Rating: 
Summary: What was that???
Review: It looks like Steven King has thrown the story out the window. He turns to shameless self promotion of his other writings and the same digression that we see in so many of them. Instead of expanding on a truly great work in progress he tries to tie several of his other works into this story, Salem's Lot is the most obvious and does not belong. The story no longer flows well and we have 700 pages of crap to digest, hard to eat, painful to read. This book clearly does not belong in the series and is not part of the story that Steven King set out to create.
Rating: 
Summary: Wolves of the Calla
Review: I have been a loyal Stephen King fan since I picked up my first book Cycle of the Werewolf. I am on page 445 in his current novel,Wolves of the Calla. I must say over the years, I have read the series up to #5 each time a new book comes to the shelf and have always found something I missed each time. I have enjoyed all his masterpieces, but this series surpasses them all. I do have one concern,on page 412: The sentence begins with: It were black, like all the emptiness that ever was, but there were something red in it." "The Eye," Roland said, etc. If you will read down to the end of this page and think of the movie and the book Lord of the Rings you will see the familiarity. As a loyal fan, I was angered by this. There was an Academy Award won for this movie, and my question is, did Stephen and the writers for this movie have the same imaginable thoughts at the same time?
Rating: 
Summary: one more book on the shelf
Review: i think that this whole series of books is well estabished and written. if the people who think that he is just wasting time and walking around the subject would stop and think a minute maybe they would realize that he could be painting a very detailed picture to set you up for the books to come. roland is well thought out character that keeps becoming more "mature" along the way. when he finally reaches the tower i think we will find that it is not him who is the star but the ka-tet takes the main role.
Rating:
Summary: A Detour
Review: Volume Five of the Dark Tower series is good, and King's writing is its usual best, but the story is a bit predictable and the reader gets a little tired of hearing the irritating vernacular of the Calla townsfolk ("may it do ya fine" and "thankee-sai" get old after awhile). Still, the ending is another cliffhanger, and some strange incidents make the reader wonder if King will be able to pull the whole thing off. The wait until the next volume will be a long one, I know that for sure.
Rating: 
Summary: A Bit Disappointing
Review: I've been a big fan of King's "Dark Tower" series from the beginning. I've anxiously awaited each installment, and I always look forward to satiating my curiousity about the details of Roland's world.
The first book is actually my favorite, since it presented the reader with a new and unknown world in which he/she felt that anything could literally happen. I wanted to find out everything I could. The second book seemed a bit of a delay tactic, although it did do some important foreshadowing, while the third was an exciting adventure filled with enough answers to keep the reader satisfied without giving too much away. The fourth book also seemed a bit like a filler, but it was a nice look back into the past and a chance to see yet another exciting world, and to gain some insights into the primary character.
Unfortunately, this newest installment also seems like a delay, and it comes on the heels of another (better-told) one. There have been many times in the series when I felt that the events we were witnessing were the ones better skipped over, and the events skipped over would have been the more interesting to witness. That is how this entire book feels. Calla Bryn Sturgis was one of the less interesting locales in Roland and Co.'s adventures (with a few notable exceptions like Andy the Messenger Robot), and I kept hoping that the book would only begin there and then move on past it. I wanted to know about the strange things in Thunderclap (and beyond), or to be passed a few answers to keep me on the hook. The whole encounter with the people of the Calla could have easily been a brief flashback moment in a better book, covered in less than a chapter, without losing much at all. While I realize that there will doubtless be some of this in the next installment, King himself has decided on only two more books (of which the second I expect to be fully taken up with the Dark Tower itself), which doesn't seem nearly enough time to spend in the wilder areas at this rate.
I also found it a little disappointing that so much time is consumed with New York and the rose. Of course, I can't be sure about what King is building up to, but I first read and continue to read the Dark Tower books out of curiosity about Roland's world, not 1970s New York. Unfortunately, the way this book ends, you can expect at least as much, if not more, of the sixth book to be set in Susannah, Eddie, and Jake's world.
