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The Dark Tower V
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Overview
For more than thirty years, #1 "New York Times" bestselling author Stephen King has taken readers to the edge of imagination...and beyond. Now, one of the richest and most evocative sagas in modern publishing-- The Dark Tower --draws ever closer to its soul-shattering conclusion. Roland Deschain and his "ka-tet" are bearing southeast through the forests of Mid-World, the almost timeless landscape that seems to stretch from the wreckage of civility that defined Roland's youth to the crimson chaos that seems the future's only promise. Readers of Stephen King's epic series know Roland well, or as well as this enigmatic hero can be known. They also know the companions who have been drawn to his quest for the Dark Tower: Eddie Dean and his wife, Susannah; Jake Chambers, the boy who has come twice through the doorway of death into Roland's world; and Oy, the Billy-Bumbler. In this long-awaited fifth novel in the saga, their path takes them to the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis, a tranquil valley community of farmers and ranchers on Mid-World's borderlands. Beyond the town, the rocky ground rises toward the hulking darkness of Thunderclap, the source of a terrible affliction that is slowly stealing the community's soul. One of the town's residents is Pere Callahan, a ruined priest who, like Susannah, Eddie, and Jake, passed through one of the portals that lead both into and out of Roland's world. As Father Callahan tells the "ka-tet" the astonishing story of what happened following his shamed departure from Maine in 1977, his connection to the Dark Tower becomes clear, as does the danger facing a single red rose in a vacant lot off Second Avenue in midtown Manhattan. For Calla Bryn Sturgis, danger gathers in the east like a storm cloud. The Wolves of Thunderclap and their unspeakable depredation are coming. To resist them is to risk all, but these are odds the gunslingers are used to, and they can give the "Calla-folken" both courage and cunning. Their guns, however, will not be enough.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9781880418567
- ISBN-10: 1880418568
- Publisher: Scribner Book Company
- Publish Date: November 2003
- Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.44 x 1.97 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.63 pounds
- Page Count: 736
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Card set himself a huge task early in the series when his eponymous hero had a vision of a crystal city where all peoples lived together in peace. It sounded wonderful, but how could a crystal city be built in mid-19th century America? The process begins with Alvin's powers as a makerhe can literally reshape physical objects from huge rocks down to the twisted muscles in a man's club foot. Before finding a location for the city, Alvin leads 5,000 peoplemostly slaves and indigentsout of New Orleans. Then he must find a way to get them to free states in the North. Alvin also has to deal with his younger brother, Calvin, who is almost as talented as his sibling but doesn't have the patience to help others. Card ties it all together with a quick trip to Mexico for Calvin, Jim Bowie (he of the knife), and Alvin's adopted half-brother, Arthur Stuart. Despite the many threads he must weave together, Card creates a solid episode in what is perhaps his most interesting ongoing series.
Stephen Kingrecently awarded the Distinguished Contributions to American Letters Medal by the National Book Foundationhas always been regarded as a distinguished writer by fans of speculative fiction. Now he's back with The Wolves of Calla, the fifth of seven projected entries in his Dark Tower series. Ably illustrating the reasons for his immense popularity, King not only tells a great story, he gives his characters wonderful stories to tell, too.
In this episode, Roland the gunslinger and his followers are asked to pause in their quest to find the Dark Tower and help a village in need. In Calla Bryn Sturgis, which seems to have echoes of a village in our world, most of the children are born as twins. However, every generation or so, "wolves" attack and steal away one child of each set of twins. King exudes such craft, control and playfulness with pop culture (including his previous non-Dark Tower books) that even readers new to the series will be easily drawn into the tale.
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The Salt Roads successfully sets its own standards for style, voice and structure. Hopkinson has written a striking novel that will be enjoyed as much by fans of historical fiction as fantastic fiction.
Promises fulfilled
Prolific bestseller Orson Scott Card returns this month with The Crystal City (Tor, $25.95, 384 pages, ISBN 0312864833), the sixth in his Alvin Maker series of alternate historical fantasies. Card's fans have been waiting a long time for this: Seventh Son, the first book in the series, was published in 1987 and the most recent, Heartfire, five years ago.
Card set himself a huge task early in the series when his eponymous hero had a vision of a crystal city where all peoples lived together in peace. It sounded wonderful, but how could a crystal city be built in mid-19th century America? The process begins with Alvin's powers as a makerhe can literally reshape physical objects from huge rocks down to the twisted muscles in a man's club foot. Before finding a location for the city, Alvin leads 5,000 peoplemostly slaves and indigentsout of New Orleans. Then he must find a way to get them to free states in the North. Alvin also has to deal with his younger brother, Calvin, who is almost as talented as his sibling but doesn't have the patience to help others. Card ties it all together with a quick trip to Mexico for Calvin, Jim Bowie (he of the knife), and Alvin's adopted half-brother, Arthur Stuart. Despite the many threads he must weave together, Card creates a solid episode in what is perhaps his most interesting ongoing series.
Stephen Kingrecently awarded the Distinguished Contributions to American Letters Medal by the National Book Foundationhas always been regarded as a distinguished writer by fans of speculative fiction. Now he's back with The Wolves of Calla, the fifth of seven projected entries in his Dark Tower series. Ably illustrating the reasons for his immense popularity, King not only tells a great story, he gives his characters wonderful stories to tell, too.
In this episode, Roland the gunslinger and his followers are asked to pause in their quest to find the Dark Tower and help a village in need. In Calla Bryn Sturgis, which seems to have echoes of a village in our world, most of the children are born as twins. However, every generation or so, "wolves" attack and steal away one child of each set of twins. King exudes such craft, control and playfulness with pop culture (including his previous non-Dark Tower books) that even readers new to the series will be easily drawn into the tale.
Like Card and King, writer Nalo Hopkinson faces high expectations for her new novel, The Salt Roads (Warner, $22.95, 304 pages, ISBN 0446533025). Hopkinson's first novel, Brown Girl in the Ring, won the Warner Aspect First Novel Award and since then she's never looked back. In The Salt Roads, she pursues three energetic story strands. Mer is a slave on an 18th century Haitian plantation, Meritet is a fourth century prostitute, and Jeanne Duval is an 18th century Parisian dancer. The three women are linked by a spirit born when Mer and two other women bury the body of a stillborn child in the river. The spirit moves freely between the three women, offering insight into the difficulties and joys in each of their lives.
The Salt Roads successfully sets its own standards for style, voice and structure. Hopkinson has written a striking novel that will be enjoyed as much by fans of historical fiction as fantastic fiction.