Rating: 
Summary: Die Susannah Die
Review: Susannah's story took up the bulk of this one in the series, and I hated every chapter, every paragraph, every sentence and every word. I hope she dies in the first chapter of the next book. The rest of the book is brilliant--Thank You and Good Night.
Rating: 
Summary: Deeply Disappointing
Review: WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!
In terms of the Dark Tower series I find this book to be the weakest absent 'The Waste Lands' and for the following reasons:
1) The plot moved in terms of physical distance almost nowhere. No, books don't have to move across continents to be good, but of the series, the Wolves of the Calla and Wizard and Glass are about the only ones that move almost nowhere as well. This is not the most critical factor but one of just many.
2) The endless hashing and rehashing of ka, the turtle, the beam, the number 19, and the chap. It seems as though Mr. King has a feeling that his audience cannot handle these concepts without a constant reminding every other sentence. Moreso, the ironic little nugget of truth that sparkles is a line from Susannah's darker schizophrenic half, Detta/Odetta,when she starts to discuss Sigmund Freud and how the subconcious has a tendency to cut through alot of the nonsense and see the truth of the matter. I only wished that Mr. King would have given his subconcious a little more reign and made this book far slimmer with far more action and alot less repetitive nonsense.
3) The derivative nature of this book. Here it seems that Mr. King makes no bones whatsoever as to showing the reading audience that the world in which his characters operate is no longer of his own making but rather a strange mash of: L. Frank Baum's-Oz, Tolkien's-Middle Earth, Sergio Leone's-rugged desert landscapes, and Mort d'Artur for good measure. He writes in his coda that the story is blown to him on the wind, I would contest that and argue that he simply cheated himself and us and haphazardly dashed together whatever he could find in the dark closet of his memories to fill the white space of the page. Here is where as a fan of Stephen King for many years I find the greatest disappointment.
4) The narcissim. If you have read it you know to what I refer. It began in the Wolves of the Calla and comes to full bloom here in this book where King is a character in his own story visited by his own characters. I'm sure it's been done before in some form or another that a writer places himself in his own story. At least the vast majority of them had the simple grace NOT to name themselves directly. To me it begs the question 'What were you thinking?'.
I think it proves to be nothing more than a sad and desperate device that ultimately serves a small purpose in this story. Maybe later on it will prove more useful. However, it does not forgive the vanity.
Overall, I feel that the other small bit of truth lies in what Eddie tries to relay to Susannah..and that is "Burn up the day.". Which is in reference to stalling Mia so that Jake and Rev Callahan can somehow catch up. Rather I posit this. This book was nothing but a great device for Mr. King to delay and somehow buy some time before he had to get on with things that he admits to in his own hand that he feared writing the story. What I fear is that he ultimately cheated us all.
Rating: 
Summary: tough to put down
Review: "Song of Susannah" is tough to put down. I read it in two long sittings and it is excellent. He is finally winding down his masterpiece. You have to read the previous books to understand the story line in this book. You should also read most of his other books to get a richer understanding of the depth of his quest, but it not necessary. As a long time fan, it is nice to see metion of other works that are weaved into this epic which closes out some questions that have been left hanging on his other works. All of his other works has been tied to the Dark Tower.The story picks up where "The Wolves of the Calla" left off at the end of the last battle between the gunslingers and the wolves. Sussanah has disappeared through the portal with her "other" self Mia. The rest of the gunslingers split into two groups, one to chase Susannah and the other to find other answers. This portion of the story is basically split between Sussanah/Mia and Eddie/Roland. Jake is mentioned, but not much time is spent on him in this story. Many questions are answered or at least explained of what is going on at this point. Mia is explained and you get a feeling why the children are important to the "Dark Tower". Some loose ends from the "Wolves of the Calla" are tied up and finished as well as "'Salems Lot" becoming more important to the overall story. For me, the most interesting part of the story is that King has become a character in his own book as himself. He is pivitol to the story, but this will not become apparent until the next book. King explains how he writes and how he started the "Dark Tower". Whether this portion is fiction or not doesn't matter, it is still incredible. Once you pick up the book, you won't be able to put it down, so have a long free period to read. Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The column of truth has a hole in it
Review: "The Dark Tower, it was called. It was gonna be my Lord of the Rings, my Gormenghast, my you-name-it . . . it didn't take me long to see that it was just to big for my little brain. Too . . . I don't know . . . outré? That's as good a word as any, I guess."
