The Dark Tower II

The Drawing of the Three

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba!

In this second volume, Roland encounters three mysterious doorways on a deserted beach along the Western Sea. Each one enters into a different person's life in New York - here, he joins forces with the defiant young Eddie Dean and with the beautiful, brilliant, and brave Odetta Holmes in a savage struggle against underworld evil and otherworldly enemies. They also become the companions, forming a ka-tet, who will assist him on his quest to save the Dark Tower.

©1987 Stephen King (P)1998, 2003 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"King is a master at creating living, breathing, believable characters." ( Baltimore Sun)

"This quest is one of King's best - communicates on a genuine, human level, but rich in symbolism and allegory." ( Columbus Sunday Dispatch)

"An epic in the making." ( Kirkus Reviews)

great book

I flew through this book. The narrator is different from the first book, but after the initial surprise I got over that and grew to like the narrator. He does a good job with the lady of shadows.

I'd actually give it a 3.5 stars:

This book has me going back and forth between loving it and being sick to death of it every few chapter. I love the character Roland and his relentless need to reach the Dark Tower at any cost. The whole antihero thing is over played these days but Roland is the exception to this over-done trope. He will sacrifice any and all to complete his mission and it's fantastic. It brings a complexity to his character and his position as the last gunslinger. Roland's world, the one in which has "moved on", is interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately, we don't spend much time exploring it in this story due to him spending most of his time on one beach and the rest in our world. The best glimpses we get into Roland's world is when he compares our world to his. The main problem I have with the book is that we get way too much Detta, who speaks like the most obnoxious characters of a black person ever. I understand it was intentional but that doesn't make it any less obnoxious and insulting to listen to. Also, this book is missing a villain like the Man in Black, someone mysterious and evil to go up against. There's a lot working against our heroes but nothing like vampire spirits, evil preachers, or a murderous town like in the 1st book. Though I don't love the book, I did enjoy it enough to want to read the next one. This is mostly due to Roland being a perfectly realized and interesting character and the mystery of his quest. Everything else is just a little bland.

Great second volume

The content of this book is more enjoyable than the first. But, the narration is irritating. Muller puts a growl in his voice that doesn't add anything to the story. I'm looking forward to book 3.

my favorite books revisited

love these books haven't read them in years really enjoying them again always picking up new things.

Much better than the first.

I read these books a long time ago, and the audible version of the first was deeply disappointing due to poor narration. however, Frank Muller does a much better job, and i enjoyed listening to Roland's quest over the beach.

The story was a little thin, but the narration!!!

If you could sum up The Drawing of the Three in three words, what would they be?

A bit cliched.

If you’ve listened to books by Stephen King before, how does this one compare?

Compared to the first book, this was a little thin on the story.

What about Frank Muller’s performance did you like?

Great narrator. Knew how to act, knew when to read, versus when to give a performance. His many voices make this work really well, though the story made me a little weary.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

Frank Muller was made for this sort of work. Sad that he was taken in such a tragic way.

Much better than the first book

Would you consider the audio edition of The Drawing of the Three to be better than the print version?

So even though this was much better than the first book, it still was not great. Hoping by the third book, I will experience what several friends and family members say about this book series.

Slow story to a crawl

I bought this book because of the good rating, but this book is not for me. I skipped the first book on the advise that the second book is better; I can't imagine how dragging the first book is.
The story line is interesting that's why I stuck to the end, but it could have been compressed in just a few hours. There was more yakking than plot development.

A good entry

I enjoyed the story. It got a bit dull with the walking along the beach segments, but beyond that it's still a good quasifantasy epic!

Not overly impressed

Let's start with the reader. Not everything has to end in a dramatic inflection. Roland bowels is not dramatic.
The story is contrived and designed for a Hollywood movie and he characters are extreme versions of real life. Detta walker fixates on gray meat little white candles every other thought and in a as trashy and cliched way as possible. Eddie is the quintessential New York persona. If the characters had been toned down a little and a little left to the imagination the story could have been made darker and more suspenseful. Instead you just find everyone annoying.
I'm not sure if I can get through the next book...
I may try