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View Full Version : Bracket #10: The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)



Jean
02-11-2012, 09:59 AM
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower, 2004
http://www.thedarktower.org/gallery/data/525/medium/darktowercover.jpg

Please vote for The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Tower_VII:_The_Dark_Tower) using the following scale:

5: I loved it
4: It was good
3: Average
2: Only so-so
1: I didn't like it

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.

Jean
02-11-2012, 10:04 AM
5 minus

a BIG minus

mae
02-11-2012, 11:31 AM
I went with a four. Didn't love it, but it was a good fitting conclusion. Loved the latter part of the book, but ambivalent about the end.

Jean
02-11-2012, 11:39 AM
I thought about a four, but couldn't make myself do it. It is a very imperfect book, but perfection isn't really necessary for great literature. It is eclectic, and often in bad taste, and somehow fitful - as if a dying man was trying to put into one feverish speech everything, while there still was some time left - and uneven, incoherent, whatever. All this taken together makes one masterpiece, as it is often the case with big literature.

divemaster
02-11-2012, 12:22 PM
I gave it a 4. I loved the "fate of Roland" ending and much of the rest of the story, but the fate of Flagg and the whole Dandelo and the eraser boy was weak.

blavigne
02-11-2012, 12:41 PM
Parts of this I loved, parts made me cry, parts I hated and the end left me spinning, even now I feel rather ambivalent about it in many ways. Any story that can do all that gets a 5.

BROWNINGS CHILDE
02-11-2012, 05:37 PM
Gave it a 4.

Garrell
02-11-2012, 06:38 PM
5. Loved the ending and really loved the part with the "emotional vampire". 2nd best book in series behind the mighty Wolves.

Shannon
02-11-2012, 07:10 PM
A 5. My second favorite in the series behind Wizard And Glass. Loved the Coda. LOVED the Coda. What a great way to end the series.

I seem to remember Randall Flagg dying. Is this true? This can't be, right? Right? :(

Merlin1958
02-11-2012, 07:21 PM
A 5. My second favorite in the series behind Wizard And Glass. Loved the Coda. LOVED the Coda. What a great way to end the series.

I seem to remember Randall Flagg dying. Is this true? This can't be, right? Right? :(

What the hell am I going to do with you, Shannon? LOL LOL LOL

I keep trying and trying!!!! WE WILL MAKE YOU A "TRUE" collector, yet!!!

Garrell
02-11-2012, 07:53 PM
LOL, at least he read these:)

Merlin1958
02-11-2012, 07:54 PM
LOL, at least he read these:)

True!! Congrats!!!

Shannon
02-11-2012, 09:00 PM
lol yaaaayyy me! :)

frik
02-11-2012, 11:46 PM
A huge let-down.

2

sk

candy
02-12-2012, 02:39 AM
a 3 from me,

I loved the ending, but the fate of The Crimson King and Flagg left a very bad taste in my mouth after following them in different books for so many years, I expected better

pathoftheturtle
02-12-2012, 03:05 AM
I thought about a four, but couldn't make myself do it. ...Agreed. It IS a very imperfect book, but I could not honestly say any less than love for the book featuring many great characters' fine endings, regardless of our feelings about Roland's. (and TMIB's, too, I guess)

(Not this year, I honestly couldn't, anyway.)

DoctorDodge
02-13-2012, 04:49 AM
5. It's big, it's epic, and, while there are some points I didn't like, however major or not, they were very, very few and far between.

Also, along with Life on Mars, it's got one of my favourite endings to any work of fiction of all time.

fernandito
02-13-2012, 11:34 AM
3.

I love everything about this book right up until the ending. If I'm being a bit honest, the ending soured the series for me a bit, I absolutely hated it and it's the chief reason I'm always hesitant to give the series a reread.

Jean
02-13-2012, 11:46 AM
I love it how the two comments above directly follow each other!http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif

DoctorDodge
02-13-2012, 12:12 PM
:lol: Agreed, Jean. It may amaze me a little that someone could actually hate the ending, but then, it amazed me that someone could think Life on Mars is just 'ok'. I'm pretty much used to people not sharing my tastes by now. Something one must learn to accept.

Doesn't make 'em any less wrong, though! :D

alkanto
02-13-2012, 03:37 PM
3.

I love everything about this book right up until the ending. If I'm being a bit honest, the ending soured the series for me a bit, I absolutely hated it and it's the chief reason I'm always hesitant to give the series a reread.

Interesting...the ending is the reason I feel like I have to reread it immediately....

fernandito
02-13-2012, 03:55 PM
Hmm .. since I clearly seem to be in the minority, I wonder if I should jump start a discussion in one of the 'End' threads. Maybe airing out my frustrations about the ending and reading feedback might sooth my soul a bit lol.

Patrick
02-14-2012, 12:28 AM
I loved the ending.

I'm giving this book a "5 huge minus," but if I'm being honest with myself it might deserve something slightly lower.

pathoftheturtle
02-14-2012, 10:18 AM
Hmm .. since I clearly seem to be in the minority, I wonder if I should jump start a discussion in one of the 'End' threads. Maybe airing out my frustrations about the ending and reading feedback might sooth my soul a bit lol.Yes, yes, please do!

Patrick
02-14-2012, 09:04 PM
Hmm .. since I clearly seem to be in the minority, I wonder if I should jump start a discussion in one of the 'End' threads. Maybe airing out my frustrations about the ending and reading feedback might sooth my soul a bit lol.Yes, yes, please do!
Feev, if you do, please put a link to it in this thread.

Hannah
02-18-2012, 02:33 PM
3.

I love everything about this book right up until the ending. If I'm being a bit honest, the ending soured the series for me a bit, I absolutely hated it and it's the chief reason I'm always hesitant to give the series a reread.

Same here. I gave it a 3. I strongly disliked the ending along with several of the villain's demises. I strongly feel like good books leave you with a feeling of resolution. Without a resolution the entire journey feels meaningless...

Crimson King. Flagg (he went out like a chump) and let's not forget that somehow Flagg couldn't kill baby Mordred but Oy was able to take him out. :rolleyes3:

Jean
02-18-2012, 08:10 PM
let's not forget that somehow Flagg couldn't kill baby Mordred but Oy was able to take him out. :rolleyes3:

Oy was a gunslinger, and Flagg a mere manipulator

pathoftheturtle
02-19-2012, 02:30 PM
... Without a resolution the entire journey feels meaningless. ... Sure. Who wants hear tales full of sound and fury that signify nothing? That's just a horror. ;-)

fernandito
02-20-2012, 10:04 AM
3.

I love everything about this book right up until the ending. If I'm being a bit honest, the ending soured the series for me a bit, I absolutely hated it and it's the chief reason I'm always hesitant to give the series a reread.

Same here. I gave it a 3. I strongly disliked the ending along with several of the villain's demises. I strongly feel like good books leave you with a feeling of resolution. Without a resolution the entire journey feels meaningless...

Crimson King. Flagg (he went out like a chump) and let's not forget that somehow Flagg couldn't kill baby Mordred but Oy was able to take him out. :rolleyes3:

Yeah, same here. And it sucks because like I said, I want to reread the series, but as I'm going through the novels the only thought permeating my mind is

This might all be for nothing. This might all be for nothing. This might all be for nothing.

:cry:

fernandito
02-20-2012, 10:04 AM
Same here. I gave it a 3. I strongly disliked the ending along with several of the villain's demises. I strongly feel like good books leave you with a feeling of resolution. Without a resolution the entire journey feels meaningless...

Yeah, same here. And it sucks because like I said, I want to reread the series, but as I'm going through the novels the only thought permeating my mind is

This might all be for nothing. This might all be for nothing. This might all be for nothing.

:cry:

DoctorDodge
02-20-2012, 10:17 AM
Hmm, question regarding your view on the ending, feev:

All for nothing? Why do you say that, feev? The fact that the loop's different for Roland this time sorta implies that, at the very least, Roland has not only redeemed himself through some vital actions on this journey, it doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be the same loop for him, and we are given resolution on Susannah's story, too.

fernandito
02-20-2012, 10:20 AM
Hmm, question regarding your view on the ending, feev:

All for nothing? Why do you say that, feev? The fact that the loop's different for Roland this time sorta implies that, at the very least, Roland has not only redeemed himself through some vital actions on this journey, it doesn't necessarily mean that it'll be the same loop for him, and we are given resolution on Susannah's story, too.

True, it does imply that he did redeem an aspect of his journeythis time, but what's to say that he won't commit a different vital error this time and go back a square , negating the progress he made? The ending is a joke without a punchline, and not a very funny one at that :nope:

DoctorDodge
02-20-2012, 10:29 AM
True, it does imply that he did redeem an aspect of his journeythis time, but what's to say that he won't commit a different vital error this time and go back a square , negating the progress he made? The ending is a joke without a punchline, and not a very funny one at that :nope:

But he does have the horn, something that (for whatever reason) seemed actually vital to getting into the tower.