So says Stephen King, the author. Not, however, as author of the continuing Dark Tower saga, but as character within. It appears that the successful novelist has finally taken the only step left to him. After a library's worth of novels wherein writers (surrogate Kings) roamed the pages of The Shining, Bag of Bones, `Salem's Lot, Desperation, and others; after writing numerous stories and novels of an author's work coming back to haunt him, in Secret Window, Secret Garden, and The Dark Half; after a generation's worth of writing that has made him a very rich, very respected man, King has taken the ultimate, and in truth only, option left to him, the only variation left on the them, and has written himself into his story.
Pity, that.
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah continues the mythos of the gunslinger, Roland of Gilead, and his eternal quest to reach the Dark Tower. As the books have passed (five previous), Roland and his ka-tet of Eddie Dean, the former Brooklyn junkie; Susannah Dean, the crippled black woman who is the combination of her two former schizophrenic identities; and Jake Chambers, a boy whom Roland once left to die, only to have him returned from one of the countless worlds that exist outside our own; the ka-tet struggles to survive Roland's obsession with the Tower and its inhabitant, the Crimson King.
So far, so good. King's books have, up until Song, been exuberant mish-mashes of Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns, Tolkein's Ring books, and more pop culture references than able to summarize here. They have never failed to grab the reader (Constant Reader, to use King's terminology), sending them along a trek of ridiculous entertainment.
But in Song of Susannah, King's bag of tricks begins to show the wear and tear of its steady usage. The seams are showing, it's a little threadbare, and while you may have some sentimental attachment to it, it may be time to look for a new one.
Beginning right where The Wolves of the Calla left off, the ka-tet finds itself splintered and adrift. Susannah, pregnant and possessed by the demon Mia, has fled through a portal to 1999, dragging with her Black Thirteen, a talisman of tremendous danger. Roland and Eddie, following, are instead sent to Maine in 1977, where they meet the aforementioned fictional reincarnation of King Himself. Jake, meanwhile, in team with his billy-bumbler pet Oy and Don Callahan, a refuge from King's own `Salem's Lot, follow Susannah to New York in 1999, determined yet unprepared to protect her from what awaits.
Complexity in plot is nothing to get upset about. Certainly, all the great fantasy works have an large element of bizarre language and codes that the reader must accept. But unlike the true greats, The Dark Tower's world never, ever feels real.
This is particularly true when King brings himself into the mix, a la Vonnegut, in the guise of author as possible god. It's an interesting development, but it feels so rushed, as if King cannot wait to finish the series and get on with his life. His representation of himself is not remotely believable, and this is where Song of Susannah becomes so very frustrating; the other characters can act in any way they like, and the read will accept this, because they are completely fictional characters. But King, as a character, comes across as earnest and willing, and not one thing he does within the confines of the story feels remotely real.
It's a shame, as the rest of the story, while slight, works in all the other ways that King does best. His characters exist in a heightened reality, fully believable within the context of what has already occurred. His skill at vivid and grotesque imagery has not left him ("the sound of his imploding skull like a chestnut bursting in a hot fire," that's a classic).
But what has hindered The Dark Tower series more and more as it has progressed, truly noticeable in The Wolves of the Calla and most tragically here, is the overwhelming sense that King is just making it up as he goes along. He says he hasn't, and no reason exists to doubt him. Nevertheless, the stories, as they go along, are beginning to lose any cohesive quality they once possessed.
"The column of truth has a hole in it," John Cullum muses in Song, summing up the problem of King's work. Truth is necessary in good fiction, no matter how wild and unusual the story may get. Here, the truth has a hole in it, the reality becomes nebulous, and the story suffers.
Rating:
Summary: Too Much Exposition
Review: 2.5 stars I rounded up to 3.
