Finally, Stephen King’s epic series starts to gain some momentum. As explained earlier, the first two books of this series (seven in all, at this point) were essentially exposition pieces: introducing the central characters and their motives. In this book, though, the adventure really begins and the quest moves forward.
Unfortunately, though, the first third of this book takes its cues from the first two books: lots of character development, little plot development. Roland, Eddie, and Susannah are wandering through the forest and are forced to kill a giant bear which Roland explains is a mythological “guardian” of a portal between worlds – and of course, the place where all the portals meet is Dark Tower. The group realizes that their ka-tet (think of Tolkien’s “fellowship”) is incomplete, and that Roland accidentally caused a rift in the space-time continuum while drawing Susannah into his reality (just trust me on this). Through a lot of luck and unexplained magic, the group manages to bring Jake (yes, the boy who died in the first book) back to their world as though he had never died.
Now, the quest can truly begin (and the crowd goes wild)! The group follows the path of the “beam” (a beam of energy which leads to the Dark Tower). Of course, the path of the beam takes them directly into the middle of a war that has been going on for thousands of years. The Grays and the Pubes have been fighting in the city of Lud to the point where all technology has essentially been lost, and neither side remembers how to use what technology is left. Jake is taken hostage and brought before the leader of the Grays – the Tick-Tock Man – who is shot during Roland’s daring rescue.
To leave the city of Lud, the adventurers take Blain the Mono – a sentient (albeit computerized) monorail car who agrees to take them to the end of his line while they entertain him with riddles. If they do not please him with the riddles, he reserves the right to kill them. (Lastly, as a footnote, the Tick-Tock Man is revived by the mysterious Ageless Wanderer who commands him to prevent Roland from reaching the Dark Tower.)
The good points of “The Waste Lands”:
1. We start to get a much broader view of Roland’s world. Up until now, Roland and his crew have wandered through a desolate desert, a dark mountain, an isolated beach, and a mostly-lifeless forest. Suddenly, Roland’s world has cities with inhabitants!
2. The characters now have a direction in which to move – the path of the beam! Their quest had been somewhat directionless until they noticed the beam. Now, how close or far they are from the Dark Tower is still unknown. At least now we know their going towards it, though, and should get there eventually.
3. Jake is back! That loose-end from the first book was tied up well-enough while also allowing the events of the first book to have an effect on the rest of the series.
The weaker points of “The Waste Lands:”
1. The title of the book was completely misleading. We do not encounter the Waste Lands until the last few pages of the book. And even then, they are only described as “nightmarish landscapes” that the sojourners pass over while riding in Blain the Mono.
2. The Dark Tower is not necessarily any closer than it was at the beginning of the book. It’s still not any clearer, either, what Roland’s obsession with it is and what he hopes to accomplish when he gets there.
3. There’s still a sense of exposition to the larger multi-book story arc. Only at the end of the book do we catch a glimpse of this Ageless Wanderer who is clearly Roland’s foil. You’d think that after the first several hundred pages that the antagonist would have been introduced – but you’d be wrong.
4. The book ends in the middle of rising action – Blain and the ka-tet agreeing to transit in exchange for riddles. The author’s note at the end only states that the book ended where King felt it naturally did – which is a bunch of hogwash!
I think I’ll be taking a break from this series for a bit. I hope the next book has a little more forward-progress than “The Dark Tower” series has had so far. On the other hand, I freely admit, I want to know how things turn out for Roland and the gang.