I realize that most of these critiques boil down to "not enough happened"- a sentiment with which others are welcome to disagree. But this has been and continues to be a series I read for adventure, excitement, and plot twists; not to expand my mind or contemplate. I can't consider the writing and presentation to be "art"- it's just entertainment, and I expect more from my entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Wolves of the Calla (warning-some spoilers)
Review: While my favorite Dark Tower book is currently "The Wastelands," I found "Wolves of the Calla" to be a highly enjoyable and page-turning continuation of the saga. It definitely has the same mystique and follows in pretty much the same style as the other previous installments. Put another way, if you enjoyed the other Dark Tower novels until now, you will no doubt enjoy "Wolves of the Calla." I won't rehash the plot but rather, simply give my two cents as to what I liked and didn't like: -King really develops Jake's character and makes him into a believable hero despite his young age. We can really see the change he goes through, from the naive and innocent little boy to the mature, wiser-than-his-years gunslinger he becomes, although not necessarily by choice. -Susannah's character also gets more developed in the sense that her role in finding the Dark Tower becomes clearer. And it seems that her role will have an even greater impact than we know, as is suggested by the title of the upcoming sixth novel, "Song of Susannah." -I found Father Pere Callahan to be quite an engaging new character, a great way to "spice up" the saga. -The battle with the Wolves, which I found somewhat disappointing and rather cliched. We have the obligatory plot twist before it even begins when Frank Tavery breaks his ankle, just for some added suspense. Nothing wrong with that, but it's nothing new. Then the battle begins. It's certainly exciting but little more than that. None of the ka-tet even gets a scratch, but of course we have the obligatory sacrificial death of 2 members of the Folken. King sets us up throughout the novel to think that the Wolves are some sort of almost-unstopable creatures, and yet they pretty much get their ass*s kicked in very little time. What was all the fuss about really? King could have done a LOT more with this showdown against the Wolves. It starts off great but quickily turns into a by-the-numbers battle. Sort of like the battle in "Wizard of Glass" where young Roland & Co. clean house and make the bad guys look like fools when that totally contradicts what King set them up to be. But my disappointment with the battle with the Wolves is my only gripe with "Wolves of the Calla," hence why I didn't deduct more than 1 star. I would highly recommend this fifth installment to any fan of the Dark Tower series or Stephen King in general (although you would be doing yourself a huge disservice by skipping the previous 4 novels and beginning with this one, something that I've seen some people do). As another reviewer has mentioned, a mediocre King tale is still loads better than other novels, and I would agree. I along with all the other Dark Tower fans eagerly await the final 2 installments.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Dark Tower Book
Review: As Dark Tower books go, Wolves of the Calla is pretty darn good -- certainly a step up from the turgid, soap opera nature of Wizard and Glass. However, it's just not as good as previous novels, with Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands being the best so far. As a fan of King's 'Salem's Lot -- one of his best early books -- I was intrigued by the addition of Father Callahan, but I found myself wishing the man would shut up as he relayed his own story following the events of the Lot. I especially grew tired and annoyed with the speach patterns of the Calla-folk, "say thank ya." The ending is most interesting and I look forward to seeing what King pulls out of that magic hat of his in the last two books. The negative point to this book is an old one as concerns King's ability to write on and on and really give you nothing new in way of plot, but I've got too much invested in these characters so I'm certainly not going to stop now.
Rating:
Summary: so so
Review: i first started with this series when i got waste lands for christmas from an uncle who liked the cowboyish theme on the cover. i pretended to be happy but i cant stand anything that is related to the old west so i threw it in a corner until i had nothing left to read. but then i read it. oh my, this book (waste lands) is the absolute BEST of the entire series NOONE can argue with me on that 4 was good but 3 was better. then i FINALLY get to 5. after waiting FOREVER, THANKS MR AUTHOR! but i dont know if i like it because its such a good book, or because i waited so long to finally read it and was happy to see the familiar characters. the callahan flashbacks were too long, i thought andy could have done a little better at fighting back, the part of the book where its decided that theyll buy the land from calvin with suzannas money and then suddenly (i guess maybe he got lazy and didnt want to write a whole big adventure where they all go back to ny again and hunt down her money) eddie has the idea to go talk and see if mr. tower might be a gallant gentleman and sell for a very paltry price. everything in this book seems to be falling into place too easily. all of the coincedences in waste lands seemed accident, get up and turn on more lights spooky, not so here. but i still loved it. i just wish it lived up to waste lands.
