Krishna
This book is the Sixth (and penultimate) book in the series of Seven books (Eight, if you include a later introduction into the middle of the series. We have seen the previous ones here, which are : The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, The Wizard and Glass, The Wind Through the Keyhole and Wolves of The Calla. Only the final volume is left after this.
I must say that the stories are getting better and better as you go along. In complete contrast to the first book, The Gunslinger, which was abominable, this one is very, very good. Let us jump into the story, assuming you have read the earlier books at least enough to know the characters by now.
Realizing Susannah has disappeared with the Black Ball, Eddy is desperate to go after her, but the townsfolk caution him to wait until the morning.
They feel a Beam break and are anxious to save the Dark Tower before vital Beams break and make it collapse.
The next morning they go after Susannah/ Mia and find her wheelchair abandoned.
Meanwhile Trudy gets to see Susannah/ Mia materialize out of thin air and gets her shoes stolen as well. She is never the same. She hears the “Black Tower” a building of black glass being constructed in the vacant lot sing.
Meanwhile Susannah reaches out to Eddie in her mind and he gives her a sign from the past, asking her to look for hidden pockets in the bag containing the evil ball. She gets a small turtle which seems to have magical powers and mesmerizes a Swedish businessman who offers cash and a hotel room and the receptionist is mesmerized not to ask for identification.
When they have a talk on a mental desolate range, Susannah understands that Mia is the aspect of the demon whom Roland and she faced and also that to save the child, they have let Eddie and Roland walk into the trap set by Jack Andolini and his men.
Roland and Eddie escape, though Eddie was shot on the leg, on a boat helped by an old man they accidentally met. Roland roasts the pursuers with diesel and a fire bomb and they escape by boat to the man’s cottage by the pier. They go meet Alan Dipeneau and Calvin Tower who has been stupid in advertising their whereabouts while hiding. Finally they persuade him to sell the plot to the ka-tet.
Susannah delays Mia till night when she knows that Jake and Callahan will arrive to save her. The episodes of the fight at the gas station, the rage of Eddie about Calvin’s stupidity, Calvin’s obstreperous denial of the danger, and Mia’s confusion about modern gadgets in the hotel are all told extremely well and are classic King. What jars is his inserting himself into the story (Remember Wilbur Smith doing it much more disastrously in The Seventh Scroll?). It is annoying when authors want to be part of the story (even as themselves). Having started the plan, King plays with the idea, even making Eddie wonder if he, Eddie, is a part of some story.
They go after King. (I feel stupid at this point for reading on). King does a comic portrayal unlike Wilbur glorifying himself as a ‘historian’ in the other book, but still it is kind of stupid, discussing characters created by the author with the author himself.
Callahan, Jake and Oy land in New York. They follow the trail and are ready to die until they find the scrimshaw turtle left there by Susannah. Then they go into the den of the Crimson King’s “low men”, a bar called the Dixie Pig. The low men are those who figure in the short story so well (Hearts in Atlantis). Incidentally, the low men are those that have red dots on their forehead. (Thank God that they are not women with red dots! But wait, yes, there are also women with red dots). The dots slosh blood within but they do not spill.
The scene where Mia realizes how much she relied on false promises is well told, as is the reception that Susannah Mia get among the low men, vampires and some insectile beings. The characters are pure fantasy, Stephen King style.
The ending is a cliff-hanger and serve as a gateway to the next book. Which, I believe, is the last in the series.
7/10
– – Krishna (Mar 2018)