The Dark Tower By Stephen King.

[Guns N RockMusic]

Personally, I think it's the greatest set of works I've ever read.  I'm still 200 pages out from the end, but had a buddy tell me the ending before I went on my month hiatus because I had to know how it ended.  At this point I'm a lil disapointed in the ending, but will save my final judgement until I read it myself.  I know that some of you have read the series, so please comment on whether or not you liked it and how it compared to the other great works you've read.

[Danny Top Hat]

I got bored, I don't remember why.  There were bits and pieces of it that I enjoyed but overall I thought it was too slow moving.  Maybe I should've stuck it out..

[Vicious Wishes]

It's probably King's best work. And as a general rule, I like his short stories the best(Shawshank, The Body, The Mist), but the DT series, imo is his best so far. The ending was disappointing, but to me, alot of his books are great, until the end.

[LeftToDecay]

I'm still working on the series.

First part made me an everlasting impression as a kid.
For someone who hadn't read any of those interesting scifi or fantasy novels  there seemed to be so much surrealism in the world and the way story was told, when compared to works of Eddings and Tolkien and the like.It felt completely absolutely 101% unique.Hell, it still isn't that far off from it.
I still read it through every couple of years or so.It hasn't survived test of time as well as I'd like but i still enjoy it quite a lot.

Basically love parts I-IV. Part V I found very  disappointing., Haven't gotten last 2 just yet.

..Oh, and please be very carefull what you say here. Spoiling a saga of books some people have been waiting to finish for decades is stuff that gets you to Christian Hell with burning lakes and shit:pSo for the love of god...don't do it!!
No discussion about what happens in the end or anything like that.
I'd love to see what other people here think about the books but I am just too afraid oif reading through the comments, too afraid to read something i shouldn't know.

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed

[Athena]

Love that. Problem is I need to re-read them every time a new book comes out, so I sorta gave up 8 years ago. Told people to give me a yell when the whole series are done and then I can take a few weeks off and read them in one go. So..... did my friends forgot to yell? Or do I have to wait a bit longer? I think the last thing I read was the group getting off that freaky train.

[Gordi]

I read them all within a year or so, and I absolutely loved them, a literary masterpiece I'd say.
Seriously, if you're reading this and haven't read them, you should. If (for some reason) you're not a fan of Stephen King don't worry these are not his usual style.
I feel like reading them all over again. 

[Guns N RockMusic]

Love that. Problem is I need to re-read them every time a new book comes out, so I sorta gave up 8 years ago. Told people to give me a yell when the whole series are done and then I can take a few weeks off and read them in one go. So..... did my friends forgot to yell? Or do I have to wait a bit longer? I think the last thing I read was the group getting off that freaky train.

Yes, the final book came out 2 years ago (book VII).  If you're still on the train, you have 4 more books to go.

[Jim]

Well, how I feel right now is relieved. I actually thought that I'd ruined the ending for you! But if you already knew how it ended, it's all good in the hood. Asside from all those gangsters.

I'd agree with it being the greatest set of works that I, too, have ever read. I loved everything about the cycle, including the ending. There is no other way that King could have ended it, so while it is dissapointing in a sense I don't think that it can be justifiably attacked. Especialy if you read Kings afterword at the end of the final book.

I started reading them last summer, without taking a break between each book save from when I had to order one in. I bought, and started reading, the Dark Tower VII on my nineteenth birthday. It hadn't even crossed my mind until a couple of days before. I liked that.....

I read a while ago that Marvel are publishing a Dark Tower comic series some time next year. King's contributing, and somebody told me that it's going to include narrative outside of the seven books. I'm well up for a bit of Jericho hill!, or a bit more of Rhea!

Though, truth be told, I think that the ambiguity and the vagueness of the books history and mythos is what makes the series so compelling.

I can never settle on a favourite book, but I would probably say The Waste Land right now. Mainly because it was when reading it that I thought, for the first time, that no matter what King does to fuck up the series now, the first three have been so good that they have guaranteed it's place alongside the best series of books that I have ever read.

And I didn't even mind King's inclusion in six and seven.

