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[Brakke]

So The Dark Tower is the first King I ever read, did them all straight through. I just went back recently and read The Stand and BOY HOWDY does that one have a lot of bearing on the Dark Tower.

A lot of the extended universe / tangential stuff stands on its own within the Dark Tower -- like Father Callahan is a pretty much complete character within The Dark Tower -- but the Randall Flagg backstory and the existence of Nick always bothered me about The Dark Tower until I read The Stand.

 

[Glix]

So The Dark Tower is the first King I ever read, did them all straight through. I just went back recently and read The Stand and BOY HOWDY does that one have a lot of bearing on the Dark Tower.

A lot of the extended universe / tangential stuff stands on its own within the Dark Tower -- like Father Callahan is a pretty much complete character within The Dark Tower -- but the Randall Flagg backstory and the existence of Nick always bothered me about The Dark Tower until I read The Stand.

Read Insomnia!

 

[Skilletor]

You must not have read Wolves of The Calla

I loved the Wolves of the Calla.

Song of Susannah is the worst book in the series for me.

 

[Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku!]

I didn't like Song of Susannah much but I liked V and VII a lot. I guess the encounter with

Spoiler

the Crimson King

towards the end of VII was a letdown but the end itself was great.

That's why I like the Dark Tower though, because it fucks with reader expectations more aggressively than any book I've ever read. Things like what you mentioned along with

Spoiler

the death of Flagg, how Mordred plays out, etc

are what make it so damn interesting. And it's really been going on since the beginning of the series, I mean most people here probably aren't old enough to have read the Gunslinger when it came out but I'm sure it was quite shocking to find out that the second book

Spoiler

starts with the hero getting his hand bitten off and spends almost the entire book laying on the beach near death while most of the book takes place in NYC.

Read Insomnia!

Eyes of the Dragon too!

 

[Lothar]

You're missing the point.

Telling someone that you didn't like X part is reasonable. Telling someone half the story doesn't matter is not reasonable.

It's not poor reading on my part at all. You intentionally worded that statement and removed the context to try to reinforce your personal opinion. Kings words were literally referencing the last few pages of the, then, last book and in no way were his advocating abandoning a story well before its conclusion.

If fact, the specific section of the book he was referencing was pretty much an Epilogue.

Now if someone who is actively consuming a story and decides that they want to stop, that's obviously their choice. That doesn't make advising someone to never finish before they've even started good or reasonable advice. At that point, not starting to begin with makes far more sense.

I guess I think differently about people with negative opinions. If someone came in here and said only the first 10 pages of the series is worth reading, the rest is a piece of shit, I would reply "I disagree because ____" and wouldn't think less of that person at all.

King's words were were essentially it's not about the destination. I was using that to say it's not the most important thing ever to make it to end and stand by it. The fact that I think the second half is bad and has many objective problems doesn't mean I shouldn't have started or think anyone shouldn't have started because I think the first half is a fantastic journney.

 

[BrokenBox]

Spoiler

19

-episode season, please.

I just finished Wolves of the Calla and, so far, Wizard and Glass is my favorite Dark Tower novel. Really looking forward to finishing the series and reading more of the expanded stuff. Very excited they chose this book to adapt for TV.

 

[Krowley]

I didn't like Song of Susannah much but I liked V and VII a lot. I guess the encounter with

Spoiler

the Crimson King

towards the end of VII was a letdown but the end itself was great.

Yeah, the

Spoiler

crimson king fight

was terrible. I loved almost everything else about that book, including all the really weird stuff, but that one part was a huge letdown.

 

[BlueTsunami]

If they do this right, it could be an amazing two seasons

Edit: 13 episodes so one season. Goddamn.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Love me some big coffin hunters

 

[Kyleripman]

This is certainly a unique approach. I remember they always talked about this series being a film/TV hybrid, but I'm still kind of surprised to see it happening. I think it will be weird if Wizard and Glass is a 13-hour experience and then all of the "main" films are like 2 hours each, though. It would feel weirdly weighted.

I wonder if they'd consider doing Wind Through the Keyhole as a second season?

