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ATTENTION: Contains spoilers if you haven't read
The Gunslinger...
After reading The Gunslinger, novel about which
I has mixed feelings, but which however awoke my curiosity, I did
not wait much. On the same day, I began The Drawing of the Three,
because I wanted to know more about the Three, and what the
strange predictions Roland had received stood for..
The Dark Tower epic introduces Roland,
a gunslinger from a planet resembling a desolate earth after some
kind of catastrophe. Roland is after the man in black, he is
pursuing a quest from which he won't let himself be distracted: the
quest for the Black Tower. He is ready to sacrifice everything or
everyone in order to find it. The tower seems to control all time
and space...
At the end of
The Gunslinger, Roland has
chosen to sacrifice his young companion Jake in order to catch
the man in black, because he knew that the information he held was crucial
to his quest. What he learns amongst other things
is that the man in black is Walter, someone he used to know and
trust. He also learns more, thanks to some Tarot cards, about
the three persons who will help him in his quest, three persons who
must be drawn from earth. The first card, the Prisoner, represents
someone who is "infested by a demon called heroin". The second, the
Lady of the Shadows, is a "veritable Janus". The third card is
Death, "yet not for [Roland]"...
The Drawing of the Three begins with
Roland asleep on a beach. When he wakes up, a lobster-like animal
attacks him. Before he can react, he loses a toe and two fingers
from his right hand. Despite a life-threatening infection and a
serious handicap considering his line of work, Roland resumes his quest. He
finds a door who
will enable him to make contact with the first of the Three, marking
the beginning of an adventure made of many dangers and surprises...
As much as I was critical about
The Gunslinger, I can say I
absolutely loved The Drawing of the Three. I don't know if it
really qualifies as a fantasy novel, but it is definitely recognizable as a
Stephen King's novel, with King's particular voice. Roland's candid
perception of our world, and his unique use of vocabulary, make for
a big part of the fun. The new characters introduced are powerful and
interesting and the suspense is intense.
Needless to say that it is extremely difficult
to put this book down. Moreover, once you have finished it is hard
not to pick up the following volume,
The Waste Lands...
However, I will try to wait a bit because I don't want to finish the
three remaining volumes within 2-3 weeks and have to wait until
November to know what will happen in Wolves of the Calla (but
I don't think I can wait long... Fortunately, Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, another long-awaited book,
will be released in the meantime...)
I really recommend The Dark Tower (so
far) to Stephen King's fans and to Fantasy fans. He has invented a
world in which we like to come back to (at least in our
imaginations) and characters whose fates we quickly becomes
interested in... Rating: 
© Discussing Books, 06/11/2003 |
Critiques