*in case anyones wondering, read 1 and 2 after three (goofy order, i know) they dont compare to 3 either. in fact, had i started in the original order, i never would have become so insanely addicted to this series.
Rating:
Summary: very good thanks stevie
Review: ok pretty good, considering this is the only friggin book im gonna read this year, and also i didnt even pay for it. hahaha
Rating:
Summary: A detour to Calla Bryn Sturgis
Review: Stephen King has said that of all the books he has written, the Dark Tower is the most important and deeply meaningful work he has produced. Reading each successive volume, I can see that this is increasingly true. The series seems to be the summing up of his writing career by incorporating many of the characters, story lines, philosophies, mythologies, and literary inspirations of his previous works into this single far-reaching fantasy universe. This fifth installment more strongly than ever incorporates such references, including Salem's Lot, The Stand, Hearts in Atlantis, and many others. He also includes references to a myriad of books by other authors besides the obvious Tolkien. I found allusions to the works of L. Frank Baum, J.K. Rowling, Richard Adams, and even Marvel Comics. I will not provide a detailed recap of the story here since so many other reviewers have already done so. What I will attempt to do is explain why I give Wolves of the Calla only 3 stars, as well as to list its strengths and weaknesses. The story of the residents of the Calla and their joining forces with Roland's ka-tet to vanquish the wolves deserves 5 stars. There is intrigue, town politics, an ominous threat hanging over the twin children of the residents, and an exciting battle between Wolf and man. The personalities of the townsfolk, who are divided in their opinions of whether to fight or submit to the wolves, are well developed, as is that of the enigmatic Andy the Messenger Robot. King has done an excellent job developing the mythology and culture of the "folken" of Calla Bryn Sturgis. The reader is treated to a realistic and colorful portrayal of their language, culture, festivals, music, and traditions. After finishing the story, I felt that I had actually taken a trip there and met its inhabitants. Where the story line falls short, and earns the book only 3 stars, is the middle half of the novel, where there is a lot of travel to the New York of 1977 and many side narratives about the pasts of several of the protagonists. The travel, sometimes performed involuntarily through a mystical "todash" and sometimes voluntarily through another magical doorway, leads to efforts to protect the rose of previous episodes from harm. Not only is all this back-and-forth action distracting, but the ka-tet's dealings with the owner of the lot upon which the rose grows, and with the hoodlums who threaten him, is tedious. Also in this middle half is an excessive amount of tale telling about the pasts of several of the characters. Pere Callahan's tale is essentially a sequel to Salem's Lot, and has no place here. The illustrations have added a lot to the cost of the book, but little to enhance the story. I give one star to these illustrations. Granted, Roland's Mid-World is a gloomy place, but these paintings are too gloomy and colorless. Every character is depicted as sinister. They all look physically mangy and stringy, even the good folken of the Calla. Although I prefer King's horror fiction to his Dark Tower epic, being an ardent King fan I feel duty-bound to read the entire story - all seven volumes worth. Besides, I do want to know how Roland and his ka-tet manage to save Mid-World from the evil of the Dark Tower. Reading the entire magnum opus does require a large commitment, since the story, when completed, is projected to weigh in at more than 3,500 pages. Needless to say this volume of the series should not be tackled unless you have already read the previous volumes, and thus it is best left to the diehard Stephen King or Dark Tower fans. Of course this installment will leave the story, and you, hanging in midair. But have no fear... the last two volumes will be released before year's end. Eileen Rieback
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