Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5)
by Stephen King
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My favorite book of the DT series.
Wolves of the Calla is the most mature book in The Dark Tower Series thus far. It has a sort of Eastern-Western vibe throughout, coming off like Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai filtered through Sergio Leone-tinted glasses with a touch of Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter thrown in for violent measure. The narrative is quite methodically paced with ample amounts of time given for the characters to grow and the readers to become emotionally involved in the sto...more
Wolves of the Calla is the most mature book in The Dark Tower Series thus far. It has a sort of Eastern-Western vibe throughout, coming off like Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai filtered through Sergio Leone-tinted glasses with a touch of Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter thrown in for violent measure. The narrative is quite methodically paced with ample amounts of time given for the characters to grow and the readers to become emotionally involved in the sto...more
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Read in February, 2004
Stephen King, Wolves of the Calla (Grant, 2003)
I have been of the tacit understanding, over the past two decades, that when Stephen King uncorked the typewriter for the first Dark Tower story, he had an idea of where he was going to go with the series. Granted, as we all know, this runs counter to everything King has ever said in interviews about how he writes, but this is an epic series, one he had no idea how long it would be when he started. You don't go into something like that without pla...more
I have been of the tacit understanding, over the past two decades, that when Stephen King uncorked the typewriter for the first Dark Tower story, he had an idea of where he was going to go with the series. Granted, as we all know, this runs counter to everything King has ever said in interviews about how he writes, but this is an epic series, one he had no idea how long it would be when he started. You don't go into something like that without pla...more
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Read in August, 2008
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Read in December, 2003
Spent most of yesterday afternoon devouring the second half of Wolves of the Calla. Even though I haven't read the "expanded" version of Gunslinger at all and didn't re-read the first 4 books before tacking this one, I found it very easy to re-enter the universe of Roland and his ka-tet.
The Wolves of the title invade the Calla (a country of small farmers and traders) about once every quarter-century - abducting one child of every t...more
The Wolves of the title invade the Calla (a country of small farmers and traders) about once every quarter-century - abducting one child of every t...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommended to Nathan by:
my fatherThis review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Okay, I have read books 1 through four of the Dark Tower Series and I LOVE them. I will admit that I used to be sort of a King snob, in that I didn't consider Stephen King a great writer. I had read none of his books but Misery, which, while good, was not a favorite; and this several years ago, while in junior high school. A friend suggested the Dark Tower Series and it's just plain phenomenal. The man is, above all, a great storyteller. Writers have different strengths and different combination...more
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Read in February, 2008
This book is looooooooooong. It's saying something whenever you tell a friend, "Yeah, I'm only like 700 pages into this book." Compared to the awesome fast read that was the Wizard and Glass, this book, Wolves of the Calla plods and plods along like a motorboat with a trolling motor. There are some really great moments in this book, but they're so spaced out that I found myself itching to skip entire sections to get to the good stuff. Seeing how it took Stephen King 900 pages to co...more
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At this point it's getting hard to review the individual Dark Tower books, this one being book five of seven. Each is so tied to the others that it's almost impossible to view them as standalones. That being said, I probably had the most "problems" with this one, although it's far from bad.
I won't go into the plot, but with this one King finally gives you a clue as to what's going on with the overall story, which is refreshing and a great way to lead into the final two volumes of...more
I won't go into the plot, but with this one King finally gives you a clue as to what's going on with the overall story, which is refreshing and a great way to lead into the final two volumes of...more
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Read in January, 2008
Published: 2002
How I discovered: Started the Dark Tower series a year ago, knowing that it served as an inspiration for the minds behind my favorite show, Lost. Received this book for Xmas 07.
What I liked: Thankfully it was much better than the last book in the series, which I gave up on about 30 pages from the end. Turns out those 30 pages contained the only important matter related to the series, but I was able to catch on. In Book 5, I enjoyed the inter-dimensiona...more
How I discovered: Started the Dark Tower series a year ago, knowing that it served as an inspiration for the minds behind my favorite show, Lost. Received this book for Xmas 07.
What I liked: Thankfully it was much better than the last book in the series, which I gave up on about 30 pages from the end. Turns out those 30 pages contained the only important matter related to the series, but I was able to catch on. In Book 5, I enjoyed the inter-dimensiona...more
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Read in June, 2008
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
urban fantasy lovers
This is the fifth book in King's Dark Tower series. I'm reading an ebook version on my comoputer at work when I have a few free minutes in between doing my work, so it's taking me a very long time to finish this. I started in April & it's now December. I'm about half finished. I read the first four books in this series over seven years ago. My reading habits have changed since then. I used to devour Stephen King's books, the longer the better, but now I haven't really been intersted in readi...more
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Read in May, 2008
So, the story of the quest for the Dark Tower continues. However, there was a very big side-story about the gunslingers helping a small out-world village, or Calla, defend against wolves that steal half of twin children, supposedly for something in their brain that keeps the Breakers alive. Through their adventures here King entwines important plot points to move us closer to the ultimate goal.
