Ending of the Dark Tower Series

[Angelus_18]

btw guys, just wondering because its been bugging me. If Roland gets sent back to start his journey again(well, his journey from the desert) then what happens to the now recovering beams? do they go back to being destroyed again? surely Roland hasn't been sent back in time, because the keystone world is one way, so surely this would be impossible? But if he hasn't, and he comes across people such as the people of the Calla, or River Crossing, surely they would recognise him? Or has he been sent to another universe of some kind, to redo his journey there? its all confusing!( altho I like the fact that we're left with so many questions, it means I won't forget it in a hurry!)

[Angelus_18]

another question(sorry about this!)

"He darkles. He tincts. He is in all times. Yet there is none greater then he."

This is what the man in black says about the keeper of the Tower in 'The Gunslinger', does this essentially mean that Roland is the keeper of the Tower? since towards the end the voice of the Tower says to Roland:
'you darkle, you tinct'?
Just wonderin or theres the whole argument that Roland is the Tower....

[Angelus_18]

on second thoughts, ignore the last message, iv just re read the passage, and it makes more sense now, lol, I think i mis-quoted it!

[dankness]

the ending to me was a lesson about true happiness. happiness comes not from getting what you want, but wanting what you have. Roland and Readers alike (myself included), have to learn Life, Love, Books, and Friendships are not always about the ending or the destination, they're about enjoying the journey that they lead you on.

until we(readers) and roland learn this we are bound to repeat the same mistake of ignoring the ride, (in this case, a spectacular ride!) in aticipation of what the End will bring.

[dmoye]

Ka is a wheel...

I just got done reading this series for the first time. I have to say that the ending leaves your mouth gaping wide open.. lol. But then again, I have been expecting a not-so-happy ending. It wouldn't be Stephen King otherwise. I too was guilty of rushing through to get to the ending. I read the whole series in just over a month. Just wish I was content with it ending with Roland entering the tower.. But, we are obsessed and couldn't leave a page unturned just as much as Roland could not go forward to the tower.

The ending was there throughout the whole series. It has been mentioned through the whole series about how ka is a wheel. The ending is the ultimate completion of the cycle and Roland is doomed to repeat it. (until he gets it right...??)

[HoopyFrood]

Originally Posted by dmoye

But then again, I have been expecting a not-so-happy ending. It wouldn't be Stephen King otherwise.

Hear, hear! As I keep raving about constantly, with King you don't get a happy ending, you get a real ending -- often gritty, perhaps even disappointing (for some, not me. The closest I've come to being disappointed is when Johnny died in Desperation, because I rather liked that dude ) but much more believable than having the characters skip off into the sunset at the end!

[Pollution]

You know, I'm 100% ok with the way it ended.

Flagg getting eated by Spider-boy...meh...
Eddie died, I cried a bit, but was OK overall.
Jake, same, cried a bit, but was OK overall.
Oy....ok, that sucked....
Jake and Eddie (Oy?) reincarnated on another earth? Groovy!
Story repeating itself (i.e. very end), excellent.

The one thing I couldn't STAND, and I really don't know why it bothers me this much is STEPHEN KING BEING A CHARACTER IN HIS OWN BOOK!?!?!?!?!

The thing that REALLY honked me off was him putting himself in there like that. A reference or 2, sure, he's big enough to be able to do that, as in, "It was like something out of a Stephen King book..." that's ok. But to have Roland and Jake and Eddie and Oy actually go and MEET HIM?!?!? WTF?!?!

To me, THAT was the cop out. Like he didn't try harder to progress the story without all that Deuce Ex Machina BS. If you take Stephen King out of the last 3 books, and ignore all references to him being Ka, or Gan, or the voice of Gan or whatever, it's still a REALLY good book. I even liked the way CK died. After reading Insomnia I KNEW that little Patrick would be back for more in some way or another, and that worked for me 100%. But the crap with putting himself in the books?!?! HUH!?!?!?!

And, you'll note he's never commented on it (that I can find anyway). In fact, I was looking for an interview where he does actually talk about him being in the book (i.e. what was he thinking?) when I found this site (this thread in particular).

I loved the books, and to me, the ending is 100% appropriate because the second I finished book 7, I immediately started up on book 1 again. And the ending really does represent how the story goes because we'll reread it over and over again if we like it (and most do overall).

But yeah, his opus died the second he put himself in there as a character.

[Ursa major]

I agree, Pollution; I could have done without the fictional King as well. It's almost as if, with a few more books to go, he didn't trust himself to bring everything to a satisfying end so he produced a mechanism (who better than the author to act as a perfect deus ex machina) by which he could tie up all the loose ends. And yet King, of all people, should have trusted himself; he didn't need his fictional self to link his stories; and he could have used the space taken up by his appearances to spend a bit more time on developing the Spider-boy thread, which was a bit of a damp squibb compared to the rest of the last book.

