I have been to the top of the Dark Tower!... and it is a bummer

Finally I finished the seventh and last book in what King likes to think of as his LOTR.. The Dark Tower VII.

I am trying to think back to when my Mom gave me the first book in the series, The Gunslinger and how I got sucked into this long drawn out story.  I think at the time I was more into Anne Rice and her vampire tales (Josh got me hooked on her).  By the time I got to The Gunslinger two other books was out in the series, The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands with soon to be released Wizards of Glass.  So I had the pleaser to be able to read all three right in order one after another.  And then King kept us waiting as he churned out his other books, witch I got sucked into also because if you looked and listened close, you may just see the clues and hints that lead you back to The Dark Tower story.  Admittedly if you read book VII King admits unconsciously he had done that and was putting off the Dark Tower. (pissing fans off world wide BTW).  I think I misunderstood until my Mom explained it to me (making me feel stupid) but I thought it all took place in one world but at different times, but Mom insisted that it was different worlds with many times and to her that is what made it so cool I think, plus she just loves King so much.  It a given that the book The Stand, when I read it in High School I had nightmares about it (I think this also leads into my desire to be always prepared to leave the city at a moments notice and have a stock pile of camping gear and food lol) and my interest was peaked when I saw Randall Flag as a recurring charter in The Dark Tower. So I read them all up to Wizard and Glass and then he left us waiting, till he got his life nearly taken with that car wreck and decided to get back to the DK. 

 A lot had happen to me in that time period that he had taken off between books.  I had children, was married, grew up some but most of all I became a Christian.  My focus was taken off of horror fantasy and I lost track of Stephen King and his other books.  I did read Bag of Bones and Dolores Claiborne and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon but my heart wasn't into it any more nor was it for Anne Rice and her Witches and Vampires.  My love for the darker side of fiction faded away and my love for The Bible and devotional about The Lord grew with a hunger and thirst that even surprised myself.  So when it came time to declutter (like a good flylady baby) and donate to The Veterans Thrift Store I followed the rule of "If you don't love it toss it."  I did not love King and Rice anymore and they was just catching dust on my shelves so to my Mother's Horror I donated them.  I remember my brother Tommy was living with us and he was looking at the boxes of stuff I was putting out and saw the books and He said "HEY I haven't read those yet, and aren't those mom's any ways?"  I shrugged him off saying he needed to focus on nonfiction more than fiction and Mom had other copies or else she wouldn't have given those to me.  The Vets need them more than you and her lol. (she still wasn't happy about hearing what I did, those books cost money you know).

So time marched on and I wasn't even aware that last year the V book came out in hard back until doing some Blog hopping and found a link to King's official website (one I used to have in my favs when we had webtv but long forgot about).  I saw it and got excited and called my Mom up.  She laughed and said she thought I knew, she had already read it and was awaiting the sixth book release.  When I went up North to be with her for the surgery it was far from my mind but afterwards I looked at her book self and saw all those old friends there.  She lent me her copy of The Wolves of the Calla after making me promise NOT to give it away and return it to her next time we see each other.

So to my husband's dismay I got sucked back into The Dark Tower.  Josh has never read the books, he has better things to do he says and loves to give me a hard time about how I can sit for days on end until I reach the end of a book.  He groans each time I go to the Library.

As you may recall I finished Song of Susannah and the rant I did on it and how I have been reading the last one, witch is more like 3 books in one since it is broken up and is over 800 pages!  All threw the book my son kept asking me "Have they made it to The Tower yet?  Will you tell me what is in the Dark Tower when you are done?"  He wants to read the books ofcourse but I insist he is too young and that maybe, maybe when he is 15 he can start on them.

Today I finished it!! Close call since the book is due tomorrow and can't be renewed because it is on reserve.  After dinner I teased my son.  "Zane! I know what is at the top of the Dark Tower!!" "What is there Mom?" Josh rolls his eyes at us. "If I tell you it will ruin it for you. Ha ha ha you have to wait till you can read the books for yourself".  I am so mean some times huh? *evil grin*

*******************SPOILER ALERT****************

So this is where I review the book and give my rant on it.  It will have details that Will spoil it for you if you want to read the stories. So beware.

This book is soooooo long and I cannot go into each detail fully for charter limits lol.  Will say there are some great twists and turns along the way to The Tower.  The KaTet is broken up and reunited and then sadly broken for good.  Was there any dought that Roland would make it to his Tower alone? Sure there was a hope that beloved charters like Eddie and Jake would make it but nope, they die but die well like true gunslingers. So does Oy, the best friend a gunslinger could ever hope for.  Roland does soften in this story and if only he would have cry off his quest for the Tower he could live a happy life!  He was told as such after they saved The Beam and freed the Breakers!  All would be restored he didn't have to go to The Dark Tower.  As readers we wanted him to go, to actually see it ourselves threw his eyes.  Ofcourse King makes many appearances in this book or his likeness does.  I will admit it was cool and I probably would have done something similar but no one would care IF I DID, I am a nobody and would not be recognized.  I wonder how much he wrote is fiction and how much is truth but he is a good talespinner indeed.  He does give us a happy ending for Eddie and Susannah and Jake and a promise for Oy too.  I must admit I cried some when Roland cried out each name of those he had lost in his quest, it was a very moving scene.  Then he ends it without us seeing Roland in the Tower but gives us finally what we want but not without a warning that we would be disappointed if we read on and a pleading to stay with the happy ending. NO WAY could I do that and he knew, oh he knew.

Do you want to know? Really know??  That is the point of the whole series isn't it?  I thought so but I was wrong again lol.  What is in The Dark Tower and what is at the top really didn't matter, the biggest thing was saving the beams and the many universes, aworthy cause but Roland and us would always be drawn to The Tower if we didn't find out.

Roland has my pity and my tears.  As my father once said when I asked him if after we die if he thought we would come back again his answer was "I sure as Hell hope not! How terrible it would be to have to redo it all again. Nope we only die once and we only get one chance to live life".  Sadly for Roland that is not the case but my hope is one of these times, how ever long that may take, He will cry off his quest and LIVE for real, for keeps and change what is at the top of that Tower.  What is there now is nothing but Purgatory, a loop around and around till he gets back to where it all starts and all ends.  Yep, Ka is a wheel! 

************End of Spoiler, Read on***************

LOL Was that coded enough for ya?  My only big complaint is how he treats the name of Jesus and kinda mocks God all together.  King has some issues and all I can do is pray for him.  Would leaving those things out hurt the story, well maybe and I am bias because I am a Christian.  I know I could never write such things about God, because it would hurt my soul too much to defile him in that way.  For me there are NO OTHER Worlds than this and it is all for keeps.  As C.S Lewis once said (paraphrasing) If there was multiple worlds Christ would have to die multiple times for those worlds sins, and as he said on the cross IT IS FINISHED.  I know Mormon's believe if they reach some level of maturity they become a god and will have a world to rule and rein over like this one.. hooey.  Scratching my head over that one since I don't see that anywhere in the Bible.

Well, that is the end. The end of my reading of King and any other books he may put out in the future.  I do believe him when he says this would be a good spot for him to retire, Kingdom Hospital sucked lol.