I’m an avid Stephen King fan. Read pretty much everything he’s written (and don’t get me wrong some of his books are garbage, but his best books are top 10 personal favorites). Which is why I keep trying to get into The Dark Tower but I just can’t. The first book is such a mess to me. I finally finished it after a 4th start and I honestly had a grasp of about 40% of what happened. Had to reread a synopsis and vaguely recalled everything.
Flash forward, now I’m halfway thru the second book and I can follow the story way easier but holy cow is it awful. This is, in my opinion, an awful fantasy series. I don’t understand anyone’s love of it. But to each there own, so I’m genuinely curious why anyone enjoys this series? Is there a two book hurdle to get past? Cause I’ve heard it just gets weirder.
by iRight34
48 Comments
I’m in the camp that says the series starts great and goes more or less steadily downhill. I consider The Gunslinger (particularly the OG version) to be an amazing, moody piece of work – if you didn’t like that one and Drawing of the Three you aren’t likely to enjoy the more generic books later in the series (maybe Wizard and Glass as a kind of standalone story, but I wouldn’t bet on it)
My experience, ymmv, first and second books are okay – set up to the world, introduce characters etc. Book 3 is one of the worst books I’ve ever read and I won’t re-read it ever… But, book 4… Book 4 is glorious and wonderful and worth every ounce of pain in getting to it. Book 4 is on my list of top 10 favorite books of all genres from all authors. (It’s a prequel, so I won’t snitch on you if you just skip ahead to it, no one needs to know.)
If you don’t enjoy it by the second book then just put it down, it doesn’t get any less Dark Tower-y, lol. Personally I enjoyed the first book and thought the second book was fucking amazing and then read the entire series in less than thirty days.
It checked all the boxes for me when it comes to ideas I enjoy reading in sci-fi and fantasy and it’s okay that you’re not into it. There are other books than these.
I liked the first two books, and book four, quite a bit, but quit at book five. I do think the series is a complete shit show and I’m surprised more people don’t have that opinion. It’s so all over the place and tonally inconsistent. I really think King took way too much time off between books and completely forgot what he was originally going for.
I’m the opposite. TDT is the only King books I enjoy. The mix of fantasy, sci-fi, western, is certainly odd and fascinating. I can see how someone would view the culmination of these genres as a mess but I think the execution is brilliant. I almost exclusively read fantasy and some sci-fi, so this series is up my ally. Drawing of the 3 and wizard and glass are two of my favorite fantasy books.
While I can’t say that every book in series is great, the overall series is wonderful. The world building, the lore, the character development, and the journey are all amazing. In the end just sounds like it isn’t for you.
I liked it, mainly because I like long fantasy series, but it wasn’t a greatly written one
I love this series so much, but I definitely get that its not for everyone.
I didn’t much care for the first book either though tbh. The only reason I kept going is that I had a friend that loved the series, swore by it, and told me it gets better. That said, I kind of agree with another use here that if you read the 2nd one and aren’t feeling it then it might not be a series you’ll enjoy. That said Books 1-4 each kind of have their own tone and flavor. 5-7 less so because they were written at the same time.
Oddly enough, part of what appeals to me is the messiness of the story. I think the way that King approaches this world is unique while at the same time very clearly drawing from his literary inspirations. The series does also get incredibly meta – which I enjoy, but is not everyone’s bag.
I enjoyed them all except Song Of Susannah. The first read through I didn’t appreciate the meta bits but after a reread, I thought it was ok! The first book I admit, I skim through, the second book is great and the third book sucks me in. The fourth rips my heart out. Now I want to read them again!
I think if you arent grabbed by book 2, it might not be for you though.
Its fucking batshit and weird, but it has some of the best descriptive imagery ive ever read. It only gets weirder as it goes on.
If you don’t enjoy it, stop.
I love the way that the Dark Tower world and themes weave through so much of King’s earlier work, the links to The Stand and Black House and such.
It makes the whole corpus a sort of meta-series, but also I did that six-shooters and sorcery thing.
I like the first 4 books, and parts of book 5, but after that the series falls apart for me
I agree the first book is…interesting. I liked it a lot more once I finished the series and reread it. That being said, Drawing of the Three is my favorite book of the 7.5 book series. I read them all and extended works last year based off this and in this order (It was long). https://digg.com/2017/how-to-read-the-dark-tower
Some of the responses are interesting to me in here. I absolutely love the Dark Tower series. But I hated the earlier books, particularly book one. It was written 20 years before the rest of them, and you can tell. My favorite of the series is the fourth book, wizard and Glass.
As far as why I love it, I think it’s just simply one of the most creative works of fiction ever written. It’s part science fiction, part Western, part horror, part suspense….
To each their own and all that, but personally from book three onwards I was hooked.
