Many years ago, I read the first four books of Stephen King’s series about the Dark Tower in sequence. I figured it would end with the 4th novel, although there really was no ending in sight. The story, incomplete from the first instance, remained incomplete with each book. At the same time, each subsequent book grew in size (not much different from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series).
At some point, the series took on a life of its own, spanning several additional novels, either direct sequels or ones set in the same “universe.” Back in 1997 I quit reading Stephen King novels. This was after the fourth Dark Tower book, as I lost interest in his stories. King just seemed to repeat himself, or maybe I just lost interest in that genre. Not the first time, or first author, where that’s happened.
In 2012 King released the first of three sequels to the original four Dark Tower books. At that time I wasn’t too keen on reading them, as it just seemed that the story would endlessly loop: the protagonist, Roland, reaches the Dark Tower, only for events to reset and he needs to restart his quest. At least, that’s what I figured based on the first book, and I saw nothing in the other books that would indicate otherwise. I read some reviews, discovered pretty much what I expected, plus read about some bizarre mention of King as a character in his own novels, and skipped them.
A few months ago I picked up book six, Song of Susannah, in a used bookstore. The book, published by Grant, was in decent shape. I’d seen some copies in stores over the years, but passed them up. Perhaps this time I was just bored enough to buy it. I read the book, even though I’d not read book five, so this meant I missed some context. Nonetheless, is was pretty much as expected: King rambles on, taking five times as long to tell a story as one should, throwing in repetition after repetition. It was a quick read, despite being a thick book (or maybe I skipped some passages). I even saw King as a character in his own book, a cheap gesture, in my option; it detracts from the story.
A few months later I found a semi-decent copy of Wolves of the Calla, book five. The events in this book were heavily referenced in book six. Then, finally book seven; although I’ve not read the final book, I did read a synopsis. As I suspected, King couldn’t close the door, couldn’t stick the landing, and even though the telling (or parts of it) might be entertaining, the ending of the series may not be that great, may not be worth the journey.
I’ve read many a series, though most tend to be three (maybe four, sometimes five) episodes (books) long. A seven book series should have some great conclusion. Rarely happens, in books or cinematic/TV shows. Most people don’t know when to end things. J. K. Rowling went seven deep with her Harry Potter books, each longer than the previous iteration. Some parts suffered, but on the who she had a conclusion, an ending. C.S. Lewis destroyed his Narnia in his many-book series (all much slimmer than any King or Rowling books).
Meanwhile, George R. R. Martin is still working on (supposedly) his long series. Each of Martin’s books grows in scope. It begs the question: do some writers just not know how to edit, or how to condense a story down to its essentials? King’s seven book series maybe should have stopped at three, but he kept churning out massive sequel after massive sequel. It’s tough (and sad) when writers wander off the path. Maybe they feel the need to include every little bit of information from their story notes, add minutia because they think it matters. It really doesn’t.
