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.
Rating: 
Summary: "Hongry" for more.... (minor spoilers)
Review: It's official. This series is about to go down in history. While so many people spaz over the Harry Potter phenomenon, I have always felt surprised that hardly anyone I know has heard of the Dark Tower series. You mention it's a King book, and they automatically assume it's a just a horror novel, mumble something about once seeing the film version of Pet Sematary, gripe about how stupid it was, and turn the subject of conversation back to the goings-on at Hogwarts. (Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Potter books, but these two stories aren't even in the same league) With Song of Susannah, Stephen King has written his best installment of the Dark Tower series since the brilliant Drawing of the Three. Of course, this is just my own humble opinion. I love Roland's world, but it's always great to see what's going on in all the "other" worlds as well. And this book takes place mostly in New York City, in the year 1999. Also, in a stroke of genius, King has now written himself into the story, and he pulls it off in a very unique way. Ever since the 4th book, The Waste Lands, The Dark Tower series was starting to remind me a bit of the X-Files' latter years, what with all the loose ends and complicated mythoes flying about, and this installment help answer so many of those questions, but also posed many as well. It was a very satisfying read, from cover to cover. I was surprised how much more I grew to love all sides of Susannah, and Pere Callahan continues to grow on me as the newest member of the katet. I am very excited in the direction this is all going, and cannot wait till September 21st!!!! Bring it on, Stevie!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read throughout.
Review: Let's make this clear, I thought that Wolves of the Calla was something of a letdown, as the story didn't seem to move very far. In fact, WOTC didn't seem to have much to do with the 4 previous books in the Dark Tower series. Now, SOS seems to have cleared up many loose ends, and makes me want to reread WOTC to fully understand how the threads weave togeher. As for King writing himself into the piece, there is far too much criticism about this. The man is in the story for a chapter, hardly enough to ruin the book. That being said, there are only so many ways one can write himself into the story, and I think King did a fine job. True, the characters don't advance much in this book, but the story seems to be past character development at this point. We catch personalities in glimpses, but the crisis of the Tower moves so quickly, there's not a lot to be said for each person. Others have complained about the extended focus on Susannah/Mia in this book. Well, after all, she's the only one entangled in so much danger, with no way out. After all, Eddie and Roland can fight their way out of danger, but Susannah can't fight her way out of being pregnant... As for this book being some sort of blemish on the series, well, I don't see it. Considering the man almost DIED a few years ago, we're lucky to be seeing a conclusion to the Dark Tower at all. We should be happy it's turning out so well! (Much like the Lord of the Rings movies, sure, you may not agree with everything Peter Jackson did - but you're lucky the final product turned out so well) All in all, a fine installment in the series. Not as good as the Waste Lands or Wizard and Glass, but definitely better than the Gunslinger or Wolves of the Calla. Final thought - read complaints about SOS being too short for the series. Maybe some of the books just ran long, and this one is just right. After all, the Gunslinger itself was only around 200 or so pages, right?
Rating:
Summary: Which beam will break next?
Review: Roland and his ka-tet continue their journey towards the Dark Tower after their confrontation with the Wolves at Calla Bryn Sturgis. But the group is not complete anymore, since Susannah disappeared before the fighting was done. And she has taken with her Black Thirteen, a dangerous object that allows traveling between different worlds. Susannah left because she has been carrying a creature in her womb, and she is being controlled by Mia, the mother of the "baby" and one of Susannah's alter egos. Those that have read the whole series, and if you have not you should do so before reading this book, will remember that when Susannah was drawn towards the ka-tet, she was controlled by Detta Walker. Detta also makes an appearance and we can see a battle of three different personalities within the same person.
Meanwhile, Eddie is desperate to follow her lover and release her from her "prison", and to do this he needs the assistance of the rest of the members of the group, including Pere Callahan. They have to hurry though, because one of the beams holding the Tower has just broken, and only two remain, one of them being the one in which the ka-tet is now: Beam of the Bear. As the journey towards their gold progresses, the connection between the members of the ka-tet becomes stronger and stronger. But on top of that they all have to deal with their own issues. For example, Pere Callahan is struck dumb by the fact that his life is accurately depicted in a novel called Salem's Lot, written by a not so well-known author named Stephen King.
Between the group trying to save Susannah, Mia trying to get her chap born, and the necessity of the ka-tet to buy the lot in which the rose was located, which is now a building called Black Tower, we are in the presence of an action-packed book. This differs considerably from the previous novel in the series, which had some parts that were fast-paced, but which also spent a considerable amount of time going back to the past of the main characters and setting up a basis for what was to come.
