Where The Dark Tower Series Really Takes Off
After being disappointed by the first Dark Tower book, "The Gunslinger", I was hopeful that the second installment would entertain me to a much higher tree. Jackpot!

Whereas "Gunslinger" had a little too much storytelling and a little too little explanation, "The Drawing of the Three" takes a bit of a step back to help explain exactly what type of world Roland is living in.

For a quick summary of the text (without spoiling anything!), Roland finds out that doors exist between his world and other worlds...doors that he can enter. By entering those doors (as prophesized by the Man in Black in "Gunslinger"), Roland draws some of the companions that will help him on his quest to find the Dark Tower itself. First, Roland meets Eddie Dean, a heroin junkie, who has trouble trusting this gunslinger from another world (imagine that!). Roland also becomes acquainted with Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker, a multiple-personality woman whom Roland must make whole again if she is to help him on his quest. Finally, Roland again comes face to face with another incarnation of the Man in Black, which he must destroy if one world will ever be stable again.

The real entertaining portion of these books, however, is seeing how each character interacts with each other. Roland is completely lost (yet remarkably savvy) in Eddie and Odetta/Detta's world, while they have a difficult time coming to grips over where he is from. Of course, this being Stephen King, there is plenty of action to keep the story moving along, and the reader begins to get a better understanding of what exactly is going on in this series (something completely lacking in "Gunslinger!).

So, if you read "The Gunslinger" and were disappointed or confused, PLEASE don't abandon your quest for the Dark Tower yet. Instead, give this book a try. I can almost guarantee you that you won't be disappointed!

Best book in a great series
This is a great book. It's one of my favorite series, because it is epic fantasy told by a master of supernatural horror whose strongest talent as a writer is his ability to depict realism, particularly realistic people and human interaction -- that's a good combination. Stephen King's books feel real, which is why his monsters and things are so very creepy, because they seem like they're actually happening -- and his other great talent is in picking monsters and evil events that, if they were to actually happen, it would be the worst thing imaginable: we'd have to confront some really nasty things about ourselves and our world. Take Storm of the Century, for instance. The worst thing about that isn't Legion (Though he's extremely cool in his badness -- another King talent is how well he understands cool), the worst thing about that is that, if it happened, that is exactly what people would do. The audience would make the same choice that the characters do. And we know it. Most of us would be paralyzed with fear by It, most of us would either join Flagg or fail to live up to the requirements of being a hero in The Stand. Most of us would be completely sucked in by Needful Things -- hell, if you take it as an analogy for Wal*Mart, most of us have been completely sucked in by Needful Things.

Anyway, this book might just be my favorite in the series, though I need to do my second reading of the last three books, all of which I've only read once. I know I think Eddie's a good character, and I really love Roland in this one; I absolutely can't stand Detta, which is as it should be. I realized this reading that I really don't care for Odetta, either; she's way too prissy and privileged, way too soft. People should have that softness, but it shouldn't be all they have; they should have the strength, too. Like the fact that she had to stay in jail after their civil rights protest until she peed herself; she should have either peed on the floor, just to irritate the guards, or she should have recognized it as something totally beyond her control and been angered, not shamed. Detta would have peed on the guard, of course.

The lobstrosities are an incredible monster, and Jack Mort is a great bad guy; the chapter where Roland travels into Mort's mind is one of my all-time favorites. This is a great action book with some wonderful characterization, and I loved it. Again.

"Drawing" Me In
I read this directly after The Gunslinger. This book was very imaginative and actually not what I was expecting but I did really enjoy it. I kept wanting more because I couldn't predict what was going to happen next, which was really refreshing since that hasn't happened to me in a while. A lot of this book is set up for character development and sort of drawn out in places. The new characters are very interesting and should be fun to watch progress through the series. I was caught off guard, but also liked the way Roland actually draws the other players into the quest. Very different which is what I thought made it enjoyable.Good action with some cool creatures. The gunfights are very fun to read and King really sets a great tone for the next coming books.

THE DRAWING OF THE THREE by Stephen King
The Drawing of the Three is the second novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It picks up right where The Gunslinger ended, and chronicles Roland's efforts to "draw" three people from Earth, from various times in the twentieth century: a drug addict, a legless schizophrenic, and a serial killer. The reader is not told nor do any of the characters know why exactly any of this is taking place.

King is back to his usual style here: well-developed characters, a focus on minute details of personality, and his distinctive foul-mouthed dialogue, all of which make for engaging reading. The Drawing of the Three has plenty of action, including a couple of very well-done gun fights.

The Drawing of the Three is primarily setup for following volumes. There are some new characters, and we spend most of the book getting to know them, and we don't get the background on Roland that The Gunslinger had (this is an observation, not a criticism). And in the end, Roland isn't too far from where he started. Ultimately, this is an entertaining, necessary part of the series.

Can you say "ImAgInAtIoN?"

Dad-a-Cham? Did-a-Chick?

There goes King's imagination again, thinking up the most bizarre events known to the literary world. What an awesome, amazing thought process this guy has, totally outer limits!

Roland wakes up on the beach he found in the first book, The Gunslinger. Some very wierd lobster-like creatures come tumbling out of the surf, clacking to each other in some bizarre language known only to them. Roland is sick, exhausted and doesn't really pay them enough respect. He pays the price for it, and then has to walk the length of the beach to continue his pursuit of his goal. What he finds there can only come from a mind like King's.

I was blown away by the description of Roland drawing his three companions to him. They would become integral components in his search for the Dark Tower, especially Eddie Dean. Dean would save their bacon in the next book, but back to the tale at hand.

When I write, or when I talk to students about writing, the first thing I always talk about is writing freely, with abandon. King is a master of this talent, and it shows in this book. Nothing is held back as Roland and his band of reluctant compatriots venture forward in search of the tower. It's a great read, and it leaves you hungry for more books.

It certainly did with me, and I waited impatiently for more novels. Alas, they came at greater intervals, and I eventually lost interest in the series. I recommend it highly, though.

Kevin Gerard
Conor and the Crossworlds: Breaking the Barrier
Conor and the Crossworlds, Book Two: Peril in the Corridors