But then again, I'm reminded of what my dad said when I asked him what he thought of the ending: "Well, it couldn't have ended any other way, could it?" Exactly my view, too: any other ending would've been considered a massive dissapointment compared to the one we got. What would've Roland have found at the top of the tower? God? His mother? Susan welcoming him with open arms? (Ergh, the worst thing, I can actually imagine that in a Hollywood version, too.) This way, some mystery as to the top of the tower is left, which I think is a key thing I enjoyed about the series. Like Lost, it didn't answer all questions, but it at least had an ending that fitted both the characters and the tone of the story.

divemaster
02-20-2012, 11:58 AM
To follow up on what DoctorDodge said, the ending is not only perfect but there's no concievable way the saga could have ended otherwise. At least not without serious limitations. I mean, Roland could have defeated the ultimate evil with a kiddie gang-bang, but that's already been done.

King's cachet with me went up a couple of notches after the ending of DT VII hit me.

fernandito
02-20-2012, 12:07 PM
I'm always amazed when people claim that there is 'no other way it could have ended'. Yes there is, there are a million ways it could have ended. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, the Harry Potter , these are all epic sagas that sprawl multiple characters and contain deveastating losses, and all manage to give their respective series a fairly resolute ending. If you liked the Dark Tower ending, fantastic, more power to you ... but to say that there is absolutely no other way it could have ended strikes me as complacent.

DoctorDodge
02-20-2012, 12:18 PM
To follow up on what DoctorDodge said, the ending is not only perfect but there's no concievable way the saga could have ended otherwise. At least not without serious limitations. I mean, Roland could have defeated the ultimate evil with a kiddie gang-bang, but that's already been done.

King's cachet with me went up a couple of notches after the ending of DT VII hit me.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lziamddV4G1qe8ef0.gif


I'm always amazed when people claim that there is 'no other way it could have ended'. Yes there is, there are a million ways it could have ended. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, the Harry Potter , these are all epic sagas that sprawl multiple characters and contain deveastating losses, and all manage to give their respective series a fairly resolute ending. If you liked the Dark Tower ending, fantastic, more power to you ... but to say that there is absolutely no other way it could have ended strikes me as complacent.

One thing, though: those stories didn't massively build their endings up beyond reasonable expectations. The main focus on the ending, in this case, wasn't Roland defeating the prime antagonist in some crucial way. We had that, but it wasn't the main focus, like the main ending of the Lord of the Rings was defeating Sauron, or the main focus of Harry Potter was the defeat of Voldemort. What was unpredictable was who would live or die by the time those endings happened, but those endings were satisfying because they met audience expectations easily. The Dark Tower? The focus the entire time was Roland reaching it and discovering what was at the top, a Tower that was at the centre of every possible universe, and a top room that was shrouded in mystery, but it was something big. Massive. HUGE. How was anything - and I mean anything - going to match that?

There probably would've been a million other ways to end it, true, but none as satisfying as the one we got.

fernandito
02-20-2012, 12:22 PM
I would have been exponentially satisfied with just about any other ending. Preferably one that didn't sound like what it seemed to me, him fumbling the ball on his own magnum opus. He should have taken more time in between novels.

blavigne
02-20-2012, 01:14 PM
Interesting...the ending is the reason I feel like I have to reread it immediately....

Me Too!! :)

divemaster
02-20-2012, 02:54 PM
Maybe he could have found a genie in a lamp and gotten three wishes. He could get Susan back, and Jake back, and a million dollars!

There's one ending. 999,999 to go...

fernandito
02-20-2012, 02:57 PM
http://sentryoutpost.com/images/Tumbleweed.gif

DoctorDodge
02-20-2012, 03:00 PM
At the top of the tower, he opens the door, sees a blinding light, and he's sees the ghosts of his loved ones standing there before him...he falls down to his knees...and they offer him...

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/10/20/129005638702804425.jpg

999,998 to go...

pixiedark76
02-20-2012, 03:52 PM
I gave it a five.

pathoftheturtle
02-20-2012, 10:35 PM
... to say that there is absolutely no other way it could have ended strikes me as complacent.Yes, that's true.

Jean
02-21-2012, 08:53 AM
Last chance to vote! The poll is closing!

mae
02-21-2012, 01:47 PM
The poll has closed. The Dark Tower has earned a FAS (final average score) of 4.428571429 or 88.57%, placing 2nd (runner-up) in this bracket. It will be moving on to Round 2.