Rating: 
Summary: King lights out, flashes back, and fleshes out
Review: In Wizard and Glass, Stephen King turns around and spends the bulk of his volume answering the questions he has raised in the three previous volumes of the Dark Tower series. We meet the mysterious and lost Susan who haunts the memory of Roland of Gilead, and learn why she rides with him as surely as do his three living companions. King takes his time with this flashback, and dives deeply into the lives of the teenaged Roland and his friends Cuthbert and Alain. More than the other three volumes, W&G looks inward to address Roland's motives, his history, and even his rigidly controlled emotions. W&G makes a fine center volume to the series, explaining some issues introduced earlier, while opening the door a crack to many more mysteries still to come. I particularly enjoyed the parallels I found to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, with its Dark Tower at the end of the road, its seeing stone, and the almost irresistible danger of being sucked into its evil madness.
Rating: 
Summary: Good to be back.
Review: I was originally disappointed with numbers 2 and 3, for they lost a lot of the fantasy originally associated with Roland's life and surroundings in number 1. At the beginning of book 4 too, I was at first struck with a sadness that we would lose Roland's world forever. And then we went back to his youth. The stories that continue from there have been captivating my last few hours as much as the first book did. I can only hope number 5 is as good and that he gets it in print in a period of time shorter than six years.
Rating:
Summary: The best in the Dark Tower Series yet!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this latest edition to the Dark Tower series; it was well worth the long wait! SK goes into detail about Roland's past: his growing up, his love, how he became a gunslinger and how the "world" became the way it is now. A very engrossing book, not just for fans of Stephen King. This book, like the rest of the Dark Tower series, is not like the rest of SK's genre of books. It does not focus on blood, gore and guts to scare you as much as it dwells on the psychic to thrill you.
A very entertaining novel, leaving you (as all his books do), wanting more and anticipating the next in the series. Let's hope it doesn't take another couple of years for it to arrive!
Rating:
Summary: A long awaited return by King, satisfies like a fine wine
Review: After many years, King returns us to the stories of Roland and his fated companions.While not merely good in the way a junkie relishes any fix, this novel develops characters and plots while retaining the reader's interest. Thrilling and saddening, readers are drawn to the emotions of the main character, Roland, like never before.
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Summary: King stacks the deck with "Wizard and Glass"
Review: After a seemingly endless wait since "The Waste Lands", King has finally delivered the fourth chapter of the Dark Tower saga. In this one, he finally tells us about what happened to Roland prior to the "The Gunslinger." Was it worth the wait? Well, yes and no. The story is well-structured, imaginative, and genuinely moving, but like many of King's recent works, it is bloated. However, King does tell us the things that have made Roland the man he is, and gets us to root for his heroes, as always. Nobody does characterization like King. He is also getting more daring with the references to his other novels. This gamble could work one of two ways, it could either create a genuine fantasy universe, or it could go over the line into self-indulgence. Only time will tell what happens, but all in all King is delivering one of the great fantasy epics of our time.
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Summary: When Will Rose Madder and Insomnia be explained?
Review: Wow...How does he do it? An ordinary scene will light up through the magic King has. Now that he has actually had his semi-dense but loveable band of goofballs admit that their two worlds are interlinked it will (finally ) say the connection with Rose Daniel's painting and the brief dark tower interlude in insomnia. Since everything i love about this book obviously isn't anything new to any of you King fans out there I'll just skip the emotions bit entirely and walk around with a slack jaw and a dumbstruck look on my face until #5 comes out ( please soooon ). I have read Steven King since i found an old thrown away copy of IT behind my apartment building. I had just read Charlotte's Web so i felt i should step immediately to a psychological thriller. Best decision I ever made. So thats why ive been reading Steven King for half my life ( since i was 8 ) and will continue to read his books until my reading priveleges are taken away and my mom has me commited to the Salem mental hospital.
Rating:
Summary: Great, but could've been better
Review: This book is good. The way that they finally get off the train(by winning a riddling contest), and then Topeka. Post-plague Kansas. If any of you have read the Stand, some of this might seem familiar. Of course the reference to "the Walking dude" and the "crimson king" throw us back to familiar nights of terror and sleeping with a nightlight on. The flashback was long. Very long. I personally thought he could have told the story shorter, but I also see why he didn't. The depth and trueness of his love for Susan is amazing. The first three books make you think he has never loved. Also the way he chose the Tower. Knowing his duty to his world, despite the costs. Then there is the way he was tricked into killing his mother. Rhea told him she'd be back, and she sure as heck was! The end was awesome, with the Wizard of Oz theme. Also seeing ol'Tick-Tock was cool. But the grand finale was seeing "the man" again. Flagg is there in the flesh and going by that name. I wish Roland had got that gun!!!
