Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Waste Lands

"Ka was a wheel, its one purpose to turn, and in the end it always came back to the place where it had started . . ."

"It was just another showdown in another empty street. That was all, and that was enough . . . That the showdown always came was the central fact of his life and the axle upon which his own ka revolved . . . it would be a battle to the death . . ."

Volume three of seven complete. The first half of this novel was almost like a part two of The Drawing of the Three, completing the assembly of Roland's ka-tet. Finally righting Roland's choice in The Gunslinger to sacrifice Jake and having him join Eddie and Susannah on their quest with the gunslinger was very satisfying and exciting. I really enjoyed the sections from Jake's point of view, and how his mind and memories were split in two: the reality where he was pushed under a car and sent into Roland's world to be sacrificed by him under the mountains, and the reality where he was spared and went on living in New York.

It was fun to see a few references to others of King's books. The coming of the white is a theme briefly mentioned in The Talisman, and the mysterious Richard Fannin at the climax is most certainly a reincarnated Randall Flagg from The Stand. His appearance was one I was anticipating, and it paid off:

"He pushed back the hood, revealing a fair, broad-browed face that was not, for all its pleasant looks, in any way human. Large hectic roses rode the Wizard's cheekbones; his blue-green eyes sparkled with a gusty joy far too wild to be sane; his blue-black hair stood up in many clumps like the feathers of a raven; his lips, lushly red, parted to reveal the teeth of a cannibal . . . He held out a hand whose palm was utterly devoid of lines. 'What do you say, pard? Shake the hand that shook the world.'"

As with the second novel, I was slightly frustrated by how little we know of Roland of Gilead; how he learned of the Dark Tower, what set him on his quest, what the Tower even is, etc. Eddie even asked Roland those exact questions and all the gunslinger said was that he couldn't answer those things. I know book four is all about that, I just wish we could have a liiitle more to go on in these first three installments. All we really know is that there's a Tower and Roland wants to find it. It reminds me of The Talisman; Jack knew there wad a magical thing in California that could save his mother, but that is all that Speedy Parker tells him before he lights out. That story did pay off in the end, however, so I'll be patient.

It was cool to see Eddie and Susannah (and even Jake) come into their own more as gunslingers-in-training, though I wish we could have seen a little more of that along the way. I did enjoy Eddie's development as he left behind his attachment to his brother's toxic hold over him, and how his past and current selves became the key for Jake to enter their world through the haunted house in New York.

King does a good job building up a myserious, immersive world which has "moved on." Technology and media from our world somehow leaks into theirs; there is both futuristic and ancient cultures and technologies; gunslingers are legends out of the past, and Roland is worshipped nearly as a Savior when they encounter an old population at River Crossing before the wasted city of Lud. That was one of my favorite parts, actually. A blind woman wishes to see Roland's face, so he tells her to see him with her hands and allows her to feel his face. It was a tender moment.

Blaine was a strange character for sure--a robot-inhabiting ghost obsessed with riddles--but I came to like him. He reminds me of Wheatly from Portal 2; in fact the whole sequence of the ka-tet exploring and escaping from the wasting city of Lud reminded me of that game.

All in all a great story, I just wish we knew more about Roland and the Tower! That will come in due time, I suppose.

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santilopez024's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This book is nuts, which is saying something for Stephen King. This is my favourite Dark Tower yet, mostly because of how well established the characters are. I don't think I've felt so attached to a main cast since the Stand (also by him).

I am not the biggest fan of King's portrayals of SA, but aside from that this book was fantastic.

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misfitnightmare's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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fleetwitchmac's review against another edition

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4.25

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laurenmarietta's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Not sure how King pulled off writing a fantasy series where the underlying premise isn't explained in earnest until the third book??? But it's nice to finally start understanding the 'why' of the series in this installment. Pretty hard to swallow King's relegation of the only female character to the margins except in scenes depicting sexual violence, though, and the overdone New York and southern accents in the audiobook really expose just how ridiculous this crew of characters King has assembled is. Regardless, still an entertaining story to while away the hours. *shrug*

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