Group 4: The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower

[mae]

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, 2004
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/510/medium/TDT_trade_face.jpg

Please grade The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Tower_VII:_The_Dark_Tower) in the following three areas using the grades A, B, or C:


Strength of Plot
Character Development
Quality of the Story's Ending


If you haven't read this book yet, please vote Never Read. Feel free to discuss your votes in this thread.

Please base your vote only on this book's own merits, not how it fits into the series as a whole.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure to select only one grade in each grading area. For complete instructions, see this post (http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/showpost.php?p=314275&postcount=1).

[Jean]

BAA

[mae]

Straight Bs here, I'm afraid.

[Tito_Villa]

AAB still not sure of the ending!

[Ruthful]

Straight A's.

I would have given the (final) ending an A+ if that option was available.

[John_and_Yoko]

BAA

I'm with bears here.

I'd LIKE to give it straight A's, but the plot could have been done better, been less convoluted.

[Sam]

BCA, and I'll explain. The plot needed a little more work before it could have garnered an "A". With this being the final story in a series, we have met and learned the main characters, so any characterization grade must come from the secondary characters. I found most of them well done except for the one character who mattered most, The Crimson King. I would have liked more on this character. Almost everything about him is indirect and through other characters. I just would have liked more.

[Melike]

Straight A's.

I would have given the (final) ending an A+ if that option was available.

:couple:

AAA. If it was possible, I would be giving all A's in the world.

[turtlex]

A's across the board for me.

Frankly - I give it A's just for Roland's Call at the Tower!

I come in the name of Steven Deschain, he of Gilead!
I come in the name of Gabrielle Deschain, she of Gilead!
I come in the name of Cortland Andrus, he of Gilead!
I come in the name of Cuthbert Allgood, he of Gilead!
I come in the name of Alain Johns, he of Gilead!
I come in the name of Jamie DeCurry, he of Gilead!
I come in the name of Vannay the Wise, he of Gilead!
I come in the name of Hax the Cook, he of Gilead!
I come in the name of David the hawk, he of Gilead and the sky!
I come in the name of Susan Delgado, she of Mejis!
I come in the name of Sheemie Ruiz, he of Mejis!
I come in the name of Pere Callahan, he of Jerusalem’s Lot, and the roads!
I come in the name of Ted Brautigan, he of America!
I come in the name of Dinky Earnshaw, he of America!
I come in the name of Aunt Talitha, she of River Crossing, and will lay her cross here, as I was bid!
I come in the name of Stephen King, he of Maine!
I come in the name of Oy, the brave, he of Mid-World!
I come in the name of Eddie Dean, he of New York!
I come in the name of Susannah Dean, he of New York!
I come in the name of Jake Chambers, he of New York, whom I call my own true son!
I am Roland of Gilead, and I come as myself; you will open to me.

[Hannah]

All C's from me. I thought the plot sucked, thought the character development sucked and the ending sucked hardest. :D

[turtlex]

Hannah - I disagree, but had to :lol: because you always say exactly what you think, and that is so freaking endearing!! I love that about you! Always will.

[Hannah]

:couple: I love that you love that - most people find it annoying. :lol:

[fernandito]

♪ ABC , it's easy as 123 , ABC , 123 ♪

[Brice]

All C's from me. I thought the plot sucked, thought the character development sucked and the ending sucked hardest. :D

That's a lot of sucking.

Should I?Someone's gonna'! Might as well.That's what she said.

[alinda]

BBC

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

All C's from me. I thought the plot sucked, thought the character development sucked and the ending sucked hardest. :D

I agree with you 100%

[turtlex]

Hannah - I disagree, but had to :lol: because you always say exactly what you think, and that is so freaking endearing!! I love that about you! Always will.


:couple: I love that you love that - most people find it annoying. :lol:

Oh no way ... takes a lot of guts to be forthright and honest like that, and I can do nothing but admire that about you. :huglove:

[Daghain]

AAA. This is my second favorite of the series.

[Jon]

The ending was a let down to this reader who waited since the early 80's.

[ArtherEld]

Best of the series.

Best ending to a series. In fact I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Everytime I think of movie possibilities I think, that ending has to be done, and done right too.

[whiskey]

BBC

The new characters sucked. The artist and the Crimson King and Joe the Vampire. All sucked.

The plot was very good up until Eddie's 'situation' occured. After that, it got awful.

Then one of the main characters in the Steve King multiverse gets offed by a spider baby. Super, super lame. I mean, i literally threw the book across the room.

The ending. You know, I can live with the ending. I understood what it meant. For Roland and for everyone else. But in all honesty (and this is just my own personal opinion/theory) is I think King had built up what the tower was, and what it meant, and what/who/when was IN it, that when he got there, he didn't exactly know what to do. I think he was hoping all along that the idea would come to him at the end, and it didn't, and I think his ending was a cop out, because he didn't know what to do.

Like I said, it's a theory, and I admit, it's *probably* wrong. But it IS a theory.

Doesn't stop the series from being an all time epic. But.......it could have been THE all time epic.

[Ruthful]

Best of the series.

Best ending to a series. In fact I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Everytime I think of movie possibilities I think, that ending has to be done, and done right too.

I realize a lot of people disagree with my assessment of the ending, but I thought the conclusion was absolutely perfect. After I finished it, I was left completely stunned, despite the fact that I could see where it was leading. That was one of the few times that the conclusion to a novel literally knocked my breath out.

[C~Dog]

AAA.

One of the best in the series. I was originally a little put of by the fact that Walter was slain so easily and not of Roland's hand, but after thinking about it I agree with the view that King wanted to show that Walter (and the King) were not the greatest forces Roland and his Ka-tet had to face in the end.

[pathoftheturtle]

...Joe the Vampire... sucked.
...:lol:



Best of the series.

Best ending to a series. In fact I've been thinking about it a lot lately. Everytime I think of movie possibilities I think, that ending has to be done, and done right too.

I realize a lot of people disagree with my assessment of the ending, but I thought the conclusion was absolutely perfect. After I finished it, I was left completely stunned, despite the fact that I could see where it was leading. That was one of the few times that the conclusion to a novel literally knocked my breath out.Jeez, you guys make it sound almost like no one had ever used that idea before in any single other story (not to say dozens and dozens of others). It has been done... and done... and done. So what does done "right" mean? Exactly like this novel? :yawn: Srsly, I hope that new ground is broken.

[BROWNINGS CHILDE]

Missed this poll, but my grade would have been BAA.

[mae]

The poll has closed. This round The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower has earned an OAG (overall average grade) of 2.555555556 or 85.19% in addition to its FAS (final average score), making it 7.044191920 or 88.05%. In 2009, The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower received an OAG of 2.626373626 for a FAS of 7.293040293, so it lost 0.248848373 (-3.41%) this time.

Grade breakdown:
Strength of Plot: 2.638888889 (87.96%)
Character Development: 2.583333333 (86.11%)
Quality of the Story's Ending: 2.444444444 (81.48%)

[TheDarkel]

BBA On my second read through the series, I really appreciated the gravity of the ending.

[stone, rose, unfound door]

AAA