• Song of Susannah

  • The Dark Tower VI
  • By: Stephen King
  • Narrated by: George Guidall
  • Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (15,032 ratings)

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Song of Susannah  By  cover art

Song of Susannah

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Publisher's summary

The next-to-last novel in Stephen King's seven-volume magnum opus, Song of Susannah is a fascinating key to the unfolding mystery of the Dark Tower.

To give birth to her "chap", demon-mother Mia has usurped the body of Susannah Dean and used the power of Black Thirteen to transport to New York City in the summer of 1999. The city is strange to Susannah...and terrifying to the "daughter of none" who shares her body and mind.

Saving the Tower depends not only on rescuing Susannah but also on securing the vacant lot Calvin Tower owns before he loses it to the Sombra Corporation. Enlisting the aid of Manni senders, the remaining ka-tet climbs to the Doorway Cave...and discovers that magic has its own mind. It falls to the boy, the billy bumbler, and the fallen priest to find Susannah-Mia, who in a struggle to cope, with each other and with an alien environment, "go todash" to Castle Discordia on the border of End-World. In that forsaken place, Mia reveals her origins, her purpose, and her fierce desire to mother whatever creature the two of them have carried to term.

Eddie and Roland, meanwhile, tumble into western Maine in the summer of 1977, a world that should be idyllic but isn't. For one thing, it is real, and the bullets are flying. For another, it is inhabited by the author of a novel called Salem's Lot, a writer who turns out to be as shocked by them as they are by him.

Set in a world of extraordinary circumstances, filled with stunning visual imagery and unforgettable characters, The Dark Tower series is unlike anything you've ever heard. Here is Stephen King's most visionary piece of storytelling, a magical mix of fantasy and horror that may well be his crowning achievement. Don't miss the other volumes of Stephen King's The Dark Tower.
©2004 Stephen King (P)2004 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"There's something about a crippled, black, schizophrenic, civil rights activist-turned-gunslinger whose body has been hijacked by a white, pregnant demon from a parallel world that keeps a seven-volume story bracingly strong as it veers toward its Armageddon-like conclusion....The biggest cliffhanger of King's career." (Publishers Weekly)

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What listeners say about Song of Susannah

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    10,902
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    9,334
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8,890
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    66

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Undoing the writer's block!

This series just keeps getting better as the pages pass... now we have revealed the ultimate writer's paradox, a story that takes on it's own life - whose character's ask the writer to keep writing! I, for one, don't want this series to ever end. In this book, Stephen King (with the help of his characters) starts to pull all of the loose strings together. You won't want to miss this one. However, you can't start with this book - read the previous 5 first or you will be lost for sure!

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54 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Kool-Ade, Drunk.

I have invested so many hours in this saga that I have no capacity to nit pick its minor shortcomings or flaws. I am all in. Bring on the final book.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Love it or Hate it, but at least Try it...

A very interesting and incredibly different book in the series. A lot of reviews are either a 1 or a 5 for this book. Many of the one's seem to involve the fact that there is little action, which was my original gripe with this book as well, just too much dialog. But it does finish very strong so my rating is closer to a "5". I would give it 4.5 if I could.

I groaned at the end of DT5 when SK was hinted as a pivotal character in the series and this book adds to that a great deal. But it is also very cleverly handled to not be annoying, well not too annoying anyway.

The Susannah / Mia conflict is very pivotal in the book (hey, look at the title). Be prepared for some bizarre stuff, I'm still not sure I understand her pregnancy after this book...

I think this book would get a 2 or 3 if I didn't know that DT7 was just around the corner because this ends just too abruptly.

Give it a chance, you may hate it, but I think if you don't mind a little psychology and philosophy that you'll come out thinking it was ok afterall, in fact it might even be pretty dang good.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

George Guidall does a nice job

I've seen complaints about George Guidall's narration of this series, and I think the complaints are unwarranted. There is only one Frank Muller, and it is understandable that some people are going to judge Guidall against Muller's impossibly lofty standard. But that's not fair to Guidall.

