#4 – The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
Plot
Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake, and Jake’s pet bumbler survive Blaine the Mono’s final crash, only to find themselves stranded in an alternate version of Topeka, Kansas, one that has been ravaged by the superflu virus.
While following the deserted I-70 toward a distant glass palace, they hear the atonal squalling of a thinny, a place where the fabric of existence has almost entirely worn away. While camping near the edge of the thinny, Roland tells his ka-tet a story about another thinny, one that he encountered when he was little more than a boy.
Over the course of one long magical night, Roland transports us to the Mid-World of long-ago and a seaside town called Hambry, where Roland fell in love with a girl named Susan Delgado, and where he and his old tet-mates Alain and Cuthbert battled the forces of John Farson, the harrier who—with a little help from a seeing sphere called Maerlyn’s Grapefruit—ignited Mid-World’s final war.
Review
What do you look for in entertainment? Are you thrilled by the chase? Looking for an escape? Or, are you interested in understanding the journey? Nothing happens in Wizard and Glass as far as Roland’s quest for The Dark Tower (except for the conclusion to The Waste Lands), and yet it is without question my favorite book of the series and nearly my favorite Stephen King novel of all-time.
The story that Roland shares doesn’t move us any closer to The Dark Tower, but it provides an incredible amount of depth and color to our main protagonist. And oh yeah, the story Roland tells is a fantastic read by itself. It has deep character building, a dynamic good vs evil plot line, riveting dialogue, and climatic action sequences.
One note of interest: The Waste Lands ended on a dramatic cliffhanger, and it took more than three years for the next Dark Tower book to be released. Because of this, several Constant Readers would come to despise Wizard and Glass. I understand that sentiment, but thankfully the entire series was available to me.
Roland can come off as an unemotional robot through the first couple of books so being exposed to this back story allows us to completely understand and empathize with how Roland became the person who he actually is. There’s a lesson in there for how to treat other humans we encounter. You never know what that other person has gone through.
Details
Pages: 700
Dates Read: Pre-2012
Quote: “True love, like any other strong and addicting drug, is boring — once the tale of encounter and discovery is told, kisses quickly grow stale and caresses tiresome … except, of course, to those who share the kisses, who give and take the caresses while every sound and color of the world seems to deepen and brighten around them. As with any other strong drug, true first love is really only interesting to those who have become its prisoners. And, as is true of any other strong and addicting drug, true first love is dangerous.”
Best Part: Oil and fire are a dangerous combination.
Hint for #3: Jack Nicholson and an axe.
Until next time, peace be the journey.
Luke Florence 