This book was short on style but long on substance. We get a new character, father Callahan, and...more
This book was short on style but long on substance. We get a new character, father Callahan, and...more
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Although many readers of this series liked this volume the least, I found it to be the most moving and exciting of them all. It appears to be a departure from the path of the Beam but in truth it is just another part of the journey of the Ka-Tet and very much on the path to the Dark Tower, bringing them closer. It is well tied in to all the past books, and it is in this book that we meet Father Callahan, from The Shining. It was while reading this book that I completely fell in love with the ...more
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The Seven Gunslinger Samurai, and say thankya.
This book takes what could have been a 30-page vignette in a longer tale, and spins it out to such a depth and breadth that it warrants its own telling, independently of any other story. In it, we learn the hard way that no matter the cost, no matter the odds, a gunslinger is bound to help those who ask for it. Roland's own Tower quest is put in peril, and delayed for weeks, while the gunslingers defend a small town against a horde of rampaging...more
This book takes what could have been a 30-page vignette in a longer tale, and spins it out to such a depth and breadth that it warrants its own telling, independently of any other story. In it, we learn the hard way that no matter the cost, no matter the odds, a gunslinger is bound to help those who ask for it. Roland's own Tower quest is put in peril, and delayed for weeks, while the gunslingers defend a small town against a horde of rampaging...more
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This book begins the trio which concludes the Dark Tower series. King had taken a break from the epic, almost died as a result of being hit by a car, and decided it was time to finish the story, which is in many ways his life's work. Thus, these final three may seem to have a slightly differnt flavor than the previous volumes.
With that said, this is one of the strongest books in the series and also an effective (almost) self contained story. It deals with the common theme of the protaganists...more
With that said, this is one of the strongest books in the series and also an effective (almost) self contained story. It deals with the common theme of the protaganists...more
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Read in February, 2008
By the fifth volume, the Dark Tower series is starting to show a few cracks. Some of the dialogue is eye-rollingly bad, and there's a startling lack of plot to much of the book. Knowing these last three books were written in quick succession, I think I'm going to lower my expectations from here on out and try to be pleasantly surprised.
Having said all that, King does introduce several new subplots that are pretty interesting, and this book is quite a quick read. My favorite bits in the se...more
Having said all that, King does introduce several new subplots that are pretty interesting, and this book is quite a quick read. My favorite bits in the se...more
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Read in June, 2005
This series has me firmly in its grasp. This is one of the most complete-feeling novels in the series, I think, even though you really need to have read the books before it to understand what's going on. I think the fact that the ka-tet isn't travelling for the entire novel gives it a less picaresque feel.
The only thing I was kind of disappointed with was the illustrations in this one -- I prefer the style of the pictures in The Drawing of the Three and Song of Susannah to the more pulpy fee...more
The only thing I was kind of disappointed with was the illustrations in this one -- I prefer the style of the pictures in The Drawing of the Three and Song of Susannah to the more pulpy fee...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Stephen King fans
Though you certainly can, I recommend not reading this book untill you've started the Dark Tower series from the beginning. The book was great! There were no deep seeded lessons to learn though one could deffinently take a few notes on how "gunslingers" conduct themselves. Just an entertaining novel about our adventurers on their quest following the path of the beam to get to the Dark Tower.
The only aspect I was disappointed about was that the whole novel takes place in one town. Y...more
The only aspect I was disappointed about was that the whole novel takes place in one town. Y...more
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
Sci Fi and Fantasy Buffs
Steven King's magnum opus. I've given a short review of all the books below. Based largely on the strengths of books 1, 2 and 4, I rate the whole series of seven books a three.
On "THE GUNSLINGER" His first book in a very long series starts out well enough.
On "THE DRAWING OF THE THREE" Gotta chuk!? Gotta up-chuk!? Okay, not so bad but not as good as the first.
On "THE WASTELANDS" The series improves with fast-paced, difficult to follow forays into alte...more
On "THE GUNSLINGER" His first book in a very long series starts out well enough.
On "THE DRAWING OF THE THREE" Gotta chuk!? Gotta up-chuk!? Okay, not so bad but not as good as the first.
On "THE WASTELANDS" The series improves with fast-paced, difficult to follow forays into alte...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
fans of Stephen King, The Dark Tower series, westens, and sci-fi.
In the fifth novel of the Dark Tower series, Roland and his companions continue their quest for the Dark Tower. Along the way, they encounter a large settlement in which the members of the community have a number of their children stolen away by creatures known as Wolves every generation. Roland and his ka-tet agree to aid the people of Calla in preventing this generation's child stealing.
This is not the best of the Dark Tower series of the five I've read so far, but it is definitely a good...more
This is not the best of the Dark Tower series of the five I've read so far, but it is definitely a good...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.03 (5349 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.04 (5066 ratings) number of reviews: 177popular shelves
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