My Ranking of the Books in Stephen King's "Dark Tower" Series
Submitted by shan2001 on Sun, 06/26/2005 - 11:19
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- I believe I read the first 3 books in spring of 2003; the 4th one during that summer; the 5th in January 2005; with the last two read just this month. I'm pretty fuzzy about the first 3 books, so I will likely revise my commentary later. My rankings may actually change once I've skimmed through the first three books again also.
- The Wastelands (Book 3) - Roland is reunited with Jake; the ka-tet travels through Lud & Mid-World and encounters Blaine the Mono. I enjoyed the whole concept of the "Wastelands": this endless, desolate, post-technological, post-Armageddon place of ruin. I also enjoyed the blending of our world with Roland's world, and this book is where King pulls this off most successfully. It becomes annoying later in the series however.
- Wizard and Glass (Book 4) - I truly don't understand all the animosity that readers have towards this book! Sure, it breaks the pace of the "journey" to the Tower, but it comes at the right time. Not too soon, not too close to the end; it's position as the 4th was perfect. Roland's past in Mejis was a delightful tale; Mejis & Gilead were delightful places; you get a better understanding of him and where he comes from. And the world of Mejis stands in stark contrast to where Roland finds himself now. This was the one book that could stand on its own, yet it does have it's place in the series.
- Wolves of the Calla (Book 5) - I don't understand the animosity towards this book either! I truly enjoyed the gang's adventures in the Calla. There's something about small towns and odd town-folk that King does so well... :-p Lots of memorable words and phrases originated with this book, I believe. Such as "commala" "Thank ya, big-big" and other delightful oddities. And Andy: definitely one of my favorite characters in the series, lol. More Andy-like robots show up later in the series, but Andy was the best, by far!
- The Gunslinger (Book 1) - I barely remember what happened in this book, lol. I don't believe it was the best or the worst, so this seems like a safe spot. Plus it's home to everyone's favorite line: "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed."
- The Dark Tower (Book 7) - To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that the ending was satisfying and fulfilling. I did not hate it. It did not suck. Yet some things were set in motion to seem very important, but ended up being nothing more than minor nuisances. That is what bothered me most about this book. If you look at it from the standpoint of "It was ALWAYS about the Tower, and nothing else", it does make sense that these seemingly big things turned out to be anti-climatic. The ending itself was very fitting though.
- The Drawing of the Three (Book 2) - This one was definitely action-packed. It's ranked pretty low on my list though. I didn't like the whole "door" business. It's always felt like a cheap "convenience" thrown in to make the writing easier for King. And this book was all about the doors. And I definitely started out not liking Eddie or Odetta/Detta/Susannah. Call me a psych nerd, but Detta/Odetta does NOT have what the book keeps referring to as schizophrenia! It's actually a totally different disorder, called Multiple Personality Disorder. :-p Why is that so hard? I remember thinking, these are the ones that are destined to go with Roland? Why are they both from New York in the later part of the 1900s? Too many convenience moments for me.
- Song of Susannah (Book 6) - The only good thing about this story was the little rhymes King added at the end of each chapter. Otherwise... way too many convenience moments. And the whole "climatic arc" of this book: the child... well. See my commentary for Book 7. :-p This book and its storyline seemed like filler.
I'm in the middle of Book 6 right now and I agree with your ranking. I'm not enjoying it that much. I'm surprised that people don't like Book 4 as well. I thought the Mejis flashback was one of the best sections of the entire series.