After powering through "The Gunslinger" (and realizing that it was all exposition for the full "The Dark Tower"), I moved quickly on to the second book - "The Drawing of the Three" - hoping to get to the meat of the series. Although I did find more action, it was still tempered with some disappointment.
Summary
When we last left our hero Roland (the last Gunslinger), he was falling asleep on a beach where he was told (by his former rival, the Man in Black) to wait for "the drawing of the three" who would help him on his quest.
As this story opens, Roland wakes up on that mysterious beach to find himself surrounded by giant black lobster monstrosities (creatively named "lobstrosities"). These lobsters surprisingly attack him, biting off the first two fingers of his right, dominant hand. It also turns out that the lobster bite is poisonous, and that Roland doesn't have long to live. To top it all off, the tide had risen while he was sleeping and soaked all his ammunition, leaving him with a guessing game of which rounds will fire and which are duds.
Yet, when hope is low, a mysterious door appears on the beach, and Roland finds that by going through the door, he can take control of a man in our modern (1980s) world - Eddie Dean. Unfortunately (because nothing can be easy for Roland on his quest), Eddie Dean is a junkie who is in a lot of trouble with the law and the mob. Dramatically (and somewhat comically), Roland saves Eddie and "draws" him into his world so that Eddie can join the quest for the Dark Tower - and bring a lot of aspirin with him.
After recovering for a few days, Roland and Eddie continue up the mysterious beach and find another door. This door leads to our world in the mid-1960s. Roland brings back the next member of his crew - the wheelchair-bound split-personality Odetta Holmes / Detta Walker. Unfortunately, as sweet and kind and compassionate as Odetta is, Detta is twice as violent and nasty. In Roland's world, the two men are forced to tie her to her chair to stay safe while trying to figure out how to control the two personalities.
With food running low, ammunition running lower, and the danger higher than ever, the three continue up the beach until it nearly disappears. There, they find the third (and final) door. Entering it, Roland enters the mind of Jack Mort - the man whose actions led to Odetta / Detta losing her legs and to Jake entering Roland's world. Roland prevents Mort from killing Jake (leading to a time paradox which, I'm certain, will lead to trouble later), and, after grabbing some more ammunition for his guns, makes Mort jump in front of a subway train. The death of Mort in our world fuses the two sides of Odetta / Detta into a single personality - Susannah.
Now a healthy trio, Roland, Eddie, and Susannah continue into the foothills in search of the Dark Tower.
Analysis
This second book of the "Dark Tower" series provided a lot more concrete, understandable action tan the first book. Unfortunately, most of this action is perpendicular to the plot, not moving it forward in many significant ways. At the end of the book, I did not feel that Roland was any closer to the Dark Tower (or really understanding the nature of the Tower) than he was at the beginning. The only major change is that at the end of the book Roland has company on his quest.
Still, there were a few important facts established through this book:
1. Roland's world is connected to ours. But these connections are not necessarily restricted by time. (So, time passing in Roland's world does not affect time passing in our world).
2. Roland admits that he his compelled to find the Dark Tower, although he still is not clear (or, at least, does not reveal) what motivates him to do so.
3. Jake did not necessarily die (and so, was not necessarily drawn into Roland's world).
4. Roland knows that he might have to sacrifice Eddie or Susannah on his quest. And he's not afraid to do so.
5. Roland only has one usable hand, and so will need to rely on others to survive. (In other words, Eddie and Susannah are not necessarily as expendable as Roland thinks they are.)
6. Roland has a very foggy past (partly due to his foggy age). And I'm absolutely certain that events from his past (which we haven't learned yet) will come into play as the adventure continues.
I'm having trouble writing a much deeper analysis of this, simply because I don't feel that there was much else in this book worth analyzing. Like a cartoon character trying to run, but really just spinning his legs, a lot happened in this book without the story moving forward.
The good news is that the book did keep me entertained, and I'm going to keep reading the series. It definitely seems like things are really about to take off for Roland (and his new posse). In the end, King has masterfully woven another tale, even if that tale feels hollow in the face of the larger context of the novel.
On to "The Waste Lands"...
