A Civil World. Off-topic discussions on a variety of topics. > Time For a Coffee Break!

Stephen King fans: Dark Tower question

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Lysitheia:
*******Spoilers ahead!********

Have any of y'all read "The Dark Tower"?

I've read to "Wolves of the Calla", and I'm sooo sick of Susannah/Odetta/Detta/Mia/ whoever.

I liked the character at first, but she's gotten a little stale. I wasn't in love with the Odetta/Detta thing, but, hey, have to suspend disbelief, no? It all started going downhill when she and Eddie went from liking one another to being married. It seemed too quick and motiveless.

I hate that the whole 'Lady of Shadows" thing is being used again when she become "Mia". It just seems so repetative. I thought the problem with multiply personalities was fixed when she and Detta merged.

Also, she seems like she's headed towards Mary Sue-ism at a fast rate. I can buy that she and the men are gunslingers, but she's also an instant expert at the plate, too? At least Roland and Eddie have some character flaws ( Roland uses people and Eddie's immature and selfish sometimes) but while she's not Mia, she has darn few less than stellar attributes.

I understand that all of this is attributable to Ka, at least in theory. In practice, it seems like Ka is ususally broader than this ( why aren't they all this great if it's Ka?)

This is only my 0.02, of course. I'd love to hear some opinions  :)

Rei-chan:
Ok, huge DT fan here......I've read them all, AND gone over the other SK books for Tower references, etc.  I suggest you read Insomnia (if you haven't already) before you continue, as some of it factors into Book 7.

I would love to shed some light on the Mia thing for you, but since it comes out in Book 6, I don't wanna spoil it for you, or for anyone else not finished with the series that might read this.  Let's just say it's not exactly what you are thinking.  If you're like me and can hear extreme spoilers and still enjoy reading the book anyway, I will be glad to elaborate.

Also, word to the wise, be ready for some curveballs in the last 2 books.  While I love the series, Books 6 (to some extent) and 7 (to a big extent) jump the shark in my opinion, although there are some great moments too.   :)

Lysitheia:
I'd love to know,but I'd regret it in the morning.  ;)

Can you elaborate on the jump the shark, though ( I love the website, btw) ? Just the genralities?

Chartreuse:

--- Quote from: Lysitheia on December 09, 2006, 03:43:57 PM ---I'd love to know,but I'd regret it in the morning.  ;)

Can you elaborate on the jump the shark, though ( I love the website, btw) ? Just the genralities?





--- End quote ---

I don't know how in depth you want to go on spoilers, so I'll keep it simple:  the further you get into the series, the more King falls back on cliches and fairly predictable and mediocre writing.  In general, the first few books were great, the middle of the series was mediocre, and the last two were frustrating.

Much as I love Stephen King, it seems like all his best work is the stuff he wrote in the late 70's and early to mid 80's.  The stuff he wrote when he was dealing with drug problems was actually his best work.  Since then it's been slowly going downhill, and ever since his near brush with death courtesy of a van, it's really taken a turn for the worst.

I realize that he probably couldn't have ended the epic any other way than he really did, but it felt almost like a cheap cop-out of an ending to me. 

I miss the old Stephen King.

Quick edit to add:  If you've read Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, King's having one of the same issues she's had.  First two books, she really fleshed out characters.  It was good writing, you really got to know a three dimensional character.  As time went on, it felt like her characters became cardboard cutouts of their former selves.  It became lazy.  King falls into the same mistake, much as you've observed about the Mia character.  "Real" fleshed out character is gone, replaced with a cardboard unrealistic character.  This isn't my only complaint, but it's a major one.

Rei-chan:
Well, in response to the jump the shark question, I wouldn't say SK got predictable, because I certainly didn't "predict" that kind of end to such a great series.  OK, here's goes an attempt at explanation w/o giving anything away:

During the years between Wizard and Glass and the final 3 books, I got on this kick of picking out the DT references in SK's other books.  I got so wrapped up in these "clues" that I kept expecting them to pan out in the final 3 novels.  Honestly, I really was expecting to see or hear about characters from MANY of the other books.  When Wolves of the Calla came out, I thought it was great, and was really building up to something that would blow me away.  I didn't see the Susannah/Mia thing as a repeat of the multiple personality story:  I thought it was something different, which goes back to my comment that it isn't what you were thinking.

Then come the last 2 books.  While some parts WERE good, and some of it was heartbreaking, the last 2 books felt rushed, and the pan out that I was expecting only came in the form of ONE of the other books (Insomnia).  However, this "pan out" made little to no sense AT ALL.  It really felt to me that SK was tired of the whole series and put it to rest as fast as he could, and the ending of 7 really suffered for that.

In one of the books it is mentioned that "Ka is a wheel".  This does ring true as far as the ending goes, but everything leading up to it in book 7 was a cop out to me, and I was really disappointed when I read the last pages.  I hope that the DT comics that are coming out next year will be better than the end of the series.

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