It’s like any book, you either like it or you don’t, me, or anyone tellikg you why we like it won’t suddenly make you like it.
If you aren’t enjoying it that’s ok, the rest of the books will be more like book 2 and there will be one more like book 1.
For the most part, from what I can tell, if you’re ae King fan, make it through the first few books, then it gets very King-like and more so each book as it goes along.
If you’re not a King fan, read the first book and stop. Or if just a casual King-fan, then maybe also this.
I like a few of his books, but overall would not call myself a fan. I loved the first book. I hated the rest. The first was so not-King like at all, it was great. Then they got more and more King-like and I lost interest fast.
From all others that I’ve talked to, big fans, casual fans, and non-fans, this was their consensus as well.
Definitely seems like it’s just not for you. I absolutely loved the second book and it’s a top 3 King book for me. But if you’re not liking it, then you definitely won’t like any more of it. Some things do end up making more sense the more that gets revealed, but it doesn’t seem like you’re invested enough to really care. Which is fine. But the “why” part is going to be hard to answer cause it’s all just preference. There are some people who wonder why people like ANY books by Stephen King and think of him as a terrible author. Just depends on the person.
Personally lost interest after the writer inserted himself into the series. Supernatural did it better. And the entire series falls apart if Jake would look both ways before crossing the street.
If you don’t like the second book you should definitely stop the series, because that’s the peak. Amazing book pretty much start to finish with a finale I still remember twenty years after I read it.
Ranking is something like this (my opinion is most correct)
Gunslinger: good book, a little pretentious at times as King himself admits, but has intriguing ideas, a sense of the arcane and macabre
Drawing: develops into something substantial. exciting; well written; good pace, best book
Wastelands and wizard: solid, Roland still awesome
Wolves: ok-ish. The A plot is acceptable but this is post-accident King where he clearly suffered some kind of cognitive impairment
Song of Susannah: ehhh
Dark Tower: genuinely one of the worst books I’ve ever read in my life and made me hate Stephen king for years after reading. A true failure of a book in almost every way and a huge disappointment, unworthy of Roland
I wouldn’t call King’s works garbage. Pulpy for sure with a certain allure as they are mostly easy reads, he carries dialogue and internal thoughts really well.
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Regarding TDT series, all I can say is it caught me right away (even book 1), mostly because I just wanted to see where he was going with it.
Other people have said it, but books 3 and 4 are noticably better. The final 3 are…a bit all over.
I can’t clearly articulate why I love the series. Something about the fantasy meets lovecraft meets wild west really clicks, but it doesn’t fir everyone.
I’k curious what your top 3 King books are. Most people I’ve met who like King and have read Dark Tower like it. I’ve met people who like King but haven’t read DT, and I’ve met people who tried DT but didn’t like it or King in general, but rarely people who like King in general but dislike DT.
I like things that are hard to define. Books, movies, shows, music that cross genres. The Dark Tower crosses about every genre I can think of. It was the first series I read back in high school that didn’t feel confined to anything. I will admit that does come across as “all over the place” to some people which is fine. It’s not for everyone.
The Gunslinger is great but I STRUGGLED through how long he spent on the beach in Drawing of the Three. Like how many times can he get brutalized by a giant lobster.
Made it to Song of Susannah but got tired. I’ll come back eventually.
Perhaps you have forgotten the face of your father.
I’ve never made it more than half way through any King novel other than the Dark Tower series. I would ask how you like that stuff… 🤷🏾
If you don’t like The Drawing of the Three you won’t like the rest. Put the book down and find one you do like.
I never understand the almost accusatory “why do you like” posts. “Hey, I’m not liking this series. Does it improve, or is it pretty much just like this?”
I enjoyed them even if they weren’t my typical style of book. Wizard and glass, though, which is book 4, is an absolutely phenomenal book. That book could probably be read as standalone and is easily a top 10 book of all time for me.
Yeah if you are not sold by the first “door” of book 2 this series is not for you and I doubt it will change.
I personally think it is King’s best work (taken as a whole it is my favorite with The Stand and 11/22/63 in the next two spots). But I do know King has said even among Constant Readers at speaking events he would have everyone who read one of his books raise their hand and every hand goes up, and he says keep your hand up if you have read The Dark Tower, and usually around half the hands go down.
I guess it is hard to say what I love about it, I had a hard time with the first book too (rougher and more pretentious writing from a much younger writer than he was with most of his classics). But I was sold by the end of the first chapter of the second book as it returned to the normal Kingian style of writing. I re-read it often, and tomorrow is the 8 year anniversary of my Dark Tower podcast so as you said to each their own.
But I will also say I find that most high fantasy books I have read to be insufferable trash, so I guess maybe the disconnect you have with this and fantasy is the exact reason this series resonates so much with me. Who knows.
What are some of your favorite books? I’m curious to see what you DO like.
I like it because it is bitter, and because it is my heart.
Relatable characters? Immersive worldbuilding? A gripping plot that moves the story forward in a pleasing and cohesive fashion?
Did I mention the tobacco was dry?
I love this series. “Go then , there are other worlds than these” is one of my favorite book quotes.
I think it might be different for those of us that read the books as they came out, and waited, and waited, and waited for the series to be finished.
That combined with how interwoven The Dark Tower is with so many of his other novels.
I like king so I gave it a go…1st book was meh to me, but by the 4th book I was all in.
The standoff between the boys and the coffin hunters where they keep getting the drop on the next person…I fucking LOVE that scene in the book…and I hope to see it done justice in live action one day.
Overall I have some gripes like anyone else…but I really like the idea of time being cyclical and how Roland eventually has a chance at happiness.
Sidenote: the movie with Elba was fucking insulting, not him or Matthew McConaughey, they were fine, the story was dogshit AND THEY GAVE HIM THE FUCKING HORN!
I read the first and never continued… I’ve been told I should read the second, that’s when it starts getting really good but it just didn’t do it for me
OP has forgotten the face of his father
I finished thr first one years ago, but could NOT get into the second one. Definitely not my favorite series from him. I googled the ending of the series and I’m glad I never read them!
All things serve the Tower.
I appreciated it more after reading a ton of other king books, then going back and starting dark tower again. You eventually start seeing how damn near everything he wrote either does or could relate to dark tower.
It just sounds like it’s not your thing. The fun of The Dark Tower is the fact that – even though Stephen King vehemently denies it – it’s a hella fun use of Meta-fiction to make a high fantasy using genre pastiche featuring tropes from westerns, medieval fantasy, futuristic sci-fi, and it all works because the dark tower is the intersection of all possible realities.
Granted, you don’t get to the heart of the series – the Ka-tet until you have finished book 2. And the relationship between roland and his crew – including Eddie who you would have met – makes the story so much more enjoyable. They’re an enjoyable cast of characters.
Plus there are easter eggs from other King Novels who have varying levels of plot relevance, from the Man in Black to other stephen king characters, they all get to intersect.
It is wonderfully messy to me, a weird agglomeration of influences that shouldn’t gel, but because King is so damn confident about it, it just works.
But taste being what it is, you should probably just drop it.
I love it because it is quite literally connected to almost every other book he had written, someone actually mapped it out once. It was amazing.
There are moments in every Dark Tower book that make you go “holy fucking shit, that was some of the most badass, epic writing I’ve ever read, aesthetics are amazing, I’m rooting so hard for the characters, I remember the face of my father, hell YES!”
AND
In every Dark Tower book there are moments that make you go “This is the cringiest, stupidest bullshit I’ve ever read in my life. The *lobsters* get his fingers?? The talking *train* is evil?! Why the *fuck* are we in Oz now, literal Oz?! There are Dr. Doom horse-riding robot wolves and they carry light sabers and *exploding golden snitches literally from the Harry Potter books*?! What drugs were you *ON,* Stephen King?!”
The problem is that you always have both, it’s just the degree of each that changes per book, and in between putting the series down because you’re so fed up with the weird shit, you start to forget how weird it was. All you remember is the cool stuff. And then you miss Roland and Jake and Susannah and Eddie and hey, I wonder what happens to those guys…
Hard disagree. To me it’s one of the greatest American fantasy series; uniquely so because it uses a distinctly Western motif – the gunslinger – instead of basically watered down Celtic / Norse lore. It’s an insane, wild ride, by turns camp, surreal, thriller, epic, dystopian, at times awkwardly self-referential, and, on occasion, pure poetry. It’s a 700-mile trek across a plain of broken glass and lead and jagged words looking for a clearing at the end of the path. It’s the series that inspired me to write.
If by book three (Wizard and Glass) you haven’t fallen in love, turn away, wordslinger. Not everyone can walk the path of the beam. Not everyone should.
I’d agree that the first book can be confusing and make references to things that you couldn’t possibly know unless you keep reading. I’ve made the journey twice and the second time was definitely better than the first. The Dark Tower is by far my favorite series to read and to recommend to people who are interested in picking up a series to read.
Just keep reading it, I am sure you’ll like it the more it starts to make sense.
Long days and pleasant nights.
I happen to love the Gunslinger series. I’m not saying you’re wrong I’m just saying I like it. But I would give you one piece of advice .do not read the last book. I absolutely hate the ending of the book. If you’re already hating the books you’re going to lose your shit if you read the ending of it.
Omg same. I LOVE King and this was so disappointing to the point of being triggering. I WANTED to love it, I TRIED, but man… I just CAN’T.