My thoughts on the whole series

[Cuthbert Allgood]

Warning! Spoiler alert! Do not read if you have not read all 7 books!

The ending was surprising, at least for me. Ka is a wheel, but I did not see that coming. Some say that there are suggestions in "the gunslinger" when he talks to the man in Black. But Marten does not know anything, we get to know in the last book, that he wants to reach the tower himself to see whats in the top room. At first I was disappointed, but the ending grew on me. But even after a few weeks after the last pages I cannot really say I am satisfied with this ending.
It seems that most people think, that Roland is in a loop, starting in the Mohaine Desert. Gan or Ka or whatever sends him back there when he opens the door to the room at the top of the dark tower. I agree so far. But most of you think that he can end this loop if he does things differently. That his way is to brutal and that he should not sacrifice everything for the dark tower. I do not agree with that. Here is why:
What does Roland have to do to end the loop? He has done horrible things, e.g. the massacre at tull, but that is not in the loop, so he cannot change it (Maybe Gan can?!?). The only real bad thing I remember is to sacrifice Jake in the mountains. But he learned his lesson and not much later he changes this. I do not think there is any chance that he does not sacrifice him in any loop, because he is cold blooded when he starts in the desert. He needs this experience to change his mind about friendship, ka-tet etc. In the last book he even wants to die himself to protect Jake. Is it really about his way? It was hard, but did he really had another choice? I have to say that I do not see much things he should do differently. In my opinion it is about his eagerness to reach the tower. His quest is to protect the tower. That is what they did when they releaved the brakers. He saved the universe(es). But he was eager and wanted to reach the top of the tower, in spite the fact that the crimson cing is prisoned there and that this is a danger for the tower. He riskes everything and everyone he saved for his eagerness. I think he is put back to the desert when he opens the door, whatever he does before. So the only way to stop this is not to open the door. Maybe he will reach the tower in this loop, and blow the horn of eld, and just live his life.

My thoughts about some other things: Susan: Some think he sacrificed her for his (damned) tower. But he says that he had no doubt that she is save, otherwise he would have returned to help her and sheemie. But Susans death is a reason he is so cold blooded in the desert. He did not kill Rhea and that lead to Susan burning on the stack.
Portals/time travel: In part 5 Roland thinks that the door in the caves can bring them whenever and whereever they want. But there was never a single word about the idea to go to the dark tower directly or back in the past to safe Susan or anything like that. I cannot imagine that noone of the ka-tet thought about such things.
Marten: I could not believe his death. Mordred killed him, no confrontation with Roland. Did not like that.
The Crimson King: The bad guy, but in the end we know really nothing about him. That disappoints me. And the way he is defeated: ridiculous.
Susanna in New York: Kitschy, but I had to cry anyway.
In general about the last book: Too much happens without a detailed description, eg Sheemies death, Eddies funeral etc.

I have much more thoughts about it,but I cannot write them all down.

Long days and pleasant nights.

[JohnDalglish]

Hi,

Thankee for sharing that.

Nothing else benefits as much from re-reads as DT IMO and knowing the ending will make your next read a different experience IMO.

Can I recommend two excellent books that might interest you?

Firstly, Robin Furth's invaluable Concordance and then Bev Vincentt's excellent The Road to the Dark Tower.

Long days and pleasant nights

[dwalters]

Marten: I could not believe his death. Mordred killed him, no confrontation with Roland. Did not like that.
The Crimson King: The bad guy, but in the end we know really nothing about him. That disappoints me. And the way he is defeated: ridiculous.

I have to agree with you on both of these points. I absolutely loved the DT series, but I did think that the "big baddies" all went down too quickly/easily. The Crimson King for example, there is SOOOO much hype about him being the be-all end-all villain, and it spreads through several of SK's books. I was just expecting a much more detailed explanation and/or more involved showdown with him than what ended up happening in the seventh book. Now when I see his name come up, rather than a sense of dread/doom I just think "Oh, him? Pfft, he ain't that tough". I hate to say anything negative about this series as it really is one of my favorite peices of literature, but I have to admit the way these baddest of bad guys died did leave me wanting more.

