Rating: 
Summary: Imperfect, yet compels.
Review: Although it is neither as gripping nor as emotionally engaging as its predecessors, 'Wolves of the Calla' still offers an exciting and engaging read, with more than enough plot twists to keep even the most jaded readers interested. A few of the twists are so surreal as to be jarring-one involves an explicit J.K. Rowling reference; another, an oblique nod to Vonnegut*-but previous experience with King justifies faith that he will eventually resolve the can of literary worms he's opened here.As in the series' previous installments, King tosses in a few goodies for readers of his earlier books: the Low Men and their lost-pet posters from 'Hearts in Atlantis', for instance. The most overwhelming, of course, is the re-introduction of fallen vampire hunter, the ex-Father Callahan. 'Wolves' is as much a sequel to ''Salem's Lot' as it is to 'Wizard and Glass', and much of the book is indeed devoted to catching up with the Pere, in flashback sequences that certainly would not have suffered from some judicious edits. 'Wolves' is self-indulgent, yes, but little more so than King's previous works. The man writes long, and that is to be expected-any nay-sayer should read an uncut edition of 'The Stand', if he or she can spare a couple of weeks. The prose is workmanlike and, in places, dull, but like Tolkien, King is much more a storyteller than a wordsmith. There is little physical advancement to the overall story arc: Roland and his ka-tet travel perhaps a hundred miles closer to the Tower, no more. The story itself, however, progresses mightily, offering tantalizing glimpses of Breakers, the rose, the Crimson King, and just how many worlds -are- joined by the Tower: even our own. One of the most interesting new elements concerns the increasing preponderance of the number nineteen, a number which has also come to appear on the page preceding each book of the series' subtitle in the 2003 editions. The resolution of this and many other of the saga's twists and turns-perhaps most notably the Vonnegutian revelation at book's end-is enough to maintain interest in the Ka-Tet of Nineteen's adventures. This segment of the whole may be lacklustre, but it moves: it's a quick read (even at 709 pages), it's a compelling read, and it whets the appetite for the ever-approaching end. * - It is appalling to me that of thirty-odd reviews, many of which complain at length about the book's epilogue, not a single one mentions 'Breakfast of Champions', in which a similar event not only takes place, but also leads to the rather enjoyable resolution so many here have actually taken to "warn" King against. For shame.
Rating: 
Summary: King is at the Top of his Game!
Review: This is the best book of King's yet. This book is an engaging page-turner because King knows how to create a pace. He dices things up with references to "real life" people from the past and present, allusions to other books, popular music, and characters from other King stories. Additionally, he is able to focus on many genres (the Western, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery) because his characters jump from time period to time period and world to world. Thus, the Dark Tower series is almost beyond categorizing. King simply tells a great story with much suspense and, surprisingly, lots of humor too. His allusion to J.K Rowling and to himself at the end struck me and family (who argued over who could read the book first) as hilarious. Just a great read. I can't wait for the next one to come out.
Rating:
Summary: Up there with The Wastelands as the best of the saga..so far
Review: This is a truely amazing book (just like all the Dark Tower books are) the sense of urgency, mystery and character development is WONDERFUL. I could barely put this book down and have stayed up way too long too many nights. Wolves of the Calla further deepens the wonder that is the Dark Tower Series, the best fantasy fiction series ever in my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Steve don't do it!!!
Review: The Dark Tower has been the best thing mr. King has written. I loved all the references to the Dark tower in other King novels. It made me think that all the heros from other books were going to come together for the final fight of the dark tower. Now it looks as though Mr, king had DESTROYED what was to be the best thing he has ever written. Come on people, Does Frank Herbert Mention himself in Dune? Does Tom Clancly mention himself in the Jack Ryan Novels?? Did Tolkien Mention himself?? J.K. Rowling?????
Steve, Please, A lot of fans are very mad and upset about this. Don't do it. If you did, there is still time to fix it. Get your name out of the books except for the front cover. I have too much time and money invested into the Dark Tower. Let the heros from your books fight a good fight, and if you really do retire...go out with a BANG not a whimper!!
Rating:
Summary: BRAVO!! The Best Yet!
Review: Just finished DT V and found it to be the best of the Dark Tower series thus far. I admit it took me about ten years to finally start with "The Gunslinger" -- I had been dragging my feet on them, why I don't know. Anyway, I read Pts. II-IV in order and have been waiting for Wolves of the Calla for a long time. This seemed to be much more readable and I absolutely LOVED the plot twists. I can't wait to see what "Song of Susannah" brings. As has been noted earlier, you pretty much have to start with the first one and read them in order. But hey! It's definitely worth the time and wear on the eye muscles.
