The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower, #2)

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The Drawing of the Three (The Dark Tower #2)

by Stephen King

4.12 · rating details · 39,127 ratings · 1,261 reviews

The End is Near. Start at the Beginning. ...and catch up on the complete Dark Tower saga ...before Stephen King brings it all to an end. November 2003: The fifth Dark Tower book hits bookstores, followed by books six and seven Now: The #1 Bestseller Book two in mass market

Mass Market Paperbound, 463 pages

Published August 5th 2003 by Signet Book (first published May 1987)

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Dec 30, 2011

Stephen rated it

Shelves: fantasy, award-nominee-locus, audiobook, 1980-1989, kings-of-badassia, quests

***The quest for the DARK TOWER continues***

Beginning mere hours after the events of the The Gunslinger, Roland Deschain wakes from his bizarre encounter with the ~~Men in Black~~ Man in Black to find himself on a strange beach. Before he can even get his bearings, he's attacked by ~~Killer Crabs~~ the Seafood from Hell in the form of ginormous, ill-tempered (though wonderfully delicious) “lobstrosities.” After a near fatal encounter with the vicious entrees, Roland finds himself...more

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Jan 02, 2012

Lou rated it

Shelves: april-list, horror, fantasy, series, the-dark-tower

The epic journey, the pilgrim continues his journey In searcheth of The Dark Tower. The Gunslinger Roland enters new dimensions, new doors three to be exact in search of The Three individuals which he his fated to be with.
The story is mix of many settings starting in The western seafront with The Gunslinger and dangerous Lobstrosities and then to 1980's a heroin addict and mobsters in P.O.V mode for The first of The Three 'The Prisoner'.
Roland The Gunslinger also pays a visit to the...more

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Apr 05, 2011

Kemper rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, alt-universes, 2011-r, western, magic, dark-tower

Mid-World General Emergency Room - 9:19 PM

“Step in here, please. What’s your name?”

“Roland Deschain.”

“And do you have any allergies, Mr. Deschain?”

“No.”

“And when…..wait a second. Roland Deschain? The last gunslinger? The guy who is on a quest to find the Dark Tower?”

“That’s me.”

“Wow. This is an honor. I mean, I see a lot of scum and mutants come through here. Especially since the world has moved on and all ...more

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Apr 04, 2011

Dan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: western, plan-on-rereading-one-day, reread-in-2011, 2011, weird-western

Roland Deschain, fresh from the events of the Gunslinger, lies exhausted and poisoned on the shores of the ocean. In his delirium, he finds three doorways leading to our world and his new ka-tet. Will Roland survive long enough to bring his new ka-tet?

This is when the Dark Tower really started coming together. The first thing that happens really shocked the crap out of me. Damn lobstrosities! I had no idea what Roland was going to go through when I first opened this one.

...more

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Nov 07, 2011

Jamie rated it

Shelves: e-book

From the very moment I opened this book, I knew I was going to like it. Immediately, I was drawn into the world that King was trying to paint. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the rest of the Gunslinger Series based upon the first book (let’s be honest, the book is rather boring and, at first, confusing), but I am so glad I kept reading.

The Drawing of Three continues with Roland and his adventure towards the Dark Tower. As predicted by the man in black in the last book, Roland must...more

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Apr 27, 2011

Mike (the Paladin) rated it

Shelves: fantasy

The second book in the Dark Tower series we continue to follow Roland in his "quest". Picking up where

left off we find Roland Deschain moving down a beach on "some world". Along this beach he will come to 3 Doors which will open into New York City at different Times and places and from there Roland will...Draw his 3.

If you've read my review of the first book you know that I'm a bit torn as I can't say I "enjoy" these books. The worlds are too full of a...more

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Oct 31, 2008

Kristin rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Kristin by: Amanda

Shelves: fantasy, library-book

Book two picks up right where Gunslinger leaves off. Roland, the last Gunslinger fell asleep sitting on the beach and woke up a bit on the groggy side. Next thing he knows, a lobstrocity has munched his right hand and foot. And book two is off and running. Roland knows he going to come across three doors, and three people behind those doors, on his quest for the penultimate Dark Tower. This is that story.

Okay, so I'm really simplifying the plot here, but I simply cannot do justice t...more

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Aug 12, 2008

Robin Branson rated it

Shelves: forever-favorites

Moving on in the Dark Tower series, we come to the quintessential suspense fantasy of Stephen King's legacy. You've made it- trudged through three hundred drawn-out, dense pages of Roland's quest and its beginnings. You may not be expecting what you're about to get from this read. Take my advice: wait until you don't have work in the morning, find a quiet small room with no distractions, dive in, and prepare to be amazed. My only problem with The Drawing of the Three was its length; it might hav...moreMoving on in the Dark Tower series, we come to the quintessential suspense fantasy of Stephen King's legacy. You've made it- trudged through three hundred drawn-out, dense pages of Roland's quest and its beginnings. You may not be expecting what you're about to get from this read. Take my advice: wait until you don't have work in the morning, find a quiet small room with no distractions, dive in, and prepare to be amazed. My only problem with The Drawing of the Three was its length; it might have needed to be a thousand pages long to satisfy the craving that accompanies it. At four hundred and something, it leaves you begging for more, clawing for more, driving at 3AM on pure adrenaline to go break into Barnes and Noble and get your hands on The Waste Lands.

If The Gunslinger scratched that little fantasy itch you had on the tip of your nose, Drawing of the Three will be like taking a meat cleaver to your skull. You won't itch, there'll be no need for itching from all the shock you'll be in. Within the first ten pages, King does something unlikely: he takes his GUNSLINGER and cuts off his FINGERS. Yes, that's right, Roland loses two fingers on his right hand on that beach, loses them to lobster-like inquisitive creatures King loves calling "lobstrosities" (One of my FAVORITE things about King is his knack for making up nonsense words and phrases that absolutely NAIL what he is trying to say). Now Roland has himself an infection, and he has to deal with that, and these monsters' nightly assault of the beach, all while opening random doors along the shore that contain people from other worlds that are destined to become his posse. He's certainly got his hands full, to make a pun.

So where do these doors open up? A place with mutants and sorcerers and devil-grass like Roland's? Someplace even stranger? Nope. New York City. That's right, Roland's ka-tet, his new friends, all come from good ole NYC, circa two different time periods (the sixties and the eighties). If you aren't convinced it's got its tightest grip on you, then you haven't reached that first door just yet. Give it a moment. Theeeeere you go.

Everything about this book is an improvement on its predecessor. Where the first one dragged, this one RIPS along at breakneck speed. Where the characters of the first were relatively flat and uninteresting, the characters King creates here, even the small unimportant ones, bubble forth with such depth of form, such REALness for such an unreal story. The first door contains my favorite character of the Dark Tower series; the second door contains King's. Both characters, by themselves, blow completely out of the water anything King's come up with thusfar in the series. And the third one is straight out of hell, where King seems to often go for afternoon strolls, stooping periodically to take notes.

If Eddie Dean is Stephen King at a younger age, which he is, then it makes sense that he should become romantically involved with Odetta Holmes (although this is our only clue-this seems to be a match made in Ringling brothers at first). King is in love with Odetta- it comes through in the writing. He may be proudest of this creation because of its distance from his reality; surely Eddie Dean wasn't TOO tough to come up with. I imagine him musing to himself that only he could make a paraplegic schitzophrenic black woman from the sixties into a fully operational character in a fantasy novel. It might be his talents he's in love with, but I doubt it. He puts so much care and effort into Susannah (as she comes to be called), makes her so effortlessly three-dimensional. And, ultimately, his love may be in fact for her fourth dimension. For Detta Walker is a whole character on her own. King creates a situation where the antagonist and the damsel in distress are the same person. By splitting Susannah into two people, he creates a plot summary that would be impossible to make up, and yet, that WAS made up.

