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Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Book 4)

Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Book 4)

List Price: $18.95
Your Price: $12.89
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Nice to see the story continue but.....boring!
Review: I really waited a long time for this one and was sorely disappointed. It was nice to see the next book come out, though, and I look forward to the fifth and hopefully better book.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A poor chapter
Review: I would have given this volume a higher rating except for two extreme factors that seriously crippled this chapter in the Dark Tower series: the art, and espicially the ending.

I read 'The Gunslinger' when I was 13 and found myself enraptured in the evocative world 'that had moved on,' a cross between dark fantasy and T.S. Elliots nightmarish 'The Waste Lands,' a world in which Demons and sexualy charged oricles and 'Hey Jude' co-existed in a slowly unraveling tapestry of the American West, one corrupted far more than any Longarm (TM) writer could dream. Lucid yet baffling, simple in prose and stirring in theme, I, well, I didn't quite fall in love, but it was a damn-good book.

The art by Micheal Whelan was incredible, the best this series has seen. I still get chills from the last portrait, with Roland gazing into the future: the dark tower rearing over a dying sun...

'The Drawing of the Three' is my personal favorite. King puts you in the book...from Roland's poisoned struggle across a never-ending beach, with mutate lobsters nipping at his heels (and fingers)...to the junkie withdrawl of Eddie Dean...to a sick psychotic's private ruminations. The pace is incredible, building the action in several places to a point that the climax for the reader becomes otherworldly. Most notible of this is 'The Pusher.'

The art by Phil Hale wasn't bad. Not up to Whelan, but it suited the book with its bleak colors and strange settings.

Things went a bit downhill in 'The Waste Lands.' The beginning was actually very good, with the mental paradox of Roland/Jake and the whole rose concept. Unfortuantly the ending in the ruined city of Lud was just like so many other f/SF books, movies, and comics I've seen before. The thing best about this series was the (relative) originality, but Lud brought this series kicking and screaming into--dare I say it?--boredom. Blain wasn't bad, in fact, an excellent 'cliff-hanger' conclusion.

The art... well, I don't remember the artist's name, and probably 'cause it sucked. I mean, that picture with the bullet 'blasting' out of the barrel is worth nothing except giggles.

Now here we are, with -Wizard and Glass- the fourth tome in fifteen years, and unfortuantly the shadow of Lud hangs heavy over certain areas of this book. The 'borrowing' from classical literature before succeeded because King molded it to his own twisted stamp. Here he borrows without twist, without interest. The 'Gollum' ending to Blain was not good. Not at all. And to think it started so good ("those electric blue eyes...").

Actually, the quality of -Wizard and Glass- picks up after this anti-climax, and the image of a translucent castle standing forth in the mists of the thinny provokes some of that old magic. The meat of the book--Roland and Susan's romance--is good if overlong. But the ending...! HORRIBLE ! The Wizard of Oz thing was so blatantly stupid that I had to put the book down in disbelief. Red slippers! Is this where this series is going? Once so forebodingly beautiful, it is now silly and stupid.

The art...is inappropreate to the major theme of the book. His art would have been perfect for 'The Waste Lands,' but here it gives no illumination. And the best painting, the one at the end with the note, isn't even included in the mass-market version (I shelled out 50 buck on the Donald Grant version, eager to discover the fate of Blaine. "I hates you forever..."hahaha)

King's still got it, evident in certain passages of this book (notably the stand-off in the bar). Lets hope the next returns to the standard of before.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than The Stand!
Review: After enjoying the first three Dark Tower books, I could not wait until book four. After several years, I was very pleased with the final product of Mr. King. I could not stop reading this book, 1 and 1/2 days later I finished and could finally get some sleep. Steven King has matched and surpassed The Stand, and I am looking forward to book five.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best work of King's imagination in years.
Review: Book 4 of the series, The Dark Tower is by far the best yet. King delves into his imagination and has the reader, most of which had been waiting patiently for this release for about 3 years, enveloped again by page 1.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WOW!!! Another thrilling book from the master of writing
Review: Yet again Stephen King manages to grip me throughout an entire book! I was given the book by a friend and I hadn't read the rest of the series, but the book looked boring so I put off reading it for months, then in the end I gave in. I just wish I had realised how good it was earlier! I was gripped from right at the beginning despite the fact that it is a little confusing at first. I just can't wait to get the other books! The tale of how they journey on Blane the Mono, then the flashbacks to Rolands' boyhood really keep the book fascinating. This book is worth all five of it's stars. I would reccomend it to anyone.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: What a Bummer
Review: Man, I give up on Stephen King. I used to read everything he wrote--loved his writing. I still like a lot of his short stories even if he does rip HP Lovecraft off unmercifully sometimes.

I was at the Tattered Cover bookstore in Denver and had room in my purse for one book for the plane trip home. I really wish now I had chosen Lawrence Sander's last book or Anne Rice's Vampire Armand (even if the work of the former two authors has deteriorated in the last couple years as well).

God, this book just rambles on and on. It easily could have been 400 pages shorter and given just as much insight into Roland the Gunslinger without this long, not too well written epic love story junk. I like romance as well as the next woman but jeez this was so full of cliches and so unoriginal.

Also, Roland's a pretty cool character but the rest of the adventure party are a bunch of recycled characters going back to The Shining. If I were Stephen King, I'd secretly feel sort of ashamed of putting work out that is this poor. It seems he hasn't grown very much in insight, courage or integrity in the last few years. Or if he has, it sure isn't showing up in his current work.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not the best of the series, but still an excellent story
Review: While Wizard and Glass may not further the character's position in their world(s?) much, it offers an interesting look back into the past of Roland and the world that has "moved on." And while nothing can come close to touching the simply amazing power of the Wastelands, this book comes close, and it still stands out head and shoulders above your average fantasy, or even your average Stephen King novel.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "By far the best Stephen King book!"
Review: I am an avid fan of Stephen King. I have read every book he's written. The "Dark Tower" series is my favorite of King's work, and "Wizard and Glass" is the best of the yet-to-be completed series. This book is a page turner. King's writing in this novel is remarkable- blending fantasy and fiction, action and romance. Despite the long length of the book, I finished it in 5 days- and I'm not a fast reader. I read this book on the bus on the way to work, at work, on the way home, and after I got home. In short- I could not put it down. I for one cannot wait until the next book in the series comes out! For those of you that think Stephen King is just a one-dimensional horror writer, do yourself a favor and pick this book up. You will not be dissapointed!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Deeper than the critics are willing to scratch...
Review: I have heard many people complain of this book being far too long, while claiming to be Stephen King fans. Perhaps they have forgotten that It and Needful things were both 700+ page books. A long book is a very small price to pay for such a richly detailed story. The characters detailed (Jonas, Cuthbert, Susan, Alain) were crucial pieces of Roland's past, parts of the story that I'm sure will become important to the travelers' quest later on. For those critics who can't seem to look past the book's length and who decry its lack of action, they are merely missing the bones of a great story. They have missed the point entirely. In my opinion, this book is easily on par with its worthy predecessors.

But please, Mr. King...write the rest of these books before I die, ok? Thanks.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: After reading "Bag of Bones" - this was a relief!
Review: After pushing myself through reading "Bag of Bones" - it was a relief to read this book! Stephen King is back at his best! I couldn't put it down, my kids were ready to shoot me. Stephen, hurry and write the next one! Excellent!


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