The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (4) Mass Market Paperback – December 27, 2016

This has been the best in the series yet. The story just keeps getting more epic in scale and draws me in completely.

I started reading these books several years ago. They were written so far apart by the time a new one would come out I would forget what was going on. So I reread the first three twice. I finally decided to wait until they were complete. I have them in hardback but now are buying them on my Kindle. Its much easier to hold than the large volumes. I've always been a fan of Stephen King and have read most of his books. On to #5!

You know how people talk about seeing a movie in their head when they read books? I don't always do this. I read the words and say them to myself and I can understand what's happening without necessarily having to see it in my mind.But when I read the fourth book in the Dark Tower series, a movie was playing constantly in my head. It was effortless and it was lovely and I did it without realizing I had begun. I knew exactly what Roland looked like when he gave his cold, Gunslinger stare, and I know the way Susan's tears fell down her cheeks and the bruise Cuthbert's punch left on his friend's face. I can absolutely see their homes and the landscape of the town they spent a fateful summer. And once I saw them, I couldn't get them out of my head.I'm attributing this mainly to Stephen King's writing. When I read Stephen King, he has this way of getting his books to spill over into real life. In Roland's world (or worlds, I should say), time is very fluid and events have a way of echoing to other characters and times and places. Jake hears of Roland's quest for the tower and happens to take a walk to Tower Road and meets a Mr. Tower at a bookstore. These things keep reappearing in varying forms and they take is as a sign the world is changing and has begun to move on. But this echoing happens to me, too. I read about Blaine, a monorail the group takes quite an interesting trip on in Book 3, while I was on the subway train. I listened as the airport tram said, "welcome to the plane train, we are departing." I saw a tour book in our house with a train on the cover. And it's not just the Dark Tower series. When I was reading Stephen King's It, I left the subway late one night and there was a balloon tied to the railing. I didn't run all the way home, but I wanted to.The story he's crafted over the three preceding books contributes to the urgency in Book 4. Before we begin this book, we already know the way Roland ends up. We know he loses his love, Susan Delgado. We know his cold empty fate and the friends that die along the way. But what grabbed my attention and wouldn't let it go is how they got to the end.In Wizard and Glass, Roland and his friends are sent to a town that's far away from their home. They are meant to stay out of trouble, but that doesn't last long. Roland and his ka-tet have a huge advantage because the town leaders underestimate them. They leave their weapons at home on purpose, so as to not raise suspicions. But even without their guns, these gunslingers have better odds on just about any fight they'd come across, especially when the enemy is unsuspecting.One of my favorite parts of this book was how seriously Roland, Cuthbert, Alain and Susan take themselves. They are about 15 years old but each is making decisions that affect the rest of their lives. And each of them takes these responsibilities seriously. It's everyone else, like Susan's aunt or the leader of the Big Coffin Hunters, who write them off as foolish youth. But even that, they use to their advantage.In one of the best scenes in the book, Roland and his friends get in an extreme bar brawl. Cuthbert is only armed with his slingshot, but he refuses to back down or lower his weapon (in fact, I think he uses his weapon and someone almost loses a finger). The men can't believe children could best them, and eventually they realize there could be more to Roland's gang than bumbling youth. And through a hilarious and suspenseful turn of events, the boys prove they aren't the weak idiots they seemed.Their story is a story of first love, but it's also a story of adult decisions made at a very young age. And about boys who became men and go to war far too soon. These boys believe in what they are doing and force a small town to take notice. But part of being an adult is knowing that everything doesn't always work the way you want it to. And unfortunately, they had to live with the consequences of their decisions, too. This isn't the first time someone has told the story of two teenagers falling in love with a tragic ending, and it won't be the last. But it's been one of my favorites.

