraps up King's writing experience with the whole Dark Tower adventure. Again, the hardback version includes some full colour illustrations (twelve in total), this time by Michael Whelan.

By now, you will be completely submerged within the Dark Tower series. With this final book you will be hoping for all the loose ends to tie up nicely together and Roland to finally make it to the Dark Tower itself. It's been a long journey to this final book, and like me, you will feel very attached to all the characters involved. King acknowledges this sympathy that readers will have with the characters and uses it with full force from the very beginning of the novel to produce a final book that delivers a hefty impact throughout.

From the very beginning of Roland's epic journey, the tension has constantly spiralled upwards towards this grand finale that each reader will have been picturing in their heads for the last 3000 pages or so. King keeps up the tension within this final novel, picking up the pace as we draw closer to the conclusion.

I won't ruin the ending for anyone who hasn't yet made it there, but I can see why many readers either loved the outcome or hated it. We all knew that King was never going to write a simple ending to the series, and I'm sure that the vast majority of readers would not want that. I personally thought that it ended in a well thought out way, doing the whole series justice. Obviously this has not been the same opinion as many others have, but I think that those who have read the whole series will agree that this book as a whole is a very well written and enjoyable read.

King does bring all of the plot lines in together, neatly weaving them into a final pathway that ultimately ends with the Dark Tower. Each of the previous books is brought in to this final tale, showing their place with the adventure and plotting out a map of Roland's life.

Fiction and reality are again brought in to question within the novel, allowing the reader to feel perhaps even more a part of King's Dark Tower world. Once again, we are shown King's literary career, as many of his previous pieces of work become interlaced with the series.

At the end of it all, I was left feeling entirely satisfied with what I had spent so long reading. For me, everything was wrapped up in a fashion that kept me guessing throughout. The plot held twists and turns, with suspense and building tension, along with great characterization and a heart wrenching storyline. I would very happily recommend the entire series to anyone who is at all interested in giving them a read. I just wish that it wasn't all over now

As a final thought, I wonder if they will ever make the series into films. I hope to god that they don't choose Mick Garris to direct them if they do!

As a lifelong Stephen King fan, I have to say that when the Dark Tower series ended, it was a bit of merciful relief. The series started out well, but probably hit the high point at "The Wizard and the Glass" and then started to tail off alarmingly.

Stephen King writes brilliantly (I often say if it wasn't for his choice of subject matter, he would probably be weighed down with literary awards), but even that can't compensate for a story that has just begun to drift relentlessly at the point it should be building to the climax. King, in his forewords, always likes to talk of this series as his Magnus Opus, and allude to other great works like Chaucer, but the truth is he wrote his best stuff when he was under a much tighter rein from his editors.

Now that he is the world's biggest literrary star, he gets to write whatever he wants, and it is a privilege he has probably abused slightly. None of which is to say that The Dark Tower is a bad read, but to be honest, as Stephen King books go, it is probably in the bottom 5 or 10.

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower

Stephen King

Scribner, Sep 2004, $35.00

ISBN: 1880418622

In spite of shifting time and place, Roland the Last Gunfighter knows he is nearing his destination and thus the final confrontation of his quest. The center of the time-place continuum, THE DARK TOWER, beckons just beyond the horizon. However, as he has learned through his dangerous journey, time is not linear and his path still has detours and setbacks as Roland and his ka-tet battle vampires in New York City's Dixie Pig.

That takes a bite out of his compatriots, but Roland knows the real adversary is Mordred, Mia's offspring from him and the were-spider Crimson King. Mordred, the essence of pure evil, confronts Roland to stop him from completing the mission besides expecting a tasty morsel. Though experienced with killing his own blood, Roland has no prayer against his superpowerful antagonist. As members of his ka-tet fall, Roland needs the help of a talented, somewhat befuddled individual to attain any chance to defeat his son. Will Roland realize his necessity in time and will this being leave his personal tower to fight alongside the last gunfighter?

Over two decades in the making, the climax to thought-provoking THE DARK TOWER series is an exciting, epic fantasy that ties together much of the previous novels in an intriguing ending that readers will either love or hate, but not feel indifferent toward. The key cast members remain consistent to their personalities, especially Roland as the silent hero (from the 1960s spaghetti westerns). The storyline moves at a frantic pace still leaping about in time and place until "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" (Robert Browning's poem) for the final unification of Stephen King's opus.

Harriet Klausner