[Doc Wilson]

Thats an insightful analysis, you've given me some points to ponder.

[sylvie-charlois]

Hello everyone. New to the forum, but long standing fan of S. King's books. As a matter of fact he was probably the best english teacher I ever had (I'm french), since I have been reading him in english since 1983 ! Just to say that I completed my first journey through the Dark Tower series, all seven books of it, without pause. I bought a Kindle last year and my first purchase was the complete series, so since last november I have been "living" with Roland's ka tet. Of course I had already read the books as they came out, but the experience of travelling through Mid-World, End-World, the Calla and back to the beginning was so thrilling and gripping... And I was amazed at how seamlessly each book merged into the next. It was so natural. I did not want it to end !
From that marvelous first phrase "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed" to that so surprising and yet so logical, inevitable ending...
This is easily the best and most wonderful journey one could ever make inside a book...

[latecomerNJM]

What constantly amazes me is SKs linkage through so many of his other novels... Salems Lot, The Stand, his collaborations with Peter Straub, Hearts in Atlantis, and many others are connected and even seem essential to the Tower story. It seems as if his entire writing career seemed to drag him back, kicking and screaming if need be, to write this series! From what I have read of his comments about how he writes and resolves his stories, that just might be the case. It is almost inconceivable that he didn't plan it all out ahead of time, mapping the connections and knowing exactly where to tap into another, supposedly unrelated, story. On the other hand, to believe that he had this grand plan in mind spanning over 25 years of writing dozens of novels defies belief.

I think that the Tower series, and all of it's connected novels, are a prime example of the philosophy that the JOURNEY is of paramount importance, rather than the destination. Many people are disappointed by the conclusion, but I cannot imagine any satisfactory conclusion to this that would live up to saving infinite numbers of universes represented by the rose. The journey is the thing. And those of us who are appropriately blessed can thank our failing memories for permitting (after the required period to ensure sufficient forgetfulness) us to enjoy the journey yet again!

[BTRNYC]

The Crimson King: The bad guy, but in the end we know really nothing about him. That disappoints me. And the way he is defeated: ridiculous.

Liked your analysis. You should read Insomnia for a little more information about The Crimson King, as for his demise being ridiculous: I saw it more of the ultimate act of creation by Sai King himself. Not only does he have the juevos to write himself into his epic, he shows us just how easily he can "erase" our and his worse fears. Roland and The Crimson King found themselves in a stalemate, which I think was Steve not really knowing how to resolve the showdown, Roland can't just fire away, can he?

The all important connections to Derry and Insomnia, using Patrick's pencil to snub out the Crimson King.... it reminds me of Stephen Sondheim's song "Finishing the Hat," from Sunday in the Park with George, a musical based on George Seurat, the artist.

The last line says: "...look I made a hat, where there never was a hat."
Maybe I'm getting too arty, but I like to think of the Crimson King's demise and The Dark Tower series as a whole, like that. Look I made an epic, where there never was an epic.
Creation... I ramble...

[clownshooter]

IMHO the DT series stands by its own merits. I mean after all it's a book of fiction no more, no less. It is incredibly good fiction, but it remains fiction. The recurring theme to me is that Ka is a wheel! Therefore the DT series could end in no other way than what it did. I can understand when people get bogged down in an inconsistency in a literary work. I have my own difficulties with particular minutiae in other literary works. I have learned however to enjoy the work and move on. In reference to dwalters comment, about the big baddies going down too quickly; consider Hitler's demise. He rather ingloriously shot his wife and himself and had their bodies burned; Bool the end! It was pretty quick and final. It never ceases to amaze me how some of the most infamous despots of all time seem to suffer some ignoble end. I post this not as a point of debate, but rather an encouragement to simply enjoy fiction for what it is.

[GNTLGNT]

Thankee-sai for all the posts here. Many great points made-and here's mine(not the one on top of my head). I would read seven more books in the DT series if I thought it would make a significant difference in the outcome. Ka IS a wheel and that destiny is either linear or circular depending on circumstance, but even though I would treasure more character resolution and some different types of payback for the "baddies"-DT stands as a testament to a life's work and philosophy and if that was all he had ever produced-we would still surely have been blessed.