World Famous Comics: The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)
The Waste Lands (The Dark Tower, Book 3)
By: Stephen King Publisher: Signet Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Signet Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 608 Publication Date: 2003-09 Release Date: September 02, 2003
Product Description: Roland, The Last Gunslinger, moves ever closer to The Dark Tower of his dreams-and nightmares-as he crosses a desert of damnation in a macabre world that is a twisted image of our own...
Roland's World Explained Further As the third edition of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series gets underway, the group of Eddie Dean, Susannah Dean, and Roland stumble upon the Path of the Beam, which will ultimately lead them to the Dark Tower itself. This book, then, is the story of their early followings of that line.
Along the way, as is King's trademark, anything and everything can and do happen to Roland and his group. First, Jake (introduced and supposedly killed in the first Dark Tower book "The Gunslinger) is seen once again as the group makes its way toward the ancient city of Lud. While in Lud, the group is separated and must each fight their own battles in order to regroup and rejoin each other's company. Finally, the group matches wits with a strange and deadly train (on front cover of book) that is hurtling them across the Waste Lands (perhaps to their doom?).
I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil the book for you, but suffice it to say that it surpasses both previous installments by quite a bit. The most interesting portion of the book deals with how/when Roland's world is positioned to interact with "our world", as there exist many interesting connections between the two. Also, we get a brief glimpse (which is more fleshed out in the next installment) of the intensity that Roland puts into his quest for the Dark Tower.
Overall, "The Waste Lands" continues the story of Roland and his ka-tet (you'll understand once you read it!) in a fascinating way, as new characters are introduced, more is revealed about Roland's magical (yet crumbling) world, and the thrilling conclusion will leave you begging for the next title in the series! If you were pulled into the Dark Tower story by book two ("The Drawing Of The Three"), this book will snag you even further!
It's got me. Man after this one it will just really suck you in. My roommate asked me about this series and the only thing I could think of the tell him was that it was like nothing I've ever read before. It was just a so imaginative book and I never really see any of the events coming. It's just such a different type of book that I can't really explain. The world they are in is just so grand and I just want to know more and more. King's writes in such a great way that the story just plays out in my head and I won't even realize I'm reading for a couple of pages. I'll just say that I'm glad I don't have to wait six years for the next one to come out like the people did when this was new. Great book.
Awesome! I love Stephen King and this series has me locked in. I live in a small town and to be able to order the books and get them shipped at a great price is awesome. I highly recommend this book and series!!
THE WASTE LANDS by Stephen King The Waste Lands is the third novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It picks up several months after The Drawing of the Three, with Roland, Eddie and Susannah hiking through Stephen King's imagination and a Richard Adams homage. Meanwhile, both Roland and Jake, who is back in New York, seem to be going crazy from the paradox Roland created in Drawing.
In the first three hundred pages of The Waste Lands, practically nothing happens. Jake rejoins Roland, and the reader is inundated with foreshadowing of the second half of the book, which seems to have little purpose and is boring. The second half of the book makes up for it, as the group navigates a post-apocalyptic city. Here, Roland tries to rescue Jake and the group tries to find and ride Blaine, the train previously foreshadowed ad nauseum. This latter half of the book is quite exciting, as King is at his best here. His characters are outstanding. And there's a cliffhanger ending.
This is a very uneven book, but it certainly has its high points.
One complaint: A bear that "stood seventy feet high" would not have an eye socket "nearly the size of a baseball". That eye is way disproportionately small.
The Most Imaginative of the First Three. The first book was odd and it took me forever to realize what was going on; the second book was kind of boring with the whole mafia thing, and for the most part, the book was just too vulgar; now, with this third book, I finally started to see the imaginative world the first two books couldn't quite capture. I'll eventually finish the series, but so far, this one is my favorite.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
