The Dark Tower series

heretic on 14/9/2007 at 18:58

I have to agree in regards to his more recent work.

I read The Dead Zone when I was 11 or so, and was hooked.
Over the years I've read virtually every other book he's put out. I know he's not the greatest author, far from it..but something about his earlier writing clicked with me. Probably has to do with the fact that I was weaned on it or something. I used to read a lot of fiction, and no other author has had that effect on me.

That feeling is barely tangible in at least the last decades worth of King's releases. One example - They were both co-authored w/ Straub, but 'The Talisman' was an astounding read. The semi-sequel 'Black House' however was an abomination.

His solo stuff has suffered as badly, he's just been writing the same book with the same characters (and pretty much the same villians) over and over FFS. I wish he would release some more short stories, but that doesn't seem likley.

Christ, I don't know where I was going with all of this.. Basically it would be nice if he would put out one or two more books in the vein of his earlier work and make good on his promise to retire.

~s:a:n:i:t:y~ on 14/9/2007 at 20:45

It's Stephen.

Matthew on 17/9/2007 at 11:23

I prefer Garth Marenghi myself.

Scots Taffer on 17/9/2007 at 12:38

Say what you will about the Dark Tower series, at least it was finished, that car took a good swipe at King but he came back to finish it - unfortunately the same cannot be said for those poor bastards who endured eleven books of the (http://www.dragonmount.com/RobertJordan/) Wheel of Time series only to get pipped at the finale.

PigLick on 17/9/2007 at 14:35

Jesus christ that was yesterday!
hahaha that is so funny, not Jordan being dead and all of course, but I think i read the first 6 or so of those books then gave up, but always thought that down the track I could pick up the last book and see what the hell actually happens.
Man, time for someone to start writing the 'lost manuscript'

his real name is James Oliver!

heretic on 24/9/2007 at 21:59

Semi-unrelated, but fans of 'The Dark Tower' or the gunslinger-fantasy type setting should check out Brom's 'The Devils Rose'. I won't spoil a thing, but it wallows in the "western steampunk" theme that the 'Dark Tower' series occasionally took a dip in. Half of the book's 114 or so pages are full color illustrations, which stands to reason since Brom is primarily an artist.

(http://www.bromart.com/)

Spaztick on 24/9/2007 at 23:52

Quote Posted by heretic1dg

Looks interesting. Might have to read it sometime, although I would be disappointed if there wasn't a huge unexpected plot twist.

heretic on 25/9/2007 at 00:53

There is one, but at the risk of spoiling anything I wont go on any further.

The only other thing I would note is that there are parts of the book that remind you that Brom is an artist first and a writer second. None of these detract from the story IMO, they are just a bit annoying. The story is great for what it is, some of the wording just put me off a bit. One example..."The entire lower portion of his body was engulfed in flame and he flopped about like-well, like a man on fire as he slapped frantically at the flames..."

Thankfully this kind of gaffe occurs only twice that I can remember.

All in all it's a quick easily digestible read that is as beautiful as it is entertaining.

Renault on 21/9/2016 at 22:06

(Nine years later)

So, there's going to be a Dark Tower movie. That's kind of old news now. Scheduled to be released in February 2017 starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Details here if you need them:

(http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Dark-Tower-Movie-What-We-Know-So-Far-130847.html)

But today they announced there will be a companion TV series, 10-13 episodes, to air on a Netflix type service. The series will be based on book 4, Wizard and Glass, which is a prequel to the entire Dark Tower saga:

(http://www.ew.com/article/2016/09/21/dark-tower-tv-series-stephen-king-wizard-glass)

Pretty awesome news for DT fans. They seem to really be committing to The Dark Tower and obviously think the movie will be a success. I have my doubts, but I'm still really anxious to see how they handle it all.

Renzatic on 21/9/2016 at 23:41

Idris Elba is playing Roland?

BUT ROLAND ISN'T BRITISH! :mad: