The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 25 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

The fifth novel in Stephen King's magnificent epic, one of the most popular series in publishing history.

Stephen King's epic fantasy series, The Dark Tower, is being made into a major movie starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. Due in cinemas February 17, 2017 USA.

In the fifth novel in King's best-selling epic fantasy series, the farming community in the fertile lands of the East has been warned the wolves are coming back. Four gunslingers, led by Roland of Gilead, are also coming their way. And the farmers of the Calla want to enlist some hard calibers.

Torn between protecting the innocent community and his urgent quest, Roland faces his most deadly perils as he journey through the Mid-World towards the Dark Tower.

©2003 Stephen King (P)2003 Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Fantastic Story, not so great performance

What made the experience of listening to The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla the most enjoyable?

The story is fantastic. The voice is clear and understandable, but you can clearly hear when the cuts are made. Also all the characters sounds the same

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla?

All of them: it's a great book

What three words best describe George Guidall’s performance?

Sadly Inconstant, not very "in-role".

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

- THE MOVIE THAT DOESN'T TOTALLY WRECK THE ORIGINAL BOOKS -

Any additional comments?

Fantastic story nonetheless. I would have preferred another reader. but it's not that bad.

Guidall has big shoes to fill, does it gallantly

The loss of Frank Muller is palpable and tragic. But Guidall carries on very well. I am hooked on this series and this installment is my favorite yet, I think.

Peak of the roller coaste

Calla was a valuable step in the Dark Tower saga, though it seemed a little like a distraction at first. We see more of the history and reality of the Tower, the Beams, the Guardians and the Low Men through flash backs and similar devices, with important progression of the ka-tet's mission. Enjoyable, especially because everything really speeds up from here, two books from the end and it really feels like you've hit the peak of a roller coaster, it's all been build up but it's a wild ride from here on in.

A true classic

The dark tower saga must be one of the best stories ever. This part was true as well.

thrilling

I love the dark tower series and this is a cool part that seems like a western story where the Gunslingers must help a peacful town og farmers

Great, but audio is off

Any additional comments?

Despite the narrator change (which is explained, sadly, at the end of the book), there are clear re-dubs within this title, especially in the second half. Either another narrator has stepped in, or has been recorded on different equipment, at a different time.

It's not much, but it is jarring. Also, the actual audio quality is not great, very low, very bassy. And for some reason, there are two parts where it seems a sound effect is used... also very jarring considering not a single one has been used within the last go knows how many hours.

Great story, bad recording, narrator is... ok. Mostly maintains the vocal distinctions but does fall flat on some others. Just started the next book and it does seem that some of these criticisms have been addressed though so fingers crossed.

Another fork in the road

It's a shame that frank muller is unable to continue reading for us. I hope his recovery is progressing.
Wolves of the calla continues to expand on the lives of the travellers and again links other King novels with the dark tower. It is full of all the King delights - good versus evil, the shoot out, the heroes. What's not to like?

Another brilliant story

It was a massive shock to hear a different voice than Frank Muller's come out of my headphones. And I'll be honest I was in a bad mood for a few days following discovering what happened and that not only had his life so tragically ended but that I would never be able to hear the end of The Dark Tower as Frank saw it and told it.

The new narrator at first seemed to still be figuring out how to voice these characters and that upset me even more. But by about a third of the way through he seemed to have it sorted and by the end I was quite enjoying his rendition of these characters. He will never be Frank Muller. But he is doing the series justice.

The story itself was quite enjoyable. I've seen some people saying that King had lost sight of the main story line with this novel, however I feel that those making such accusations were simply blind to all the many elements of this book that explained and foreshadowed the rest of the series.

I don't get it

There are so many good reviews for this book and I just don't get it. I enjoyed the first three books in the series very much but there are too many side trips.

It is becoming obvious how much time has elapsed between the beginning of the series and the last. So much time that I think Mr King has lost the plot. The storyline is getting lost with the rehashing of other stories from other novels. I don't mind occasional flashbacks and sidetracks if they help complete a story but when they become a distraction, long winded and unnecessary to the plot these diversions become boring. Father Callahan! Boring with a capital B.

The continuation of the new storyline has some good moments but they are few and far between and there is so much old stuff to wade through it becomes boring.

Also, I can't say I like the development of Roland's character much. He was a hardnosed cowboy who let a little boy he loved die and now he's just plain soppy. The story of the Dark Tower hasn't moved ahead very much, i.e. there's not much new happening.

I seriously miss Frank Muller's narration but George Guidall does a fair read.

The story moves forward

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was probably faster for me to listen to this than to read it myself. The audio book was long so the paper book would be very long and I would probably take forever to finish it.

Would you recommend The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla to your friends? Why or why not?

Well if you have read the previous four book you kind of have to read this one too.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He has a great voice, so it is like being read a book by some old grandfather.

Do you think The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, and it has one. These questions should probably not show up for book 5 out of 7 in a series.

Any additional comments?

Only two books left in the Dark Tower series now. Let's see where Mr. King takes us.