July 9, 2015
As of yesterday, I was a little more than halfway through this book, the third in the Dark Tower series. I was reading it at the same time as One Hundred Years of Solitude, and once I finished it I intended to spend a bit more time on this book, maybe wrapping it up this weekend. But I happened to check my library's ebook site this morning, and saw that I only had nine hours left in my checkout...and no option to renew. So I buckled down and plowed through it today. Not too difficult; it was so good that reading it quickly did not diminish my enjoyment.
I was really happy to see Jake back in the mix. When Roland prevented Jack Mort from pushing him into traffic in the last book, both he and Jake experienced a kind of split in their memory; both felt that they were going insane. Eddie helped them both, enabling Jake to return to Roland's world and quieting the voices in their heads.
From there, our motley crew was off, following the path of an invisible by powerful "beam" towards the Dark Tower. Susannah has some vague memories or visions of what life was like in the town of Rivers Crossing and the city of Lud before the world moved on. Was she there in another life or something? My questions so far have been satisfactorily answered, so I have zero doubt that we'll learn more about Susannah and the others' connection to Roland's world eventually.
I've been assuming that Roland lives in the very distant future, but some details in this book are causing me to doubt that theory. The characters discuss this at one point; Eddie suggests that the infamous Bermuda Triangle, for example, is a portal to Roland's plane of existence. Again, I'm hoping that the nature of his world, and its tentative connection to the "real" one, are explained further.
Eddie and Jake both seem to have the ability to envision the tools that they need to face dangerous obstacles. Eddie envisioned the key before he knew it would be needed to draw Jake; Jake predicted Blaine the train (what a pain) and the importance of riddles before he'd even left New York again. Roland's internal observations about his companions indicates that they have these powerful abilities...this knowing why without knowing how...that he lacks, and he quickly trusts the instincts of his companions.
After several dangerous run-ins in Lud, the gang boards Blaine to take them through the Waste Lands, a hellscape of fire and desolation and scary birds. But Blaine, a very old and very intelligent train, has intentions of his own. When he reveals this, the book ends. The cliffhanger was no big deal for me, since I've already started the next book and know how that whole situation comes out. But those who got into the series as it was released had to wait six years to find out the fate of Roland and crew. You have to admit, that was a dick move on King's part.
Oh, and I loved the addition of Oy to the gang. Oy is a small, intelligent little furry creature (called a billy-bumbler) that becomes a pet for Jake, and helps Roland rescue him in Lud. It was indicated at one point that Oy would die in this rescue mission, and I was pissed. But the little bugger came out all right. Roland believes that Oy's presence is part of their mission, that he is a proper part of this ka-tet, and he's already proving his worth. There may be another addition to the group yet, as Susannah thinks she might be pregnant.
In addition to the Blaine situation, there's another danger lurking. Alex Quick, aka Tick-Tock, the leader of the gang who captured Jake, is still alive, and is in cahoots with a wizard (a "reincarnation" of Walter?) to hunt down the gang and thwart their plan to reach the tower. So that's another element to look forward to learning more about.
I am absolutely loving this series so far. I plan to focus on them exclusively for a little while. I may not read all day like I did today to finish this one, but if the rest of the series is as good as these last two books, I may not be able to resist.
No comments:
Post a Comment