“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

After soaking up the last few chapters of Stephen King’s magnificent opus The Dark Tower, I had this overwhelming urge to recategorize my bookshelf to make room for this final book in The Gunslinger series. Frodo et al will have to settle for the second shelf, it appears. I may have to return my degree when they find out I put Stephen King’s finest work on the shelf beside my 5-pound Milton compendium, the Collected Works of Shakespeare, a couple of Norton Anthologies (old friends from grad school!), and my complete Works of William Blake. Oh, the Brits will be pissed.

The saga of the gunslinger Roland Deschain comes to a conclusion in Stephen King’s final book in the series, The Dark Tower Book VII: The Dark Tower. I can’t say I’m disappointed, because it was a true ending, a right ending; and that is all I shall say about THAT.

Roland’s Ka-tet–Eddie, Susannah, Jack and Oy–is still intact and faced with what seems insurmountable tasks as they draw closer to the Tower. Loyalties remain strong; characters stay true; challenges abound; more characters are drawn into the story’s fold; there is a finality to events, as I’m sure you could imagine, and in that there is a certain sadness. However, I’ve promised to keep this review spoiler free, and that’s a promise I’ll keep.

The reader has invested, by this time, a lot of emotion into these characters; some of King’s audience began reading the series in 1982, when The Gunslinger was first published. Your loyalty to this author’s tale will be rewarded. If you are a fan of King’s work, you will note the intertextuality, the disparate yarns of all his books’ worlds into the knitting of this, his supposedly final and definitely finest tale. King’s storytelling is absolutely prime; nothing is sacred except the story, and everything that happens must serve the plot, including some interesting metafictional elements that make you wonder if King is writing the book, or if the book is writing King. Regardless, the writing is very efficient, and the book is well-paced. The storytelling is at times horrific and heartbreaking, equal parts tragedy and drama. It is as ka wills, so it seems, and ka is a bumpy ride.

Artist Michael Whelan adds 12 beautiful full-color illustrations to the novel. His artistic vision for Roland and his world is a bit eery and uncanny, and it does me just fine, say thankee. Whelan also illustrated the first novel in the series, so it is right that he illustrates its conclusion.

If you are an initiate to the series, take it slow. Savor the plodding journey while noting the important points; as you go, you’ll probably want to pay attention to the fact that King’s storytelling matures exponentially. He begins this tale a talented writer who publishes contemporary fiction that is widely read. He ends it with a craft that ensures his placement among the most respected pens in the canon.

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