Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: WILARD AND GLASS
Penguin Putnam Inc. November 1998
694 pagesThis is the fourth book in the Dark Tower Series. It begins with the ka-tet finishing their challenge with Blaine. Roland, Eddie, Jake, Susan and Oy find themselves in a parallel version of Kansas where everyone has been killed by a super flu. It is here that Roland opens up and reveals his past. This revelation includes his early life as well as his romance with Susan Delgado. After reviling his pain filled past the ka-tet is finally ready to advance on the Dark Tower and face the evil ahead of them.
This book was wonderful! Steve King is a born writer. Like all of his books King does a masterful good developing the characters. They are so real they could live right across the street from me. The suspense startes on page one and increases with each page. The clocks stopped as I put my life on hold for this book. Any one looking for action, suspense and romance should really check out this book. Jennifer Johnson
Dutch Fork High School
Rating:
Summary: A Gunsligner's Past
Review: There is no doubt in my mind that Stephen is the most prolific and imaginative writer this generation has seen. He's like our own version of Charles Dickens. People say that every writer has his own magus opus, the one thing he is working at achieving during his career. His own, great work. For King, this is without a doubt his Dark Tower series, a series that links every book he has ever written together in one sweeping, epic narrative. Going into the specifics of the series would take too much time and, quite frankly, would be much too arduous. But in this book, we find Roland and his ka-tet (Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy) still making their way down to the Dark Tower. Only, this book doesn't really advance the plot. Because this is the part of the story where Roland empties his heart and tells us about his past. And what a dark past that is! Roland takes us back to his first mission, where he left Gilead at the young age of fourteen to go to Mejis to escape the dangers that are growing in the big city. Only, Roland will find greater, more dangerous dangers in Mejis. Upon his arrival, he meets Susan, a beautiful young woman he falls in love with. But like with all great romances, Roland tells us from the very beginning that this is a doomed romance. Over the course of nearly six hundred pages (!!!), Roland recalls his romance with Susan and how his life was nearly destroyed by it. In his story, we encouter a witch, a mild-mannered mayor, coffin hunters (mean, savage cowboy-like individuals), and a whole town filled with strange, interesting and often funny characters (I'm always amazed to see how King can find humor in the darkests of times, just to cheer his readers a little bit when things get too heavy for them). King is a master storyteller. No one else could weave a story like this one, where every word counts, where the slow pace of the narrative is crucial in creating the high levels of drama and suspense the story achieves. Some people might be put off by the fact that this is a going-back-in-time story. But it is a necessary one if you want to really understand who - and what - Roland is all about and the real stakes of his prime goal: reaching the dark tower to stop the world from shifting. And to stop the man in black (the devil himself?). This is classic King, where everything comes to life on the page. Reading one of his book is like having someone by your side telling you a story. The great master of suspense once more outdoes himself. Only problem is, now I just CAN'T wait for the next installment!
Rating: 
Summary: Good in itself, but doesn't advance the plot
Review: I love the Dark Tower series. I know this book doesn't advance the plot and is mainly about Roland as a young boy, but it is well written. If you go into it expecting 500 pages of flashback with a beginning and an end with plot advancement then you'll be fine. It was quite interesting getting so much information about these people from Roland's past, Cuthbert, Alain, and most expecially Susan. It is funny how short a time Roland actually knew Susan. The dark gritty writing that defines King's novels grips this tale of seduction, magic, and tragedy. It is a good read, but doesn't advance on the Dark Tower as much as some people would like it to.
Rating: 
Summary: After 694 pages, The Tower is only inches closer.