Other than that, I thought the end of the book was both right and appropriate both to the story and to the author.

[Marvolo]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

I agree, Pollution; I could have done without the fictional King as well. It's almost as if, with a few more books to go, he didn't trust himself to bring everything to a satisfying end so he produced a mechanism (who better than the author to act as a perfect deus ex machina) by which he could tie up all the loose ends. And yet King, of all people, should have trusted himself; he didn't need his fictional self to link his stories; and he could have used the space taken up by his appearances to spend a bit more time on developing the Spider-boy thread, which was a bit of a damp squibb compared to the rest of the last book.

Other than that, I thought the end of the book was both right and appropriate both to the story and to the author.

I thought putting himself in the books was a nearly inevitable conclusion. The world he created placed all levels of reality on different tiers of the Tower, so that means our world too. Stephen King is writing these stories so he needed to make sense of how he can write them but they still take place and are "real."

I liked it. It didn't come off as pretentious to me. I admit though, when he hinted at it in Wolves, it scared the crap out of me. I thought between putting himself in the books and all the stuff about the vacant lot and the rose he'd ruin the series. But he pulled it off.

[paranoid marvin]

The series was about 3 books too long - it was really dragging towards the end.

I have found that King is unable to finish his books with anything like the kind of flourish he starts them - he sems to be unable to let go of his characters. And this is bourne out in the DT series , which imho becomes a vehicle for him to resurrect many of them , for no really justifiable reason. (although the inclusion of Flagg was a nice moment for me)

By far the best of the series is The Drawing Of The Three , and it goes downhill from there. I think that the series should have climaxed with Roland arriving at the Tower - which at the end of the day was Roland's ultimate ambition (he never indicated that he had any clue as to what to do when/if he was able to enter) , and the rest left to the reader's imagination

My initial reaction after learning of Roland's fate was "What a waste of time that was" - which I guess applied partly to The Gunslinger's efforts , and partly to me for spending so much time waiting for the novels to be released , and then reading them

[Ursa major]

I can see how you might think that. I had the great advantage of having read them over a few short weeks; and a second one of getting them free from the library.

[paranoid marvin]

Knowing now the end of the tale , is there anyone who would read through the whole DT series again

BTW Does anyone else class Eyes Of The Dragon as part of the DT series? I certainly do. In fact I regard it as akin to The Hobbit in comparison to the LOTR trilogy

[HoopyFrood]

Curses...I can't quite remember, but in one book, it's either The Stand or in one of the Dark Tower books, someone mentions that they met two guys chasing after Flagg/The Dark Man/Randall -- which are inferred to be Thomas and Dennis from Eyes of the Dragon.

Oh...was just browsing Wiki on the subject. It turns out that king himself classifies it as a Tower story.

I would definitely read the Dark Tower series again. Indeed, before my reading pile got so huge, I'd often re-read The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands again and again, as they're my favourite books from the series. But yes, one day I'll definitely read the entire thing again.

[Marvolo]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

Curses...I can't quite remember, but in one book, it's either The Stand or in one of the Dark Tower books, someone mentions that they met two guys chasing after Flagg/The Dark Man/Randall -- which are inferred to be Thomas and Dennis from Eyes of the Dragon.

Oh...was just browsing Wiki on the subject. It turns out that king himself classifies it as a Tower story.

I would definitely read the Dark Tower series again. Indeed, before my reading pile got so huge, I'd often re-read The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands again and again, as they're my favourite books from the series. But yes, one day I'll definitely read the entire thing again.

I think someone mentioned it in the series.

Wolves of the Calla for me. That book rocked. But #2 & 3 are very good too. All in all, I need to start the series over again.

I think it was Wizard & Glass.

[Pollution]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

Curses...I can't quite remember, but in one book, it's either The Stand or in one of the Dark Tower books, someone mentions that they met two guys chasing after Flagg/The Dark Man/Randall -- which are inferred to be Thomas and Dennis from Eyes of the Dragon.

Oh...was just browsing Wiki on the subject. It turns out that king himself classifies it as a Tower story.

I would definitely read the Dark Tower series again. Indeed, before my reading pile got so huge, I'd often re-read The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands again and again, as they're my favourite books from the series. But yes, one day I'll definitely read the entire thing again.

it was in one of the dark tower books. I think it was wizard and glass, but I could be wrong. Might be in drawing.

Roland says he heard about tohomas and dennis looking for flagg, just can't remember the book.