There're serial killers, Customs Agents, mob bosses, and Gun Store owners. Throw old long tall and ugly, Roland, into that mix, and you've got a helluva compelling read. If I haven't convinced you by now, nothing will. Go out and read this book. But as I said before, beware when and where you start it. Four hundred and something pages later, you will re-emerge into the world in the exact same spot, hungry, confused, and unaccustomed to the sun.(less)

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Nov 15, 2010

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy, favorites, weird

So, in continuing with my Dark Tower re-read, we come to the second in the series. This book, as Chris put it, is when the story shifts from a cool story about a gunslinger to something larger and more profound.

I kept putting off the reread. I remembered that I liked the series, up to book 5 especially, but I just couldn't get interested in pulling this one out. That said, once I did start reading it, I was hooked again.

***

*** I removed the spoiler tag beca...moreSo, in continuing with my Dark Tower re-read, we come to the second in the series. This book, as Chris put it, is when the story shifts from a cool story about a gunslinger to something larger and more profound.

I kept putting off the reread. I remembered that I liked the series, up to book 5 especially, but I just couldn't get interested in pulling this one out. That said, once I did start reading it, I was hooked again.

***

*** I removed the spoiler tag because I don't think there's anything really spoilery in my review, but I do mention new characters so - be warned about the possibility, depending on your sensitivity to such things ***

***

I find the beginning of the story on the beach a little odd, to be honest - but then we come to Eddie, and I love this part. I love seeing our world through Eddie's eyes, and the various ways that Roland (mis)interprets things. Tooter-fish and the Clearing of the Customs Ritual. I mean, it's just awesome, and I remembered why I enjoyed the book and the series.

But then we came to O/Detta, and, I have to admit, my interest started flagging a bit. Not that the character isn't interesting, but it seemed a bit too drawn out and repetitive. If I had to listen to Detta and her caricatured "Southern darkie" speech for much longer - well, I was seriously starting to drop this book to a three star.

But then we get to the horribleness of Jack, and the story started moving forward quickly again. One again we get to see Roland interrupting our world through an alien interface, and it's at times amusing and at times poignant. This part went, perhaps, a little too quickly and the ending seemed sort of rushed - but, all in all, I decided it defintely rated the 4 stars I had originally given it.

One last note - the dialogue is sometimes clunky and awkward. I mentioned this to hubbie, a King lover, and he said that he doesn't feel dialogue is always King's strongest point. But sometimes, some lines, are just gold - like the line I quoted in my last status update.

But some of the most awkward parts are the whole "I love you, man" sort of moments. People love each other far too quickly - it happened in the first book, and it happened in this book. Maybe it's just me, but I would've been happier if we were left at a point of wary companionship between Eddie and Roland, a sort of friendly and connected desire between Eddie and Susannah, but the depths of care we're meant to believe exist don't just crop up like that - not even in such situations, I don't think.(less)

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Feb 18, 2008

Primrose rated it

Recommends it for: everyone who's read the first one

Shelves: stephen-king, fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is the second in Stephen King's Dark Tower Series.

This story continues to follow gunslinger Roland Deschain on his quest for the Dark Tower. If you haven't read that one, you'll want to read it first.

This story begins not long after the last one leaves off: Roland wakes up on the shore of the Western Sea. He very soon becomes injured, and the injury becomes infected. Roland, feverish and possibly dying, discovers a door standing on the beach, apparently without sup...moreThis is the second in Stephen King's Dark Tower Series.

This story continues to follow gunslinger Roland Deschain on his quest for the Dark Tower. If you haven't read that one, you'll want to read it first.

