Stephen King is one of my favorite writers, but I only liked Dark Tower 1-4. The Gunslinger was the most atmospheric for me. What do you guys think of the series?

 

The Drawing of The Three was peak Dark Tower. Wizard and Glass was the last good book. 5 started the downhill run that 6 and 7 turned into a gallop toward how awful it could go.

 

Yeah I kinda enjoyed the first three.

I have no idea why this series is so loved by people.

 

Same. I might have to give it a re-read at some point, I felt like I must be missing the point or something for it to be so loved. Maybe I was too young when I read the series.

On my initial reading of the first two books I remember them as... "fine"? I didn't dislike anything, but I can't remember a damn thing about them, which isn't a sign that they were particularly compelling.

 

It's possible the series is a product of its time... and drug-fueled near-insanity on the part of its author.

The Dark Tower is a fantasy epic diguised as a western sci-fi meta-fiction uber-story, crossing over with a dozen or so of King's other works long before the world had heard the term 'MCU'. It was also the product of a very, very, very long period of King's life, starting in the mid-70s and finishing a couple years after his accident.

I believe the last 3 volumes are a direct product of his need to finish the story, rather than waiting for the muse to speak.

It was created in a time before cell phones, the internet, summer blockbusters, and if I remember right, even before any of King's works had been adapted (Carrie might be the exception). It finished in a world with all of those, and the shifting tone, genre and overall milieu is also a reflection of the change King himself went through in that time.

I remember reading the last 3 as they came out, and devouring them. But I haven't picked any of them up in about 10 years. I imagine my attitude and needs as a reader have shifted.

The series is not overrated, I'd say, but much like Friends, which was mind-blowingly popular at the time it aired and is now seen by many as cringey, it is a product of its time, and that time has passed.