I’m incredibly sad that I’ve come to the end of the Dark Tower series. For the last two or three years I’ve grown so attached to the story of Roland and his ka-tet that it’s hard to believe that it’s actually over. And boy, was it ever a ride from start to finish.

Fortunately, The Dark Tower improves greatly over Song of Susannah, which I felt was a bit slow and dry to a point where a lot of it was forgettable. Not only does the plot move forward at a much faster pace, but there are so many things going on in this book that there’s rarely a dull moment. And, at 800+ pages it’ll keep you engaged for a lot longer, which I personally liked.

I’m sure a lot of readers and critics have like, a million things they dislike about Stephen King and his Dark Tower series, ranging from the pop culture references (see fengshuiguy’s review of Wolves of the Calla) to what people familiar with Fan Fiction dot Net would consider self-insertion. No matter what your gripe with King’s style is, if you’ve gotten this far into the series and still wish to continue, you will not be disappointed. If anything, this last leg of the journey will make you appreciate the entire series even more. It certainly has got me interested in some of King’s other works, which I’ll probably check out at one point or another.

What else is there to say, really, that needs to be said? By now you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not you’ll read the seventh and final book anyway, right? If you’ve read the other six, you might as well.