Finally finished this bad boy, and let me tell you, this is a big step up from book 4. You can read my review of the previous book here, but the short version of my impression is that nothing happened. At all. It was terrible.
Book 5 throws us right into it, with the terrifying revelation that The Wolves are returning to The Calla, after 23 years. The Calla is a town, full of people who live their lives. The Wolves? They’re… not wolves, that’s just a name. And their return to The Calla every 23rd year is not a nice vacation, let me tell you.
I think that’s as much as I’ll say about that…
After an introduction to The Calla and their troubles, we turn back to Roland, Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy. They’re still making their way to the tower, but obviously they get dragged into the whole business with The Calla and The Wolves. Gunslingers as they are, they decide to help.
The whole impending-doom and something-happening-to-the-village thing is very exciting. I like it as a way to build up the tension in the town and between The Gunslingers and the villagers as well as the Gunslingers themselves. Because in the end, that’s very much what this book is, it’s building the characters, making them ready for the last two books, getting them ready for the final act. And I’m looking forward to it.
That being said… I’m getting a bit tired of these books being so incredibly long. I’m happy to see that book 6 is only half the length of book 5, because King has a tendency to ramble on. Not saying he’s not the most qualified person around to ramble, but… eh.
Anyway – we’re finally getting somewhere. We’re getting closer to the tower and it shows. Things are getting more dangerous, more serious, darker. I’m expecting some exciting development in book 6. We’re on the downhill, the home stretch. I need to know what happens.
I still highly recommend this series. I’m not saying it’s awful because the books are long, or because I found book 4 a bit boring. This is awesome. Very awesome, and it’s about to get real.
Trey Stone, Author 