Finished the series! My final thoughts. (spoilers)

[WalterKovacs]

After 5 months, I have finished the epic Dark Tower series. Despite what I consider to be some major flaws, it still de-thrones Piers Anthony's INCARNATIONS OF IMMORTALITY as my favorite book series.

I am a bit dissapointed in how sloppily everything was concluded. There are loose ends that will forever irk me. I really wanted to know why the number 19 was so significant and why it kept popping up everywhere. All SK reveals is that it is important, not why. Same goes for North Central Positronics. I was really looking forward to a payoff where you find out what role they had to play in the whole scheme of things and why they were involved. There was also a peculiar moment where Jake and Oy switched bodies to escape a mind trap. It just came out of nowhere. Ok, I guess Jake has that ability. A little elaboration on that would have been nice.

I like the idea that Roland's "reward" for making it to the top of the tower is being forced to do it all again, but how does that work? Is he carrying out his quest in a different parallel world every time? Or is he just going back in time in the same world he already reached the tower in? Is the Horn of Eld he's carrying at the end some kind of cosmic "gift" he was given to make up for leaving it behind the last time around? I don't like having to speculate so much. The author is supposed to take care of all that. I'm not the creative one in the author/reader relationship, so this stuff shouldn't be left in my hands.

I wonder how the story would have been different if SK hadn't been hit by that van. I applaud him for taking something so awful and using it as inspiration (lemons into lemonade), but I can't help wondering if it just made him want to race to the finish line and be done with it. When you're in really bad pain, it's hard to think about anything besides how nice it would be to not be in pain.

I may gripe, But all in all the Dark Tower is pretty amazing. Wizard and Glass in particular really blew me away. The flaws I mentioned are outweighed by the great characters and the epic scale of it all.

[nate_watkins]

It's definitely an amazing story. There is quite a bit, as you said, that isn't exactly concluded, and I'd like to know more. But I guess it is what it is. I also think a re-read someday might clarify a couple of those things.

[ibralow]

all I can say is..Don't sweat the small stuff. Enjoy the series for what it is, highly entertaining fiction.

[Doc Wilson]

My reaction was not unlike yours. After all these years I'm finally considering a reread. Maybe start with the new Gunslinger and see if it improved with the new perspective a reread brings. His books often do, for me.