(view spoiler)[Poor Roland. He gets a pretty raw deal. (hide spoiler)] But at least he gets to shoot the people he doesn't like along the way. 
 I've now read this twice and listened to it twice as of 7/31/17, and I understand some of the complaints about it when it's compared to the earlier books. Parts of it are bloated. I remember one scene at Blue Heaven between the master's servants. It did absolutely nothing to further the plot. Everything important that happened could've been explained in half a sentence later on, and the characters served no purpose other than to let Stephen King hit us with some fat jokes and some fag jokes, but unfortunately no fat fag jokes. They were good jokes, but the scene was pointless. This kind of thing happens a few times. There were also a few slow parts. 
 As for the metafiction, and Stephen King inserting himself into the work, I liked it and think it works just fine, but to each their own. There's one exception, though. I have never cared for how the Dandelo warning was treated. The anagram with its deus ex machina moment has never made any sense to me, but Susannah speculates that perhaps such creatures have to follow certain rules, and the anagram part might be one of them. And (view spoiler)[why does Eddie say look out for Dandelo? Why not just save everyone some trouble and tell them to beware of Joe Collins? It was clear he had been given a glimpse of the future. Did he not see that part? By the time Susannah figured everything out, it was clear the creature intended no good, and he needed to be killed whether he was called Dandelo, Rumpelstiltskin, or Atticus Finch. Most worthless warning ever. And was the deus ex machina part really a place where SK wrote himself into a corner and couldn't think of how to fix it, or was he just being super meta again? (hide spoiler)] I'm confused. 
 With all these gripes, you'd think I'd be disinclined to give this all five stars, but I still think this was an amazing book, and it still has one of the best endings I've ever read. We're talking original Planet of the Apes quality here. 
 As usual, George Guidall does a fine job with the audio version. I know he's not Frank Muller, but I think most people would enjoy Guidall's narration if Muller wasn't there to use for a comparison. I prefer Muller myself, but that doesn't mean Guidall does a bad job at all. 
 Original review, 8-12-10: 
 What can I say but "wow?!" Well, if you keep reading, you'll find out. 
 Mordred raids the scene. Walter (view spoiler)[exits rather pathetically, and I was sad to see him go in such a horrible and unimpressive manner. The Ka-tet prevents the destruction of all universes in a gun fight. The Crimson King's forces are greatly diminished, and those still alive are scattered to the four (or however many) corners of several dimensions. True to his style of pissing you off, King kills off some main characters that you've grown to love for several books. (hide spoiler)] We meet Ted Brautigan, whom I'm anxious to read about in some other book I can't remember right now (I think he's supposed to be in Hearts in Atlantis). Update: We can check this off the bucket list. Patrick Danville, the pivotal character of Insomnia, even if he is in like just one paragraph in that book, finally makes his appearance. There's an excellent chase scene. There's an anticlimactic showdown with Mordred, but it makes perfect sense because Roland taking down such a powerful being in a blaze of glory would have been way too unrealistic. There's also an anticlimactic showdown with the Crimson King himself at the Dark Tower, but it had to be that way for the same reason as mentioned before. Then there's an ending concerning all of the main characters except Roland. Then there's the ending for Roland which is one of the best endings to a book/series I've ever read. Please don't confuse that with happiest ending, or most tragic ending, or any of those other adjectives. I said best, and I mean it. It was pure awesomeness in its unexpectedness. The only thing I can compare it to is the series finale for the second Bob Newhart show (which I think was simply titled Newhart) where he gets hit in the head and knocked out by a golf ball at his ski lodge which had been turned into a golf course against his wishes in that last episode. He eventually comes to in a dark room and starts telling his wife about the weird dream he had, then he says he's going to get up to get water or something. The lights turn on, and he's in bed with his wife from the first Bob Newhart series, in their bedroom from the first series. In short, the entire second series was the dream he was referring to, not just the last episode where the lodge was made into a golf course! That was the kind surprise value the ending had for me, and I was greatly pleased with it. 
 I highly recommend this series, and not just for the ending. The whole thing is great, and everything is wrapped up nicely with no loose ends in this final volume.