The Dark Tower: Book VII by Stephen King

Roland and his ka-tet finally reach the end of the long road they've been traveling. Stephen King began this journey over twenty years ago, and fans have been clamoring for a conclusion to the story. All it too was one near-fatal accident to get him back in gar (and that made for a nice plot element as well).

The final book is a hefty, sprawling volume that seeks to wrap up several loose ends and move the travelers on to their final destination. It's difficult to discuss without giving away any spoilers. When the ka-tet is broken and people start leaving and/or dying (which has been hinted at since the early books) it doesn't feel momentous or earth-shattering, just...right. We're on this journey with Roland, who's already lost one ka-tet and has continued bitterly on in his quest for the Tower. King handles the death of his new friends very deftly, not sending them out with a bang or a climactic to-the-death battle (well...maybe one of them gets that glory), but rather their demise is just part of a series of events, unexpected, shocking, but "ka is a wheel" ever turning. Roland has to keep moving. The fascination comes in seeing Roland finally become human, finally feel some attachment to people and things other than his quest.

King does keep plenty of tension in the story, with Mordred Red-Heel, Roland's half-human half-son, empathic vampires, and the appearance (at last!) of The Crimson King. The Tower books have relied on magic doors between worlds, and this last tale seems to provide a revolving door for a multitude of King's works (Insomnia, The Stand, It, Eyes of the Dragon, Hearts in Atlantis, and more). The Dark Tower books stand alone as an amazing work, but become even greater with the addition of these branches and ancillary tales in King's body of work.

And the ending...well... I was at once elated, pleased, and crushed with the final turn of events. But what has happened has happened.