#59 – The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah

Plot

Susannah Dean’s body has been usurped by a demon named Mia who wants to use Susannah’s mortal form to bear a demon child. Stealing Black Thirteen, Mia has traveled through the Unfound Door to 1999 New York where she plans to give birth to her chap, a child born of two mothers and two fathers who will grow up to be Roland’s nemesis.

With the help of the time-traveling Manni, Roland and Eddie plan to follow Susannah while Father Callahan and Jake find Calvin Tower, owner of the vacant lot where a magical rose grows: a rose that must be saved at all costs.

Review

After I finished reading The Stand, I moved on to The Dark Tower series. No specific reasoning behind that decision, but I liked how my next seven books were pre-determined. In retrospect, this was a horrible decision. The better move would have been to read The Dark Tower last as the entire series intertwines with pre-existing Stephen King characters (including the author himself). It would have been a richer experience had I first accumulated some prior background details.

The penultimate book deals with demons and duality, as Mia (the demon) takes over Susannah (a good guy) in hopes of birthing a child that will ultimately take down Roland (THE good guy). King published both VI and VII (The Dark Tower) in 2004, but it certainly felt like he rushed VI to get one book closer to the end.

The Dark Tower series is fantastic – an absolute epic in every meaning of the word. However, Song of Susannah drags throughout and doesn’t have a complete ending – it’s a massive cliffhanger that is resolved early in VII. The best part about this series was that every book – except for this one – was great on its own. Song of Susannah basically acts as a 400-page preamble to the series finale.

Details

Pages: 544

Dates Read: Pre 2012

Quote: “Anger is the most useless emotion,” Henchick intoned, “destructive to the mind and hurtful to the heart.”

Best Part: Roland visiting Stephen King’s house. This was meta before Meta was a thing.

Hint for #58: Webster defines this title as a state that results in rash or extreme behavior.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.