“The trip has been long and the cost has been high, but no great thing was ever attained easily. A long tale, like a tall Tower, must be built a stone at a time.”

I’ve been sitting on this review for months, and have decided I’m going to take the easy way out and not say all the things I could about this last book in Sai King’s Dark Tower series.

For the most part, I have loved reading this series over the past year. It’s had it’s ups (books two and five) and downs (books one and four), but on balance is one of the most imaginative, terrifying, satisfying things I’ve ever read. I will definitely be revisiting in the future.

I actually heard about this book being a little controversial back when it was first published, which was when I still thought I could never read Stephen King books because they were scary. (I think I was under the impression they would be like slasher/horror movies in book form? Having Cell be my first Stephen King did not help with that opinion.) I heard it was sad and that some people hated it. And during the process of reading the series, I was also spoiled for a couple of things (which I didn’t mind, honestly, because it let me prepare emotionally).

What really blew me away is that I guessed the ending. Well, part of it, anyway. At the end of the first book when Roland meets the man in black in front of the fire and he shows him the universe, I had this hunch, knowing what I did about people’s reactions, that SPOILER there would be a reset, and this would just be one iteration of Roland and his journey to the Tower. I thought I might be right about that when people started talking about the movie this past summer being a sequel but not really. Sure enough! END SPOILERS. Kinda proud of myself. But also, I’m glad I had that hunch, because it allowed me to get used to the idea, and I’m not at all sure what my reaction might have been had I not had that time to mentally prepare. I might have been pretty pissed. Honestly, I still might be a little bit?

But in this case, I think I’m okay with it. Those kinds of stories always run the danger of you asking yourself, Well, okay, but what was the point? But I think King answers that question throughout the series.

Feel very accomplished for self in having finally tackled and conquered this series. Now if only I could finish Wheel of Time . . .