The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (Hardcover)

But in The Dark Tower, he stops that and fast. Unlike the last two entries, this book harks back to an older style of Dark Tower book: action, lots of action, and good action to boot. The way the story flows most strongly resembles The Waste Lands, my favourite book of the series up to this. One thing King uses very well is the plot device of having himself in the story, he really plays around with it, and it works. This book has everything: great joy, terrible sorrow, suspense, horror, love, and most important of all: everybody's favourite characters return. Roland and his ka-tet are all present, of course, but Walter's back, too. And a certain author is still knocking around... New characters appear as well, such as Roland's half-human son, Mordred (brilliantly written, and nasty as hell.), and his OTHER father, The Crimson King, is finally more than just a menacing prescence. I won't mention any other new characters, but those of you who know your Dark Tower connections in SK's other work will see a few friendly faces.

Kicking in where the cliffhander ending of volume six left off, we find Jake and Pere Callahan (accompanied by Oy) entering the Dixie Pig in search of Susannah. It's a tense situation, and we love it. Kudos to King for the echoes of 'Salem's Lot. Susannah is handling her own escape plans, and trying to avoid her newborn son (who has a nasty habit of turning into a spider). On top of this, Walter's in the shadows, and his motives are far more ulterior than we suspected, this guy's only in it for himself. Meanwhile, in Keystone America (as the real world is called), Roland and Eddie have to get back to the future, but it's never as easy as it sounds....

It's only after the Tet re-unite and return to Mid-world that things really get going. Their first port of call is Thunderclap and the Devar-toi (which is where the Breakers hang out), and then it's on to the tower, and whatever the tower contains, but the road is dangerous, and there are many ways to die and worlds to do it in...

Overall, I found the book extremely hard to put down from beginning to end, and it may well be one of the best books King has ever written. I know some of you want to know if there's a happy ending, but as Sai King says, ultimately, there's no such thing. The end may not be everything you hoped for, but the journey was definitely worth it. I'm just sorry it's over.

*****/*****

The Dark Tower VII sends you on an emotional roller coaster that takes you back to the good old days when King really knew how to tell a story. There were times when I had to put the book down and walk away just to recover from what I'd just learned. There were times when King weaves so much of himself into the threads (figuratively AND literally) that you sometimes can't tell where reality ends and fiction begins. This is the only book I've read in a long time that just doesn't play it safe. There's so much joy, pain, sadness, heartache - this is not for the faint-hearted. If you have built up any emotional connection over the years to any of the main characters, trust me - there will be times when you just won't know where to put yourself.

I finished this book a couple of months ago and so have had time to reflect on the ending. Make no mistake, this IS the end. My initial reaction was of the "you gotta be kidding" variety, but the more I think about it (and you WILL be thinking about it for a long time to come, this book just wont leave you alone even after you've closed its covers for the last time), the more I believe it is the only way. Simple, quiet, final. And so so right as a conclusion to an epic. Now I just think: "wow..."