Your order of the series.

[Daghain]

DotT is last? I'm crushed.

Yes. And the wolves the last but one, and both after W&G. What is the world coming to?
It's all right, Little Gem, I love you anyway...

I'm afraid we can't agree everytime and I think I said a few times what I thought about TDOTT: I find it lacks the atmosphere that's taken me in the story so much.

While I agree we cannot always be on the same page, DotT was the one that sucked me into the series. I think you get a good feeling for Roland's personality in this one, and that's why I fell in love with it.

[Jean]

DotT is last? I'm crushed.

Yes. And the wolves the last but one, and both after W&G. What is the world coming to?
It's all right, Little Gem, I love you anyway...

I love that little bear smiley. And I love the bear, too.

bears love daghains!

I'm afraid we can't agree everytime and I think I said a few times what I thought about TDOTT: I find it lacks the atmosphere that's taken me in the story so much.

Come to think of it, it looks like you put your finger on something important here. TDoTT, indeed, differs greatly from all other DT books, I don't know yet how to put it into words, but that's what made it my favorite before I read Wolves.

[ladysai]

Just because I don't worship mythical creatures doesn't make me a cold hearted douchebag Lady!

Obviously!


I just never got into the whole Mejis story much.
I was anxious to see the ka-tet move further down the road to the Tower, and was rather miffed that the whole book was a flashback and they only got to the other side of the Oz palace before the end of the book.

[MrQuint]

Just because I don't worship mythical creatures doesn't make me a cold hearted douchebag Lady!

Obviously!


I just never got into the whole Mejis story much.
I was anxious to see the ka-tet move further down the road to the Tower, and was rather miffed that the whole book was a flashback and they only got to the other side of the Oz palace before the end of the book.

After my first read on W&G I remember starting to feel the same when I realized the flashback was going to be the whole story and the Ka-Tet wasn't going to make much progress toward their ultimate goal of the Tower ... but once I got over that disappointment I was gripped by the awesomeness that was W&G. Especially during the re-reads while I agonized waiting for Book 5.
Sorry to hear Mejis didn't do it for you. One of the reasons why I have Wolves ranked so high is that Calla Bryn Sturgis was able to recapture some of that Mejis feel.

[stone, rose, unfound door]

DotT is last? I'm crushed.

Yes. And the wolves the last but one, and both after W&G. What is the world coming to?
It's all right, Little Gem, I love you anyway...

I love that little bear smiley. And I love the bear, too.

bears love daghains!

I'm afraid we can't agree everytime and I think I said a few times what I thought about TDOTT: I find it lacks the atmosphere that's taken me in the story so much.

Come to think of it, it looks like you put your finger on something important here. TDoTT, indeed, differs greatly from all other DT books, I don't know yet how to put it into words, but that's what made it my favorite before I read Wolves.

I understand very well how it can be other people's favourite, and what Daghain said about Roland's personality is quite true, but I liked what I saw of him in the Gunslinger more and I became a fan reading the first line. The Gunslinger has still a special place for me since I was totally hooked by it. I loved the atmosphere in that one and that explains why I found TDOTT boring compared to it: it could be any book in any series since it doesn't have that particular atmosphere that I liked so much.

[Daghain]

I was the opposite. I liked The Gunslinger, but it was DotT that really hooked me on the series.

[Jean]

I hated The Gunslinger, and wouldn't have gone on if The Drawing wasn't so very different indeed

[Daghain]

Wow, you hated it?

[Jean]

yes

[Daghain]

Wow. What made you read DotT then?

[Jean]

I posted that story somewhere... I was in hospital, with nothing to read, and Alexander (the one who lives in London now) brought to me the two books at once. If I had had any choice, my whole life would have been different.

Or maybe not. I loved King so much already by then, I would have given him the benefit of doubt for the second volume... sooner or later.

[stone, rose, unfound door]

Good question Daghain !