Review: As well written and compelling tale as it is, Stephen King's fourth novel in the proposed seven book Dark Tower series will probably disappoint as many readers as it satisfies. After resolving the cliffhanger ending of The Wastelands and treating us to an alternate dimension of The Stand, King shifts gears. Most of Wizard and Glass is Roland telling a campfire tale of how he met his One True Love, Susan Delgado, and how she became one of the many ghosts that haunt and drive him him in his quest to right the slowly toppling Tower. While the yarn is a fine and beautifully textured one that creates a magical land that marries the gritty Spaghetti Western Mythos, made famous by Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood, with the noble myth of King Arthur, Merlin, and his Knights of the Round Table with an awe inspiring narrative surety, the story feels needless. Long time readers of the series may squirm even as King delights with this tragic tale set in a Barony a long time ago and far, far away. Some readers, like this one, may wonder why King is wasting so much time telling a story he has already spoon fed to us through hings and flashbacks in previous novels. Mayhap the tale needs to be told so Roland's new prentices will have a needed wedge between them, or have knowledge of their leader that strengthens their some times fragile ka-tet, for a future battle. I do not know, I am not Stephen King and have no clue what direction the final books will take. All I can say is that, right now, as fine a piece of fantasy writing that it is, Wizard and Glass seems a poor choice for a mid-series coffee break. The story feels far better suited for a Dark Tower prequel series than for the main series itself, so I'm docking it a star, while still recommending it to both fans of epic fantasy as well as to King's beloved Constant Readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Fake Wizard and Shattered Glass
Review: I read all the three previous Dark Tower books, and it was an accelerating process with each book getting better than the next. The Waste Lands was by far, the best book King has ever written in my opinion. W&G picks up right where TWL left off with Jake, Roland, Eddie, Susannah and Oy in the Monorail and the riddle contest that pits them against Blaine the Mono is about to begin. From the start, Roland warns Eddie about "Being Serious" with his riddling, none of them- "Why did the dead baby cross the road"- type jokes. Eddie complies. The contest lasts for the rest of the trip and to everyone's unrest, Blaine answers every riddle without a hint of hesitation, even naming off deviations of it as well as the joke's origin. And in the end, Eddie's stupid joke- Why did the Dead Baby cross the road? Because it was stapled to the chicken- is what throws Blaine off who explodes in a fury but lives up to his part of the bargain and crashes, leaving the crew upon their new destination: Topeka, Kansas. While on the monorail, they unknowingly crossed a "thinny," which is a rip in time and reality which transported them to a version of earth. They "fell off the path to the Dark Tower." King, unknowingly, fell off the path too... This Earth version of Topeka, Kansas is the reality of the aftermath of a plague called the Superflu and Captain Trips. (If those terms sound unfamiliar to anyone reading this, they need to rush to the store and buy the Stand, or rent the movie, for this takes place in that reality.) (For anyone who isn't familiar, the Stand is about the end of the world, a genetically mutated version of the flu- which was created by the gov't- gets out, 99% of the world dies, the remnants take sides "or are choses" by Randall Flagg, the dark man, and an 108 year old black woman- Mother Abigail, God's selected one.) Anyway, Topeka, Kansas is deserted, they find grafiti about the "Walking Dude" (Stand fans know this is an Alias of Randall Flagg) as well as the Crimson King (Insomnia fans recall this also). If one remembers, Susannah lost her wheelchair in the last book, well they arrive upon a parking lot and Eddie checks the "Crip Spaces" and finds a new one which Susannah is impressed with since circa 1987 chairs are better than her 1960 chairs. They end up upon a highway which leads to another thinny, presumably back to Roland's world where they can get back on the path (and King hopefully gets back on track as well.) However, blocking the highway miles ahead is a glass tinted castle which has no place in Kansas, (this later turns into an obscure Wizard of Oz thing... ...which will have to wait about 400 pages while Roland goes back to recall his first love when he was 14. Now this is where the book gets real bad because I could not get into it. I found it boring, uninticing, and the witch sticking her fingers into Susan Delgados [expletitive] didn't add much. It finally gets to the point where I cant read much more of this crap because it seems to be going nowhere (this is after the witch thing, I got about 50 more pages) before