Rating: Summary: The Dark Tower Series is Awesome Review: I have now read all the books to date and the series is fantastic, each book seems to be better than the one before. DT4 is the story when Roland was young and has elements of fantasy, western, and romance. I suggest everyone read this series!
Rating: Summary: The Gunslinger Review: Mate, Stephen King Knows how to draw you into his own Fanasty world, Having read all 4 Books in this series, i can hardly wait for the next installment, i only hope we dont have to wait to long. I'm not going to tell you anything about this book because it will do you know good unless you have read the other 3 books and if you have, then you gotta get your hands on this one.
Rating: Summary: The Dark Tower IV - Wizard and Glass Review: I have just finished reading The Dark Tower series and the last so far, Wizard and Glass. The word that comes to mind regarding The Dark Tower is "expectation". I cannot imagine NOT finishing this wonderful story of Roland. I certainly hope the story will be finished in the near future. I found as I read each book the story got better and better and as I began to see the end coming in the last book, I found myself wishing it to go on and on. My remarks to Stephen King would be "please hurry and continue this marvelous story of Roland, and please let it end with a feeling of goodness". Roland deserves happiness.
Rating: Summary: Don't be fooled Review: I loved the Dark Tower Trilogy, and when I saw this on the shelf (a day before my summer vacation, no less) I couldn't wait to get into it. I read a chapter, and still I couldn't wait to get into it. I read another, and another. I never go into this book, and I never finished it (the only reason this gets a 1 instead of a 0). Every chapter was exactly the same. Sure different things happened, but the character developement went absolutely nowhere. Here are the first 250 pages, chapter by chapter. The kid from the wrong side of the tracks screws around with the princess. His friends don't like it (half jealousy, half worry). Her father wouldn't like it. They almost get caught. End chapter. The kid from the wrong... I should take this book off my bookshelf because every time I catch a glimpse of its spine, I ask myself if I should start reading it again. Fortunately, and unfortunately, I know better.If you allow yourself any emotional involvement in this book, it feels like you're beginning a bad relationship and being played every step of the way. I haven't felt this unsure of myself since high school. Should I keep reading, should I move on? Is there something incredible that will make these 600+ pages worth reading? Well, I have a little more respect for myself and my time than to allow this. Maybe I've read too many good authors between Doroles Claiborne and now. Maybe I've just grown up. It's a shame Stephen King's writing hasn't grown up with me. At at time not too long ago, Roland was the man.
Rating: Summary: Glass Half Empty Review: I have been hooked on King's Dark Tower series ever since I read the second installment. Unfortunately, Wizard and Glass had the same problems that plagued the third-installment: Too long, too wordy and too slow. In fact, it took me a good 3 years to finish the book, mainly because I had a hard time staying awake during the first 300 pages. Luckily, the last 350 pages were an excellent read, reminding me of why I have been a Stephen King fan since I was a young boy. The book picks up right where the second installment ended. After page 100, the story chronicals Roland's adventurous youth, and particularly focuses on his first love interest. Roland's story provides insight to the one thing the reader has been trying to figure out since the first installment: Roland's facination with finding the Dark Tower. Part of the reason why I found this installment to be the weakest of the series is because we get little interaction with the supporting characters we have grown to love from the previous installments. Because each installment is published every 4 or 5 years, we eagerly await each book and have high expectations. It didn't appear that King knew where this story was going. King's rambling put me asleep. I wish it would have put me on the edge of my seat. King knows one thing: his readers are facinated by the Dark Tower series, so much so that ultimately, we will stick through until the ending. Non-King fans would have dropped the book after page 250. Regardless, King's wizardry has cast its spell on me, and I can't wait for the Dark Tower V.
Rating: Summary: Wizard and Glass Review: I found this book to be a spellbinding as the first three. It was very hard to put down as I had to find out was coming next. I can hardly wait for the next in the series.Roland has to find his destiny.
Rating: Summary: Coffee, Tea, or Both? Review: This book finally fulfills the implicit promise in the title of the first book of this set ,The Gunslinger, that this story would be a marriage of the fantasy and Western genres. The first 100 pages of this are really the conclusion to book III, The Waste Lands, as Roland and company spar with Blaine via riddles both complex and simple, with an ending very reminiscent of a certain Star Trek episode. But the real meat of this book is in the remainder, some 570 pages that detail Roland's first experience as a graduate gunslinger (at the age of 14). Roland and his friends Cuthbert and Alain are sent by their fathers to a remote village, mainly as a method to keep them safely away from the war with the 'Good Man' Farson. But once in the village, the boys discover evidence of a scheme to provide Farson with oil so that Farson can power some of the old military weapons of days gone by and to which the current civilization would have no defense. Not content with mixing fantasy and westerns, King adds a solid romance to the mix, as Roland falls head over heels in love with a local girl , Susan, who is unfortunately already promised to become the 'gilly' (concubine) of the town's mayor. Along the way to the resolution of this situation, King manages to throw in just about every Old West cliché, from the clueless mayor surrounded by crafty evil villains to the barroom contretemps complete with a four-way stand-off to virtuous girl trapped in durance vile to a final guns-blazing battle between our hopelessly outnumbered heroes and the gang. About the only one he left out was the traditional showdown at high noon. Although King is obviously providing a near-parody of these cliches, they come off as very logical, eminently readable elements to a larger story. And the larger story mixes these Old West elements with those of the fairy tale, from the wicked witch (references to both Oz and The Lord of the Rings), to the gallant knights of old (of Arthurian fame), to a truly horrifying Halloween bonfire. And just for good measure, King throws in complete situations from his own works, most notably The Stand, and a new, updated version of the Emerald City of Oz. By detailing Roland's early experiences through this story, we end this book with a much deeper appreciation of Roland the man, no longer just an embodiment of an obsessive drive to reach the mysterious Dark Tower, but a person who has (had) normal human emotions and conflicts. We also learn a good bit about Roland's world and some of its relationship to our own, things that were crying out for some explanation from the previous three books. The book is an impressive mixture of the common elements of multiple literary genres, skillfully handled to provide an invigorating sense of newness to some very trite story elements. It is not a deep book in terms of theme or philosophical insights, but reads quickly, with lots of action and some very recognizable characters. Still, we must now wait (how long?) for King to finish this very long Dark Tower quest.
Rating: Summary: This book is candy Review: This is the one that makes this whole series worth reading. The love affair between Susan Delgado and Roland is worthy of Shakespeare. We finally get a good look at Roland's past and learn why he is so passionate about the Dark Tower. This book also sets up the following books to come (King has recently posted the prologue to DT 5 on his website). While not much forward motion takes place in the characters' quest, there is a great deal of neccessary past that was needed for the overall plot of the series. This one is definitely a must read.
Rating: Summary: A Surprising Read Review: I picked up this book and bought it without hesitation when it first came out. I was immediately gratified with a conclusion to the previous book, but I was surprised to see a very long love story in the middle. I was immediately disgusted. I hate romance stories. However, this is a King love story with a twist and it was a wonderful read. I didn't want the flashback to end when I finished it. It was wonderful!! I had no idea that Stephen King could write with such emotion and passion. I am eagerly awaiting Thunderclap, the next book in the series.
Rating: Summary: Far and away King's best! Review: Wizard and Glass is a compelling fascinating mix of sci-fi, western, love and horror. Sounds strange but King tells a fantastic story! I absolutely loved it both times I read it!
|