Several characters from the previous books show up again, like Enrico Balazar, and sometimes it is hard to remember everything that we know about them from previous books due to the amount of time that has elapsed between their publication. I think that those people who love this series like I do, should go back to the beginning and read it as a whole again. I am sure it will enhance our understanding of everything that happened and will allow us to enjoy this work even more.
Even though this book is considerably shorter than the latest installments, I think that the quality remains at an exceptionally high level. This is truly King at his best, the same one you can find in "Misery", "The Shinning", "It" and "Pet Sematary". The only thing left to say is that Stephen King delivers a huge surprise in this book, and I am sure that some people will get angry at this, but I enjoyed it and thought it was a very clever idea. I believe that those who appreciate King's style will like it too.
Rating:
Summary: Fast moving story with some scary ideas.
Review: Sometimes it's hard for me, being the only person in my group of friends to be a true DT junkie, not having anyone I can truly discuss the books with. However, "Song of Susannah" is one of those novels where a person doesn't exactly have to be a fan to talk about some of the ideas it conveys. Duty, personal responsibility, sacrifice, theories of existence, coming-of-age, the bold (and somewhat unnerving) idea of God as being just some sort of middle-man for an even greater force... all of these things are qualified fodder for any snooty literary chat circle. Of course, as a novel on its own, "Song of Susannah" seems more like just an appetizer to that bad boy that some Tower fans have been waiting over two decades for, Volume 7 of the series, "The Dark Tower". It is incredibly fast-paced (a welcome return to the hectic action of "Drawing of the Three" and "The Waste Lands"), and it manages to get across a hell of a lot of necessary info, in a bit over 400 pages. All that, plus even more character development and some nasty surprises. For one, the business with the chap and its parentage? Threw me for a loop. It is true that the style of these last two novels seems to differ a bit from the first four. It's hard to describe, more a feeling than anything else, but it feels like some kind of magic has been lost. Mr. King said in his Amazon interview (short but kinda interesting) that he felt the need to finish the series, but it seems to me he could have waited just a bit longer. With the other novels, there was like a little hibernation period in between each one. It always felt like a long wait between stories, but I can't say I was ever disappointed when the novels DID come. Now, it almost feels like Mr. King jumped the gun on his "muse", or whatever you want to call it... the latest novels are very well-written in a workmanlike sort of way, but that true EPIC feeling, prevalent in the first 4 books, only makes a half-hearted appearance. One surefire thing about "Song of Susannah"? It will you make wish the summer was only a few days long so you can get right to September, the release month for DT7 (!!!). P.S. If you're an impatient reader like me and you want to look for any possible clues as to how to the series might end (of course I'm not guaranteeing anything), you might try looking out for a copy of "Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came", which I recently read the whole way through for the first time. As I've read through the series again in anticipation of the final book, I've noticed a load of parallels to the poem that I had never picked up on before reading Browning's work. If you can get past the poetic language and Victorian English (I had a tough time at first), it's really beautiful, with an aptly bittersweet ending.
Rating:
Summary: King at his Best
Review: Susannah is a suspenseful and scary book that was quite entertaining. I must admit that instead of feeling totally satisfied by it I can't help but feel like this book would not stand on its own if not part of the Dark Tower series. Great plot with nice characters. In my view the characters were likeable, except for Roland, but he is more a force of nature than a real man.
Rating:
Summary: This review is for all of you losers who don't appreciate...
Review: The Dark Tower...Now, Sai King has so generiously, over the past 20-30 years, written to us his magnificently accomplished fantasy tale of Roland of Gilead and his ka-tet(s). To say that these novels are each separate could be just one's opinion as the Tower series is actually just one long tale (just as The Lord of the Rings was if any of you remember). So to single out any one book and say it is horrid is just an unexceptionably stupid assessment. The Song of Susannah is, so far, a wonderful continuance of the story. For those of you who just don't like to read, then that is another problem on its own. As far as Sai King writing himself into his OWN STORY I think that what he did was ingenious and he deserves to be in the story, afterall it has taken up a large amount of his life to complete and what author in their right mind wouldn't include themselves somehow if they could? To be able to achieve such critical acclaim and high demand for his novels, Sai King apparently still has the "umpff" needed to create a bestseller over and over and over again. My point boils down to this: If you like the Dark Tower novels then that is wonderful, you and I are just alike but I just absolutely fell in love with them...BUT, if you DON'T like the books (even if you don't like ONE book) then you should keep your mouth shut because Sai King has written his heart out for 30 years JUST FOR US, why else would he write if he wasn't entertaining anyone? If critics aren't nagging that the books are too long then they are nagging that they are too short. The entire series comprises of about 4000 (yes, thousand) pages of material, and I feel sure that that is not all that Sai King has written on the Tower. Just his notes for the books have to be near 10000 pages and the world he has created (or many worlds for that matter) is a tremendous show of intellectual power and prose and he can keep on writing and selling "big-big, say thankya" for as long as he can still grasp a pen or can move his fingers across a keyboard..."Long days and pleasant nights," Sai King, should you read this (doubtfully, but one could hope) I hope that I have flattered you because I really love the books KEEP ON WRITING. "And may you have twice the number..."
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: There are some things I love about this series. It's wickedly imaginative for one. The Dark Tower world (or should I say worlds) at its best is one of the strangest and most interesting I have ever visited in fiction. However, its great moments are sporadic and there are times when I wonder how the story could have gotten so dull. Song of Susannah lacks the imaginative spark that made some parts of the Dark tower series (like Blaine the Mono) great. It is my least favorite of the series, I just kept thinking it could have been so much better. There are no real surprises here, the characters split up and go off on separate quests as expected with the end of Wolves of the Calla. Nothing is really resolved from Dark Tower 5 and no revelations are made. Most of the action takes place in New York City and Maine so don't expect much of the fun and peculiarity of Roland's world. King writes himself into the story too. I don't think it was out of ego as many have said, it's a common theme throughout his stories like Misery and the Dark Half to have the writer's world come to life and King does take a candid and sometimes unflattering look at himself. Although its fairly well done and works with the story, I still wish he hadn't done it. I felt like I was taken out of the story a little and brought back to reality. How could such a bizarre and enthralling tale have become so ho-hum? I dont know, maybe King lost some of his inspiration. Maybe my expectations are high because at times this series has been great. It is still entertaining and worth reading if you have read the other 5 Dark Tower books, I just felt it could have been a lot better. Last gripe- We still know next to nothing about the Crimson King and we're almost at the last book. I know he is an evil fellow and there is likely to be some kind of showdown between him and the gunslingers in book 7 but thats about it. I think King should have shown us more of Roland's nemesis and his world so we actually care about him when we reach the end of the series.
Rating:
Summary: Susannah Sings to Herself
Review: This book adds yet another 400 pages to the Dark Tower series, pushing the total page count close to 3500. While this book is perhaps one of the lesser books in the series, it is a substantial improvement over the plodding "Wolves of the Calla," which seemed to drag on endlessly to reach the action-packed ending. No such worries in this page turner, which, while it has its repetitious moments, keeps moving relentlessly through a single day to a cliff hanger ending that requires a reader to have the final book, "The Dark Tower," handy so that you may continue reading the story of the ka-tet and the events surrounding the birth of Susannah/Mia's "chap."
At the end of "Wolves of the Calla" Mia had taken control of Susannah's mind and taken the confusion and aftermath of the battle with the Wolves to grab black thirteen and use the door in the cave to return to New York. There Mia and Susannah battle for mental control of Susannah's body. The novel follows Mia and Susannah as they interact throughout the day, eventually ending up at the Dixie Pig to deliver Mia's chap, which they must do or Susannah/Mia will die. The interesting thing about the interaction between Susannah and Mia is that nearly all of it is in Susannah's head; there is very little that passers-by would notice of these interactions, if any. To rephrase, most of whatever singing Susannah does is to herself.
At the same time Father Callahan, Jake, Roland and Eddie have their own tasks. Roland and Eddie try to find Calvin Tower in order to get the deed to the vacant lot where the rose is located. Almost immediately they enter a gun battle with a group sent to ambush them. After killing a number of their attackers they escape, but not without injury, soon meeting with a local who helps them to not only locate Tower, but a certain writer by the name of King. At the same time Father Callahan, Jake and Oy journey to New York to attempt to find Susannah and either save her or protect her as best they can until Roland and Eddie can join them.
The novel ends as a cliff hanger as suspenseful as the cliff hanger at the end of "The Waste Lands." All the main characters are in a position where you will want to continue with the next novel immediately. This novel and "The Dark Tower" could have been a single novel, but the combination would have been well over 1000 pages, which is large even by the standards of novels such as "The Stand" and "The Bear and the Dragon."
While this novel is not as good as the best in this series, the writing and the action kept me interested in the story from beginning to end, and was particularly enjoyable after the relatively slow "Wolves of the Calla." I am looking forward to the final 800 pages of the series in "The Dark Tower," which has had a number of reviews detailing its action and body count. We can only hope that the ending of this series will live up to the anticipation established in the previous six books.
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