deciding this is pointless, I then skip forward to where the story ends and we're back in the present. From then, the crew approaches the castle, first having to put on red shoes (Oy included) and clicking them 3 times before going in, where they stumble across a man simply known as Flagg (see the Stand) and the Nazi he rescued in TWL at the end. After a brief conflict, Flagg departs and leaves them a note telling them to forget the tower. They continue walking the highway to cross the thinny back into Rolands World. -- Now, if anyone read the other reviews, this one totally contrasts to it. Maybe it was very good, but I cant get into it. So if you are interested in Roland's past then you'll enjoy this. If you enjoy Susannah, Roland, Eddie, Jake, Oy and their present quest, then skip it, (when the next DT book comes out it will give you the rundown anyway.) I can only relate this book to the Cedar Point ride- the Magnum. You start out going up in quality: The Gunslinger was good, The Drawing of the Three was Great, The Wastlands was [expletitive] fantastic and that is the peak, from then W&G goes down in Quality much like the Magnums dive and if you have a weak stomach, you will feel unsatisfied with the departure downward... to me, that was what Wizard and Glass was: a total let down. I felt like how National Lampoons Vacation's character Clark Groswald (Chevy Chase) must have felt when he finally gets his family to Wally World Amusement park... only to find out that it's closed for 2 weeks due to renovation. He went and got a gun and forced his way in and took his family on the rides... good thing is only a book! I hope that King's next installment in TDT is back on the path formatted after TWL. I gave this book a one, because the Riddle contest at the beginning was great, Blaine the monorail is what saved this from getting a zero. I said earlier that you should skip this book and wait for King's rundown about it in the next, well I have to go back on that, the contest with Blaine the Monorail was pretty good, top of the line TWL style story. So perhaps you know a friend who reads TDT too so you can borrow it because honestly, if you spend 5, 6, 7, 17, or ever 25 dollars on this book, you will feel like one of the lower level Enron employees who lost all their money.
Rating:
Summary: Thankee Sai, may I have another?
Review: Please God, don't let Stephen King die before he finishes Roland of Gilead's tale! (mumbles prayers) I simply must know what is at the Dark Tower. At this point, I don't know exactly what it is, but I know it has something to do with nazis and evil wizards that seem be able to roam about the various universes creating mischief. That is, if you happen to call the total annihilation of civilizations, mischief. I have to tell you that I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out that it looks like the Captain Tripps superflu hit a parallel USA, not ours. Whew, that was a close one! Oh, and the center of activity doesn't seem to be too far from Roland's mid-world. Well, at least it wasn't too far away to start with. Apparently, it is getting further away with every passing day, literally. To visualize this, imagine that the Dark Tower and Gilead are two chocolate chips in a chocolate chip cookie. As the cookie expands during baking, the chocolate chips keep moving further and further apart. No wonder it's taking so many books to get there. Seriously, the really weird thing about this series is that King has been writing it for something like 20 years. In that time he has developed a vision of mid-world (and the other universes) that I find totally immersive. The details are amazing to me. The people of mid-world speak their own dialect of English. It's about as akin to our English as is Shakespearean English. Actually, it might even be an improvement on our English as it's a bit more polite sounding. Ok, its polite sounding until the mid-worlders start killing each other off. Which they do a good bit of toward the end of the book. The mid-worlders have a kind of medieval/wild-west culture that gives one the impression of a sort of enlightened feudalism. It's a wierd blend of the past, the present, the future, and the fantastic. The whole gunslinger training program is a subculture that I find quite interesting. It turns out the tough talking Sai Jonas was an ex gunslinger cadet that just couldn't cut the mustard. Gee, I wonder what happens to him when he has to go up against the real thing? The Dark Tower series has plot tie-ins from seemingly dozens of King's other works, such as The Stand, as well as tie-ins to others, such as Hearts in Atlantis, and, more recently, Dark House. If you want to read Stephen King, this is his magnum opus, still a work in progress. I think there may be three more books after this one, two of which may come out in 2003-2004? Then hopefully the finale not too long after that. There is clearly an evil mind at work here; I'm just not sure whether it resides in the Dark Tower or inside King's head.
