Ryan asked “was it worth the trip?” Oh yes. At least for me it was.

It was a great epic tale, with a great ending. And I am talking about the real ending after King suggested you stop reading. I would have been disappointed if I had skipped that last part.

Actually there was one thing that did disappoint me, the author’s note was not included in the audio recording. I had noticed that there was one in the hardback version, which I picked up at B&N to look at the drawings yesterday. Now I have to read that note next time I am in a book store.

I enjoyed the story so much I almost bought The Road to the Dark Tower : Exploring Stephen King’s Magnum Opus while I was out yesterday, with my coupons and gift cards. I figured I could use a break from the tower for a while.

I have only one hour remaining in my audio version of The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower, Book 7) and it is bittersweet. After listening for so long, I have been wrapped up in this story for over 6 months, I will be glad to have it concluded. But I will also have an emptiness. I have looked forward to my walks and my drives to listen to the exploits of Roland and his friends, and that story will be missed. Of course by immersing myself into his world as I have, I have opened up a whole series of books that I need to consume now, a whole bunch of King novels that all feed into the characters and the story within the Dark Tower.

I will also say this, if you have questioned whether audio books are for you. The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1) is a good place to start and try it out. I am pretty much hooked now.

Of course I doubt I will continue paying $15 a month to audible. I noticed quite a few audio CDs at the libraries around here which will fit nicely on my ipod. I have no particular beef with audible, their service has been worth it, and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to spend some money. But I really only signed up for a year to save $100 on my ipod, giving me even more value. And I can put that $180 a year to better use I think. Maybe if they had a service for $10 a month for 1 book, as opposed to 15 for one book and one monthly subscription I would do it. Because I have mostly had no use for the subscription.

Anyway, I expect to be done today. And I expect to celebrate by playing a game of Madden at some point, and then with the huge task of consuming the dark tower off of my plate, I will plan what I want to accomplish next.