....closing in on the conclusion of Sympathy For The Devil......Tracy thinks I'm planning on knocking her off by making a deal with Old Scratch.....btw, the story selections are 85% top shelf....
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I felt similarly about SoS, it was just one out of the series that felt a bit like hard work compared with the others.Finally finished SoS,
wasn’t such a big fan of it, maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more if I didn’t take so long in between reading it. I’m the type of person who goes through phases where they read a lot, and then long periods of tinned where they don’t feel motivated to read at all. Overall I think it’s biggest weak point was how it separated the characters, especially how you didn’t even get to see what Jake and Callahan were doing till way later, and only for one chapter. The characters are all great, but they worked better when they were together.
The fact that it took you completely out of Roland’s world kind of killed some of it, which is funny, as I enjoyed the segments in Wolved that accounted Callahan’s Journey, or Jakes adventure towards the doorway in Wastelands. I would say that those were better because they were smaller segments. I’m not even a big fan of fantasy novels, but Inworld/Midworld/Endworld/etc. had charm to it, it was a unique experience and engaging to read.
I also hated Mia, I get you weren’t nessecarily supposed to like her. But unlike Percy from The Green Mile, I felt that my annoyance towards her character didn’t help the story at all. Her interactions with Susannah were both irritating, and the whole way their interactions were written required a lot of effort to keep track of. Susannah is such a great character, but her chemistry with Mia was irritating beyond belief. I wish she was also paired up with another “physical” character to make it more engaging.
Stephen King’s own cameo was interesting, but it felt so over-the-top. The whole reveal that ‘Salem’s Lot existed as a novel within the universe at the end of Wolves was so well built up, but it just ended up being a bit of a “meh”.
I did really enjoy the “coda” segment at the end, it was like a fictionalized but also true diary of SK’s career up until his cough cough “death”.
I also enjoyed John Cullum and his interactions with Eddie and Roland, he was a great character. And I also thought the chapter where Eddie and Roland along with Deepneau convince Tower to sell the lot, that was interesting.
I feel bad for trash talking this one so much, but it just wasn’t as engaging or exciting compared to how great of a series it’s been and how much I’ve enjoyed the other ones, it’s just that this one didn’t have the same charm.
I sure hope the final one manages to make a comeback and give this epic series the finale it deserves.
But that will have to wait, as I’m gonna take a break and break open my first novel by King’s buddy Peter Straub, Floating Dragon, which I hope to do an in-depth review on.
In case I didn’t make it obvious enough, SoS beats WTK for my least favorite Dark Tower book. Maybe some other time I’ll reread it and it’ll “click” with me. But that is another time.
I sadly have to give this one a 4/10.
Wow - have not seen you in a while - I like your new glasses!
I ordered Bird Box from the library but I am on a waiting list
Love the cover!went back to a golden classic of the crime writer era. They knew what they did in these days. Not a single page too long as most are today.
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Written before WW2 but still great.
Finally finished SoS,
wasn’t such a big fan of it, maybe I would’ve enjoyed it more if I didn’t take so long in between reading it. I’m the type of person who goes through phases where they read a lot, and then long periods of tinned where they don’t feel motivated to read at all. Overall I think it’s biggest weak point was how it separated the characters, especially how you didn’t even get to see what Jake and Callahan were doing till way later, and only for one chapter. The characters are all great, but they worked better when they were together.
The fact that it took you completely out of Roland’s world kind of killed some of it, which is funny, as I enjoyed the segments in Wolved that accounted Callahan’s Journey, or Jakes adventure towards the doorway in Wastelands. I would say that those were better because they were smaller segments. I’m not even a big fan of fantasy novels, but Inworld/Midworld/Endworld/etc. had charm to it, it was a unique experience and engaging to read.
I also hated Mia, I get you weren’t nessecarily supposed to like her. But unlike Percy from The Green Mile, I felt that my annoyance towards her character didn’t help the story at all. Her interactions with Susannah were both irritating, and the whole way their interactions were written required a lot of effort to keep track of. Susannah is such a great character, but her chemistry with Mia was irritating beyond belief. I wish she was also paired up with another “physical” character to make it more engaging.
Stephen King’s own cameo was interesting, but it felt so over-the-top. The whole reveal that ‘Salem’s Lot existed as a novel within the universe at the end of Wolves was so well built up, but it just ended up being a bit of a “meh”.
I did really enjoy the “coda” segment at the end, it was like a fictionalized but also true diary of SK’s career up until his cough cough “death”.
I also enjoyed John Cullum and his interactions with Eddie and Roland, he was a great character. And I also thought the chapter where Eddie and Roland along with Deepneau convince Tower to sell the lot, that was interesting.
I feel bad for trash talking this one so much, but it just wasn’t as engaging or exciting compared to how great of a series it’s been and how much I’ve enjoyed the other ones, it’s just that this one didn’t have the same charm.
I sure hope the final one manages to make a comeback and give this epic series the finale it deserves.
But that will have to wait, as I’m gonna take a break and break open my first novel by King’s buddy Peter Straub, Floating Dragon, which I hope to do an in-depth review on.
In case I didn’t make it obvious enough, SoS beats WTK for my least favorite Dark Tower book. Maybe some other time I’ll reread it and it’ll “click” with me. But that is another time.
I sadly have to give this one a 4/10.
I think SoS suffers from a stepping out of the 'chase' syndrome, meaning that by now most readers of the books just want to get the Tower with Roland and SoS takes a side step from that quest. I like the book but I felt like it took us out of the chase.I felt similarly about SoS, it was just one out of the series that felt a bit like hard work compared with the others.
Excellent observation- spot on.I think SoS suffers from a stepping out of the 'chase' syndrome, meaning that by now most readers of the books just want to get the Tower with Roland and SoS takes a side step from that quest. I like the book but I felt like it took us out of the chase.
I think SoS suffers from a stepping out of the 'chase' syndrome, meaning that by now most readers of the books just want to get the Tower with Roland and SoS takes a side step from that quest. I like the book but I felt like it took us out of the chase.
Excellent observation- spot on.
add on thoughts -- for all the time I have read and re read thus journey, it never crossed my mind that was the exact reason SoS felt different. You have educated Spidey!!I think SoS suffers from a stepping out of the 'chase' syndrome, meaning that by now most readers of the books just want to get the Tower with Roland and SoS takes a side step from that quest. I like the book but I felt like it took us out of the chase.
I can see that point, though I’d argue W&G and Wolves do the same thing, though maybe not to that full degree. I feel like SoS suffers from “info-dumping”, by which I mean it tried to introduce too many new concepts at once, while at the same time trying to manage 3 separate character plots due to everyone being split up.I think SoS suffers from a stepping out of the 'chase' syndrome, meaning that by now most readers of the books just want to get the Tower with Roland and SoS takes a side step from that quest. I like the book but I felt like it took us out of the chase.