I just finished 
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King, and I don't quite know what to say about it yet other than that it concludes what is possibly the best modern fantasy epic I've read, say true. Here we -- the last of his friends; silent members of his ka-tet -- finally travel with Roland to the object of his quest: the Dark Tower. The journey took Mr. King more than 34 years to complete, and ages longer for his hero, and the end is as sweet as the alkali desert that set our boots to earth was bitter, though it left me just as thirsty. Not for more of the same -- this story is done, and well-done for it -- but thirsty for a water of my own creation, if I can dig a deep enough well to find it.
The 
A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin is close in power, but since it's not finished yet (and not as fresh in my mind) I can't rightly compare it. Mr. King avoids the extraneous trappings that bog down the later volumes of Robert Jordan's 
Wheel of Time series, say thankee, but still delivers enough meat to gorge a ravenous imagination.
My only disappointment was in the ignominious fate of Walter o' Dim, that black rogue. But alas, what's done is done.
I recommend the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind. A great fantasy novel series with a conservative political message!
The series isn't done, and I can't wait to buy the next book when it comes out in two weeks.
I've never read the Dark Tower Books. Between you and my nephew, I am now most intrigued. My nephew mentioned it when he opened the Michael Whelan calendar I got him at Noreascon for Christmas.
I couldn't get into the first Martin book. Maybe someday if I try again... My sister loves those.
I'm a big Wheel of Time fan, but agree on the later books having bogged down. Hopefully he will crank it up as expected in the next one, and come to a grand conclusion in a total of not more than two books after that.
Sword of Truth I like but have mixed feelings about. As Deb observed when she couldn't make herself finish the second one, it's boring in places. I didn't really notice the libertarian overtones, amazingly, until the one I described as Goodkind channeling Ayn Rand, but more entertainingly and concisely, into a fantasy novel. I forget the title, but it's the one where he makes the statue.
SoT is one of those where I will read the cover blurb, say "eh, whatever" because it sounds uninteresting, then eventually will read it and find it anything from an acceptable read to excellent, but not so compelling that I scramble to get the next volume and read it no matter how bad the cover makes it sound.
I loved the Dark Tower books, but it just felt like Steve King got tired. He writes in #7 about feeling put upon and needing to finish the series and how tiring it was to do that much work. So I feel like he cheaped out, so to speak. Walter's wasn't the only cheap ending. Mordred was essentially useless and the long feared Crimson King was less frightening than Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter pun intended) The only redeeming feature of the book, frankly was Roland's surprise ending, and even that has had to grow on me.
Jay and DM: I've heard very mixed things about Sword of Truth, which is why it isn't high on my list. Maybe I'll check it out someday, but I've already got a huge stack to read.
I'm a big WoT fan also, and the first 4-5 books are awesome, but after that I just get lost and bored, unfortunately. Once he finishes it I'll probably read through the whole series again and try to piece it all together.
The GRRM books are amazing, but a tough slog since the fantasy world is different than most and he doesn't make it very accessible at times.
caltechgirl: I agree, it did feel like he just started writing stream-of-consciousness and left whatever came out on the paper. I liked Walter through all the series, but his death was silly. Mordred was an interesting character, but he never did anything significant after he was born. I would've liked it if, say, Mordred had been killed shortly after birth, and then Walter showed up and "absorbed" his life force or something. Roland et al would have thought Mordred dead, but then Walter could have had a nice big showdown of his own. Walter definitely got short-changed.
As for the CK, yeah, he felt a little weak... but the point is that in the end it all came down to Roland, the Tower, and the CK. Still, the CK was far less scary and interesting than Sayre, or even Finli o' Tego. That reminds me, I liked the stuff with the Breakers, and the bad guys there really came to life in my mind.