This story begins not long after the last one leaves off: Roland wakes up on the shore of the Western Sea. He very soon becomes injured, and the injury becomes infected. Roland, feverish and possibly dying, discovers a door standing on the beach, apparently without supports. An inscription on the door reads, "The Prisoner". This door leads into the New York of the mid-1980s. Here we are introduced (through a wonderful scene I won't mention) to Eddie Dean, a young heroin addict in his early twenties, who when we meet him is on a plane for New York, travelling with two bags of cocaine strapped under his arms. Roland is drawn inevitably into Eddie's world of drugs, guns, and murder, and during a violent firefight realizes that Eddie is The Prisoner-- one of the three who are destined to aid him in his quest for the Tower. Again Roland's choices surface, and his choice to bring Eddie into his world-- one without modern technology, advanced medicine, or heroin-- have major repercussions for both of them.

There is more to the story--two more doors, two more views of New York in two different years. Through the second door we meet Odetta Holmes, the Lady of Shadows, a civil rights activist who lost both legs below the knee after being pushed in front of a subway train. Odetta, the pretty, well-to-do daughter of a dentist, is soft-spoken and intelligent. She also has a dangerous secret that even she isn't aware of. We also meet Jack Mort, the Pusher, behind the third door.

This book is mostly about Odetta and Eddie, their past and their drawing by Roland into the world of the Dark Tower. There's not as much directly about Roland, although the interaction between them says a lot about Roland's character. Ironically, this is the book which, after reading for the umpteenth time, made me realise how much I love Roland as a character and his place in the story.

This book is a much faster read than The Gunslinger, and the style is different, more quickly paced. I'm not thrilled with the illustrations in this one (King used different illustrators for each book except the first and last which were both done by Michael Whelan (don't click if you don't want to be spoiled for the last book), but they do fit the book's dark tone, if not the descriptions of the characters.
(less)

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Mar 24, 2009

Grace rated it

Ok now we get into it....this is going to be a great series...

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Apr 15, 2011

Tracy rated it

Shelves: audiobook

Although The Gunslinger had me lost and confused from the very first page, The Drawing of the Three did just the opposite. I was enthralled from the start. Can't wait to start on The Waste Lands!

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Jan 26, 2012

Mnava rated it

· review of another edition

Allora, iniziamo subito con il dire che non sono ne un detrattore ne un fan sfegatato di Stephen King. Ho avuto il mio periodo "King" in cui mi sono letto diversi suoi libri, alcuni con piacere, altri meno. Quello che penso è che questo autore abbia uno stile di scrittura davvero molto leggero e fluente, in grado di farti mandare giù praticamente qualunque cosa senza neanche accorgertene. A questa sua grandissima dote si aggiunge il numero impressionante di libri che ha scritto durante...more

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Jan 01, 2012

Ricky Ganci rated it

· review of another edition

And all I can say to start this entry is: yikes. I’ve been bewitched, and now I’m hooked. I never realized what a great writer Stephen King was—is—and tDT is a testimony to that skill. With this volume, I actually tracked the moment in which the story went from good to great: the moment that linked Odetta, Jake, and Jack Mort (great name, Steve). And the realization that Roland himself is one of the Three to be drawn—he had to draw Eddie out from under the brink of his heroin addiction, to d...more

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Jan 05, 2011

Brian rated it

· review of another edition

Series: 5/1/2005 8/10

The Dark Tower series is Stephen King's magnum opus. It ties together a lot of his books. The gunslinger, Roland, is an interesting character and so is the world the series is set in. I've really enjoyed the early books, re-reading them many times. I thought the series ended kind of weakly though. But then again, it would have been difficult to live up to expectations.

For more info, check out:</b>
Official Stephen King page
Stephen King FAQ
Fan site
Dark Tower site
Dark T ...more

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Feb 28, 2009

Dreadlocksmile rated it

`The Drawing Of The Three' is the second instalment in the epic `Dark Tower' fantasy series. The story runs for a total of 450 pages within the 3712 pages the entire series spans for, taking the reader firmly into the saga of the gunslinger Roland and the barren world King has created.

