• Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
  • If this is your first time here please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot, especially our Own the Source rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.
  • Please read our Rules & Guidelines

    Read BEFORE posting Trades & Request

The Dark Tower

It’s been a long time since I read Wizard and Glass, but I remember it being more traditional fantasy. There’s some elements of the DT series that I’m just not sure you want to jump right into. Blaine, for instance.
 
It definitely is a little more traditional, and it would serve as a nice introduction to the series.

Ironically, Blaine would probably be easier for audiences today to accept than a lot of the other various things in that world.
 
Moe_Syzlak said:
It’s been a long time since I read Wizard and Glass, but I remember it being more traditional fantasy. There’s some elements of the DT series that I’m just not sure you want to jump right into. Blaine, for instance.
Click to expand...

If they just start with Roland, Cuthbert and Alain on their undercover quest, I think it would be fine. Blaine and getting to the point of where Roland tells his tale can be skipped for the time being. Granted, I'd hate to see any Dark Tower movie ignore this part at all. It was a fantastic cliffhanger for Part 3.
 
Yeah, all I really want out of a DT adaptation is The Waste Lands in live action. Everything else I can take or leave.
 
Here's hoping they toss out Wolves of the Calla , all that metafictional shit, and retool the Crimson King into an adversary who doesn't suck.
 
Having recently reread the entire series via audiobook with my wife, I quite like the final 3 books as a trilogy together. Wolves is fantastic, definitely the best of the bunch, but the interconnections in the final 3 are a lot of fun. That being said, Drawing of the Three and The Wastelands are probably my favorites.
 
Yeah I wasn’t a fan of King putting himself in the story. IMO, the whole series needs heavy adaptation in order to make it work on the screen.
 
That's certainly his most controversial decision. Personally I've always felt like if an author spends 40 years on a book series, they have the right to contemplate their role in the series itself. Plus, the ideas of inter-world stories and cultural references weaving together and affecting each other's reality was introduced pretty early on. Thematically it fits perfectly. It's King's hubris in making that decision that ruffles a lot of feathers.
 
Stephen King better play himself.
 
The only trick might be him appearing the correct ages. Also, book King is not a terribly likeable character, and that is a good thing. The only way to include an author without it being a farce is to make sure the audience realizes the author doesn't like himself at those ages, and is portraying himself as a jerk. Imagining King portrayed that way on screen? I could see it.
 
Siliconmaster said:
It's King's hubris in making that decision that ruffles a lot of feathers.
Click to expand...

No, it’s not. It’s sloppy storytelling that indices groans from me while reading. It may “fit” with King’s idea that the DT was the nexus of all his stories, but that should’ve remained behind the scenes.
 
Duragizer said:
retool the Crimson King into an adversary who doesn't suck.
Click to expand...

ChainsawAsh said:
Wolves was the best post-car-accident book, though...
Click to expand...

Quoted for truth, say thankya.

jrWHAG42 said:
Stephen King better play himself.
Click to expand...

IF they had the guts to include King as a character I would hope that his son, Joe Hill, portrays him. He's a dead ringer.
 
So, I read the first three and a half Dark Tower books some years back. Always meant to finish the series, but never did. I have finally started getting back into it this year, I just finished Drawing Of The Three today.
The Gunslinger is still pretty solid. I read the revised edition this time, wheras last time I went for the original version. Not sure what the general preference is, or if the changes are substantial enough for anyone to have any strong opinions. I personally didn't really notice any of the changes.
The Drawing Of The Three was... A mixed bag. Everything with Eddie's door was great. The final door was also good. Everything with Detta/Odetta was just hard to read for various reasons.
Before reading The Wastelands, I might watch The Stand (older miniseries). I remember hearing that there were some references to The Stand that I missed before, and I really don't want to read the book itself right now. Hopefully the miniseries will be enough to fill me in. I started watching it last year but never finished it, I forget most of it already but I recall enjoying it.
 
I’m not a King mega-fan, so a lot of the tie-in stuff was lost on me and I found it the weakest aspects of the series. I definitely found myself wishing it were more focused on its own story rather than trying to be a King multiverse. The inclusion of king himself was a bit too far for me. I found the series overall a mixed bag and I haven’t really been tempted to revisit it. I would live to see a good adaptation someday.
 
Moe_Syzlak said:
I’m not a King mega-fan, so a lot of the tie-in stuff was lost on me and I found it the weakest aspects of the series. I definitely found myself wishing it were more focused on its own story rather than trying to be a King multiverse. The inclusion of king himself was a bit too far for me. I found the series overall a mixed bag and I haven’t really been tempted to revisit it. I would live to see a good adaptation someday.
Click to expand...
I'm not the biggest King fan myself, I like his stories but his writing style frustrates me. In any case, the tie-in/multiverse aspects are what made me interested in the series in the first place.
 
So! I finished The Wastelands a couple weeks ago and I keep forgetting to post about it. It's a real mixed bag for me! The first 300~ pages are excelent. Everything where they're trying to bring Jake over, the sex demon and all that, I hate it. Eddie forgetting the last detail of the key after constant mention of how that little S bit on the end is the important part, that's really annoying to me. Then, everything in Lud is gross and unpleasant to read. I don't mind the Tick Tock Man and the implication of him returning. Love Blaine of course.
It's funny, beforehand I somehow remembered the first half of this book as the final act of the previous book.
There's one point where Eddie thinks about King Kong, and that made me think. He compares the bear to the size of King Kong, which is weird. Iirc, in the original Kong his size changes from scene to scene. But would Eddie be particularly familliar with the original King Kong, or would he be more familliar with the 70's remake? Or heck, he also mentions Godzilla, I could totally see him catching King Kong Vs Godzilla on tv. WHAT IS HIS FRAME OF REFERENCE?! HOW BIG IS THIS BEAR? (obviously not a serious issue)

I'm on Wizard And Glass now. First off, apparently I misremembered, it's this one that references The Stand. I started to wonder if I missed the reference in The Wastelands.

I Haven't mentioned it I don't think, but I'm actually really excited to read the final three books. They're supposedly not as good, however! Considering I loved Dreamcatcher, which some regard as King's worst book, I have a hunch that I'm going to end up being a fan of King's other post-accident books that I've heard such mixed things about.
 
The Waste Land is certainly a bit mixed after the brilliance of The Drawing of Three, but it's the first time it really begins to feel like they're forming a ka-tet, so there's a certain magic at play during that first read through. And for me, I loved the reconciliation of the Jack paradox; he's dead, but he's alive, but he's dead... Overall, I think the book is a bit over-stuffed and it begins to mark the trajectory of the series towards more-is-more.

Wizard and Glass gives me big feelings. Ignoring the bit with Blaine at the beginning, it really feels like a true, meaty western, and it's unapologetic in its scope and build-up. It's the "pot roast" to The Wastelands "all you can eat buffet".

I've only read books 5,6, and 7 once. King's near death experience IRL shapes these stories massively. They take on a very singular tone that can become grating at times, and they are just all over the place, in my opinion. He was writing straight from his belly button with these, almost stream-of-consciousness like. For what it's worth, I really liked the ending of book 7.

The Wind Through the Keyhole is a curio that I struggle to fit into my head canon.
 
Waste Land is where, IMO, you really start to see King’s kitchen sink approach. Any idea he has goes in no matter how it fits thematically. I’m not a fan of that approach and I’m not a fan of King generally for that reason. I like parts of the Dark Tower series better than any other King I’ve read but I’ve got little interest in re-reading.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom