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Summary: The mystical world is so close to our own, it's breathtaking
Review: MORE! Give us more! This book will leave you drooling for more on the tale of the journey of the gunslinger!
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Summary: The best book yet in the best series yet
Review: Yes, the length of this book was a dissapointment- it needed to be much longer! Every reader as enthralled in this series as I am, drank every word of this book. It helped bring the readers closer to Roland, his past, and his tragic pain (or pains as we find out). I felt that it wasn't necessary for King to progress Roland and freinds on their journey. I want this series to last as long as possible and anxiously await the coming of the next book (which hopefully comes out in less that five years). And that brings me to my only complaint: now I have go read the first three books in the series over because it took so long for this one to come out.
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Summary: Comment on "The Drawing of the Three part II
Review: I like to write... I wrote this Book... I had fun when i wrote this book... I have to go and write some more now... Bye :)
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Summary: -****-
Review: You can't find a better mix of fantasy and horror than the Dark Tower series. This book flawlessly continues the plot from the first book, The Gunslinger, where it picks up a couple of hours after Roland has "killed" Walter, the man in black. Roland, suffering from a life-threating bite (poisonous) from the lobstrosiities, has to bring a coccaine junkie, a schizophrenic woman, and a relentless killer into his world and use their help to reach the tower. In order to do this, he has to, in effect, take over them by commanding what to do through their minds. Occasionally, he has to physically transport himself to their world. Iwon't say anything else; I've probably ruined the surprise for you already. Phil Hale's drawings are a nice touch
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Summary: The Prisoner, The Lady of Shadows, and Death
Review: The Drawing of the Three is the second book in the Dark Tower saga, which is of course, the greatest series of books ever written. This volume introduces Eddie Dean, Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker, and Jack Mort.
Eddie Dean is a heroin junkie from the 1980's.
Odetta Holmes is a civil rights activist from the 1960's, and Detta Walker is her dark half.
Jack Mort is a serial killer from the 1970's.
The second stanza continues the tale of Roland, the last of the Gunslingers who continues his trek towards the Dark Tower. He happens upon three doors standing freely along the beach. The doors open onto three different times in "our" world, out of which, Roland draws his three...(sort of)
The tale itself is very well written, and the dialogue is far superior to the original text from the Dark Tower I. This is where the course of Roland's story really begins to take its shape. From the first paragraph, picking up six hours after Roland's palaver with the Man in Black, the book moves forward at an almost un-relenting pace. Anyone who likes to read period, will enjoy this book.
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Summary: King's strange epic marches on...
Review: This is the second part of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, his magnum opus of sorts, a long, mythic tale that is a blend of fantasy, science fiction, and horror (King's trademark). Like many writers who want to write an epic work, King was inspired to do so by "The Lord of the Rings", although "The Dark Tower" is a very different breed of story. I read part I, "The Gunslinger" in the summer of 2002, as part of my own quest to read all types of popular modern literature that attempt to be epic or mythic in scope. I waited so long to read part II because I wasn't sure if I wanted to. The Gunslinger impressed upon me the fantastic range of King as a storyteller and mythmaker, but the variety of vulgarity and just plain weirdness that dot the landscape of his writing almost turned me off. I'm glad now it didn't, as I see that King, in his own way, has a healthy respect for Christianity (something to which anyone who has seen or read "The Green Mile" can attest), and he is interested, (again, in his own strange way) with finding God. The hero of the story is Roland of Gilead, the last gunslinger of a dying world that is not our own. His quest is for the Dark Tower, which is "the linchpin that holds all of existence together", binding all possible worlds in reality. I'm not sure, but I think I have detected veiled references that a quest for the Dark Tower is almost a quest for God, since it is only He that can sit in the top chamber of the Tower. I could be wrong on this, as King, like any good writer, keeps the reader in relative darkness as to how the whole thing ends, or even to the nature of the quest itself. "The Drawing of the Three" wasn't quite as morally offensive as part I, and was a much more coherent and absorbing yarn. I'm hooked now, and as the final and seventh volume of the series comes nearer to its September publishing date, it looks like I won't have to wait too long to finish it.
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Summary: Loosely drawn
Review: Stephen King's Dark Tower series has become a modern classic, with its gritty imagination and mix of fantasy and horror. "The Drawing of the Three" is an expansive follow-up to "The Gunslinger," but it's a bit slow and too devoted to setting up the main quest of the series.Roland of Gilead wakes up on a beach, surrounded by carnivorous lobster creatures that manage to bite off fingers and part of his foot. Sick and possibly dying, he stumbles away and collapses. But he still has to find and "draw" two people to assist him in his quest for the Dark Tower. He finds a door that leads him into our world, and inside the head of Eddie Dean, a young junkie/drug smuggler. Eddie reluctantly allows Roland's voice to guide him, as his beloved brother is murdered and his drug deal self-destructs. As Eddie goes cold turkey, Roland starts to pursue the second person: Odetta Holmes, a beautiful African-American civil-rights activist, who lost her legs when someone pushed her off a train platform. She is also schizophrenic -- she has a second personality, the foul-mouthed, psychotic Detta. Now Roland and Eddie are stuck with a woman who can turn into a malevolent killer at any moment. And now Roland pursues Jack Mort -- and runs into a familiar face from his past. "The Drawing of the Three" is almost very good, but not quite. Unlike "The Gunslinger," this is pretty obviously a bridge between the first and third books, setting up the scene for the rest of the series. So it's rather awkward at times, as King tries to write a story around his formative characters. In that, he does a pretty good job. King's writing is not technically very good, but it has an evocative slam-bang quality -- the lobstrosities, the doors, the airplane, the blistering postapocalyptic world that Roland lives in. The descriptions comes alive with vibrant intensity. But he doesn't seem to be at ease with the constant, sprawling flashbacks to Eddie and Odetta/Detta's past lives, which add a weirdly fragmented quality to the book. It's easy to lose track of the action. Enigmatic gunslinger Roland doesn't get much fleshing out in this book -- it's all about Eddie and Odetta/Detta. King brings their struggles and feelings up in all their beauty and ugliness, showing Eddie's love for the brother who led him astray. Odetta/Detta is particularly interesting: One personality is a cultured, refined heiress, and the other is a murderous, racist psycho. King stumbles over his fragmented narrative at times, but "Drawing of the Three" is a good follow-up to "The Gunslinger" and sets the stage for the remainder of the Dark Tower series.
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Summary: A Ka-Tet Begins.
Review: "The Drawing of the Three" is the second book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and it triumphs over the first novel, "The Gunslinger," in every way. The writing is more sharp and pronounced, the characters are more likeable, and the dire straits seem more powerful. King is a great author, and his experience and confidence can be felt throughout this book. In "Drawing," we join Roland Deschain of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger, on his quest to find and remedy the illness that has struck the Dark Tower, the complete nexus of time and space. When "Gunslinger" ended, Roland had finally caught up with the Man in Black, who revealed a strange vision to Roland. A couple of pivotal characters are introduced who are both unique and still strong enough in their own right (without using their unique qualities as a sort of crutch). But more importantly, they're enjoyable. You'll feel for these people, root for them (maybe even aloud), and grow to hold them in the same regard you do as your other favorite, dearest literary characters. This book definitely delivers on everyone's expectations and wants for it. If "Gunslinger" had your jaw slack in entertainment, you'll love "Drawing" even more. But even if the first Dark Tower novel didn't impress you, the second will still change your mind about not finishing the series. Regardless of your opinions on "The Gunslinger," this is one story you need to pick up. Don't be left in the dark to this series' greatness; get yourself a copy of "The Drawing of the Three" and see for yourself why it's so critically acclaimed.
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Summary: Great stuff
Review: Great continuation of Roland`s quest and, more imortantly, great introduction to other major characters! Ya`ll start lovin` Edie Dean right from this book, fellas!
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Summary: Totally Spellbinding! A Terrific Tale!
Review: Roland Deschain of Gilead, The Last Gunslinger, awakens in the middle of the night on the shore of Mid-World's Western Sea to find that he is being attacked by a horde of "lobstrosities," crawling, carnivorous creatures which resemble large, deadly lobsters. He finally escapes their clutches, and discovers himself badly wounded, having lost the first two fingers of his right hand to the bottom crawlers. He has been poisoned by the lobstrosities' venom and will become extremely sick - at risk of dying. Thus opens Volume Two of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, "The Drawing Of The Three." It is urgent that Roland acquire penicillin in order to remedy his illness and continue his quest for The Dark Tower, the complete nexus of time and space. He has dedicated himself to putting right whatever is wrong with his world, which has "moved on," decayed.
Crippled, dehydrated, and dying from blood poisoning, Roland encounters a door, standing alone and freely on the beach. The door opens only to Roland's touch, and it leads to our world, Earth, New York City, sometime in the 1980's. He must draw three people from Earth, (NYC), to accompany him to the Tower. Defiant Eddie Dean, "The Prisoner," is the first of the three, and he needs to act fast to help Roland get medication before he dies.
Eddie's selection was foretold by the man in black when he read the cards for Roland at the end of Book One. Dean is a junkie, a heroin addict and smart - but obviously not smart enough. He's also a cocaine mule for drug kingpin Enrico Balazar. Roland walks through the door on the beach and from the moment he crosses the threshold, he shares Eddie's mind and body - sees the world through Eddie's eyes. Eddie finds himself "possessed" by the Gunslinger while on a plane headed for JFK. From the TWA flight to their detention by Customs for carrying a load of "coke," to a shoot-out with Balazar and friends, with an eventual stop for penicillin, Eddie's and Roland's quality time together is one harrowing adventure after another, to say the very least. The two finally make it back to the Western Sea in "the other world," with medicine. Roland quickly learns the rules of passing through portals, the language and slang of NYC, and begins to acclimate to the mystical principles of this new Mid-World
A second door is discovered and Roland crosses the threshold into NYC in the early 1960's, and looks at the strange landscape through the eyes of "The Lady Of The Shadows' - not one, but two women in one body. Odetta Holmes is a young, beautiful civil rights activist who is wheelchair-bound. Detta Walker is a hate-filled, crazed, sly woman who inhabits the schizophrenic Odetta's mind. When these two are pulled into Roland's world serious problems arise.
Jack Mort, "The Pusher," is Death, ("but not for Roland."). He is also the evil, serial killer behind the third door. He literally pushes people to their deaths. Amongst his heinous crimes, Mort has killed and maimed two people close to Roland. He is also at the heart of a mind boggling mystery - a paradox, which confounds The Gunslinger. Their time together in New York (1970's), is the wildest and woolliest yet. King does great work in this episode. Mort serves his purpose and receives his just reward. The author uses the trips to Earth and the characters he encounters there to deal with the earthly issues of racism, feminism, mental illness, the trials of adolescence, etc..
Eddie and Odetta/Detta, who morphs into Susannah Dean, along with Roland, make three companions - gunslingers all. The Gunslinger really whips them into shape. For the first time in many years Roland of Gilead is no longer alone on his quest. The new characters, their individual histories, and their interactions with each other are what is so fascinating about this novel. These folks really spring to life on the pages with so much energy. The narrative clips along at a good pace with a storyline filled with adventures, which cause one to suspend belief at times. King's imagery is absolutely stunning - very easy to visualize. The gunslinger's world is filled with elements of the fantastic, the magical, some sci-fi, a bit of horror, and the mundane as well. The plot really fleshes out in "The Drawing of the Three." It is a book very difficult to put down - a real winner!!
JANA
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