Aleks' Domain

I have been toying with the idea of adding a book reviews section on my website. Or blog. Call it whatever you want. It turns out that I really like this idea. So, what a better way to start this section off than reviewing the last book of the Dark Tower series? Oh, and I’m obligated to give the classical “Warning! Spoilers ahead!” warning. So,

The Dark Tower cover.

Commala-come-come, sang The Dark Tower now just over the horizon. Commala-come-come, gunslinger may ya come. Commala-come-Roland, the journey’s nearly done.

After years and years of travelling with Roland, when I read that I think my heart skipped a beat. Roland was finally going to get to the tower! Oh man.

Unless you’ve read the other six books before this one, this book won’t make much sense to you, I’m afraid. And its a shame too. The characters feel as if though they are real people. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that Roland of Gilead is my favourite character of all time. Yes, thats how much I admire him. He is a real hero. Superman has nothing on him.

I remember when I finished reading The Gunslinger, the first book of the Dark Tower series, it seemed as if though Roland was on this quest of his to reach the Tower on his own. Boy, was I wrong. To make a long story short, Roland becomes dinh of a ka-tet of 5. He wasn’t going to reach the Tower on his own anymore…but with friends! W00t! Roland learns to love them, and becomes a different man altogether. I was really hoping they would come to the Dark Tower together.

So it came to me as a surprise when Eddie, Jake and Oy died. I hope you read the spoilers warning above. If you didn’t, too bad. Next time, read everything. My eyes almost welled up with tears; these characters have been with us since the second and first novels! And they die in the last one…damn. As for Susannah, she leaves Roland on his journey to the Tower by going to a parallel universe where Eddie and Jake exist.

I will skip over some plot points. Not that they aren’t important or anything, believe me, they are. But I want you to figure them out on your own. I want you to cheer for the ka-tet as they save the Beam. Or as they make a narrow escape from the Dixie Pig. Plus, I am too flabbergasted by the ending to write much about this novel anyway. For those of you who have read the Dark Tower series know exactly how I feel. How will his journey be different this time around? Sure, he has the Horn of Eld this time, and the Tower promised it would be different next time, but HOW WILL IT BE DIFFERENT!? IS HE DOOMED TO REPEAT HIS JOURNEY FOR ALL OF ETERNITY?! HOW LONG MUST A MAN STAND TRUE!? Give Roland a break! Who knows how many times he has reached the tower before? Probably hundreds of times! The next time better be the last.

It’s just a shame King won’t be writing about it anymore. I want Roland to enter the room at the top of the Tower (for the last time) and see the whole universe layed out before him. Every parallel world, every soul, everything just simply layed out before him. I want the sight of what he sees to be too powerful for words to describe. So powerful, that Roland begins to cry at the beauty of what he seeing. And as he enters, the door closes after him slowly, and stays closed forever.

That, my friends, would be my ending.

But other than that, this book is a grand read of epic proportions. I don’t like giving ratings like 5/5 or 10/10 stars. That sort of rating system is too linear. Words are much better. Just know that the Dark Tower series has become one of my favourite series of all time. And it’s with good reason too. This book is simply amazing, just like the others in the series. It truly is sai King’s opus maximus.