Rating:
Summary: The Dark Tower novels just get better and better
Review: It's unusual to find a series where the novels get better and better with each new volume however this is the case with King's "Wizard and Glass." This book is excellent - full of suspense, fantasy, horror, love and treachery. Although following the plot lines developed in the first three novels, King digresses for a large portion of the novel from the characters' present to Rolland's past. And it is a wonderful digression indeed. Finally we get to see a portion of what has made the Gunslinger such a cool and deadly ranger. Written as a western tale, the story within the story is a special treat. Never have I felt more emotion for the characters. Of course, as the novel is deliciously long (700+ pages), there is plenty of story left for the other characters. Rolland and his colorful posse wander ever forward on their journey to reach the Dark Tower, even taking a short but interesting turn through a town straight out of "The Stand." I do love the crossovers. And I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: a good story with the right music
Review: Stephen King isn't an author I'd normally choose but I read this one and enjoed it very much. I happened to have Mortiis (Anden Som Gjorde Opror) playing in the background and it set the mood perfectly. I recommend both the book and the music.
Rating:
Summary: Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV
Review: Frank Muller's reading of King's fourth book in a projected seven-part series (e.g., The Waste Lands: The Dark Tower, Bk. 3, Audio Reviews LJ 2/15/92) is effective in creating a suspenseful and fearful atmosphere. We find Roland, the knight errant/gunslinger, continuing his quest to attain the Dark Tower, the source of destructive forces in his Mid-World. A major portion of this work is a recounting by Roland of his ill-fated love affair with Susan Delgado. The writing is expectedly imaginative, the story line engrossing, and the characters vivid. The listener is carried along through alternating Western, urban, and futuristic settings. The work stands on its own, incorporating a summary of Books 1-3, but will be better appreciated if listened to as part of the whole. Recommended for sf/fantasy collections and Stephen King fans.'
Rating:
Summary: Upsetting disappointment.
Review: Let there be no doubt, I am a huge fan of the Dark Tower series and I'm still waiting for the next episode. I overheard a member of staff at my local bookstore talking about the novel, realised it was in stock, and ran over to buy it and tugged it home with great enthusiasm. I was younger then, and I loved reading the book. I even hugged it once. This humiliating truth I only reveal to let you know how enamoured I was of the series, yet once I was done I felt cheated. I re-read it and found myself skipping through many parts, and that's not usually a good sign. I did the same upon re-reading the Drawing of the Three with the tiresome 'Detta on the beach' parts. To be fair, there are several excellent sequences. One of them comes near the end of the novel, yet the climax of the attack on Jonas and men his is a let-down. I won't say why because I don't want to give the game away, but I don't think King does confrontation too well these days. It seems he wants to steer clear of the typical dramatic and cliched ending, but it left me feeling hungry for something more satisfying. I was interested in the Tick-Tock Man. King had set up an intriguing character with an unusual name, and once I learned of his skills in The Wastelands I began to fear what might happen with a confrontation between Roland and Tick-Tock. A veritable clash of the titans. But it just goes phut, like a damp firework. Imagine if Lord of the Rings ended in this fashion: 'And so Sam and Frodo went into Mordor, and threw the Ring into Mount Doom.' The sudden finish and the Wizard of Oz references seemed lame on the second reading. For a while I had to wonder if King had returned to using halluciogenic drugs. Roland also turns into a bit of a wet end, crying and such, and that might be interesting character development but I hoped he would stay the unpleasant gent that I first met when I read The Drawing of the Three. One of the appealing aspects of Roland's world and the Dark Tower series is the sparse detail. I found The Gunslinger to be dull and plodding when I first read it, but as I got older and re-read it the somewhat surreal atmosphere and the laconic voice intrigued me. I'd now say that it was my favourite of the series. As many have already said, the romance between Roland and Susan drags on and on and on and I saw no particular chemistry between the two of them. King admits he is not good at romance, so why not cut this part down? I know they are in love because they keep telling each other, and King keeps telling us, but I didn't believe it. When this was first published I ate the love story up because I was young and lonely and a romantic, but now I'm old and bitter and cynical I doubt it would have the same effect on me. It's not atrocious, and it's well-written, but the flaws above stop it from standing alongside King's greats like The Stand, Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot and the Dead Zone. It makes me fear for the rest of the Dark Tower series, but I hope they will be an improvement.
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