Book Club discussion

Finally done with the Dark Tower Series. I'll get to the ending later. Spoilers.

Actually I'm going to talk about the ending first because I think I have a better way to end the book.

I think it would've been a lot better to end the book without the Roland epilogue. I know there's a part that says don't read any further because you'll only be disappointed, but that's a cop-out.

In my opinion I would've rather seen the tower consume Roland. Rather than being trapped on the balcony on in one of the towers room, Roland should've become part of the structure of the tower. Not quite swallowed by it, but his spirit should've become part of Gan and whatever restores the beam. Roland has always been consumed with the tower so it would make sense that the tower would consume him. Also, Roland clearly cannot rule the tower, he is unfit as a ruler, and has shown no great desire for power.

Also, is it tragic that Susanna is sent back to a non-keystone world? No gunslinger can be happy in a non-keystone world. The notion that she could find happiness with an erstatz Jake and Eddie also sounds like a pretty weak ending to me.

Having the tower send Roland back is no ending at all. It's the equivalent to "AND THEN HE WOKE UP. THE END." Except this one leaves the door open for a sequel/movie. Great work on that one.

Otherwise, this was one of the stronger books in the series. There were some really good moments. I think the prayer for Jake was really well done. Modred started off strong, the manner in which he kills the man in black is super creepy and gross, but in a good horror way.

The way that people eat puss and boogers is super creepy and gross, but in a bad horror way. Just something that I don't want to read. The author is a key plot point in the narrative, but seems like he's talked about less, or I've gotten more used to it, so okay. The author uses the book to talk about his legacy and compare himself to other authors. That's a bit tedious, but, okay, hard not to do. The books would be a bit better if the author could resist the temptation to do a few of these things though.

So the ending was bad. But, it's not about the ending, it's about the journey. And there were parts of the journey that were pretty tedious too. But, okay, long journeys are usually like that. So, what do we have? There are some decent moments in there. A world that is complex and detailed and filled with a lot of great imagination. Not exactly my jam, but, I can appreciate the effort.