if you want to, read it.
if you don't want to, don't read it.

Yeah. Do you know the ending? If not, then you should read it.
There's a load of bullshit that happens especially in the last three books, but I thought it was worth it.

The first book is the best though, keep that in mind so that you won't be too disappointed; it goes 1 > 2 > 7 > 4 = 3 > 5 >>>> 6

>>7467094

dude I think they're pretty good.

stephen king is considered "plebby" and yeah sure I guess he is but his prose is super comfy, he's just sitting in your ear saying "m8 listen here, this is basically what happened" and he does it well.

I think someone called him a yarn spinner or something and he really is and with this series he does it well and they're a comfy read.

>>7467116
Thought 2 was best honestly. 6 was a bit of a fuckery I agree.

>>7469471
Book 1 has a different atmosphere from all the others, probably because King wrote it when he was 19 or so. You could probably read the first book only and be done with the series, since it provides a satisfying ending of its own

>>7467116
>>7469471
I was a big fan of The Wasteland. Wizard and Glass stopped me, but I was 13 at the time. Would like to reread the series sometime.

I blew through 1-4 but Wolves of the Calla was such a jarring change in style that I put the series down and haven't picked it back up, that was about 4 years ago.

>>7469495
Wizard and Glass starts off as a boring sidestory because you're used to an older Roland but once it picks up it becomes pretty good
Susan is disappointing though

>>7469504

not after sexy time begins amirite fellas. 14 year old me would've do some pretty rogue shit to get that fine 16 year old virgin snatch too

Wizard and Glass is the best installment of DT, and it is worth reading the series up to that point at the very least. I have rarely been as emotionally invested in a novel as I was in that one. King writes friendship really well in this series.

I wasn't as putoff by the end of the 7th book as a lot of folks, either, because it is spiritually true to the poem DT is based on, and instead of REEEE, I read it with poignancy. Roland's relationship with his ka-tet and his other friends throughout the novel means even more, imo, in light of the ending, i.e. in the lesson of openness/caring that he does or doesn't learn by that point.

>>7467094
for those of you who have read the whole thing, what are other of his books that should be read before? I know that they might not be "essential" or necessary, but I would still like to have that extra layer. I'll look up a list online but I would also like to get /lit/'s opinion.

>>7467094
I ate these books up all they way to 6 and 7. I didn't enjoy the ending.

Book 1 is the best imo, and could be enjoyed without continuing the story. Every book follows the same story but is completely different.

>>7469549
You don't really need to have read any of his other books to understand the series.
You could read Salem's Lot since one of its characters appears in TDT, as well as It, since there are some recurring themes that you'll understand when you read the Dark Tower.
It is probably King's best series so you should read it anyway.

I can only offer up what I did- Many years ago, I happened upon a collection of John Brunner short stories about the titular character, The Traveller in Black.

Growing up I loved sphagetti westerns and watched most of the big ones, the dollar's trilogy, once upon a time in the west, all that good stuff.

I also read a lot of classic adventure books, and really started getting into pulp sci-fi and fantasy. Dimly remembering the Brunner stories I fell in love with.

Eventually I stumbled upon many internet recommendations about the Dark Tower series. I had read the Preacher graphic novels by this point and consumed most that the west and east had to offer in terms of samurai or cowboy classics. I read the first book, was underwhelmed since I had already seen many of these hooks done better before. I decided to just spoil the rest of the books for myself since I don't want to dedicate this much reading time to fiction which I don't enjoy, and felt underwhelmed again.

Have never looked back or thought twice about it. There are better forms of entertainment out there if you want fantasy blended with a loner travelling a wasteland.

Like the guy above me says, King creates his own universe with interlinked characters and patterns. I never really thought it was particularly compelling or classic. If you like his other books, you will like the series and stick with it. If you don't, its definitely not worth reading past the first book.

>>7469587
>There are better forms of entertainment out there if you want fantasy blended with a loner travelling a wasteland.

What would you recommend?

I'm a pretty discerning reader with little time for many of King's other works, but I love the Dark Tower books.

They're pretty loopy, often nonsensical and bizarre, more like a string of vignettes than a cohesively formed 'series'. But at its best the writing is striking, evocative and the characters are fairly compelling - particularly Roland himself. There's also a pleasing sense of melancholy and ruin that King does very well.

View it as King's take on Lord of the Rings, sure, but it's rather different than your average 'epic'. For what it's worth, I think the ending is good. If you fancy dipping your toe in, try 'The Gunslinger' or 'The Wind Through the Keyhole.' Both are worth your time.

>>7469532
I agree.

>>7469705
Roland is very well written but I feel like King did a mediocre job with the other main characters. Eddie and Jake are the most fleshed out apart from Roland himself, but he could've put more of an emphasis on Walter or the Crimson King for example. Walter was originally presented as Roland nemesis, the opposite side of a coin and the only one able to keep up with his quest; in the first book, he felt surreal and dangerous. Then he gets murdered by a spider and we don't ever hear from him again. What a let down.
He also wasted a lot of time on pointless development for Susannah, which felt forced and wasn't all that interesting.
Most of the secondary characters are great, though.

>>7469744
I can understand why you felt let down by that particular development, but I quite like it. The legendary long-lived trickster goes down due to his over-inflated sense of cunning (I think King writes something to the effect of 'too full of his past exploits) and theirs was a feud that realistically would never be settled by a Roland-style gun happy showdown.

Crimson King is a similar sort of deal - a wackjob whose myth precedes him.

I really like some of the flunkies, actually - the animal headed folk who work in Algul Siento are really entertaining to read about, and Blaine is a pretty funny fucker.

>>7469983
I don't mind the reason for him dying, I'm just saying it was poorly executed.
A gun showdown would've been a bad way to end their story, but it's still better than getting killed by Mordred, who was an awful character anyway.

The Crimson King going insane was justified and didn't bother me, but him throwing grenades at Roland and getting killed by a secondary character introduced five chapters prior, when you know that the Crimson King is supposed to be a nigh-omnipotent personification of darkness and evil was too much.

>>7467094
>genre fic
>worth reading
No lol

>>7471291
the only right answer