Though this work is shorter than Wolves of the Calla it seemed longer due to the immense amount of exposition and very little plot development. I think of the 400 pages at least 200 consisted of the various Susannahs talking to each other, sometimes in their head, sometimes going todash to a western town, or medeival castle, but talking, talking, talking.
It seems as we reach the end of the series there is still so much left to explain that it has to come in lengthy passages of exposition and rather than showing us, King chooses to tell us, primarily through the conversations of Susannah and Mia.
I can also be counted amongst those who did not like King making his appearance as a mover and shaker and creator of worlds(but not the real world, or the Tower). However I am happy that he portrayed himself as a not so pleasant, or useful guy. That fact made it a little more bearable.
Plotwise and action-wise, nothing really happens here which was disappointing. On the whole a very disappointing chapter of the story.
Rating:
Summary: The Worst of the Series,But a Decent Book None-the-Less.
Review: After I read "Wolves of the Calla" I began to get a little ticked off due to the fact that Stephen King was writing a fictional version of himself into the book. In the review for that book I mentioned that. In this book King expands his character to a God which backfires in his face making the sixth Dark Tower book almost laughable. Now,I love Stephen King,he's my favorite author in fact but in almost all of his books he had a part that is insanely boring. Besides the first forty pages of "Wolves of the Calla" King
didn't have that. What King does here is he has almost a hundred pages of boring stuff. I'll get to that in a few moments. The book picks up directly where "Wolves" left off. Susannah has fled the Calla taking the magicals Wizards glass Black Thirteen with her and has fled through a door taking her to New York in the year of 1999. Susannah who was previously a woman with a split-personality disorder now had this again only this time her split personality is a white woman named Mia,who is pregnant with a baby which almost annoyingly called "chap". This word is used more than the characters names are in the book which does begin to make it annoying.As she wanders New York to get to the Dixie Pig,her friends and loved ones search for her. Roland,Eddie,Jake,
Oy,and Callahan jump through the door and end up in (who would've guessed) different places and times. Roland and Eddie end up in Maine in 1977 and Jake,Oy,and Callahan end up in New York in 1999
following closely behind Susannah-Mia. Roland and Eddie are then the ones that will end up meeting Stephen King. Hopefully the final Dark Tower is a lot better.
Rating:
Summary: I'm Schizo Too
Review: Here is one SK book you want to love and hate at the same time. I've read all his books about 5 times each, though, so I guess I'm going to have to give Steve a pass on this one. I was actually dreading the part where Roland & Eddie meet King (yes, he stuck himself in the story). Basically afraid that he couldn't pull it off. He actually gets away with it, but I wasn't sure whether I enjoyed the scene because Stephen King is my favorite writer, or because it worked. Anyway, here's the bottom line: -- You WILL read this book, if you've been following the series
-- It is probably the WORST in the series so far
-- BUT, you will enjoy it I just re-read a few classic King books (Skeleton Crew and Stand). You really have to admit that SK hasn't been writing up to his level for some time now. But, this DT book is King enough--especially considering it's probably his second to last one. Let's hope SK can pull off one more CLASSIC effort and hang up the strap on a high note. He deserves to go out like a champ...
Rating: 
Summary: Dark Tower VI - The best thus far?
Review: I never thought I'd say I loved a book more than I love The Drawing of The Three. Even as I read the second installment of the still-forming Dark Tower story, I knew I was in love and that no other story (or piece of a story, as the case may be) would ever come close. However, I'm glad to say that I have proven myself wrong. Song of Susannah excels in doing what all the DT books have done so far: giving us great action, making us jump out of our seats, creating a rich backstory, and of course, it will make you turn the pages faster than you thought was possible. Without getting into spoiler material, DT6 clears up a lot of what happened in Wolves. Susannah's bond with Mia is explained, as are some of the Crimson King's desires. Some readers were scared that the story was getting too schticky when Roland and Crew discovered that Callahan and the events in 'Salems Lot were apparently works of fiction from a writer named Stephen King. Rest assured, this issue is dealt with in a decidely appropriate manner. Also, there's always the question of the rose. I won't say much, but the rose is handled. In true Dark Tower fashion, the book ends with multiple cliffhangers, but I think they're definitely better than the excrutiating ending of The Waste Lands. I'm sure it sounds like I've ne'er seen the book, much less read it, but I'm being vague as to not give too much away. Trust me, when you read this you'll love all of the "Holy Crap!" moments. It seems as if each chapter (stanza) is packed with them. All in all, I'd rate it as my favorite thus far, and I am officially a slave to King until the final installment hits the shelves. Hopefully the next few months pass without incident, say thankya.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but I really really really want to read the last one.
