On reading "the Dark Tower"
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Just finished Stephen Kings “The Dark Tower”, the final volume in the series of the same name. Reading the series has been a diverse experience for me: while I liked the first four volumes, the next two – Wolves of the Calla and Song of Suannah, did have considerable lengths. So I approached the last volume with mixed feelings. First the things I didn’t like:
Some of the plot lines built up in previous volumes (Walter, Mordred) were dispensed with rather quickly. Also, I felt that I detected more than a note of smugness in King’s continuous references to other literary works, which add nothing to the story but seems designed to show off how much he has read. Additionally, his constant reference to the dialect the characters speak detracts from the story – this is not a linguistic treatise after all.
Despite all this, King still writes well, the story is fast paced (in contrast to the previous two volumes) and, if we have the courage to read to the bitter end, we learn what Roland finds on top of the tower. Several fans have not liked King’s ending but to me it seems exactly right. All in all, we get the strong feeling that we have travelled a long way with Roland and his friends and that we have come to the end of the road. Indeed, the series spans not only seven volumes but also 34 years. Reading the final volume is thus an intensive experience – time to rest!
What is SF&F?
The Lonley Planet Bookstore has the following definition:
SF&F is a shorthand term often used among genre fans and is basically a quicker way of saying Science Fiction and Fantasy; it is most commonly used in the context of novels. The terms ‘SF’ or ‘Sci-Fi’ are also often used, but many fans find the term ‘Sci-Fi’ to be a little insulting and juvenile, while ‘SF’ doesn’t adequately describe a novel which may be predominantly Fantasy, hence SF&F becoming more common as a handy, catch-all short description for fantastic fiction. The term ‘speculative fiction’ is also becoming more common and tends to be applied to fiction which may have some fantastical elements but is not entirely SF&F.
