[MTscribe]

This question is for anyone who has read the Dark Tower series:

I downloaded the sample of the first book in the series and was quite disappointed to find there was no sample at all...just one of King's rather wordy descriptions about when, where, and why he wrote the books in the series.  Although I love King, I have heard that this series is quite different from his typical writing.

My question is this:  If I sampled book 2 in the series, would I truly get a feel for it or would I just start out very confused?

 

[EllenR]

In my opinion, it would certainly give you a feel for it if you were to sample any book in the series (assuming there are samples of any).  The series is definitely different than his other writing and I think it's his best writing second only to The Stand. We have the entire series in DTV. My son has read the whole series more than once. I got half way through but didn't have a chance to finish it at the time. I have to restart now at the beginning because I don't want to lose the thread (it's been years) of the series. Definitely read them in order but I don't think sampling out of order will have any negative effect.

EllenR

 

[yogini2]

The first section of each book has the same type of narrative as the first sample that you  already have, so you would not receive any of the stories themselves.  I don't think it was intentional.  You get 'x" amount of the book and with this series, it happens to be the author narrative that he has placed in the new editions.

If  you like Stephen King novels, you will love this series.  He says its his best writing and I also agree.  I read all seven books on my Kindle.  I did not start reading them as they were published.  I was so caught up in the story that I read them one after the other.  A lot of housework did not get done during this time.  I absolutely loved it.  By the end, the characters were so real I was looking for them on the street, hoping to have a conversation with them. 

[email protected]

 

[Edward C. Patterson]

The Dark Tower series (seven books):

The Gunslinger
The Drawing of the Three
The Waste Land
Wizard and Glass
The Wolves of the Calla
The Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower

This is one of the greatest series in American literature. I have read the series three times, will do so again, and listened to it on audio book. I have it in hardback, paperback and kindle. It was my first Kindle purchase in 2007. It represents a different genre for King, but it is his magnus opus. It is finely wrought literature, splattered with King's hallmark mayhem . . . but the characters . . .oh the characters, you come to love and hate them. He takes a page from Tolkien as he patterns his fantasy on Tolkien's definition of "Faerie" - that is a one degree shift from reality so the reader always feels that they have one foot on familiar ground and the other somewhere in another world. I use the same definition for my fantasy series The Jade Owl Legacy.

The sample you downloaded  represents an Amazon percentage of text. The Gunslinger, the oldest and the shortest of the series, is prefaced with three author explanations (one for each revision - thus the sample is robbed), including his brilliant bray on the number nineteen "Being Nineteen."The Gunslinger is the oldest of the series, revised twice and written in 1982. While the last book was published in 2007 - so the writing and King's own writing development of The Dark Tower spans 25 years. The Gunslinger is the most erudite of the works, tight - literary, filled with a younger King's bid for top shelf writing. Some people don't survive the first book thinking that the literary style cannot be sustained over 3,000 pages BUT, listen to me. The journey within the pages of The Dark Tower is unique and connects the Universe that underlies King's other 64 works. You get to meet characters roaming in The Dark Tower from many other books (Salem's Lot, Hearts in Atlantis, Everything's Eventual, The Talisman). If I were given a choice as to which books I should have on my Kindle, if I was limited to three, it would be LOTR, The Dark Tower and . . . don't laugh - Pride and Prejudice. After all, Jane Austen is the father of the modern novel and one should always have a mentor at your side.

Edward C. Patterson
Hallelujah! God Bomb! (Read The Dark Tower and find out what that means)

 

[Thumper]

This is one of the greatest series in American literature.

What he said.

If you're even a remote King fan, these books are must-read. I only struggled with getting through one of the (Wolves of the Calla, I think) but overall the series is up there at the top of my all time favorites.

My son is even more taken with the series than I am, as evidenced by this:

The Dark Tower is with him forever...

 

[EllenR]

What he said.

If you're even a remote King fan, these books are must-read. I only struggled with getting through one of the (Wolves of the Calla, I think) but overall the series is up there at the top of my all time favorites.

My son is even more taken with the series than I am, as evidenced by this:

The Dark Tower is with him forever...

Wow Thumper.

I read the series as it was being published, hence the reason that I did not get it finished. Life intervened during those 25years. We have the complete set now as I had to purchase the missing ones for my son so he could finish them. He LOVES the books too and would agree that they are King's finest work. They are certainly my son's favorite. We both love how he winds references to his other works through these.

I have everything book and short story collection King has ever published I think, and my son has read almost everything. The only ones I couldn't finish were Misery, because it was horrify for me, and UR because I found it boring. The last 3 in the Dark Tower series are on my list to read but, as I said, I have to start over so I can get them all in my head. I think I will make that a project for this summer perhaps. Or maybe I'll wait till next year when I have to have surgery and will be laid up for a while...

EllenR

 

[Edward C. Patterson]

Let's face it folks, Uncle Stevie left his audience on Blane the Pain at the end of the Waste Land for how long? It only took him a near fatal car accident to get him moving again. (Not exactly true, because we did get Wizard and Glass, a veritable romance novel between). I have read nearly everything King has published.

Edward C. Patterson

 

[Lisa G.]

I consider Stephen King's Dark Tower series to be the best of his work.  He kept me (and millions of other Constant Readers) hanging on for 20 plus years with this phenomenal story.  I am a Stephen King Constant Reader, and I will be until one of us dies!
I own everything he's written and will own everything he writes in the future...yes, in DTBs. 

Lisa

 

[kindlevixen]

I started the series when I was in high school... but never finished. I should pick it up and start again I think.