Rating: 
Summary: King's Best Since "Drawing"
Review: If you've read the other four "Dark Tower" books, this is pretty much a must-have. If you intend to read this one, the other four are pretty much a must-read. That being said, I think this is the best one since "The Drawing Of The Three." Only two more to go in the "Tower" series, and this installment is a terrific chapter of the decades old story.
Rating:
Summary: wolves of the calla
Review: this was an awesome book if you have read the other ones
Rating:
Summary: Simply amazing
Review: I picked up the Gunslinger Nov 19 and finished Wolves of the Calla just now (Jan 11). I've never read over 2600 pages of text in such a short time span and don't believe I ever COULD do so with my current schedule. This was an uterly fantastic read.
Rating: 
Summary: The Worst of the Series Thus Far
Review: Don't get me wrong. I am enthralled in Mid-World. I will read it to the end no matter what. For anyone who has read the first 4 Dark Tower novels, I'm sure reviews are pointless as you will no doubt have to read this one. You are obligied. It's part of the journey. However be prepared for the most mundane part of it. This books serves to get you from point A to B, and hopefully ready for a more exciting 6th installment. However, most of the other reviews are correct. The long and drawn out story of this book is pointless. All its pages lead to a climax of about 5 minutes. Too me - it's anticlimatic.TO SUM IT UP: Wolves of the Calla is too long and too boring and too pointless, but you will no doubt have to read it to continue the journey to the dark tower.
Rating:
Summary: Unpleasant installment
Review: (WARNING-SPOILERS) As much as I like the Gunslinger series, Wolves of the Calla didn't do that much for me. I'm kind of wondering why it was created. It seems pointless. Not saying I won't read the next book (cuz I will - probably in hardback). And I'm definitely NOT saying King's an awful writer (cuz he's amazing -this SERIES is awesome). But this book is poorly structured. For a guy who's taken as many years to write these as King, why not structure the every book tightly as he did the first 4? Here's how I see this series:
The Gunslinger showcased Roland's personal journey. We had to see how absolutely dead he was after his world has died away behind him and he retains nothing else but the drive to march onward through the shattered remains. I get that. I enjoyed reading it. The Drawing of the Three brought the first set of final companions into Roland's world & began the process of waking Roland up. Readers had new perspective through Eddie's eyes. The explanations that must be made by the author are really made by the characters to each other. I loved it. The Wastelands brought the other members of the gang together. Eddie & Susanna become gunslingers. They heal what was broken in Roland and allow the reader to begin to love him. They bring us back into youth - Jake and his puppy Oy. They begin to discuss the mystery of the tower. Wizards and Glass gave us crucial back story. We learn why Roland loved and see where some of the coldness in the first book came from. It couldn't have been better placed in the series. All this makes sense. But WHAT THE HELL WAS THE WOLVES OF THE CALLA DOING AFTER THESE? It doesn't bring in any new crucial characters (unless we're getting stuck with the Reverend -maybe that's it. I'll come back to that.) Maybe, just maybe, King was trying to do this: 1. Jake's passage into manhood.
2. Roland's body begins to fail.
3. The sundering of Suzanna's psyche.
4. Eddie understands what it means to be a Gunslinger (not just the shooting part).
5. Father Callahan joins the ka-tet I've got to say, none of these are a compelling reason to read a novel. They're all BEGINNINGS that don't get concluded, and leave you hanging in a way that none of the other novels have. Taken one by one: 1. If this book was REALLY going to be about that, it should have actually had more Jake time. And more time where he was actually participating in pre-adult activities and then making the passage to manhood. Also, he'd already passed into manhood in the Wastelands, when he trusted his psychotic brain over the rest of the world and went in search of Roland. And if WOTC was his goodbye to innocence, it doesn't work on two levels. One, Jake is never innocent. Roland's perceptions of him are. The towns perceptions are. If we were supposed to be nostalgic, King should have spent some time putting that into Jake's portion of the story, instead of having other characters report it. But the only time we're reading from Jake's perspective, he's either agonizing over adult decisions he's going to make, or making them and acting like an adult. He's never innocently jumping out of the hayloft - he may be jumping but he's also thinking about family relationships and the consequences of his actions. If this story were about the loss of his innocence, he would have had some innocent thoughts. And, as a second proof: part of the reason Jake's great character is that he's a mix of innocence and intuition. Take that away and he's just an undergrown man. Maybe King's going to focus more on intuition and less on innocence in the coming books, but it's the combo that keeps me interested. Like in Wasteland, when he gives up because he's not sure that Roland can track him, I loved knowing Roland would come for him. And I loved the fact that he STILL saved himself. 2. Roland's been loosing appendages since book one. If WOTC was written to show us this, it's a colossal waste of time. Fit it in with the next REAL story line and let us go on. I mean, seriously. Of course his body's going to fail. He's been around for 1000 years. And he's remembering how to live again. That's right when bodies cut out on you. 3. Yes, I'm ok with the sundering of Suzannah's psyche. BUT. Her pregnancy only begins in this book. It doesn't end here. And a whole book with her/mia crawling around touching her stomach does not work. Even though the banquet scenes were creepy and I totally love Mia, it's not enough. 4. Eddie's already a gunslinger. We read this passage in Wastelands. I'm happy with the man - he's more sensitive than Roland & can see past Roland's crap. His shining moment is when he talks in front of the town. Sure, it's hard work talking to townspeople when you know they're gonna die. And Eddie's not the world's most ready made diplomat. That's fine. But his character arc in this story is so short it's the size of a banana. This is not major enough to have a book on it. It's just not. 5. The fly in my ointment. When I started writing I'd forgotten Father Callahan. Because, although we get his story over two long palavers, I just don't care about him the way I do anyone else. Maybe I'm jealous. Maybe I don't get the references King makes to Salem's Lot (I haven't read it). In any case, FatherC doesn't work. HOWEVER, I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong: I think he's the reason King wrote this book. If Callahan goes to the tower, I'll understand what the purpose of WOTC. But I don't have to like it.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Your Average Consumer
Review: Considering the fact that most Stephen King fans who have read the other 4 Dark Tower books won't be bothering to read the reviews about it (because they - like me - will be buying and reading it none-the-less), this review is actually written to YOU, the relatively new Stephen King reader or YOU, the person thinking of buying this book as a gift for someone else. If you are one of those two types, here is my short advice: Don't buy this book. If you're new to Stephen King, then you will be happier in the long run if you start with many of King's earlier works (like 'Salem's Lot or The Stand). In this novel, Wolves of Calla, he references many of his other books and characters and settings. These references will either be lost on you or confuse you and will take away from the level of enjoyment this book offers. If you're getting it as a gift, be aware this novel is book 5 of a long and complicated series. Reading this book as a stand alone novel would not be pleasant or appreciated. Make sure whoever you are buying for has read the other Dark Tower novels and enjoyed them. Not all Stephen King fans have liked this series because it does differ from his normal "scare me silly" style. Hope that helps.
