Roland teases that he’s got another story to tell and we realize that Martin and Rhea will be back as well (oh joy). There is also additional backstory of how Roland left Gilead a gunslinger, the wizard Martin’s involvement with his mother, and the secret guilt that Roland carries.Īfter story time, we get another brief story of the ka-tet, this time visiting the Land of Oz (which was surprising to me, as I thought these books primarily just traveled the world of King’s bibliography). Complicating things are the presence of a witch named Rhea who has a piece of glass or rainbow or crystal ball or something that allows her to see everything. Shocker, she and Roland end up doing the beast with two backs and shit hits the fan. While traveling with his companions Cuthbert and Alain, he falls in love with Susan who is promised to the local mayor and must be a virgin to fulfill the promise.

Rather than telling it in first person flashback, it’s basically a whole separate book complete with sections that don’t even involve Roland. Quickly though the group sits down and Roland begins telling the story of his teenage love with Susan Delgado. Afterward I got excited because the group wanders through the setting of my favorite King book (so far) The Stand. The method of their salvation felt hackneyed, like something out of a kid’s tv show although that could have been the intent of King. The group begins on the train from hell, riddling for their lives. The beginning and ending of this book (minimally) advance the story of Eddie, Susannah, Jake, Oy, and Roland. Book four goes back to mainly just Roland in the midworld and for the bulk of the book I did not care about anything or anyone. Book three was the best one in the series, mixing the fantasy elements with the quartet of protagonists and ending on a thrilling train ride. Despite my dislike of the Odetta Walker character, once King got out of his fantasy landscape the stakes for the characters felt much higher.

I read the first book, didn’t really care for it, but realized it was laying the ground work for this extensive undertaking and was willing to go along for the ride. Now that I’m four books in to Stephen King’s The Dark Towerseries, I can reflect my enjoyment of this series as a bell curve.

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King