|
In this fantastical
third book in the series, Stephen King once
again takes readers on a journey of
incomparable imagination. Roland, the Last
Gunslinger, is moving ever closer to the
Dark Tower, which haunts his dreams and
nightmares. As he and his friends cross a
desert of damnation in their macabre new
world, revelations begin to unfold about who
- and what - is driving him forward. A blend
of riveting action and powerful drama, The
Waste Lands leaves readers breathlessly
awaiting the next chapter. Set in a world of
extraordinary circumstances, filled with
stunning visual imagery and unforgettable
characters, The Dark Tower Series is unlike
anything you've ever read. Here is Stephen
King's most visionary piece of storytelling,
a magical mix of fantasy and horror that may
well be his crowning achievement. |
|
AudioFile - Ruth P.
Ludwig
In a re-issued collection of the first three books of King's
fantasy saga, Frank Muller revisits the world of Roland of
Gilead, Jake Chambers, and Eddie and Susanna Dean. King
himself originally recorded the three books as he wrote them
over a period of ten years. Muller recorded book four,
Wizard and Glass, in 1997. The series centers around Roland
of Gilead, the last gunslinger to walk the earth since the
world "moved on." Roland travels in search of the dark
tower, a mysterious, never-seen entity he believes holds the
key to the world's having moved on. In a series that
provides 36 hours of listening to the same voice (with no
special effects), one expects a lapse in interest. But
Muller, the master of narration, pulls out all the stops
here. He makes characters unmistakable through dialogue and
timing. In fast-paced conversation, dreams or breakneck
bursts of action, he moves effortlessly among dozens of
people. Narrative passages flow with equal grace and
fluidity. Muller uses tricks, such as dragging out words and
phrases, singing when the characters sing, and contriving
animal and mechanical voices. Even his Foreword and
Afterword sound like Stephen King . . . with one exception:
The author would never pronounce his home city "Bang-er,"
rather than the "Bang-gore" of a native Mainer. R.P.L.
©AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
Chapter three of King's epic alternate-world saga (1988,
1989) finds Roland the Gunslinger and his sidekicks
continuing their quest for the Dark Tower—and the Maine
master keyboarding some of his least restrained writing in
years, great sagging storm clouds of padded prose that only
occasionally thunder or brighten with lightning inspiration.
The storyline by now is so complex that King opens with a
four-page "Argument" summing up past action and tracing ties
between major characters. The Argument for volume four won't
be much longer, since relatively little happens here: Roland
trains Eddie Dean and Susannah Walker, previously brought by
him from Manhattan to his blighted world, in the arts of
gunslinging—soon used to slay a giant mechanical bear named
Shardik; Jake, the boy whom Roland let die in volume one,
reappears as a Gotham schoolkid who makes his way through a
haunted house into Roland's world; the band of four
encounter a town of old folks, then a wasted city where Jake
is kidnapped by degenerates, then rescued; Roland and
company take a ride toward the Dark Tower on a train
operated by an insane computer enamored of riddles. In a
note, King admits that "finding the doors to Roland's world
has never been easy for me." The strain is evident, with the
volume seemingly jerry-built on borrowings (the hoary
haunted house; the mad computer, echoing Hal of 2001; the
wasted city and its criminal denizens, shades of Escape from
New York) and overblown character conflicts (can Eddie
summon the courage to cross the swaying bridge?). Still,
some of the action cooks up shivery suspense, and Roland's
anticipated duel of riddles with the homicidal computer
promises a swiftstart to the next volume. Hopefully it won't
take any more slack interlude volumes for Roland to reach
the Dark Tower. Meanwhile, though confirmed series fans
might at least tolerate this chapter (and buy up its 1.5
million first printing—on-sale Dec. 2), the generic King fan
will enjoy far more the upcoming Needful Things (p.
813).(Book-of-the- Month Split Dual Selection for January) |