Rating:
Summary: King's masterpiece further expanded
Review: Now, I have to admit that when I read the first of the Dark Tower novels, I was not much impressed. The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger had been difficult to find at first, so when I finally found it, I was really looking forward to jumping right into it. I was disappointed--there didn't seem to be much going on, and Roland was not a very captivating character. I have since learned to be fairer on this subject, as the DT novels have been the backbone of King's career since his graduation from the University of Maine in 1970. Thus, the non-DT novels that connect to this series are made that much more interesting, and the rest just seem peripheral and duller by comparison to me now. I didn't really give the DT series a second chance until I read Wizard and Glass in 1998. I really connected with the romance and the sadness (my feminine side asserting itself?) in that book and, contrite for my hasty judgement, went back and re-read the first book along with The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands, then re-read Wizard and Glass with the context firmly set in my mind. I became a DT fan, and waited anxiously for Wolves of the Calla. Now it's here, and I am most of the way through it, and I must say it was worth the wait. I agree that the characters have really matured--Eddie Dean is more thoughtful and less annoying, Jake and Susannah both are proven to be much deeper than they might have initially appeared, and I wish I had a pet like Oy. Roland, too, is not just a taciturn, morose cowboy--Wizard and Glass proved that conclusively enough--and a much more sympathetic character now. I actually find the quirks of Calla speech to be rather endearing (find myself wanting to use them, do ya, in regular conversation, say thankya big-big), although I'm still trying to figure out the Mid-World accent (seems to be a strange mixture of Highland Scots, Mexican, and Down East Yankee). What I find most encouraging, however, is to note (in the Final Argument) that the sixth and seventh (i.e. the last two) installments in the series are due out within this year. Perhaps King's finally run out of story material, and plans to retire with these last two books as his legacy to modern literature?
Rating:
Summary: Good continuation of a great series
Review: If you are a fan of this series then this book will not disappoint. I am enjoying how Stephen King is tying together these novels as well as the whole universe that he has greated with the vast majority of this book. If you are not familiar w/ the series you really should start at the beginning in order to get the whole story. You could read the books out of sequence but even for someone who has read all (albeit with years in between due to delays in his writing!) you forget some of the things that happened (and that he refers to) from the other books. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: So far, this is one of very few stories to ever captivate me. I don't mean just interesting. When Wizard and Glass was released, I read it in two days. for a total of about 8 hours. When I was finished, i felt sad, honestly sad, I had seen the candy in the store, bought it and ate it ravenously. Now, nothing is left, except the anticipation and longing for the next installment. Well, after a few years of waiting, I got another candy bar, savoring this one a bit more than the last. This story is a must read. It almost appears to be the center of the King Universe, as many of his other Characters have either ended up here, or even originated from here... BUY IT, READ IT, YOU'LL LOVE IT
Rating:
Summary: thank ya big-big?
Review: I didn't want to like this book after the first 200 pages or so. Unlike the folks of Mejis (in wizard and glass), the particular nuances of calla bryn sturgis english got to be annoying and kept popping me back out of the world of the book and back into my reading chair. But fear not, you soon will overlook all the thank-ya big bigs and find a pretty good doomsday type novel. In this one, the doom comes in the form of the titular wolves. Calla bryn Sturgis is haunted every 20 years or so by the 'wolves. The town children are almost all twins and the wolves take one twin from each set. The kidnapped are then returned mentally and physically impaired. Roland and his new gunslinger friends are obliged to help the town in fighting the wolves and saving the kids. But all is not as it seems and there are many, many subplots going on.
Its a good read and a worthy addition to the series, especially if you liked 'Wizard and Glass'. It doesn't quite return to the forward pacing set in 'The waste land' but tends to delve deeper into the characters, much like WG.
In particular, Eddie Dean really grows in this one and is no longer the weak sister but becomes a gunslinger in his own right. Jakes character matures as well but the susanah character and her multiple personalities get to be annoying and its pretty obvious that she is holding the tet back.
Overall, a good tale. Definatly leaves you wanting the next book.
| 