Review: I've been a constant reader since I read The Stand (uncut) when I was 13. As such I'm aware that King is capable of writing some wonderful and entertaining fiction... and occasionally something not so great. I don't complain about the latter, because the former are worth the trouble, and I'm not capable of writing anything better. I started the Dark Tower series just after the Wastelands was published, and the strength of those three books has caused me to anticipate the publication of each new DT book with high hopes. My reactions have been mixed - I hated Wizard and Glass when I first read it, but I've since re-read it and I guess it's grown on me - I really liked Wolves of the Calla, although it didn't strike the same chord that the first three had - and now I've just sat down and read Song of Susannah this evening. I thought the book was pretty entertaining, and share many of the positive (and some of the negative) thoughts of other commenters. I shan't repeat all those comments here, but add a few of my own: This book contains much that is familiar: numerous fixations on and repetitions of ideas and phrases that turn the ordinary or even the ridiculous into the mystical and talismanic, into integral pieces in a tantalizingly unfinished larger picture (the number 19, for example, or the nonsense chattering of lobstrosities, turtles, or the word "chap"); the mind as prison, with a captive left to devise unorthodox means of control - which readers will find familiar from The Regulators/Desperation and the much-unloved Dreamcatcher; use of "news articles" to further (or end) a story; the uncountable references and nods to popular culture that saturate every world that the characters enter; and of course the characters and full-on mythos of the Dark Tower books (all, um, 22 of them or so). To this are added some new themes, largest among them SK's own appearance as a character, but quintessentially this is another DT book and if you've read the other ones by god read this one too (especially since you - you know who are are - are going to read it regardless of what these comments say!) And of course the story is moved on. So what do I think of the book itself? In a way, although it wasn't written as such, and has never to my knowledge been advertised as such, I feel that it completes a kind of second trilogy in this series. Perhaps this is because I was introduced to the series when it was a trilogy, or because it's just natural to group things in threes, but I guess I think (or hope) that this is the last book in the complex development section of the larger symphonic work. Call me crazy, but the first three were a powerful exposition, and these last three (and the other, non-official DT books) have deepened and explored the original material with all the pros and cons of development: the original story hasn't moved forward in the same way it did in the first three books (most of W&G was a backstory, most of WotC concerned the goings-on in one small town, and much of SoS concerns Susannah's travels from a corner in NYC to... an establishment a bit across town) but now, present in this new volume, the development seems drawing to a close, and the rumblings of the finale are beginning, which ought to be very exciting to anybody who's been reading these books. More gunslinging (a veritable sequel to the shootout at the Leaning Tower) with even more gunslinging strongly hinted at in the cliffhanger (so strong you can almost smell the gunpowder), more intricate door-travelling, the world hanging now by its final threads... this is the stuff that really great book 7s can be made from, and so I finish this book looking with highest hopes towards the next one, with whatever answers and conclusions and excitement (hopefully plentiful all) that it has to offer. Until the last book is in, I can't say much more about this one.
Rating:
Summary: DOESN'T BEAT CALLA FOR STORY CONTENT
Review: In the second to last installment of the Dark Tower series, #6 is not as tight, nor as interesting as #5. In this episode Susannah/Mia is tasked to deliver her baby and we find the child will become the Crimson King and is Roland's son. Its a little confusing, but that's the deal. This tome is shorter and painted with as broad stripes as WOLVES OF THE CALLA. King has written himself into the narrative as the writer/god of all that is occurring. Everything seems to flow from him and he is paid a visit by Eddie and Roland. This aspect, a writer putting himself in the narrative, is usually my most hated device, but I actually enjoyed King's involvement in the story and I expect him to take a role in #7 which I have just dived into.
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