[LeftToDecay]

I read a while ago that Marvel are publishing a Dark Tower comic series some time next year. King's contributing, and somebody told me that it's going to include narrative outside of the seven books

http://www.marvel.com/publishing/stories/showstory.htm?id=51

it sounded very scary idea at first.With you know, Marvel mostly sucking ass and all.But after seeing those few sneak peaks atleast i am pretty oiptimistic.
..Except for the fact Roland looks way too much like John Wayne and way too little like Clint Eastwood.
The HUMONUGOUS jaws and dark tower don't mix that well. But ay it could be something great.  I hope.

[LeftToDecay]

Following is about the ending and last 2 books of the saga. Can be decoded with rot13.
http://www.rot13.com/index.php

...Just had to use it out of fear of ruining the series from someone who is still reading the books.

Svanyyl tbg gur ynfg 2 obbxf.
Ybirq gurz. Fgvyy xvaqn veevgngrq ol FX'f vqrn bs chggvat n (frzv svpgvbany irefvba bs) uvzfrys va gur obbxf. Va gur raq, Ur pneevrq gur (fghcvq) vqrn bhg irel jryy gubhtu. Ubjrire, gur pyhrf naq "uryc" ur fraq gb xn-grg urer naq gurer jnf whfg gbb zhpu.Vg jnf fb ...Atuuuuuuu. Haperngvir.
Bgure guna gung, naq znlor 50 bs fb n ovg qhyyre cntrf nsgre pnfgyr qvfpbeqvn va svany obbx,  cnegf IV naq IVV xvpxrq nff gubhtu. Cher tbyq, n qrfreivat raq sbe bar uryy bs n fntn.

Gur irel raqvat jnf fb shpxvat pehry naq fnq. Irel hacerqvpgnoyr. ybirq vg naq ungrq vg.
Cbbe Ebynaq.Arire sryg nf fbeel sbe n svpgvbany punenpgre.Pna'g frr na raq sbe uvf gbezrag.Pbbyrfg svpgvbany onfgneq bs bhe gvzr jbhyq qrfreir orggre!Xhqbf gb Xvat, ertneqyrff. Zhfg unir gnxra onyyf gb qb fbzrguvat gung pehry.Gur nzbhag bs ungr znvy ur vf trggvat zhfg or nfgbavfuvat:)

--
In overall, never have read better fiction than Dark Tower -saga. Anyone who can find scifi/fantasy/Post apocalyptic surroundings  remotely enjoyable should certainly look into DTs
Been working on them since 1997 or so.It feels sad and empty  to know I don't have a new Dark Tower book to wait for.

[Jim]

Ubjrire, gur pyhrf naq "uryc" ur fraq gb xn-grg urer naq gurer jnf whfg gbb zhpu.Vg jnf fb ...Atuuuuuuu. Haperngvir.

Naaah mate. Relax!, here comes the deus ex machina.

[D]

I have all the books,  havent started it yet, I am kind of savoring it and reading other novels first. Ill get to it one day i hope.

The Stand is the greatest novel I have ever read though.

[Guns N RockMusic]

I have all the books,? havent started it yet, I am kind of savoring it and reading other novels first. Ill get to it one day i hope.

The Stand is the greatest novel I have ever read though.

If you love the stand, you'll love the tower even more.  They tie directly into one another.

[LeftToDecay]

It's pretty fun how many of his books SK evntually managed to tie in as a part of Dark  Tower.
I Suppose almost half of his works either have a DT referance or are referred to in DT.

Most of the referances are tiny and insignificant (Rose Madder, From Buick 8 ) but then, there is couple of books you really want to read alongside of  Dark Tower Series:

Insomnia
Hearts in Atlantis
Black House
Stand
Eyes Of The Dragon
Bag Of Bones
Salem's Lot

ummm must be few other (More or less) relevant ones.
..Not to scare mr D away in any way:p None of the "other" books is in no way Critical to read in order to enjoy DT. They do provide  nice extra kick,though.
Ehhh when you really think about it, atlest Hearts in Atlantis and black house are pretty damn important tbh.

[nydoLLL]

They're brilliant.  I'm only up to Wolves of the Calla though.  I'll make my way through them slowly but surely.

King is one of my favourite writers.

