Londons Falling

very good

Rating: 5/5
Comments:
At first the narrator voice was a strange when reading the female lines but after getting used to it I think he does a excellent job and toward the end of the book I loved his narration. Keeps the book very creepy.

Dark Tower Series...meh

Rating: 3/5
Comments:
Since a trip with the Dark Tower series is a 7 book, 3000 page marathon, it only makes sense to review the whole series before someone commits themselves to such a massive undertaking. I've found most people fall under one of three categories:

1) Couldn't get past the Gunslinger.
2) Liked the first four Dark Tower novels, didn't like the last three.
3) Loved it and made it their new religion.

I fall closer to #2. I did like it up through Wolves of the Calla, but then it feels like King got antsy and wanted to unburden himself with this story. The last two books really turn it into a farce. The author plays too much of a central role and the characters and story suffer for it. The writing style changes, characters become inconsistent, earlier parts of the series are contradicted or ignored entirely. The ending is nonsense. Based on what I've read, King had the Wolves story somewhere in his mind before he had his accident. The storyline begins to change at that point and not for the better, in my opinion.

If you are an uncritical fan of everything Stephen King writes, by all means, take the plunge. Otherwise, I think you'll be disappointed.

Late to join the quest

Rating: 5/5
Comments:
For a long time I resisted buying and reading these books. I don't quite know why. I like Stephen King. I like post-apocalyptic dark fantasy alternative reality. But for some reason, I just balked. Then I finally gave in and managed to get almost all of them within a couple weeks (except Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5), which I've only just managed to track down, leaving me hanging half-way through for some months), and I started reading. What a world, what a world - and what a fascinating character is Roland Gilead, the last of the gunslingers.

From the sounds of things, Roland is ageless, near immortal, and has been chasing after the Man in Black for a very long time. It is while chasing the Man in Black through the desert that Roland meets up with the boy Jake at an abandoned way station - and Jake appears to be from our world; how he got to Roland's world is a mystery.

I won't ramble on about the plot - there are over 500 reviews here, plus long editorial reviews and I'm sure the plot is expressed well by someone else. I tend to throw out spoilers when I try, so I won't waste your time. I'll just say this: if you, like me, are unsure whether to go ahead and read these books - stop second-guessing yourself and go for it. Not only is the story entertaining, but it is also multi-layered. I have a feeling that reading it multiple times will result in multiple understanding - I've actually just finished reading it for the second time in less than a year, since I just got Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5) and thought it best that I re-read the first four books before going on, so I can refresh my memory, and I can see things I've missed. I think people who aren't generally fans of Stephen King's works might still enjoy The Dark Tower series, because it is different than his usual fare in many ways, even though it has webs of other stories that occasionally wind through it. Definitely give this series a try.