This second novel deals with introducing Roland's newly found companions, interweaving their stories within different periods of time, with the aid of magical doorways. The novel manages to cover essen...more

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Jan 24, 2012

Anthony rated it

Shelves: senior-year-q-2

This was a much better book than the first Dark Tower book in my opinion, although now I can appreciate why Stephen King wrote the first one. To explain how the real journey begins. And it is a journey. A journey the likes of which I have never read.
This second book in the series is about the Gunslinger's next leg of journeying, which, when he finally caught up with the fabled man in black, is to gather people specifically in bad situations to help him on his quest. His first is a heroi...more

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Dec 08, 2011

Mick rated it

The Drawing of the Three is the second part of SK's Dark Tower series and starts off pretty much right where Gunslinger left off. The two books are different in some key ways, where Gunslinger spent more time in Roland's world, introducing you to the different parts of it, Drawing of the Three (DOT3)spends very little time here. In fact, all you really get of Roland's world in the second book is the beach and some lobster monsters (nicknamed "lobstrosities"). The rest of it takes pl...more

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Aug 06, 2011

Paul Kowalski rated it

Whether the object is a ring or a Tower, every great quest needs a fellowship. In the second installment of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, "The Drawing of the Three," we re-join our Gunslinger as he recruits--read: "interdimensionally kidnaps"--the individuals who will accompany him on his journey.

With a story that will eventually span seven volumes and several thousand pages, it's sometimes difficult to judge a singe segment on its own merits. By definition, it's incomple...more

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Jul 27, 2011

Toby Andersen rated it

· review of another edition

wow

this book is utterly brilliant - unbelievably well written - completely gripping and compulsively readable.

i will be honest that i didn't expect great things after the slightly disappointing Gunslinger, but this 2nd volume in King's Magnum Opus just takes the piss. it is a million miles better than number 1.

it is basically three doors and a story of drawing sidekicks out of them for the enigmatic hero Roland. These characters are amazing and colorful, the world's they come from and the scene...more

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Jun 09, 2011

Jenn & Matt rated it

· review of another edition

I loved the Talisman and Black House, so I began to read the Dark Tower series because of those two books. I did enjoy The Gunslinger, and understood the amount of material that would erupt from it, but did not overly love that story. After reading this book, I have become a fan, and appreciate Book One almost as a prologue for the mammoth story that is about to unfold. I absolutely loved this book, especially the audiobook version which was read with such passion and inflection.
...more I loved the Talisman and Black House, so I began to read the Dark Tower series because of those two books. I did enjoy The Gunslinger, and understood the amount of material that would erupt from it, but did not overly love that story. After reading this book, I have become a fan, and appreciate Book One almost as a prologue for the mammoth story that is about to unfold. I absolutely loved this book, especially the audiobook version which was read with such passion and inflection.
To briefly summarize this story, which does not do it any justice at all, Roland awakes to find himself on the beach with the man in black, who is long dead, many years later from the end of the first book. Throughout the story, hideous giant crustaceans, lobstrosities, begun to emerge from the ocean and wreak havoc on anyone near the water's edge. Roland finds a door on the beach, and opens it to see a view of the Earth from space. The drawing of the three then begins, as he enters the door and finds himself in the body of a heroin addict named Eddie. The character of Eddie, and Roland together, is so well written that even though he is a druggie, he has emotions and passions, and although he has screwed up, he is just trying to survive. The struggle he faces and the pains he endures are shocking and heartbreaking as Roland uses the man, and ultimately frees him, although that is up for debate, of his earthly life.
Roland then enters a second door into the body of a woman who has even more problems, and the life that she has led, in a time different than Eddie, is responsible for both of her personalities, although it is very ambiguous over whether she truly does or does not know or understand about both Odetta and Detta. The final door leads into a monster's body, who you learn is responsible for the way that Odetta is. Roland sees Jake, and deals with the rush of time as their semi-lifeless bodies are susceptible to the lobstrosities as the sun begins to set and they come to feed.
I loved the characters in this story, especially Eddie, who seems like such a worthless bum at first, but you grow to feel for him, and want him to succeed. Odetta has a horrible past behind her, and she both of her personalities continue to clash. Sometimes I felt that King overwrote her character, and I almost wished that some of her parts were edited down. Once the final character was introduced, I could not wait for him to be destroyed and for the story to conclude, not because of boredom, but because it was so exhausting.
Overall, I loved this story, and was so drawn into every character and every setting. (less)