I've listened to V and VI now, and I have grown quite fond of Guidall's narration. Sure, he doesn't delineate voices as beautifully as Muller did, but there is something to be said for his more understated approach. In fact, I rather prefer Guidall's rendition of Susanna/Odetta/Detta, especially Detta; Muller's Detta was a bit overdone, in my opinion. And I really loved Guidall's "Andy" in Wolves of the Calla.

As for the story, it is classic King: compelling to the point where you can't put it down! I wonder exactly HOW he's going to tie up all these loose ends in VII, but we'll see.

I do feel that some of King's plot twists are cop-outs. I mean, it almost seems as if he's constructed huge elaborate subplots just to explain a few mistakes in the earier volumes (e.g. Co-op City being in Brooklyn, not the Bronx.) It seems like he's always trying to explain away some contradiction in the "rules of the world" he's created.

It leads me to believe that this story, which spans over 30 years of King's own life, has gotten away from him, and he's spending most of his time trying to reel it back in.

Or maybe VII will resolve all and it will make perfect sense in the end. We'll see...


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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Last part of series not so good

Overall, with the Gold plan this series was a great buy, I saved at least $100 over the itunes price and got over 100 hours of listening. Great value.

This, for me, was the worst book in the series. Stephen King writing himself into the series ruined it for me because it messed up my suspension of disbelief. It's hard to care about characters that even the narrative imples are not "real".

It's true, as others have noted, that there is too much introspection in this book, and the plot plods along slowly. I don't mind that so many new types of characters were added.

The last book redeems the latter part of the series somewhat for me, but it was downhill for me as soon as SK added himself to the book.


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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Park your rig at the Dixi Pig.

Read/Listen to The Talisman & Black House before you listen to this story for some rewarding Tie ins!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Losing Sight of a Great Story

I've really enjoyed the Dark Tower series up until the last two books. While Wolves of Calla was still clever and a decent story, King seems to have no idea what to do with these characters any more. Song of Susannah was hugely self-serving casting King as a god-like character in his own book. Really disappointing. I'm almost afraid to see how it ends.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Did other reviewers even LISTEN to this book???

After listening to this through twice, I'm really happy I did. It gave a great insight into the Susannah/Mia plotline but also brought the author into the story. If you take what he says in the "diary" into account, I think the next book is going to be very interesting...

But I have to ask, did any of the negative reviewers even LISTEN to the whole story?? Didn't you get any of it? It doesn't appear so, given some of the questions being asked here. Did you really think that was King's actually diary? Heh? Uh, did you notice what the very last section was about?? The dates? Hello?

Anyway, can't wait for the last book...

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very, very, good.

I've read some of the negative reviews for this one, and I don't understand them. If one liked the first five, this one is as good or better than any of them. In book V, I did not care for Guidall's narration. I was used to Muller's version of the characters. I'm not sure what happened, but Guidall does a much better job in this one. He's not Muller, but he's fantastic in his own way. The Dark Tower (book VII) comes next for me, and I'm ready to see how it all unfolds. This is usually not my genre, and this series is the only Steven King I've read. This series is long and impressive and comes highly recommended from me. The first book in the series seemed to be the least interesting for me, as the narrative continues to build with each and every book, so I'm fine with that. "Song of Susanna" is the only book in the series that has received a five star rating from me. In this one, the story, the narrator, and the production quality all come together nicely.

Nice job, Mr. King.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Necessary piece of the puzzle

This is undoubtedly the weakest of the 7 Dark Tower novels...but cannot be overlooked for obvious reasons. King does, from time to time, loose his way occasionally in some stories, and this installment represents that flaw...in my humble opinion.

The characterization of Susannah and the others remains pretty consistent, but the arc of the story gets a little strange. The good thing about this book is that it isn't as long as most of the others. There is some vital information here in regards to the Dark Tower story, and it isn't BAD...just not up to the same standards as the rest of the series.

George Guidall does a very nice job with the narration.

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6 people found this helpful