sampo24's Full Review: Stephen King - The Dark Tower
My own personal quest to reach the end of the Dark Tower series may not have been quite as memorable as Roland's, but it certainly was a long, frustrating trip. I remember picking up The Gunslinger when I was in high school over fifteen years ago and being instantly transported into the dying land of Mid-World and being set on the same quest, wanting to see the Dark Tower myself. I remember feeling the same pain and losses that Roland did along the way. I remember the anger I felt at the end of the Waste Lands, because it continues my favorite of all the books in the series and because it also happens to have The Most Frustrating Cliffhanger EVER to be Written. When Wizard and Glass came out six years later, I was just finishing up basic training and was only just able to read civilian books again. The first book I bought? Stephen King and the further adventures Adventures of Roland and his ka-tet. It was good enough to almost allow me to forgive Stephen King for taking so long to return to Roland's work. And then another long six year wait until the last three books. I feel that that the series took a strange turn in books five and six and I did not always agree with the direction it took. I had my own doubts the the series would resolve itself to my own satisfaction. But in the end, Roland did reach the Dark Tower. And though it may not have ended the way I expected, I believe that ka won out in the end and all received what they paid for in this trail of blood and tears, be it good or ill.
That said, Stephen King managed to write a wonderful series and that was no small feat. He created a world that either it's readers love or hate. There is no gray area when it comes to the Dark Tower. And those that read them are generally a rabid bunch. At the same time, because we are such a rabid bunch, it gives the author a lot to live up to. I can't imagine anyone who hasn't questioned whether King can really deliver the prize again and make his readers happy with how he ends the story. He even warns readers ahead of time to stop the book before Roland reaches it, because he knows there's no way that he can please everyone one and that it's better to allow the readers to imagine what awaits Roland when he finally reaches the tower for themselves. Luckily for people like me who just HAVE to know how it ends, he doesn't really stop there. And he most likely won't please everyone, but I found the ending to be quite fitting.
On to the nuts and bolts of the book itself. Susannah/Mia is in the process of giving birth to baby Mordred, son of both Roland and the Crimson King and the child that could end everything. Jake and Father Callahan are fighting against impossible odds in their attempt to rescue her. Roland and Eddie are still working to protect the Tower in the Keystone World and find that ka has put some very important people in their path to safeguard it.
When the ka-tet finally manage to reassemble, they had off into the land of Thunderclap in order to stop the Breakers from destroying the beam of Shardik. Of course there's going to be a battle, but what would normally be the highlight of any other book is only the opening act of an even more difficult and painful journey.
At the same time, Roland and friends must find a way to secure the only other remaining beam, which is held up by none other than Stephen King. Though I found the idea of King making himself a character in his own story to be one of the most annoying things about The Song of Susannah, I think by this point I was able to get used to it and not see it as a sign of conceit anymore. Rather King makes a point that although a writer is often seen as "god", often the story gets away from him to the point that bad things still happen, whether the "god" wishes it or not. In some ways the story writes itself as ka demands. It took two books to convince me, but I feel more satisfied now. King is destined to be killed by a driver while taking his afternoon walk and Roland must reach him to make sure that does not happen or else the final Dark Tower books will not be written. Familiar territory, eh? Maybe it was also a form of catharsis for King the person, a way for him to make sense of his own close brush with death. I don't know, but it did end up working well into the story and the fact that King actually managed to do that is a pretty impressive thing.
And Roland's horrible son, Mordred, continues to follow behind. I actually found King's portrayal of Mordred to be one of the best parts of the story. Mordred is horrible, yet pitiable at the same time, a monster that is yearning for power. Yet, Mordred still has a sense of loneliness and pathos to him that reminds the reader that he is simply a child that is caught up in the story and his own role in it. It is impossible not to feel pity for Mordred and feel that the lines between good and evil are not as clear as we wish to believe.
In the end, the path to the Dark Tower is paved with blood and sorrow. (And I have only covered a fraction of what happens in this book. After all, this is a Stephen King book, so it's not exactly short.) It is a long, hard journey where friends and loved ones fall by the wayside in order to reach it. Whether the price is too large to pay is questionable at times. And many things are still left to our imagination. But as King tries to warn us, that probably is better. We can fill in the blanks well enough on our own. But all good things must come to an end and this one ends well.
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