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I read and enjoyed The Gunslinger--the world was interesting, Roland was a great character.Then I started this. It begins by neutering Roland, and then spends most of the book alternating between a smack addict and a wheelchair-bound schizophrenic.This is not fantasy; it's just torture. I'm done with this series.
It arrived very promptly, in perfect condition. I purchased this book to replace one that I had ruined and it was a perfect match to the rest of the collection.
Ihe stand is my favorite. The drawing of the three is just one in a series that I have written. I felt like I was in the story because the discription is so clear. I am not an expert critic, I read a lot of stephen king. Charles K. This particular book seems to be read out of sequence.
Anyone who loves fantacy should read this series. The story line and the characters are superb. Gunslinger is rare in the depiction of life on either side of the door is facinating. It was not. I misplaced the original copy. Thank you.
Arnold.
Spoilers follow:The book picks up where the previous left off, with Roland reaching the ocean and "heading North". "She reached out her hand, groping, and he clasped it one the delicious brown of light chocolate, the other the delicious white of a dove's breast." Then they sang twinkle, twinkle, little star. The second of the three is not nearly so compelling as the first. Mind you, in the first novel he was badass incarnate, slaying 56 people in a breathless action scene, but now he loses digits to a large crustacean. She continuously berates them, flips over her wheelchair and does what she can to slow them down.
Roland riding around in Detta Walker, The Lady of Shadows: terrible mind-numbing tripe. And then he walks and walks and walks for about thirty pages, only stopping to somehow be set upon by lobsters (Oh I hope you like them because you will read a LOT about them) who, amazingly, nearly kill him. Ok.We then experience something novel, as Roland voyages away from the desolation of the beach with its finger-stealing crabs and shows us the modern day world of man as the gunslinger piggy-backs, riding about in the head of The Prisoner. Was King twelve when he poured this insipid drivel onto the page. Simply put, parts of The Drawing of the Three made me want to put the book down and walkaway forever.
Excuse me while I vomit. Its mind-numbing. It seems to take hours to slog through this part of the novel. To save time in this review, I'll summarize, Roland riding in Eddie and teaching him to be a badass as he breaks him of his drug habit and rescues him from certain death, only to drag him to Roland's world: very cool and interesting read.
In fact she is comically absurd. AND SHE'D ONLY BEEN CONSCIOUS FOR ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES. As a new reader to The Dark Tower series, I feel I can comment from a different perspective than those who've read the whole tale. Perhaps it was good writing though, as I actually felt like I was there, walking for miles in the sand for no readily-apparent reason, hoping to also die improbably to a golden retriever-sized lobster.But thats not the worst part. I nearly hurled my book across the room as nausea overtook me, wrenched over my book in horror as Eddie and Odetta instantly fell in love. Who write's this. I don't doubt that King came up with this inane concept in his youth. Oh well, who am I to question matters of the heart.Fortunately, the focus switches back to Roland, the titular gunslinger, as he ventures through the third door, not before improbably leaving Eddie to screw things up again, freeing the now-again crazy lady into the jungle with one of their guns.
Lobsters. This third visit to the modern world is much more satisfying, and reminds me of why I decided to read this story. Turns out she was injured as a child and is now, in addition to being a double amputee, a half-southern-black-stereotype-half-Driving-Miss-Daisy schizophrenic. With surprising haste, only a few pages compared to Eddie's third of the novel, Detta is now also in the gunslinger's world.The reader now relaxes as Detta-wait-Odetta-wait-Detta switches back and forth, with the crude Detta taking the lead most of the time, insulting the gunslinger and Eddie constantly as they push her in the wheelchair up the beach. Ugh. The story concludes with adrenaline-soaked action, which was much appreciated after so much time spent with delightful sand-traps, stuck wheelchairs and desultory schizo ladies.In closing,Awesome gunslinger antics - good.Ridiculously bad romance scenes and stupid characters - bad.
As Roland "draws the Three," King introduces new characters and an intriguing, elaborate story that will surely leave the reader gripping the pages tightly. "The Drawing of the Three" is the second book in Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series. This is one of the different aspects from the first; the story does not take place in the fantasy world as much as it takes place in a world all too familiar for many readers.The different worlds provide a sense of connection for the reader, as well as feelings of humor. Very. If "The Gunslinger" was enjoyed, this will only further pique interest in the story. Roland struggles to grasp many aspects of our life - for example Roland is familiar with apothecaries in his world, who are more like mystics and run a dimly lit potion shop.
However, the Plume publication of 2003 leaves a little to be desired in the formatting of the illustrations and the text. The story continues following Roland, the last Gunslinger, on his quest towards the Dark Tower in Stephen King's vision of an epic fantasy.As Roland continues his journey he must leave his world - a different world known from the first book, "The Gunslinger" - into our world. Where "The Gunslinger" was slower paced in some areas, "The Drawing of the Three" keeps the reader rapidly turning the pages with very little downtime. In one of his adventures, he enters a drugstore expecting "a dim, candle-lit room full of bitter fumes, jars of unknown powers and liquids and philters," and is taken aback when he sees the brightly lit drugstore familiar in our world.Different, yes. Interesting. The text and illustrations do not match up - being at least several pages off, resulting in more of a hindrance than anything.For those who read "The Gunslinger", this is obviously the next step in the story.
For those that read "The Gunslinger" and are unsure if the story is worth going on - this book will quickly change that feeling of unsureness and bring the reader further into King's epic fantasy world.
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