I just finished The Waste Lands, book 3 of King's Dark Tower series. Thus far, I'm really enjoying it. It has such a weird, dreamlike vibe to it. Excellent characters, great world building and some emotionally powerful moments. It feels very different from most of King's works and I find it to be considerably better written.
I have heard though that starting with book 5, the series sees a downturn in quality. How bad exactly is this fall-off? Does it ruin the overall experience or is it still worth following through with the whole series?
by keepfighting90
13 Comments
It’s pretty good if you take the author’s warning not to continue reading from a certain point.
People are snobs. All the books are great. Read em.
You’ll get to Wolves of the Calla and you’ll either DNF or you won’t.
stay with it.
It has its slower moments, but I loved the last third of the final book to the point where it was emotional finishing and very rewarding.
The last books are pretty awful.
In my opinion, it is worth finishing. In any series you will have better and worse books. The later books were stranger and less cohesive than the start but I still felt things, had interesting thoughts, and enjoyed the experience as a whole.
It’s got the same strengths and weaknesses that King’s work often has, just stretched out over a series rather than a single book.
Everyone’s mileage will vary. How much it bothers you will probably depend on how much these same issues bother you in the rest of his work.
Remember the face of your father, Stand and be true!
The next book, wizard and glass, is fantastic.
After that it depends on your tastes.
For me, I devoured the final books in order to see how the saga concluded. In a sense, that made it worth it, but they felt rushed and sloppy in comparison to Gunslinger through Wizard and Glass. SoS was particularly rough.
That said, they’re still Stephen King books. If you really like the worldbuilding and the characters, give it a go. If you don’t like it, then don’t force yourself.
Finish or do not finish, you will know it’s worth when you start.
I think it gets a bit lost in itself in the middle but ends well.
Reading all the way through absolutely does not ruin the experience. Book 5 is exceptionally good IMO but I also really enjoyed the books that followed.