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Summary: The Waste Lands
Review: This is the third book in the Dark Tower series. The book finds Roland trying to get to the Dark Tower so he can get out of the mirror like world of ours.Roland , the last gunslinger, is accompined by two friends Eddie and the wheel-chair bound Suzannah. The characters run into swarms of unhuman foes on their way to the Dark Tower.
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Summary: Unbelieveable work. One of the best books ever written.
Review: This book is so masterfully written it's hard to put into words. I was spellbound more so than I've ever been by a book. It captivates you and pulls you into a world that could only be imagined by Stephen King. He tells the story so that even though he describes it as a hell before hell, you can't help but hope that it is in some small way real. You want to believe and start looking for the Path of the Beam. You want to remember the face of you father and learn how to shoot not with your hand, but shoot with your mind. It comes alive and takes over your imagination, and leaves you in a state of complete awe. I have since started reading the fourth book and am hoping that it will be just as good if not better. If you haven't read this book or the two previous ones, start now. You won't regret it. And that is most definitely the truth.
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Summary: Roland as a member of a new ka-tet
Review: The Wastelands is my favorite book in this series. My favorite character, Jake, returns to the gunslinger's world and becomes a member of the group. His adoption of Oy, the billybumbler, is priceless, and one gains a new opinion of Roland after seeing his care and concern for Jake and his little friend.Eddie and Susanna continue to grow on the reader as well as Roland in this book. It is interesting to see Roland's feelings about these two people grow and change as time and trials pass, but it is even more interesting to see these two characters' feelings and opinions about Roland change as the story progresses. If you haven't thoroughly enjoyed the series up to now, this book should get you on board as a silent member of Roland's new ka-tet, just as determined to reach the Dark Tower as the rest of the group.
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Summary: Another of King's Masterpieces
Review: This is the third book in a great series. The Dark Tower series is the best book series I ever read. The book has lots of action, lots of mystery. The book was really well written and the descriptions and the array of words used were really well chosen. The plot is very confusing if you do not read the first two books. The third is definitely the best book of the three. It is much more gripping then the others. I finished it in five days the others I read over a longer period of time. Its ending is much better ad leads you to read the next book a lot better then the other two books. This was one of my favorite Stephen King books and I would recommend any Stephen King fans and anyone who likes a good science fiction novel to read it.
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Summary: The Waste Lands: The Dark Tower III
Review: King's (Pet Sematary, Audio Reviews, LJ 11/1/98) fantastical and allegorical "Dark Tower" series commenced in 1982 with the publication of The Gunslinger. Subsequent volumes have appeared about every five years thereafter. The Gunslinger introduces protagonist Roland as he pursues the Man in Black through bleak and tired landscapes in a world that has "moved on." Roland believes that the Man in Black knows and can be made to reveal the secrets of the Dark Tower, which is the ultimate goal of Roland's quest. The Waste Lands sees Roland and his fellow travelers continuing the quest for the Dark Tower. They journey through imaginative landscapes, over astounding obstacles, and meet with and confront a unique and fully drawn cast of characters, both human and nonhuman. Reader Frank Muller gives voice to the characters with a thoroughly engaging precision, accuracy, and great humanity and with an edge that drives the story onward and seems to amplify King's skill as an author. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.'
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Summary: Positively the best book I ever read!
Review: The Dark Tower is the the finest peice of literature I've ever read. Nothing made a better page-turner than this book. I can't wait until i finish the next one, Wizard and Glass, so i can start waiting for the 5th in the series, Wolves of Calla. It is supposed to come out in September 2003 :( O well.
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Summary: I'm in love...
Review: I fell in love with Roland by the end of The Gunslinger. I read Drawing in 2 days and needed more... The Wastelands was really engrossing, and by then I was completely smitten with Roland..... BUT! If you love the first 3 books, you HAVE to read #4 Wizard and Glass!!! I am obsessed with Roland. However, other than my fantasies of finding a beautiful, strong, and brave gunslinger of my own, the books are a break from straight "horror" writing, and offer a deeper perspective on life and the interconnectedness of all things....
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Summary: The series just keeps on getting better.
Review: I loved this book. It is better than the first two and the first two were great. They are a real marvelle of story telling and allegory. I love the journey aspect of the story. The will to risk all to get to place, in hope of better answers. The readers are taken on this journey as much as the characters are. And the characters are taken on a fast pace, break neck ride. I am going to start reading #4 imediately as I must know what happens. I just hope that King gets the rest of the books out soon, but I also don't want him to rush it. Great art takes time to develop and this is great art. It is by far my favorite of King's works as his characters are funny, twisted, and inteligent. They all play off each other very well, and we learn about them through how they treat each other. Roland is developing into a solid leader who now is developing interests outside the dark tower in Jake, Eddie, Susannah-his posse. And they all bring something to the story. This book made me think. And then it twisted my thoughts intop a fury of paradoxes that turn inside out. Trippy stuff. Read this book!!!
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Summary: An amazing novel
Review: Book Three of the Dark Tower Series continues where the second book left off, more than just the plot. Roland's mythical world continues to grow and become real. King develops his characters, giving them more depth and reality. What really seperates this work from other fantasy series that I have read, is the direct connections between our world and Rolands. This series is no longer out of reach, there are people from our world there. Additionally, King shows the pains and results of a world that has moved on. My favorite parts of the novel concern Jake; both his coming to Roland's world and his chase in Lud. What happens. Susan begins the novel by shooting one of the twelve guardians. Roland then finds the path of the beam and follows it two Lud. Before they reach it, Jake and Roland begin going insane. Since Mort died before he pushed Jake, Jake was never killed, and never went to Roland's world, but he did. Jake is brought into Roland's world and the problem is gone. Jake is kidnapped on the bridge leading to Lud, Roland finds him. Susan and Eddie find Blaine. Blaine is train they must travel on past the wastelands, but he is a suicidal train. The book ends with the a contest for their lives. A riddling contest. King's novels are fast paced and do not waste time on pointless details.
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Summary: Wonderful installment, but I wanted more
Review: I should preface this by saying that I gave the Gunslinger 4 stars and the Drawling of Three 5 stars, and I truly love the series. I have read the first 3 books in 5 days. I am glad that I didn't read them when they came out because I just started the fourth one and I am already sad that there isn't another one (yet) that I can just run out and buy.
That being said, and that I will not recap the story just give you my opinion, I loved this book but I felt a bit unsatisfied. The book definitely moved very quick, and had lots of action, but for me it moved too quickly. Like King would be punished if the paperback version went over 600 pages. I would have liked it if he stayed in the two towns, especially Lud, for a longer period of time. It took 500 pages to get to Lud and less that fifty to get out, not including the train part. For me this was not enough, and I would have appreciated some time in those towns. Again, to me, I feel like since King pumps out so many books that this one got short shrift. What was written was excellent and I enjoyed myself thoroughly, but I didn't feel the way I felt at the end of The Drawling of Three where I NEEDED to continue, I still want to, but it is not as complete a feeling. On the plus side, Jake coming back was just what the story needed and his character is really a breath of fresh air to the story, and without him this installment would not be nearly as exciting or rich in its delivery. The action was rushed but well presented and made for some good reading. Some more time was deserved on Roland's attempts to find Jake in Lud, that part felt woefully incomplete, but other than that it was a good action story.
All an all this is a very good series, and I am having a great reading experience, but this book just needed some more to it and I would have been much more satisfied.
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