Roland Deschain and his ka-tet are bearing southeast through the forests of Mid-World, the almost timeless landscape that seems to stretch from the wreckage of civility that defined Roland’s youth to the crimson chaos that seems the future’s only promise. Readers of Stephen King’s epic series know Roland well, or as well as this enigmatic hero can be known. They also know the companions who have … who have been drawn to his quest for the Dark Tower: Eddie Dean and his wife, Susannah; Jake Chambers, the boy who has come twice through the doorway of death into Roland’s world; and Oy, the Billy-Bumbler.
In this long-awaited fifth novel in the saga, their path takes them to the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis, a tranquil valley community of farmers and ranchers on Mid-World’s borderlands. Beyond the town, the rocky ground rises toward the hulking darkness of Thunderclap, the source of a terrible affliction that is slowly stealing the community’s soul. One of the town’s residents is Pere Callahan, a ruined priest who, like Susannah, Eddie, and Jake, passed through one of the portals that lead both into and out of Roland’s world.
As Father Callahan tells the ka-tet the astonishing story of what happened following his shamed departure from Maine in 1977, his connection to the Dark Tower becomes clear, as does the danger facing a single red rose in a vacant lot off Second Avenue in midtown Manhattan. For Calla Bryn Sturgis, danger gathers in the east like a storm cloud. The Wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to, and they can give the Calla-folken both courage and cunning. Their guns, however, will not be enough.
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At this point, I have a good idea what I’m getting into when I pick up one of Stephen King’s Dark Tower novels. The story will wander. It will take longer than it needs to. But it will also be chock full of originality. And in places, it will be nearly impossible to put down.
Wolves of the Calla, the fifth book in the series, lives up to all these expectations—and then some.
The opening chapter sets up a confrontation with the Wolves referenced in the book’s title, fearsome raiders who come to the village of Calla Bryn Sturgis once a generation to steal half its children. Those taken eventually return, but they’re “roont” (ruined), marred by gigantism and mental enfeeblement. Stopping the Wolves is tangential to the protagonists’ main goal: Roland, Eddie, Jake, and Susannah—the last “gunslingers”—seek the Dark Tower, the multiverse’s crumbling lynchpin. But King sets most of the novel in Calla Bryn Sturgis, and the story occasionally drags as our heroes investigate the village and lay their plans.
Things slow further when Father Callahan, a character from King’s (seemingly) independent novel Salem’s Lot, explains why he’s now in Calla Bryn Sturgis. The tale involves alcoholism and vampires, spans several chapters, and isn’t immediately relevant to Wolves of the Calla. Callahan’s inclusion does get at King’s overarching premise, however: that all worlds, both real and imagined, are linked.
The good father also provides a plot device: near the end of his trek to Calla Bryn Sturgis, Callahan acquired Black Thirteen. This malevolent artifact allows Roland to open doors into different worlds. The gunslingers use these doors to revisit 1977 New York, Jake’s home and the site of a threat to the Dark Tower’s physical manifestation. Cutting back to New York weaves more connections between the story’s various worlds—as one reality bleeds into the next—but the extra threads don’t feel entirely necessary.
Oh, and while all this is happening, Susannah is dealing with a form of demonic possession that’s triggering her schizophrenia in particularly disturbing ways.
And yet… there’s lots to like here, despite (and often because of) the craziness. King creates a believable dialect for the villagers of Calla Bryn Sturgis. The gunslingers’ personalities all deepen in some way. Most elements of the world/universe feel fresh, even though King is fusing together a grab bag of genres and pop culture. And the final showdown with the Wolves is legitimately thrilling.
So: as I’ve also come to expect of a Dark Tower book, Wolves of the Calla is worth the journey, maddening as it can be sometimes. I’m in for the long haul with this series. If you like innovative writing, and have some time and patience on your hands, you should join me.
(For more reviews like this one, see http://www.nickwisseman.com)
Great book when read as part of the series.
This is one of the Dark Tower series that I loved, but I read it too long ago to give a specific review.
Full of allusions to other pop-culture fare, this is the strangest of the book series.
A bit stranger of a book in the series, this one includes allusions to Dr Doom, Harry Potter, Star Wars, among others. Depends on your viewpoint of that, it’s definitely weird in an entire saga bent on weird. But no less epic.
Incredible. Just incredible. Beautifully written as always, and the best so far. My only gripe, and it is a small one, is that the confrontation with the ‘Wolves’ after whom the book is titled was somewhat short-lived. Also, I defy you not to well up when the Billy-Bumbler cries. I can’t wait to read the next one. Bravo, Mr King.
Great part of the Dark Tower series by Stephen King.
The entire Dark Tower series rocked, start to finish. You need to read the whole series, start to finish, but this was one of my favorite installments.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this series!!! Waited so long for this to be finished. Love King but this series is a completely different direction from how most people think of his books.
Given the length of this book, I kept having to remind myself that only roughly a month passed during its entire 700+ pages. It never dragged. The story was rich and complex. In fact, the whole thing moved at such a steady, thorough pace, that when the culmination of this particular story reached its peak, it almost felt abrupt in its brevity — and yet, I think it was appropriate, because I think that’s exactly how some things feel. Sort of like the month long build up for Christmas, or the planning of a wedding during an engagement, and then it’s just…over, just like that. My only “complaint” was really more of a personal preference. I feel about vampires the way many people feel about clowns. ::shudder:: But I was able to push past that and still enjoy the story and the further development of our little ka-tet.
Being a fan of the Dark Tower series, I was highly disappointed in this book. I found it to be boring and unneccessary in the telling of the journey of the wonderful characters. This is a book that can be skipped in the reading of the series. This story could and should have been told in less than 700 pages. However, the tales of Susannah’s pregnancy and the throwing of the plates are what kept me reading until the end. I am looking forward to book VI.
The easiest read of the Dark Tower series.
This entre into the Dark Tower/ Gunslinger series feels a bit slower, taking more time to set up and giving a more detailed description of people, place, atmosphere etc. As always King delivers an interesting tale, very reminiscence of a western (in particular the Magnificent Seven). There’s a lot going on here Roland even has a “lady friend” I won’t say more but this is well worth your time!
Take forever to get going. Author changes writing style for the last 3 books and this changes the whole story
I enjoyed this book. The journey for Roland and his ka-tet continues!!
Part of King’s Dark Tower series. It is a masterful piece of work that fall somewhere between fantasy, science-fiction and thriller.