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The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, Book 7) |  | Author: Stephen King
Creator: Michael Whelan
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
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Seller: LiveAloha
Rating:  748 reviews
Sales Rank: 40352
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Paperback
Pages: 864
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 2
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
ASIN: B0016HIOWW
Publication Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
At one point in this final book of the Dark Tower series, the character Stephen King (added to the plot in Song of Susannah) looks back at the preceding pages and says "when this last book is published, the readers are going to be just wild." And he's not kidding. After a journey through seven books and over 20 years, King's Constant Readers finally have the conclusion they've been both eagerly awaiting and silently dreading. The tension in the Dark Tower series has built steadily from the beginning and, like in the best of King's novels, explodes into a violent, heart-tugging climax as Roland and his ka-tet finally near their goal. The body count in The Dark Tower is high. The gunslingers come out shooting and face a host of enemies, including low men, mutants, vampires, Roland's hideous quasi-offspring Mordred, and the fearsome Crimson King himself. King pushes the gross-out factor at times--Roland's lesson on tanning (no, not sun tanning) is brutal--but the magic of the series remains strong and readers will feel the pull of the Tower as strongly as ever as the story draws to a close. During this sentimental journey, King ties up loose ends left hanging from the 15 non-series novels and stories that are deeply entwined in the fabric of Mid-World through characters like Randall Flagg (The Stand and others) or Father Callahan ('Salem's Lot). When it finally arrives, the long awaited conclusion will leave King's myriad fans satisfied but wishing there were still more to come. In King's memoir On Writing, he tells of an old woman who wrote him after reading the early books in the Dark Tower series. She was dying, she said, and didn't expect to see the end of Roland's quest. Could King tell her? Does he reach the Tower? Does he save it? Sadly, King said he did not know himself, that the story was creating itself as it went along. Wherever that woman is now (the clearing at the end of the path, perhaps?), let's hope she has a copy of The Dark Tower. Surely she would agree it's been worth the wait. --Benjamin Reese
Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. The final installment in the epic series that began 33 years ago with The Gunslinger, completes the quest of Roland Deschain, who works to outmaneuver the increasingly desperate acts of his adversaries.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 748
 An Excellent Conclusion July 28, 2010
Murnert (California)
In terms of the best volume as a whole, the high water mark of the series was book 4 (Wizard and Glass). Book 5 was an entertaining read, but it felt like a lengthy detour from the main story. Book 6, in my opinion, is almost completely unnecessary and mostly boring. The bulk of it deals with Susannah and the birth of her baby; a story that was much longer than it needed to be, and mostly tedious. The story in book 6 spills over into the start of book 7, which means that all the weaknesses of that story carryover into the final volume. Once that part of the story wraps up, book 7 begins to build momentum toward the conclusion.
The final half of the book; when the characters are directly on the road to the tower is intense and gripping adventure. I would say that it is a highlight of the entire series. The conclusion is powerful, and in the context of the entire series, it is very consistent with what we have learned about Roland and his world.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW
This is my list of pros and cons for book 7.
The negatives first:
Finishing up the tedious story from book 6 took up the first 150 pages or so, and this was the main weakness of this book.
The presence of Randall Flagg seemed pointless. Years ago Stephen King established Flagg as his primary villain, and his reappearance in book 3 had the potential for a tremendous confrontation between him and Roland. Unfortunately, he is almost non-existent in subsequent books. Then pops for a few pages in the final book to be quickly dispatched by Mordred. One gets the feeling that King forgot about Flagg completely, and then had to go back and tack on a death for him.
The appearance and death of Sheemie. Similar to the treatment of Flagg, Sheemie didn't get much to do in the story and his death also felt like an afterthought.
The positives:
Stephen Kings presence in the book was a fun touch. Given the multiple parallel worlds that exist in the Dark Tower's universe it would make sense that the writer would exist in his own story. King's presence was one of the few positives of book 6.
The funeral of Jake. The death of Eddie came suddenly and unexpectedly, but it was Jake's death and burial by Roland that really highlighted the bond between them and the tragedy of Roland's quest for the tower.
Roland and Susannah's journey through end-world was the highlight of the book. The difficulty, the loneliness and the knowledge that the tower is within their reach. It reminded me of the best parts from the first book. Roland's sadness when Susannah left him only punctuates his loneliness.
The death of Oy. With the final confrontation between Roland and Mordred approaching, it was obvious what Oy's fate would be. But the way it was handled so deftly and coming on the heals of Susannah's departure, made for one more moment of tragedy on Roland's road to the tower.
The conclusion: Roland is trapped in a karmic loop. The key is the journey, not the destination. This is true not just for the story, but for his life. Roland's unquestioning quest for the top room of the dark tower is not living, but simply an existence to reach an end point and everyone that comes across his path can be sacrificed for the tower. Consider that his battle to destroy the forces that would topple the tower was not because he wanted to save existence, but because he needed to save the tower for himself. Roland wants to restore the world he knew as a child, but he can't do that through any magic from the tower. As the last gunslinger, he has the ability to rebuild his world anew. To do that he has to realize that he must live for himself and for others, not for the tower. Roland is the tragic lone figure who must learn that he doesn't need the tower. At that point he will be free of it. The lesson is in the journey.