[LeftToDecay]

Marvel's Dark Tower album series should start popping up in less than month.
They released a trailer that reeks of kahunas!
http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=370380596

..The trailer was so manly it inspired me to start smoking again

[GnFnR87]

they look badass, i'll probably start them during the summer when i have more time to read. i plan on reading the whole series one after each other. I've just gotten into Stephen King recently having a bad experience with Cell as the first book i read from him and a huge dissapointment, then The Tommyknockers, which was much better.

[Stonerose]

Just finished reading them. My god! what a read. I have never read anythin like this ever before in my life! These books had everythin, excitment, adventure, laughter, love, loss, sorrow, you name it. The ending was so bittersweet, i still cant believe ive actually finished them. The journey u take with these characters, its unbelievable, its like i was actually there with them. Iv never read any steven king before either.

I have to say, these are the greatest books i have ever read, nothing will ever compare to them.

[Jim]

Urm... Yeah.

It?s a good time to be a Stephen King fan right now. Frank Darabont is limbering up to shoot The Mist ? King?s greatest novella, bar none ? in Lousiana, Eli Roth will move onto fun zombie tale Cell right after he finishes Hostel Part II and ? if IGN Filmforce?s Stax is to be believed, we?re about to see King?s magnum opus, The Dark Tower, on the big screen.

JJ Abrams ? a huge King fan who has studded many references to the Tower series into his TV show, Lost ? is reportedly in talks to do what many thought impossible, and turn the apparently unfilmable seven-book series into a movie. Or series of movies. Or maybe even a mini-series.

Of course, given the size of The Dark Tower series, a fantasy epic that dwarves The Lord Of The Rings in page count and scope, the latter two options would seem to be the way ahead. However, the truth is, nobody really knows what Abrams? plans are at the moment, but IGN believe that an imminent announcement is due any day now, which should lend clarification. What is believed, though, is that The Dark Tower may be lodged with Paramount and could be the reason why Abrams won?t direct the next Star Trek film, but will merely produce it instead.

Now, for those of you who are slightly lost, a quick recap of what The Dark Tower is all about. Simply put, it?s King?s masterwork, a series of seven books of increasing length and complexity that he began at the start of his career and finally finished just a couple of years ago. Essentially the bastard child of King, Sergio Leone and J.R.R. Tolkien, the books tell the tale of Roland Deschain (a role that someone like George Clooney should be campaigning for right now), the last Gunslinger (like a knight, only with guns instead of swords) making his way through the ruins of Mid-World on a quest to find The Dark Tower, a fabled building that may or may not be the nexus of all life.

Along the way, he is joined by travelling companions including a disabled schizophrenic black lady, a recovering heroin addict, and a young boy who just won?t stay dead, while their quest takes them back and forth between the modern-day and the past, Mid-World and our own Earth and, bizarrely, connects them with the life and work of a certain Maine author, Mr. Stephen King?

The seven books are The Gunslinger, a dark and existential fantasy Western; The Drawing Of The Three, a fast-moving action piece in which Roland picks up his travelling companions, while losing something very dear to him; The Waste Lands, which veers into pure sci-fi; Wizard And Glass, the most overtly Tolkien-esque of the novels; Wolves Of The Calla, which is essentially The Magnificent Seven with a post-modern twist; Song Of Susannah, a mind-twisting thriller spanning several time periods, and featuring an appearance by King himself; and the final book, The Dark Tower in which? well, we won?t spoil it.

Fans of the Tower series will have long bandied around the term, ?unfilmable?. But if the last few years have proved, it?s that there?s no such thing as an unfilmable book, what with Tom Tykwer?s bang-up job on Perfume, and of course Peter Jackson?s work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. So we?re going to be cautiously optimistic about this: Abrams, after all, is a King fan and, while he may not have anything on his CV that suggests that he can pull off an epic of this kind, visually or otherwise, well we all said the same thing about Mr. Jackson when he announced his ambitious plans to make the Rings trilogy?

Source: www.empireonline.com

... I don't know what to make of it.

[eddie_dean]

The Dark Tower are the greatest books I have ever read.  I don't think it possible to make it a movie.  I'll be god damned if some self-righteous prick like Clooney dare try to play Roland.  Roland was a gunslinger, not some pussy liberal.