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May 14, 2011

James Phillips rated it

In this book, things start to pick up for both Roland and the reader. As Roland trudges across the land towards the Dark Tower, he runs across a door that's standing upright and by itself on a beach. One of three doors our "hero" uses to traverse from his world to ours. His quest requires companions and the doors provide the means for him to get them. He manages to bring back some companions to help with his quest, but they are just as flawed as he is and not so willing to help. Y...more

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May 06, 2011

Mike rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

I had initially started reading The Drawing of the Three but jumped over to the audiobook version when I finally decided to bite the bullet and get a subscription over at Audible.com. The Drawing of the Three continues Roland’s quest toward the Dark Tower picking up more or less immediately after the events of The Gunslinger. As a historical note I should say that when I initially started reading the Dark Tower series I actually started with The Drawing of the Three (as it was what was on my par...moreI had initially started reading The Drawing of the Three but jumped over to the audiobook version when I finally decided to bite the bullet and get a subscription over at Audible.com. The Drawing of the Three continues Roland’s quest toward the Dark Tower picking up more or less immediately after the events of The Gunslinger. As a historical note I should say that when I initially started reading the Dark Tower series I actually started with The Drawing of the Three (as it was what was on my parent’s bookshelf) and read it and The Waste Lands before ever going back and reading The Gunslinger. It marks one of the few, perhaps the only instance, where I read a series out of its proper order.

There is, to my ear at least, a marked stylistic difference between The Gunslinger and The Drawing of the Three. The second novel takes a slightly more straightforward approach than The Gunslinger dropping some of the more florid touches. In truth it could just be Roland’s more direct involvement with the modern world has influenced my thoughts on the matter. Of course that isn’t to say that the prose I loved so much in The Gunslinger is gone completely but given the introduction of characters and ideas foreign to Roland’s world it is no surprise that there is a shift in style.

That intrusion of the modern world into the world of Roland occurs through a series of freestanding doors Roland encounters on the beach. The drawing of the title refers first to the tarot reading performed by the Man in Black at the end of The Gunslinger which itself referred to the individuals who Roland must pull into his quest for the Dark Tower. Each of the doors is marked by the name of the tarot card drawn by the Man in Black. In just two books King has set up a fairly complex interrelationship within the series and has started seriously playing with the “other worlds” cryptically referred by Jake at the conclusion of the first volume.

The second volume really starts to draw connections to more of King’s works; most specifically the character of Randall Flagg. For those who don’t know Flagg is the antagonist in both The Stand and Eyes of the Dragon (the two leads of which are also mentioned here). The throw away mention of Flagg here does not even hint at the role he will play in the series nor the cold dread that the initials RF engenders in some of King’s most stringent readers. The world-hopping here and the links to King’s other works are the first real steps King takes in creating a cohesive world for his fiction; at least within the framework of a larger epic. The length of the novel, especially compared to The Gunslinger, and the slight tonal shift in a strange way divide the series a little. There is a air of the mythic to The Gunslinger. It is a novel that works extraordinarily well on its own and the avenue’s of the imagination its conclusion leaves open and available for readers are actually quite impressive and rather satisfying. That King decided, felt obligated, and was allowed by his publishers to continue the work is no small thing but it left this volume, and several of the following, with a somewhat frustrating sense of incompletelness. While The Gunslinger was a novel rooted in a tale of what once was and what might me The Drawing of the Three is a novel that speaks in a more definite tone that leaves you wondering rather than imagining where the story might go. There is a certain amount of loss there that by shining a light into the shadows of Roland’s future and past that King has taken something from us. It is a small thing, but something that definitely struck me while listening to this book though not on my initial read. I suppose it is a catch-22 that effects all quality imaginative fiction familiar to everyone who wondered what those numbers meant, what was in the hatch, or just what the Dharma Initiave was really all about. The answers are never as tantalizing as the mystery is enchanting.

