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Title: Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5)
ISBN: 141651693X
Author:
Stephen King
Publicate Date: 2006-01-24
Publish: 2006-01-24
List Price: $9.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $5.78
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $5.25
Amazon Merchant Price: $9.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: WOLVES OF THE CALLA by Stephen King
Wolves of the Calla is the fifth novel in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It is also the worst book in the series thus far. There are a ton of small plot holes here, and quite a few things that happen are pretty convenient. King tries to create suspense by hiding the main characters' knowledge from the reader for hundreds of pages. But this is just tiresome and amateurish.
This book takes about five hundred pages to get going. It's bogged down by a large amount of back-story and general farting around, much of this having to do with the homoerotic vagabond adventures of Father Callahan, who makes his first appearance since `Salem's Lot, the second book King ever published. And Callahan is written inconsistently. He really doesn't believe in God much, if at all, yet he staunchly holds to Catholic positions (seemingly for no other reason than the sake of the plot).
King continues his highly derivative, winking-at-the-reader "homages" to various other sources: this time it's Star Wars, Harry Potter, Marvel Comics, and even King himself. When you combine these (Doctor Doom in the wilderness with the lightsaber and the exploding Harry Potter ball - it sounds like ridiculous Clue), the effect is exponentially worse.
If this were a stand-alone novel, there would be no compelling reason to read it. Unfortunately those committed to reading the Dark Tower series through don't have a choice.
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2: The beginning of the end
(Semi - Spoiler Alert. No specifics on the plot.)
As a stand alone book, Wolves of the Calla is great story, although references to other Dark Tower and Stephen King novels may leave readers feeling left out.
As the 5th book in the Dark Tower series, it is still a great story but another story that makes little progress towards the final goal of reaching the Dark Tower. I had the same opinion about Wizard & Glass. A great great story on its own but being a flashback, very little progress was made towards reaching the Dark Tower.
My other gripe with Wolves was that SK went overboard on "name dropping". Too many references to Dark Tower world items, too many references to 20-21st century pop-culture items (Harry Potter, Star Wars). I can't explain it well, but I just got less of a feeling of creative new ideas from SK. The first 4 books were mind blowing. Such a perfect blend of fantasy, sci-fi, reality. There just seemed to be too many references to SK's past and pop-culture as I previously mentioned.
Overall this is a great book though and I give it 4 out of 5 stars. If only the next book could score this well...
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3: Roland continues onward to the Dark Tower
I am not going to go into a rendition, I see this has already been done. This is the 5th book in the Dark Tower series and continues to follow Roland and his posse on their quest for the Dark Tower. I enjoyed this book. I thought the way Stephen King innertwined characters and places from his other stories brought depth to the characters and brought more realism to the world surrounding the Dark Tower. I do recommend this book and the series. You will need to read these books in order, I do not believe this book can stand alone as a novel.
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4: nothing happens
This is the most boring book i have ever read. The only book that comes close to it in sheer boredom is Wizard and the glass, but that was at least redeemed by the part with blaine the mono. nothing happens in this book. nothing. for 700 pages. and the plot is a complete rip-off of the 7 samurai. The Wastelands was one of the best books I have ever read - fast-paced and full of interesting concepts, but this book is just a mess of interminable old west cliches.
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5: Wolves of the Calla
And we're back on track! After the massive flashback segment in "Wizard and Glass" the real story of the series begins to drive forward once more, picking up soon after the conclusion of book four.
This story is a little different from previous instalments. The journey towards the elusive Dark Tower slows as the team, King's own "fellowship", stop to help a town that anticipates a violent and devastating attack from the "wolves", a group of almost-men who may kill or abduct their children. There are many secrets in this book, all of which are revealed satisfactorily, and many of the mysteries surrounding Roland's world are also uncovered - although there are just as many new questions as there are answers.
The writing is, as ever, great; the dialogue particularly brings such clarity to this aspect of King's complex series that you don't feel you're reading fantasy, which, as a writer of the genre myself, can often get bogged down in the narrative. King lightens the novel where it needs light, and darkens the novel when the various truths are revealed. Speaking of light and revelations, we see the protagonist Roland in an entirely new light, adding yet another layer to the full rounded character and his companions. It's wonderful and heart-breaking to see our beloved characters in this way, who by now feel like family.
Do we want Roland to succeed? Always. Do we want him to succeed at the expense of his companions, who are also our friends? There are new aspects of the Dark Tower, its substance and purpose, that almost make us think "maybe they aren't all that important after all ..."
Don't miss it. It's a series back on track after a minor slowdown, and it is so intriguing that you'll still be thinking about it weeks later.
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