 

[F!ReW!Re]

I guess I think differently about people with negative opinions. If someone came in here and said only the first 10 pages of the series is worth reading, the rest is a piece of shit, I would reply "I disagree because ____" and wouldn't think less of that person at all.

King's words were were essentially it's not about the destination. I was using that to say it's not the most important thing ever to make it to end and stand by it. The fact that I think the second half is bad and has many objective problems doesn't mean I shouldn't have started or think anyone shouldn't have started because I think the first half is a fantastic journney.

It's a really weird thing to use as advice for someone who's asking if they should give the series a try.
I think if you would have phrased it: "I liked the first 4 books and then the quality started to drop" it would have been a different story. Now it sounds it's not worth finishing the series and that's (IMO) ridiculous.

Yes the journey is important but hell I would say especially in this case, finishing the actual story is almost mandatory.

Spoiler

The ending redefines the story in several ways. I think it's a brilliant ending (I know there's a lot of opinions on the ending)

So sure, giving your opinion is fine, but recommending to stop a series halfway through (especially something like the Dark Tower) is lunacy!

 

[Fantastapotamus]

So The Dark Tower is the first King I ever read, did them all straight through. I just went back recently and read The Stand and BOY HOWDY does that one have a lot of bearing on the Dark Tower.

A lot of the extended universe / tangential stuff stands on its own within the Dark Tower -- like Father Callahan is a pretty much complete character within The Dark Tower -- but the Randall Flagg backstory and the existence of Nick always bothered me about The Dark Tower until I read The Stand.

Man, I'm just trying to read the stand....but I'm not sure if can finish it.

EDIT:

Spoiler

WAIT! That is THAT Nick? Man.....maybe I have to continue reading.

 

[Glix]

Man, I'm just trying to read the stand....but I'm not sure if can finish it.

EDIT:

Spoiler

WAIT! That is THAT Nick? Man.....maybe I have to continue reading.

Dude. Finish it regardless.

The Stand is AMAZING.

 

[Gozer the Gozerian]

So The Dark Tower is the first King I ever read, did them all straight through. I just went back recently and read The Stand and BOY HOWDY does that one have a lot of bearing on the Dark Tower.

A lot of the extended universe / tangential stuff stands on its own within the Dark Tower -- like Father Callahan is a pretty much complete character within The Dark Tower -- but the Randall Flagg backstory and the existence of Nick always bothered me about The Dark Tower until I read The Stand.

Nick? Nick Andros? What does he have to do with The Dark Tower? Or is there another Nick I'm forgetting about?

 

[geomon]

Please God no. Wizard and Glass is my favorite of the series and to see it on a TV budget would be an insult. Don't do this!

 

[RareFantasy64]

What's not to like about a "gunslinger" using a fucking slingshot?

LOL. We learn so much about Roland in that book. Major spoilers for the book,

Spoiler

Roland's failed romance with Susan Delgado, learning about him killing his mom

. I get why it's the most liked but for me it just has some really heavy and sad stuff. I think I like The Wastelands and/or Wolves of the Calla more. Songs of Susannah has had some awesome moments

Book 3 was amazing to me. I didn't care for book 4. It felt tantgental and killed the momentum b3 built. Not to say it was bad. The story itself was good, but went on too long.

Pretty hyped for the adaptation tho

Book 3 is kind of tied with book 5 as my favorite as well

I loved the Wolves of the Calla.

Same here. Father Callahan's journey to sobriety following his Salem's Lot exit, the blight the citizens of Call Brynn Sturgis and watching the Gunslingers working together to help them after they have gone through some "leveling up" from previous books. I really dig book 5

Death spoiler:

Spoiler

The lady from the town who fights with the sharp dishes, her death is really sad IMO. She was an awesome character

So The Dark Tower is the first King I ever read, did them all straight through. I just went back recently and read The Stand and BOY HOWDY does that one have a lot of bearing on the Dark Tower.

A lot of the extended universe / tangential stuff stands on its own within the Dark Tower -- like Father Callahan is a pretty much complete character within The Dark Tower -- but the Randall Flagg backstory and the existence of Nick always bothered me about The Dark Tower until I read The Stand.

