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Wizard and Glass (The Dark
Tower, Book 4) by Stephen King, Dave McKean (Illustrator)
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- Hardcover: 672 pages ; Dimensions
(in inches): 1.92 x 9.66 x 6.54
- Publisher: Viking Press; (June 23,
2003)
- ISBN: 0670032573
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Wizard and Glass,
the fourth episode in King's white-hot Dark Tower series, is a
sci-fi/fantasy novel that contains a post-apocalyptic Western
love story twice as long. It begins with the series' star,
world-weary Roland, and his world-hopping posse (an ex-junkie, a
child, a plucky woman in a wheelchair, and a talking dog-like
pet named Oy the Bumbler) trapped aboard a runaway train. The
train is a psychotic multiple personality that intends to commit
suicide with them at 800 m.p.h.--unless Roland and pals can
outwit it in a riddling contest.
It's a great race, for the mind and pulse.
Movies should be this good. Then comes a 567-page flashback
about Roland at age 14. It's a well-marbled but meaty tale.
Roland and two teen homies must rescue his first love from the
dirty old drooling mayor of a post-apocalyptic cowboy town,
thwart a civil war by blowing up oil tanks, and seize an
all-seeing crystal ball from Rhea, a vampire witch. The love
scenes are startlingly prominent and earthier than most romance
novels (they kiss until blood trickles from her lip).
After an epic battle ending in a box
canyon to end all box canyons, we're back with grizzled,
grown-up Roland and the train-wreck survivors in a parallel
world: Kansas in 1986, after a plague. The finale is a weird
fantasy takeoff on The Wizard of Oz. Some readers will
feel that the latest novel in King's most ambitious series has
too many pages--almost 800--but few will deny it's a
page-turner. Amazon.com
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As much as I love the first three books in the series, Wizard and
Glass has something that the rest of them don't. Those looking for
an ending to the drawn-out riddle-contest between Blaine and the ka-tet
will be satisfied, but it isn't long before Roland and his friends
take a rest stop, where Roland tells a story about his past.
It isn't one of those things where the flashback takes up 20,
maybe 30 pages, either. No, this story lasts 520 pages, and is
clearly the main focus of the book. Those hoping to find Roland and
his ka-tet making large steps towards reaching the Tower will have
to wait for Wolves of the Calla (which I have yet to read).
However, this side-story that is the main focus of Wizard and
Glass is an amazing piece of fiction. Simply put, it's a beautiful
love story. The usualy readers who're used to King's grisly works of
horror may be put off by this notion, but I assure you, this isn't
your usual love story. It's simply so genuine and moving, I
guarantee you will be blown away. Of course, love isn't the only
element of Roland's past, but it plays a huge role in the adventure.
Alain and Cuthbert, Roland's adolescent friends, are also
components of this story. It has a distinct Western feel to it,
which is clearly what Stephen King intended, with the usual amount
of dark fantasy to make things interesting. I'd say that the story
of young Roland is quite Shakespearean in its grandiosity and epic
qualities.
Even if you're not a fan of the series, and have not read any of
the other books, open this book to page 116, and begin reading the
story Roland tells. It's incredible, and moved me as much as one of
my other favorite books, The Once and Future King (in a similar
way). James from Seattle
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