[Daghain]

I think I do remember you telling that story, Jean. Lucky for all of us you had to read it!

[Jean]

[Cuthbert Heath]

i didnt care for the gunslinger that much either but it was obviously good enough for me to read the drawing and that hooked me which turned out to be my favorite..

[Letti]

I posted that story somewhere... I was in hospital, with nothing to read, and Alexander (the one who lives in London now) brought to me the two books at once. If I had had any choice, my whole life would have been different.

Or maybe not. I loved King so much already by then, I would have given him the benefit of doubt for the second volume... sooner or later.

And did you talk a lot about DT with Alexander? Is he a DT junkie as well?

[Jean]

No. He used to read a lot of King, but soon after I got out that hospital, our life started rapidly changing, and he went to England to live, and ever since he has been working so much he's never had time for a 7-volume book.

[Letti]

So he has read them all but the last one? Don't you push him some time? Did he love it as long as he was reading it?

[Jean]

So he has read them all but the last one? Don't you push him some time? Did he love it as long as he was reading it?

No, he read only the first two, then in 1997 he went to London, and with time brought me volumes 3 and 4, as he found them in charity shops. That's why I had to wait so endlessly long between books 3 and 4, and definitely one of the reasons why I was so disappointed by W&G. The three last volumes never emerged in charity shops till very recently, and by then I'd already read them in electronic version, and then my dear friends from here send them to me in the normal, book format.

So, Alexander was even more bored (in fact, absolutely disgusted) by The Gunslinger than I was, and he, too, loved The Drawing (agreed to read it only after I told him it was nothing even similar to The Gunslinger whatsoever), but hasn't gotten around to reading the rest yet.

[Letti]

So he gave it to you without being a DT junkie. Nice.

[Tyranus]

The Dark Tower
Wizard & Glass
The Wastelands
THe Gunslinger
The Drawing of the Three
Wolves of the Calla
Song of Susannah

[Ste Letto]

Wolves of the Calla
The Gunslinger
The Wastelands
The Dark Tower
Song of Susannah
The Drawing of the Three
Wizard and Glass

[John_and_Yoko]

Not entirely sure about the order, but....

I enjoyed The Gunslinger.

I thought The Drawing of the Three was better than The Gunslinger.

I thought The Waste Lands was better than the first two.

I didn't quite like Wizard and Glass as much as I was hoping to, but recognized it as quality.

Wolves of the Calla was a bit difficult in ploughing through, as was Wizard and Glass. I still liked it, but I don't know about quality....

Song of Susannah was my favorite volume when I finished it.

The Dark Tower replaced Song of Susannah as my favorite when I finished that.

[BoogerSnax]

1. Wastelands
2. Drawing
3. Gunslinger
4. Wolves
5. Dark Tower
6. Wizard
7. Song

[Ste Letto]

It surprises me that many people seem to dislike The Gunslinger and really like Drawing of the Three.

Maybe this is the wrong place for this post, but here are the reasons I love The Gunslinger and dislike Drawing of the Three. I say dislike because it has grown on me slightly. When I first read it I hated it. It was only the glammer of The Gunslinger that kept me reading the series.

The Wastelands was a return to form after DotT and kept me hooked.

Some of what I like about The Gunslinger:-

Unlike anything by SK I had ever read.
Mysterious, especially with links to our world such as singing Hey Jude. Plus who or what is the gunslinger or the Man in black. So much enigma.
The gunslinger is alone. His isolation is hugely powerful and evocative.
A quest, you gotta love quests.
An antihero, Roland is not a hero, he is a central focal character, a force of nature.
The necessity of his isolation is shown when he drops Jake.

Some of what I dislike about TDofT:-

The writing does not flow.
It suddenly connects with our world in a big way, I loved Roland's world being a bit linked, but not so forcefully.
The action was stilted.
It brought in partners for a man who is defined by his isolation.
It shifted the parameters and expectations set up by The Gunslinger.