Favourite Order?

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The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
2,080
8,261
42
The Darkside of the Moon (England really)
I'd be interested to know what you guys felt your favourite - to least favourite book was. Where would you place each one? This would be my order (no WTTKH yet, I have not read it but you guys who have can include it):

1, Drawing of the 3
2, Wolves of the Calla
3, Dark Tower
4, Wizard & Glass
5, Gunslinger
6, Song of Susannah
7, Wastelands

I didn't want to put Sos and Gunslinger so low down because I feel they get an unfair amount of criticism (obviously criticism is an oppinion so it is justified and valid to the person giving it, and that is fine) - I liked them both, it is just a marker of how much I really liked series. The only one I didn't like a large portion of was Wastelands, I just didn't like this one until about halfway through, and if I was one of the fans who had to wait so long between books, the cliff hanger end would have pissed me off so much that I may never have finnished them.
 

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
Mar 6, 2013
11,749
34,805
Dunno if I can rank them as there are favorite scenes in each story....and even now, considering some of those scenes, I have to think to remember exactly what book of the 7-8-9 they are found. Some of those scenes are easy to locate...under the mountains, the slow mutants...the plane...the battle w/the wolves...
I wonder how many readers picked up/bought The Gunslinger w/o realizing it was but story one of many? That's what happened w/me...out West...vacation...sniffing books in South Dakota, this just after seeing a statue of who was it...The Sundance Kid...in Sundance Wyoming...passing through Deadwood...where the man was gunned down playing cards?...was it Wyatt Earp?...so I was in a gunslinger mood. I don't know at what point I realized hey this is story one of many! I think I was rankled...but I imagine that's better than dropping books on the floor when you try to make your way to the cashier at the bookstore, hey? Cashier and other book aficionados giving you The Eye...and you know they're assigning you to a special region in the Inferno Update...down there with the pedophiles and nose-pickers. So anyway, I enjoyed all of them to the same degree, more or less...but flying on the plane w/Eddie ensured that I'd keep on the path.
 

OKKingFan

Well-Known Member
Jun 15, 2013
138
371
Oklahoma
Here's my order:

1. Wizard and Glass
2. The Dark Tower
3. Wolves of the Calla
4. Drawing of the Three
5. The Wastelands
6. Song of Susannah
7. The Gunslinger (revised)
8. Wind Through the Keyhole
9. The Gunslinger (original)

I really liked the story from Roland's younger days with Susan Delgado, even though in effect it's a flashback and a departure from our journey with the ka-tet.
Book 7 may have been number one, but the ending wasn't fully satisfying, otherwise it would be number one. A lot going on in that book, right from the start to the end.
Wolves was sort of slow, but a good story, and some of the things it introduces, such as Father Callahan, and King inserting himself in the tale, made it very interesting.
Drawing of the Three was cool to me just from the standpoint of Roland gathering his ka-tet, and the movement between worlds.
Wastelands was entertaining, but that book ended at a bad spot for me. Right in the middle of an important scene, and it poof, it's over.
Song of Susannah was not bad, but it felt like the middle of a trilogy to me. Sort of just sets up book 7.
The revised Gunslinger was much easier to read than the original, but I still think he's working too hard mixing in things in that book. Plus, there are a lot of flashbacks. Not much happens in the present.
Wind Through the Keyhole strayed too far off base for me, although I realize it had some important items contained in it.
The original Gunslinger was way too much like poetry for me. I found myself re-reading sentences and paragraphs trying to figure out what he was saying.

Just one man's opinion. All in all, Dark Tower was entertaining (which after all, is the point), and it probably falls somewhere in the middle if I was ranking all of King's books.
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Favourite order? :hmm:Well, after "Out of Order" of course it would have to be a restraining order or maybe an order of French fries with a burger on the side (just as a treat, mind you!)
I am unable to participate in this thread actually as I have only read "The Gunslinger" and part of the Wind through the Keyhole.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
l.jpg
...order?....need I say more?....
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
1) Wizard and Glass--In my top 10 of all books ever. The story of Roland and Susan (and Alain, and Cuthbert, and everyone else)is heartbreaking and beautiful and perfect.
2) Drawing of the Three--First one I read, and I read it three times, back to back.
3) The Wasteland--Jake's slow descent into madness is so well-drawn, and their trip... wow.
4) The Dark Tower--One particular aspect drove me batty, but other than that, I really liked it (particularly the end)
5) The Wind Through The Keyhole--Back to Storyteller Roland, and I love him.
6) Wolves of the Calla--SO slightly above SoS.
7) Song of Susannah--Felt like filler. Not bad, but not terribly compelling either
8) The Gunslinger --If I'd read this one first, I might not have ever read the rest of them, and that would be a great pity
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
1) Wizard and Glass--In my top 10 of all books ever. The story of Roland and Susan (and Alain, and Cuthbert, and everyone else)is heartbreaking and beautiful and perfect.
2) Drawing of the Three--First one I read, and I read it three times, back to back.
3) The Wasteland--Jake's slow descent into madness is so well-drawn, and their trip... wow.
4) The Dark Tower--One particular aspect drove me batty, but other than that, I really liked it (particularly the end)
5) The Wind Through The Keyhole--Back to Storyteller Roland, and I love him.
6) Wolves of the Calla--SO slightly above SoS.
7) Song of Susannah--Felt like filler. Not bad, but not terribly compelling either
8) The Gunslinger --If I'd read this one first, I might not have ever read the rest of them, and that would be a great pity

Well Dopey me - I went and read the first book first and it was hard to get through. So now I guess I will try "The Drawing of the Three" next (or maybe Wizard and Glass?) Then maybe I will appreciate some of the strange ways of saying things on this board eg. thankee, Ka is a wheel, etc.
 

Neil W

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2008
1,203
2,592
Isle of Wight UK
Drawing of the Three
Wolves of the Calla
Wasteland
Dark Tower
Song of Susannah
Gunslinger
Wizard and Glass

I am always impressed how each book has its own very different flavour, yet all are part of a coherent whole.