Dark Tower Tuesday - The Goodreads Group Speaks!

As part of Dark Tower Tuesday, the Dark Tower Goodreads Group sounds off on the following Dark Tower-related topics.

1. How did you stumble upon The Dark Tower
Drew - I was looking for an audiobook to borrow and listen to at my local public library, and found "Wizard & Glass". It was certainly an odd place to pick up the story, but I was hooked.

PJ - Bought The Waste Lands at a yard sale in a large box of books, seemed interesting so I went out and purchased The Gunslinger.

Johnny - I read an article about the series getting a TV/Movie adaptation. I'm not a big fan of book-to-movie adaptations in general, but the story caught my interest so a gave the book a try.

Cherstin - I came the first book in dusty, paperback form in the late 80's at a friend's house: it belonged to her mother. I read it, liked it, but wasn't overly thrilled about it as I was in junior high at the time and didn't consider "westerns" my thing. ;) (Boy, I had NO idea how wrong I was on both counts!)

Neil - I saw a copy of the gunslinger at a yard sale and thought it looked interesting.

Glyn - I always saw the book within book stores, just something about it, I was always drawn to that cover as a youngster. I finally took the plunge and swiftly fell in love with it.

Johnny (2) - Saw the series in my school library and recognised it from people who like Lost referencing it. Decided, since I hadn't read a book in over a year, that I should try it out.

S.A. Hunt -  I don't even remember. It's been so long ago since I read the first book -- I don't even remember when it was. It might have been just after the house burned down in 2003. As a housewarming gift to myself when I moved into my new apartment, I went on a book binge and plowed through Dan Simmons' Hyperion series, most of Dean Koontz' repertoire, and a lot of Stephen King.

Louisiana - I was introduced to the series by my fiance when I was pregnant with our son. He wanted to name him Roland, so during my pregnancy I embarked on reading the entire series so I would understand. Our son is now 2 1/2 and his name is Roland Alexander

Jeremy - My dad read it when I was a kid and after seeing the cover of The Gunslinger, I knew it was ka that someday I'd read the DT.

2. Favorite Dark Tower novel
Drew - The last one ("The Dark Tower"), mostly due to the amazing ending.

PJ - Wizard and Glass

Johnny - Either The Drawing of the Three or The Dark Tower.

Cherstin - After reading the whole series over again with the addition of "Wind Through the Keyhole," I think "Song of Susannah" grabbed me most this past time through.

Neil - The Waste Lands

Glyn -  Wizard and Glass, although it can split opinion, I loved the flashback to Roland as a younger Gunslinger... finding out his character journey added so much more to what was already an intriguing character.

Johnny (2) - The Drawing of the Three - the way the pace of the series picks up so quickly after the switch to NY caught me off guard will never be matched by another book series as one of my favourite pace-changes.

S.A. Hunt -   I'm not sure I have a favorite. I favored the first few books because they were so dreamlike in style, sparse in narrative, and King seemed to get so much more out of the story when he only had Roland and Roland's inner monologue to contend with.

Louisiana -  Either Wastelands or The Dark Tower #7

Jeremy - The Gunslinger

3. Least Favorite Dark Tower Novel
Drew - None. They are all gems.

PJ - Song of Susannah

Johnny - Wizard and Glass.

Cherstin - Hmm. Difficult to say, because I love them all. If you forced me to choose at gunpoint, though, probably "The Waste Lands," because I couldn't stand Blaine.

Neil - Wizard and Glass

Glyn - I couldn't possibly say, I have favourite parts to the tale, but like to view the Dark tower as a cohesive whole. If I was pushed to choose, Song of Susannah was more of a "build up" novel imo... but i still loved it and finished within days.

Johnny (2) - Song of Susannah - Too meta to take seriously. You just lose any sense of fantasy when you go self-aware.

S.A. Hunt -   Probably Book Seven. That was a huge letdown for me. After all that build-up, across King's repertoire and the whole DT series, I totally expected a lot more from the Crimson King.

Louisiana -  Wizard and Glass.

Jeremy - Wizard and Glass.

4. Favorite Moment along the Path of the Beam
Drew - The ride on Blaine the Mono.

PJ - Wizard and Glass' conclusion at Eyebolt Canyon.

Johnny - The shooting at Balazar's place in The Drawing of the Three, probably.

Cherstin - the fight to the end with the "wolves" in "The Wolves of the Calla." It gets my blood racing every time.

Neil - The scenes in Lud

Glyn -  Roland's early days story in W&G

Johnny (2) - The riddling.

S.A. Hunt -   This one isn't in the books. It's when halfway through The Dark Tower, I decided I wanted to write my own fantasy gunslinger series one day, and now I've written the first novel in that series: highly-reviewed "The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree".

Louisiana -  I am one of those folks who really really enjoyed the end of the last book. I don't think there was any other way it could go and I loved it.