My son is reading again! These are the reason why

Review of Wizard and Glass Wizard and Glass is the fourth volume in Stephen King's epic Dark Tower series. To fully appreciate this story, read The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, and The Waste Lands before tackling Wizard and Glass. I am preaching to the choir here, since anyone who has read the first three books is already hooked, like one who stares too long into the Wizard's Glass. The Dark Tower is the story of Roland Deschain, the Gunslinger, a sort of knight whose quest is to find the tower that sits at the center of all the universes. Accompanying Roland on this phase of his journey are former heroin addict Eddy Dean; legless multiple personality Susannah/Odetta; Jake, a boy who died in the first book but who is brought back in the third; and Oy, a talking animal.The first part of Wizard and Glass concludes the riddle contest with Blaine (If you don't know who Blaine is, shame on you! That means you haven't read The Waste Lands.) The group then enters the Topeka, Kansas of an alternate universe, the dead world of another Stephen King novel, The Stand. In this world, Interstate 70 out of Topeka follows the "Path of the Beam" toward the Dark Tower. When the group camps for the night, Roland tells a story from his youth, which forms the main portion of the book. The tale involves the adventures of young Roland and his companions Alain and Cuthbert in a town called Hambry, in the Barony of Mejis. Hambry, like Roland's entire world, is a mixture of medieval, old-western, and post-apocalyptic elements. Palaces, cowboy saloons and long-abandoned oil refineries co-exist in this land. The town is filled with bizarre and menacing characters: Rhea, the wickedest witch in the west; lustful and corrupt Mayor Hartwell Thorin; Jonas and the Big Coffin Hunters, badmen who make Jessee James and his cronies look like boy scouts; and many others. While there is plenty of gunplay and intrigue, a key theme of Wizard and Glass is the romance between Roland and beautiful Susan Delgado. This romance reveals another side of Roland. In the other books of the series, he is mysterious and cold, willing to sacrifice anyone and anything to reach the Dark Tower. In Wizard and Glass, at least we glimpse the human being within the Gunslinger. The Glass of the title is a mystical pink crystal, one of thirteen that form Maerlyn's Rainbow, created ages ago by a malevolent being. Through it, Roland's companions witness the dramatic and tragic conclusion of his story. But beware! The glass is cursed, and can bring only sorrow to its user. The Wizard is Marten Broadcloak, archenemy of Roland, and the reason Stephen Deschain sends his son to Mejis. He has many other names. In the New York of our world, he is Jack Mort, the Pusher, who caused Jake's (first) death and the loss of Odetta's legs. In The Gunslinger he is Walter, the Man in Black. In the world of Hambry, he is John Farson, euphemistically called "The Good Man," who seeks to overthrow the Baronies. Near the end of Wizard and Glass he takes on another, rather fanciful identity, but I don't want to spoil the fun. I'll just hint that, when our heroes encounter him, they're not in Kansas anymore! Roland's tale is too long to be told in a single sitting in our world, but time does not flow smoothly in the worlds that have "moved on." In Roland's world it is feasible to tell a 27-hour story (the length of the audio-CD version of Wizard and Glass) in one evening. Apart from this plot device, the story in this book could not have been exactly the same as what Roland told his companions. The narrative is in the third person, and contains scenes Roland did not witness and could not have known in such detail. Wizard and Glass is one of Stephen King's best works. Any fan who finishes this fourth book of the Dark Tower series will approach the last three volumes with renewed gusto.

The series just keeps getting better. My favourite of the Dark Tower books so far. Why does Stephen King not write more Westerns? It’s the book I’ve been waiting for since starting the series. Almost entirely set in the past (after resolving the cliffhanger where the previous book ended), this book provides a beautiful, tragic, thrilling, entertaining, horrifying back story that helps us understand so much of Roland’s motivations. And while I love Eddie, Susannah and Jake, it was great to finally see Alain and Cuthbert as Roland’s companions. With at least a couple of uber cool moments as Gunslingers.Does it advance the main plot? Not by much. But without this book, the entire series would probably make a lot less sense. Which makes it absolutely essential.

I read the gunslinger years ago when it first came out. In fact I think I had it on audio tape. Loved it then but there was no more. I have only just found out Stephen king completed the series; although you took your time mr king. The whole thing is emotional I have cried and laughed throughout and didn’t want it to end. A masterpiece for the times and this book was one of my faves although the last one is life changing. Get all of them and hunker down like Roland.

The quest of the Gunslinger and his companions takes a detour as King gives us an insight into Roland's boyhood, a story which occupies most of this long book. It is fascinating stuff if you are already hooked on the series, a richly imagined society from which the world has 'moved on'.I found it absolutely brilliant (and 'The Wind Through the Keyhole' even better), though the pace is slow at times, bordering just occasionally on the tedious. It would be a mistake to join the series here. Better to start at the beginning, or to read 'Keyhole' which is a stand-alone novel outside the series.It is King's genius to create three-dimensional characters, living in a strange but believable society, that sets him apart from all other writers of fantasy. (Christopher Priest is my other favourite.)

I was always curious whether it was laziness or lack of imagination which makes an author use "thinness of reality" to put people and places from one book into another. I liked R.F. from his first appearance in The Stand, but still wonder if he makes any sense in these books, or was just added as a generic bogey man. After this third reading of this book I still do not know. I`d like better characterisation for him. The section in Gilead takes too much space and barely moves the plot forward. I`d like to like this book so much more, I just can`t.

All the books in The Dark Tower series are excellent reading. This one delves in to Roland's history and explains why he is the way he is. As always, great writing from S K.