Say thankya-sai for King's Episode 5: bring on the Wolves! (Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla - Stephen King)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Dark Tower 5: Wolves of the Calla - Stephen King
Date:	09/03/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent continuation, storytelling and characterisation

Disadvantages: Drags just a bit too much at times

In the mid-1960s, Stephen King read Tolkien epic trilogy The Lord Of The Rings. It was then that he realised he wanted to write his own 'magnum opus' of sorts - his own crowning work - his own saga. However, he waited, wanting to make sure that he wrote his work and not that of someone else, curbing his desire until such a time as he was influenced mainly by his own work and not another author's. Thus it was that in 1982, The Gunslinger was published, the first in a series of 7 books in The Dark Tower series. It was the start of Stephen King's own epic saga, one that would take him over 20 years to complete. One that would make me a Stephen King fan.

Let me start off by explaining that, while many view this book as readable on its own, it makes far more sense to do so whilst reading it as part of The Dark Tower series. Depending on which version you have, this may be possible if you have the introduction written by King where he recaps the events of the previous four books. However, this recap will not give you a complete and in-depth understanding and appreciation of the saga so far.

As a result, I believe it is hard enough trying to understand the quest that our hero Roland has without having to join it in the middle, and recommend that you read the first four books before attempting this one. I have done so, and was thankful for the knowledge of the first four books when reading this one, particularly they are referenced frequently. If you haven't read the first four books and intend to do so, then this review may spoil them somewhat for you, and I suggest you bear this in mind.

In 1855, the poet Robert Browning wrote 'Childe Roland To The Dark Tower Came', inspired by the fairytale featuring the same character. The poem is a dark and suggestive one, full of potential hidden meaning and of a hero's danger ridden quest to attain the Dark Tower. It is from this that King draws his base for his hero and quest for The Dark Tower, and as a result the tale is rather dark, and Roland, the last gunslinger spoken of in the first book, a very secretive and dark character. The first four books show us the quest Roland is on, to reach the Dark Tower itself, and over the course of the books, we learn that it is supposedly the centre of all Universes, and without it all would cease to exist.

Thus Roland finds himself on a journey to reach the Tower, as it is his 'ka', his destiny, giving the tale a spiritual edge. Along the way he forms his 'ka-tet', as he draws characters through strange portals between our world and his. First comes heroin junkie Eddie Dean, of New York, 1982. Then follows schizophrenic black woman Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker, of New York, 1964. Lastly, we see the re-emergence of 11-year-old Jake Chambers, of New York, 1977. The important factor here is the 'when' and not the 'where' they are drawn from.

All of this mightily confusing, and as our 'ka-tet' continues on their journey, defeating whatever foes lie in their path and traversing any obstacles they encounter, they come upon the dusty Mid-World town of Calla Bryn Sturgis. Imagine if you will that Roland's world is like a cross between Tolkien's Middle-Earth and Sergio Leone's Wild West, and then picture the town that appears most stereotypical of such a land. Our heroes, drawn by the path of the Beam (which leads to the Tower) find that there is something in the Calla that draws their attention, that they need in order to successfully continue their journey. And, like true heroes, they find the town on the verge of being attacked by the Wolves. What's more, the ka-tet's eponimous and sinister leader, Roland of Gilead, last of the gunslingers, reveals that it is their 'ka', their destiny, to defend this town and its inhabitants against the attack of the Wolves. They have never stood up to the Wolves before - it will be the first time for all of them.

King has a tendency to meander with his storytelling, and this frustrates many of his readers. I find that patience is the key, and the reward is a set of extremely vivid and imaginable characters. Every single member of the townsfolk featured in the book is well visited by King's pen, and we see the Eisenharts, the Jaffords, and the collective known as the Manni very well described, with their appearance and mannerism deployed in such a way that I felt as if I was there with them, that I almost expected them to react in certain ways. And they did, as King had created what felt like actual people. King also draws our attention to the messenger robot Andy, a product of LaMerk Industries, a company we have met before along the Dark Tower trail.

Perhaps the most important character is Father Callahan, who is well met by the ka-tet, and whom we learn also found his way to Mid-World through a door from our world. This comes as no surprise once the character is introduced properly, and it is made clear from quite early on. His involvement, however, is not entirely clear, and fans of King's writing will recognise the character from the novel Salem's Lot, one of King's horror tales that features heavily on vampires. Callahan is a character plagued by vampires and alcohol, and he is very well developed indeed.

Certainly, you get the feel that King has relied heavily here on notions and ideas such as that of The Magnificent Seven. The idea of a group of mysterious strangers offering to save a town from the attack of deadly enemies is one well explored, particularly in cinema, and The Magnificent Seven, itself a remake of Seven Samurai, seems to be used heavily here. King even mentions it in his Afterword, although the thought had occurred to me long before reading this. In terms of his main characters, it seems as if they have all taken everything in their stride, and looking back on it, I put myself in the same position as they were in when Roland first appeared to them, a haggard looking cowboy figure (imagine Clint Eastwood's The Man With No Name) trying to get them to pass into a strange world, a different universe, and I have been trying to understand how King would expect them to do something so apparently dangerous.

Then I look at the characters, and realise that a junkie, a schizophrenic and a 11-year-old boy are likely to have the most vivid and adventurous imaginations and dispositions, and I wonder no more! He has certainly thought everything through, and this book is as much about their adaptability and development as it is about saving the Calla from the Wolves. It is fabulously written book, and although at times I was willing King to get on with it, the vivid nature of just about everything made all 760 or so pages thrilling to read. He includes a flashback story much as he did with the tale of Susan Delgado in the fourth book, Wizard and Glass. However, while the majority of that book was taken up with that tale, this merely requires a few chapters for its flashback, and the use of different text format certainly made me feel as if I was reading from a flashback tale. Putting it in different writing somehow separates it from the rest of the text, adding to the feel of the book.

Overall, I think this is probably the best of the Dark Tower books I have read to date in many ways. However, it does also go on a lot, describing everything in intricate detail, and while there is more tension and anticipation involved with The Wolves of the Calla, there is actually less action and variety as well. There is a bit of an impressively described fight scene, which almost comes as an anticlimax, lasting for quite a few pages, but in the context of the book, not for very long at all. While the majority of the book kept me mesmerised and completely removed from my wife for the best part of a week, I would be lying if I said that at no time did I wish it would hurry up.

For this reason, I am loathe to give it 5 stars, and retain it on the 4 star level. It does drag, but at least it is still very good when it does. The Wolves of the Calla is currently available for a variety of prices from a number of different retailers, both High Street and online. I recommend getting the Hodder publication of the books which feature an Introduction and an Afterword by King, as these are very handy in understanding the situation and the story, and the Afterword is particularly moving. Bring on Chapter 6: Song of Susannah!

Summary: Excellent 5th Chapter in the Dark Tower chronicles