Rating:
Summary: Wizards and Glass is all encompassing.
Review: As the release date of Wizard and Glass approached, I found it hard to believe that the day was really going to arrive. I had spent the last three weeks rereading the series so that I could be sure that I remembered everything and was prepared for the next leg of the trip with our band of Mid-World travelers. I often marveled over the fact that I had waited so long for a book to be written and released. At times, I had cursed Stephen King, hated him, but always knew that he would not disappoint. I was sure that when I got the book, I would put everything on hold until I finished it, and predicted a week at the most. Three mindblowing weeks later, I found myself vowing that I would wait any amount of time, as well as pay any amount of money, to read the next book in the Gunslinger series. The book opens exactly as the last ended, Roland and company are bargaining for thrir lives with the maniacle Blaine the Mono. I was glad that the situation was resolved early and soon found myself saying "I can't believe he did this..I should have seen this coming." Blaine's route map announces Topeka as it's final destination, and sure enough , the travelers find themselves in the Kansas of a when that has suffered a plague. Sound familiar. It was then that I realized the size and scope of what I was dealing with. I was in a place, where anything was possible. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed when I found that the body of the book was the story of part of Roland's past. I'd become quite attached to Eddie Susannah, Jake, and Oy, and could not wait to travel with them again. I need not have worried. I was charmed, and delighted by Cuthbert and Alain, and immediately saw why they reminded Roland of his new friends. I was glad to get to know them, as well as Roland as a boy. King made it possible for readers to get to know Roland better, understand his passion, and obsession, and if possible, be even more in awe of him. END
Rating: 
Summary: "And they died there together-o"
Review: Before this past June, I had never been a big fan of the Dark Tower Series. But, since I am a rabid King fan, I knew I would have to buy Wizard and Glass as soon as it came out, and I figured I should go and give the first three books a chance. As soon as I started I was hooked. I read all three in a week, and I could not wait for Vol. Four. The story was engageing, the characters were great, and in the third book, The Waste Lands, King brought back characters fro his other boks that I had sorely missed in recent years. As soon as I heard that Wizard and Glass was in print, I rushed out and paid the $45.00 cover price without hesitation. I rationed the book out for over a month, knowing full well that it might be a long time before the next Dark Tower book was published. Was it worth the wait? Well, sort of. The beggining and the end of the book were exceptional, espescially Eddies defeat of the psychotic Blaine the Mono, but the bulk of the book, the long center section detailing Rolands adventures in Mejis and his romance with Susan, was sub-standard. It was simply too long. There was too much emphasis on Susan and not enough on Cuthbert and Alain, two character who desperately needed filing out. Of course, some of the flashback story was good, such as the battle with that Big Coffin Hunters, and the understory concerning Sheemie, but on the whole it was too involved. And for what purpose? Why was Roland's affair with Susan so important? I suppose that King would say it shows just how obsessed Roland was with the Tower, even at an early age, but the cynic in me thinks that he (King) was stuck in the trap of writing about Roland's romance because he said he would in the afterword of both The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands. In general, Wizard and Glass was a good story, but it broke down in the middle. I, for one, would have rather seen more of Roland and his ka tet's journey towards the tower and less of Rolands flaming youth. On the plus side, we do get to see our old friend Flagg again, the parrallel Topeka was sufficiently creepy to satisfy any fan of The Stand, and the illustration were outstanding. All I have to do now is wait for the next book, and hope the story gets back on track.
Rating:
Summary: Stick with it, it gets better
Review: After waiting as long as everyone else for the conclusive fate of Blaine the Mono, I was one of the lucky few who actually got a copy of this book in mid August. I'm glad to hear SK is looking for a new publisher (YEAH!) I hope this move does to DM Grant, what they have done to thousands of SK fans. I enjoyed the book, however, it certainly was not my favorite. Half way through, as were most, I'm sure, I wanted to be out of Mejis and on to Mid-world. But I'm glad it came out that way...maybe King needed to get this out of his system. In future installments, maybe he will be less conscious of romance and more focused on the quest for the Tower. I think I can wait, I only hope he can write it before we all grow too old to read. Although, I love the storyline and characters so much, I'm not sure I want it to someday end... Okay, that was not really a review, but hey...
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