Rating:
Summary: Nice addition, the ending fits.
Review: This is a great addition to the DT series, definitely hooking into wanting to read the last two. People, come on, the ending fits, just think about multiple universes, universes spawning universes, a choice you make in life spawning two universes following either choise you could have made, a universe spawned from you mind, whatever. Anything is possible. Keep your mind open. Couldn't you or your life just be a work of fiction. Think about it.
Rating:
Summary: Roland and the Neverending Story
Review: After reading several spoiler laden reviews here commenting on the inclusion of a new character near the end, I thought it may be worthwhile to pass the following along. Early in the DT series, I noticed quite a few parallels between the Dark Tower and The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende. these parrelles include the search for a Tower (an Ivory Tower in Neverending story). Without giving anything away from either story, I heartily recommend NeverEnding Story (the book, not the movie!) to any Dark Tower fan. It's a great story and as the Dark Tower has continued to unfold, the parallels have only grown stronger.
As for the Dark Tower, It's great to see this series continue and I for one will continue to follow the path of the beam...
Rating:
Summary: Prose and Poetry
Review: The Wolves of the Calla was not written by the same man who wrote the Drawing of the Three. The former writes poetry while the latter wrote prose. I don't want to buy the last books because I don't like the "new" King's style of writing, (it doesn't even seem to be in the same genre as his older stuff). I know I will though, I'm a Reader. I've got my fingers crossed for the last couple of installments. This book was forced and over written, but at least it wasn't the Wizard and the Glass.
Rating:
Summary: The quest continues...
Review: Once again, we have taken up the quest of Roland Dechain, the last gunslinger, for better or worse. In this case, much for the better. This book drew more heavily on the western influences than any in the series since "The Gunslinger" and leaned heavily on plot elements taken from Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" and by inheritance, Akira Kurosawa's "The Seven Samurai". However, King does just lift the plot out of these two works so much as rely heavily on his use of symbolism that has been so prevalent throughout the series to allude to the references. The rice patties come to mind, especially the scene with the townsfolk hiding in them. And as far as the last few pages go, well, despite the people who seem unhappy with it, this has been alluded to for quite some time in the series (although I really could have done without the Harry Potter reference... that was a little too far for me). When this series ends, that I've been reading for almost 15 years, it's going to be very interesting, and there's going to be a lot of happy people, and a lot of the opposite. Me, I'm a reader, and I'll be happy regardless, because I signed on for this particular trip a long time ago and intend to see it through to the end. And regardless of how the story goes, the characters found within are some of the richest laid to paper in contemporary literature. While reading this book, I resisted the urge to unconsciously be swept along as I read, instead deliberately visualizing scenes from within the book in as much detail as I could... sights, sounds, smells, trying to get inside the story.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Worth the Long Wait
Review: Over half a decade since Wizard & Glass, Stephen King has finally decided to throw us "Tower junkies" a bone, and this bone has a lot of meat on it. Wolves of the Calla presents three separate storylines: the ka-tet's protection of a little village called Calla Bryn Sturgis that is attacked by mysterious "Wolves" every 23 years, their periodic visits to 1977 New York City to deal with Calvin Tower and his vacant lot, and the pregnancy of Susannah and her newly developing personality, Mia (a reference that should be obvious to anyone who's seen Rosemary's Baby.) As in the last book, Roland & Co. are still not much closer to the Tower in terms of distance, but this book develops the every one of the characters a lot and is obviously setting up the conclusion of the series. King's "constant readers" will be happy to see the return of Father Callahan, the alcoholic priest from 'Salem's Lot. Much of the middle section of the book is dedicated to filling in what Callahan has been up to since leaving the Lot and how he happened to pop up in the Dark Tower universe. Callahan will apparently be another member of the ka-tet for the rest of the trip to the Tower, and also seems to hold to key to reaching it. As a side note, I think many reviewers here are taking the plot twist at the end too seriously. It's obvious to most Dark Tower fans that the series is going to end with some sort of mind-boggling twist, but that doesn't mean the plot twist in this book is what it's all been leading up to. There's still a lot of story left in the final two books, and I think it's too early yet in the series for King to being laying all his cards on the table. This will probably just be another aspect of the storyline. King has said in an interview here on Amazon that will he will only be playing a minor role, so this leads me to believe he won't be sitting at the top of the Tower.
|