Jeremy - The drawing of Eddie

5. Favorite Ka-Tet member
Drew - Jake Chambers.

PJ - Eddie Dean (also Cuthbert)

Johnny - Oy

Cherstin - Roland

Neil - Eddie Dean

Glyn -  Roland and Eddie, joint... Eddie cracked me up at times!

Johnny (2) - If not Roland, then Eddie.

S.A. Hunt -   This one is a tossup between Eddie and Roland. I'll always love Roland, but Eddie's got personality in spades. It's easy to relate to him because he's so glib, and it serves to draw the reader in.

Louisiana -  Roland Deschain

Jeremy - Roland of Gilead

6. Least Favorite Ka-Tet member
Drew - None. They are all great characters.

PJ - Susannah

Johnny - Detta Walker.


Cherstin - Ugh! Another difficult question. Again, if you forced me to pick, it would probably be Susannah because I would often get tired of Detta's nasty attitude.

Neil - Susannah Dean

Glyn -  None!

Johnny (2) - I'm probably not alone in thinking Susannah. I think it's just because, after becoming her own person, her new form was not really developed enough as a character. I can't just be expected to know exactly which aspects of her personality were carried over.

S.A. Hunt -   Susannah, hands down. She went from irritating, shrill harpy to an awkwardly-written character. I never could fully take her in as a person.

Louisiana -  Eddie Dean

Jeremy - Is there a bad one? If pressed, I'd go with Susannah

7. Stephen King writing himself into the story: Good or Bad?
Drew - Very cool.

PJ - Neutral, I didn't find it particularly good, nor particularly bad.

Johnny - Good. I actually loved that. It's the kind of weird that makes the series so memorable.

Cherstin - Brilliant

Neil - I think Stephen King wrote himself really well, but it was pointless overall.

Glyn -  Different, but handled extremely well. I didn't expect it to happen, but that for me is brilliant. It turned the entire series on it's head and I feel puts the DT novels on a pedestal above many other fantasy series.

Johnny (2) - Bad all the way. He never should have done that. I mean, it was as well-written as it could have been - very well-handled - but it just lost the sense of fantasy, which was hard to pick back up in the last book. It made everything that happened afterwards less impactful emotionally because, even in the book's world, it didn't feel as REAL as before.

S.A. Hunt -   I'm not sure. I'd like to tell you it was bad, because while the execution was great, the concept of introducing himself was a sideways choice. But I'm fond of meta-situations in my stories, though. Hell, my own book does it rather profoundly during its climax.

Louisiana -  I love that Stephen King wrote himself into the story. It connected the story more with the real world and its what I would have done.

Jeremy - At first I thought it was bad, but I loved how Song of Susannah ended

8. Did you cry during the final volume? 
Drew - Absolutely. I still get teary when I think about it.

PJ - Of course

Johnny - I didn't, but I came pretty close while Jake was dying. Oy's death was also really quite sad.

Cherstin - Yes, each and every time for different reasons.

Neil - I cried when Eddie and Jake died in Volume VII

Glyn -  Very nearly, was heartbreaking!!

Johnny (2) - Nah, I'm too macho ;) Just kidding, but I didn't cry.

S.A. Hunt -   No, but I did cry at the end of 11/22/63, if that counts for anything.

Louisiana -  Yessir, thankie-sai.

Jeremy - I have about 800 pages left

9. Cast the Ka-Tet
Drew - Sorry, not my thing.

PJ - Roland - Javier Bardem, Eddie - Aaron Paul

Johnny - Clint Eastwood in is 40's would be a perfect Roland. Other than that, I don't know.

Cherstin - Clint Eastwood as Roland, Leonardo DiCaprio as Eddie Dean, Halle Berry as Susannah, an unknown actor for Jake, and Oy would simply have to star as himself.

Neil - Roland- Viggo Mortensen, Eddie- Joseph Gordon Levitt or Aaron Paul, Susannah-Gina Torres, Jake- Unknown child actor, Oy- A dog, Father Callahan- Clint Eastwood

Johnny (2) - Christian Bale as Roland, and the other three should be unknowns - with Stephen King himself as Oy (he won't be it in ANY OTHER FORM, I SWEAR TO GOD ALMIGHTY).

S.A. Hunt -   Cast the Ka-Tet, Roland - Viggo Mortensen, Eddie - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jake - Chandler Riggs

Louisiana -  Eddie Dean: Jared Leto, Detta Walker: Halle Berry, Roland Deshain: Clint Eastwood (even now) and I dunno who would play Jake Chambers. <3

Jeremy - Roland of Gilead: Daniel Craig
Eddie of New York: Taylor Kitsch
Susannah of New York: Jennifer Hudson
Jake of New York: I don't know kids actors.
Oy: I don't know dog actors either.