Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV

While I am not one of King's greatest fans, I have thoroughly enjoyed the Dark Tower/Gunslinger series. I was very excited to find this book and it did not disappoint. It fills in very necessary gaps in Roland's history in an exciting and entertaining way. It also can be a stand alone story, with all of the usual elements necessary to a good read; love, adventure, tragedy and heroism. A very enjoyable book.

This book brings to light Roland?s reason for his tremendous single-minded quest for the Dark Tower. Stephen King has some fun with a Wizard of OZ like metaphor, and lays to rest forever the thought that Gunslinger Roland is anything but a deeply emotional human being. His treatment of the love relationship between Roland and Susan Delgado is poignant and masterful. The bonds between Jake, Oy, Susana Dean, Eddie, and Roland continue to grow ever deeper as does the strength of their Kef. A must read even for the uninitiated. The beauty of the Dark tower series of books is that due to Stephen Kings brilliant writing style, they each stand on their own and could be re-read often individually or sequentially with continued pleasure. I must add that the narration by Frank Muller is one of if not the best I have ever heard. This book is pure audible gold!

The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass quickly resolves the cliffhanger of Roland's band and their ride on the crazy train after which, we find the gunslingers in Topeka, Kansas; but this Topeka is apparently not in the same world as that from which Eddie, Jake and Susannah came. Readers of The Stand will recognize this world though!

Stephen King sends his constant readers back in time for the longest and richest part of the story to date with Wizard and Glass. We are cast back to a time before the world has "moved on" when Roland is but 14 years old. In fact, the story within the story of Wizard and Glass begins mere hours after Roland bested Cort using the hawk David as his weapon as was told in The Gunslinger.

Roland, Cuthbert and Alain are sent to Hambry, in the Barony of Majis on the Clean Sea for the official purpose of counting livestock and for the unofficial purpose of getting the young men out of danger in the Inner Arc of Gilead. Little does anyone know that sending them to Hambry will be sending them into harms way. It is in Hambry where Roland falls in love for the first and perhaps last time of his long, long life. It is in Hambry that Roland nearly loses his soul and his mind to a piece of the Wizard's Rainbow, for which this tale gets it title.

Most of the book deals with those latter days in Hambry but the book closes with the gunslingers back in the present and forced to confront the strongest minion that stands against them that they have encountered to date. At the end of Wizard and Glass, readers of the Stand will quickly recognize Randle "The Darkman" Flagg and will begin to fully realize the terrible power that Roland and his band are up against.

Beautifully narrated by Frank Muller, you will continue to become deeply attached to Roland's character and be drawn into The Dark Tower. Look for the 5th volume in the series, Wolves of the Calla on audible soon!

I never was a fan of Steven King's till I read "The Stand", then I discovered the Dark Tower series. I must say I am hooked. When I walk, I listen and can hardly wait till I have time to go back and walk in our bush, with my dogs consume the lives of Roland, Jake, Suzanne, & Eddie. Keep on writing Mr. King, you have found a middle aged lady who can't put your books down. At night I have a paperback copy of one of your books beside my bed. God Bless you for your talents are surely God given...

5 stars because I finished it and truely felt something.

oh Roland...that you have loved and lost so much...

a great continuation of a great series

Enjoy!

Stephen King let's us catch a glimpse of Roland's coming of age in this book.

As always, Roland is my favorite character, although Cuthbert comes in a close second!

I enjoy Frank Muller's narration, the only person I enjoy hearing more narrating Stephen King's work is Stephen King!

Love, Life, Loss

Cuthbert Allgood, I love his sense of humor!!

Hands down Detta Walker. He does an out of this world job on Detta Walker's character.

Getting through the first Dark Tower book was a little like pulling teeth. But oh so worth sticking to it! Every other book in the series is wonderful, with this book being my very favorite.

I've listened to six of the seven part Dark Tower series, as well as pseudo-parallel novels The Black House and The Talisman.

Out of all of these, Wizard and Glass is the best written, most compelling in the series. Part classic Western, part traditional good versus evil borrowing from the themes of Star Wars and The Seven Samurai, this novel looks at the first mission that Roland and his two teenage cohorts undertake as freshly annointed gunslingers --- heroic saviors, lawmen, and messengers of good --- in a world slowly corrupted by a seemingly unstoppable evil.

Along the way, Rolan falls in love with a beautiful young woman that has been promised to be the mistress of a powerful town official, discovers a plot that could spell disaster for the forces of good, and meets up with a powerful and dark evil for which many are willing to kill, or worse.

Action, suspense, magic, powerful evil, treachery, human fraility and flaws, dedication, honor, friendship, and star-crossed love all collide to make a tale that will end long before the reader or listener wills it to do so. Truly Stephen King at his storytelling best.

I am never tempted to listen to a book in it's entirety a one time, especially one of this length.

I listened to the whole "Dark Tower" series over a three week period. A little long, but an excellent story. This was my second listen to the whole series. Steven King's descriptive writing is excellent, this is what makes the books long.

Roland Deschein and his companions have managed to get aboard the sentient monorail Blain, thanks to the mathematical abilities of Susannah Dean's still-present alter ego Detta Walker. After narrowly surviving a deadly riddle game with the computer that controls the train, the companions find themselves in a deserted city that appears to be Topeka, Kansas. But it's in a United States that appears to have been ravaged by war and disease. Roland, urged by Eddie, Susannah and Jake, tells the story of his long lost love, Susan Delgado and the events that led to the fall of his homeland.
All in all this is a great listen. It's the last to be read by the incomparable and much missed Frank Muller. It also provides a fascinating glimpse into Roland's past. If you haven't already I definitely recommend giving it a listen.