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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dark Jezter" data-source="post: 2871408" data-attributes="member: 1015">First of all, this thread was a real pain to find due to the Community Supporter accounts currently AWOL.  So I hope you don't mind some more thread necromany.Well, after two months, I've finally read the complete Dark Tower series from start to finish.  Overall, I really enjoyed it, and found it to be a nice change of pace from the typical medieval Europe-style settings of most fantasy series.  Plus, Roland has managed to become one of my favorite fantasy heroes ever; it's hard not to like a gunslinging knight modeled after Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Now, because this thread is about the final book in the series, I'll post my opinions here:What I liked:  The majority of this book was as exciting as anything Stephen King was written.  The book is a great mix of fantasy, science fiction, western, and horror.  The book gets off a very intense start and dosen't let up until the end.  There are battles, a frightening chase scene through a darkened maze, and several unexpected twists.As a general rule, I don't usually get upset when characters die in books, but this book actually managed to provoke emotional reactions from me.  I thought Father Callahan's death near the start of the book was handled very well; he managed to save Jake's life and redeem himself for his failure back in Salem's Lot.Eddie's death hit me pretty hard, although it wasn't entirely unexpected considering that it had been foreshadowed in previous chapters.  Still, I felt genuinely sad at the loss of a character whom I'd grown attached to over the course of the series.  And when Jake died just a few chapters later, I had to put the book down for a bit because it made feel so depressed.  Not many books can make me respond in such a way.  I even felt a pang of sorrow when Oy died, although I could see his death coming when he refused to go along with Susannah.This story also had some really good character development for Roland and Susannah.  The scenes where Roland's tough outer shell finally cracked (Jake's funeral, Susannah's departure) were done very well.And, I know that this is a real big point of contention among the fans, but I actually liked (not loved) the ending.  I can understand why some people would feel cheated; even I initially felt a little let down that the story didn't have a more conventional ending.  Upon further contemplation, however, I decided that the "Wheel of Ka" ending was very fitting given how big a role Ka played in the series.  I wonder if the upcoming Marvel comics Dark Tower series will finally feature Roland making the right choices so that he can finally end his eternal quest?What I didn't like:  As many people have already noted, the villains in this book could have been handled a lot better.First of all, we have Walter O'Dim/Randall Flagg.  Since the early 1980s, this guy has pretty much been Stephen King's "supervillain."  He was the main villain in the Stand and Eyes of the Dragon, he was referenced in Hearts in Atlantis, and throughout the Dark Tower series he's been a thorn in the side of Roland and his friends.  Since starting the series back in early March, I'd been eagerly awaiting a final confrontation between Roland and Flagg.  Instead, Flagg is killed off in a very casual manner to show the reader just how dangerous Mordred is supposed to be.  Still, I will admit that was very fitting that Flagg's own arrogance resulted in his downfall, so his death wasn't a complete disappointment.Next, we have Mordred.  After his disturbing birth scene and the his killing of Flagg using his deadly telepathic powers, this creature had the potential to be a very frightening villain.  This potential is wasted as Mordred becomes nothing more than a were-spider that stalks Roland waiting for his opportunity to strike.  When the battle finally comes, Mordred's telepathic powers are nowhere to be found; instead he charges in, gets in a melee with Oy, and then gets shot by Roland.The worst offender, however, was the Crimson King.  Throughout the series, he'd been built up as the epitome of evil in the multiverse.  When the final confrontation finally happened, however, this "ultimate evil" turned out to be a crazy old man tossing explosives from a balcony and shouting lame insults.  :\ I also didn't like the character of Patrick Danville, the "deus ex machina" of the story.Finally, I didn't really care for the epilogue with Susannah in an alternate-reality New York.  It felt unnecessary and tacked-on.Overall:  Overall, Book 7 was a good (but not great) ending to a fantastic book series.  I would have preferred some things handled differently, but overall I was happy with the book.</blockquote>

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