I've heard similar things. I'm 200 pages into The Stand and at the end of Dark Tower book 6. I'm considering reading The Stand before finishing the Dark Tower to have better insight into The Dark Tower's references to The Stand

 

[Jest Chillin]

Please God no. Wizard and Glass is my favorite of the series and to see it on a TV budget would be an insult. Don't do this!

Premium Cable/Streaming service quality wouldn't be bad and would give the story more time to develop properly.

HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, or Netflix has the potential to look great.

 

[Gozer the Gozerian]

Please God no. Wizard and Glass is my favorite of the series and to see it on a TV budget would be an insult. Don't do this!

Eh? It's 2016, don't see much to worry about in that regard. Have you watched TV in the last 10 years? Wizard and Glass is also my favorite in the series, and I think to see it crammed into a 2 hour movie would be an insult.

 

[geomon]

Eh? It's 2016, don't see much to worry about in that regard. Have you watched TV in the last 10 years? Wizard and Glass is also my favorite in the series, and I think to see it crammed into a 2 hour movie would be an insult.

Yes, I have. Don't do this!

If they want to do a TV show, do The Little Sisters of Eluria. That would be perfect. It's away from the main story, you only need Roland there, you can get new people in to flesh out the cast, it's only in one location so you don't need a big budget.

 

[Jest Chillin]

Yes, I have. Don't do this!

If they want to do a TV show, do The Little Sisters of Eluria. That would be perfect. It's away from the main story, you only need Roland there, you can get new people in to flesh out the cast, it's only in one location so you don't need a big budget.

A lot of what you just listed applies to Wizard and Glass as well. 90% of the story would require new actors and takes place in one general area. They would barely need the movie cast at all and it's primarily character development through backstory that isnt paramount to people who just watch the movies.

 

[The Mule]

Thankee-sai

 

[besada]

This is a great way to handle Wizard and Glass. It allows the movies to run in order without a big plot stall in the middle, and allows them to really spend some time with the story. Looking forward to it.

 

[DOWN]

This is the best Stephen King book. But it's all a flashback to when they were kids. There shouldn't be much of a role for Elba to play.



Fourth book is almost entirely in the past.

That's probably exactly why they could afford to get him in the show

 

[geomon]

A lot of what you just listed applies to Wizard and Glass as well. 90% of the story would require new actors and takes place in one general area. They would barely need the movie cast at all and it's primarily character development through backstory that isnt paramount to people who just watch the movies.

That is not true. You have Eyebolt Canyon, the Thinny, the entire town of Hambry, Gilead, and depending on how the story is told, Blaine the Mono, Topeka, and the Emerald Palace. Not to mention you still have to have a decent cast (at the very least someone who can hold up to being a young Idris Elba).

I'm already nervous about the movies being any good, now I have to worry about my favorite part of the story being made for TV.

 

[VistraNorrez]

The best medium for Wizard and Glass is TV. The story needs time to breath and it doesn't belong in the middle of the film series. TV budgets are no joke now a days. I can't imagine production values will be all that different especially on a premium service. I believe the Gunslinger was made relatively cheap too. And if the first film is a success, then the budget will be even less an issue for the TV show. I mean they'll already have saved a bit in pre-production by how much work is done establishing the universe with the first film.

 

[Jest Chillin]

That is not true. You have Eyebolt Canyon, the Thinny, the entire town of Hambry, Gilead, and depending on how the story is told, Blaine the Mono, Topeka, and the Emerald Palace. Not to mention you still have to have a decent cast (at the very least someone who can hold up to being a young Idris Elba).

I'm already nervous about the movies being any good, now I have to worry about my favorite part of the story being made for TV.

Eyebolt Canyon, Hambry, Topeka, The Emerald Palace, and Gilead are simply locations and locations that would mostly come down to being a few sets. The Thinny is sfx. A decent cast is required for any show that hopes to be successful.

There are a myriad of tv shows that handle stuff like this extremely well and most don't need a Game of Thrones budget to get it done.