In the end, it was a fine conclusion to a great series.
 Worst ending ever to the worst series ever. July 18, 2010
Richard Holderby (Roseville, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not a raving King fan; I had never read a King until I was turned onto the Dark Tower series by a few friends on a forum perhaps a year ago. I don't know what I expected, but this... this was just a HUGE letdown. I'll make a quick summarization of the series from my point of view before my take on this last entry...
I wasn't exactly captivated by the series; I hated the fact that the first book started, went back, restarted, and then, at the end, skipped ahead centuries. The second book was a standstill; it took place on a beach. The path to the tower and Walter was halted. The third was the best in the series, no doubt. Much of the progression on the path to the ending was made here. The fourth bore absolutely no bearing on the overall plot. It was a complete waste of time. You could skip it altogether and not miss out on much. It was about Roland's youth and had nothing at all to do with the tower. The fifth was decent enough, though it was again mostly about the past of another character so it was more back-stepping with little progression. The sixth, if memory serves correct, was when the author put himself into the story; rather conceited if you ask me. Plus, it seemed as if he stitched together some very trivial strings here to come up with a story.
I hope I made that vague enough to not spoil anything...
Now SPOILERS below for the seventh book...
What a horrid ending. The priest gets taken out of the plot within the first section of the book. OK, he wasn't a main character. I could live with that. The people who took Susannah are wiped out quickly; not a very compelling summit, but acceptable at this point. The baby that was birth by the chick inside Susannah is a spider-man; it can switch between its two forms at will. Uh... strange, but at least compelling enough...
What got me ticked off was that Walter - the main antagonist of the ENTIRE series (and before they started, if one places the story told in the fourth book before the first) - gets taken out by this telepathic, machine-controlling, half spider, half baby in less than a chapter. The new enemy - the Crimson King and the little spider-babyb, are the new bad guys. It was so anticlimactic. this guy has been on Roland's case from the very beginning and he gets taken out of the plot by a baby?
So that was the first big letdown for me. The next was the party (at that point taken down to just Roland, Susannah, and Oy) finding a boy in the basement of a man who feed on peoples' emotions. the boy could create things by drawing them, take away things that he erases. He draws Susannah a door and she leaves. A nice enough ending for her at that point. Roland takes the boy with him to the tower where spider-boy comes and kills oy. Then, Roland kills him in a second. No climactic end, just a shot and he falls into a fire. whoopdy-doo.
Then, the Crimson King is stuck on a balcony of the dark tower. all Roland and the kid does is sit behind a rock while he throws snitches (which is an aspect taken from the "Harry Potter" series, just they are more destructive). the kid draws him and erases him, except for his eyes. yet another anticlimactic end. This was supposed to be the last battle; the big one between the savior and the saboteur. all that happens is he gets erased. WTF?!
The next was King's own contradiction. The story says that in the "key world", there are no do-overs, meaning if one died there, they wouldn't come back in another world. Jake dies in the "key world" saving King's life yet is reborn at the first ending of the book when Susannah roles through the door and meets up with the reincarnation of Eddy. The story specifically says that dying in the key world is the end of the line. If it wasn't the case, there would have been no need to save King's life in the first place; he'd just pop up again in another reality in which the "Ka-Tet" could go and find him without the risk of death. It made Jake's death meaningless.
Then, finally, Roland makes it into the tower. The subject of the entire seven books. He goes to the top, seeing levels upon levels of rooms filled with memories of people he killed or let die on his journey to the place. he opens the doors to the final room, and all it is is the beginning of the first book. All it does is restart the series again, but with the minor change that Roland now has a pocket watch.
That's worse than if it had all been a dream. It's a giant circle with poorly connected strings and the author putting himself up on a pedestal. I resent ever reading this series, but I'm glad I didn't have to wait for this abysmal ending for years as other dedicated followers did.
 The End... July 5, 2010
Joshua Castonguay
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Last book in the highly acclaimed, fantastic Dark Tower Series.
Read it last!
King's best work June 15, 2010
Timothy Kozlenko (CT)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
To all of you complaining about the end, King gives you fair warning before the end of the last chapter; it's about the journey, not the destination. And he speaks true. What exactly DID you want at the end? The fate of the ka-tet is tragic and brilliant (even Mordred's story is tragic) and the ending was amazing, breathtaking. I literally could not stop once I started this book, finishing it in only a week. Seems a lot of long time Dark Tower readers simply didn't GET what King was doing from the beginning. Wolves of the Calla was a clear low point for this series, but in truth it's the ONLY low point.
I can't recommend this book enough, please do yourself a favor and read it.
fantastic finish to a fantastic journey June 14, 2010
Bob
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
There seems to be so much hate for this ending but i absolutely loved the ending. It was haunting and beautiful at the same time. nothing is ever perfects and i do have a couple of gripes. The way a couple of characters exited the story was a little disappointing but the positives to me outweighed the negatives. I greatly enjoyed this book as well as the entire series. What is found at the end is amazing and will have you thinking about it for a long time. a great great read.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 748
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