Yes, it is the simpler straightforward "OLD KING" ; although that was never that straight forward or simple; he did use at lot less reputition. You had to really pay attention, or you would be thrown off the boat easily. His catch phrases dont sit well with me either. Im on book seven now, and theres a point early on, were he even goes as far as to begin speaking to the reader himself, !? breaking character!?, and using "can I get a BIG BIG, , lol. You know what im talking about. ITs not that I hate this, or even dislike it, I just dont prefer it to the older books. It fells rushed, and not as serious when he does this. It also confuses, and takes away from the rush of the story. However, so far, book 7 has been great, except for Flaggs Death *WHY SO EARLY, AND WHY SO EASy.* THIS IS FLAGG, THIS IS THE MAN IN BLACK, FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS OF STORIES HES HAUNTED, AND ROLANDS ARCH ENEMY* He went out to easy, with no bite as he went down, I wish he would have taken someone with him, hes earned that. IT wasnt right that he should die like that so early in the novel, but oh well. I have a felling he might make another appearance. Back on my point, I really loved book 5, much better than 4, even despite its dialect. This is because it WAS APPROPRIATE in that story because of there environment, the Calla. But to carry that dialect in EXCESS throughout the rest of the stories, was a bad move I.M.H.O.. Its silly. Also, It didnt bother me he was written into the story, that didnt bother me at all. I know alot of people were really worked up about that fact in book 6, but I thought it was kind of cool. He had a small part, and it was funny to me, and interesting. I just dont like how he keeps reminding the reader of shit weve heard 400x before, over and over. EG. She called him Bamma, and cut the crust off his sandwiches. How many times is he gonna to mention this. The worst ramble every, in all the books so far, is the part were jake runs into the Mind Trap, jesus, Ive never heard such a ramble beyound this current post. lol.