What really makes the audiobook version The Drawing of the Three a treat is the narration of Frank Muller. Muller, who sadly passed in 2008, was one of the first narrator’s recruited by Recorded Books when it was founded in 1979. A classically trained and veteran stage actor Muller lends a certain amount of gravitas to the reading that few manage to bring to the table. His dialects are impeccable from Eddie’s Brooklyn accent, to Odetta’s southern lilt, to Detta’s “gutter patois” there is a never a moment where you doubt it is the character speaking rather than the actor. This is a prime example of a narrator who is a master of his craft, simply amazing work. In 2001 Muller was in a motorcycle accident and as a result suffered serious head trauma and was unable to work from that point on. As such Muller’s work can only be heard on this volume, The Waste Lands, and Wizard and Glass. If you are a fan of the series, think you might be a fan of the series, or just really love audiobooks I can’t really recommend giving The Drawing of the Three a listen (or try any of Muller’s other performances).

The Drawing of the Three is one my earliest experiences with Stephen King’s fiction and my first experience with the Dark Tower series. For me it will always mark the beginning of something special. It is a novel that despite its age holds up quite well. Roland’s land is a timeless one and his visits to a New York of various past decades serves as no real barrier for enjoyment. It isn’t a perfect novel by any means but that blend of nostalgia and its place at the beginning of one of the most creatively ambitious and fascinating series I’ve ever read makes a book that will always have a place on my shelf. (less)

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Feb 08, 2011

Books-treasureortrash rated it

Shelves: reviewed

Book Review: 4 Treasure Boxes

There is a rather gruesome beginning to this book. After Roland is attacked by the lobstrosites things are looking very bleak until he finds a mysterious, magical door in the middle of the beach. I thought this book was extraordinary. It was exciting and hard to put down. I really enjoyed the story as it was imaginative, with a surprise at the ending. Once Roland passes through the first mysterious door things really start to get interesting. I really e...more

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Jan 31, 2011

Jonathan Cullen rated it

Recommends it for: those with shellfish allergies

The Drawing of the Three deserves my five stars not simply for being a kick-ass book but for a more important reason: it rescued and defined the entire Dark Tower series.

If you read, or read between the lines of most reviews of The Gunslinger, you'll find that many people enjoyed it but were not blown away. The style is inaccessible, there are no answers to questions and you don't really understand what's going on. Then read what people say when they hit Drawing. They are catapulted ...moreThe Drawing of the Three deserves my five stars not simply for being a kick-ass book but for a more important reason: it rescued and defined the entire Dark Tower series.

If you read, or read between the lines of most reviews of The Gunslinger, you'll find that many people enjoyed it but were not blown away. The style is inaccessible, there are no answers to questions and you don't really understand what's going on. Then read what people say when they hit Drawing. They are catapulted into the series and never look back. It was the same for me. After the first book, it was 50/50 as to whether I was going to continue. After Drawing, I was like Eddie Dean on smack: I had to climb the Dark Tower. Stephen King must have made the decision that he was taking this seriously and going all the way.

I'm a fan of a wild opening scenes and there is none wilder than Roland on the beach. King signals that Drawing and the rest of the series will not have that sleepy, dream-like feel of Gunslinger. Roland is going to have to scratch and claw his way to the Tower and King is not going to make it easy on him, say thankya. If you yell out, "holy shit" while you're reading something, it was good.

The Dark Tower series is, stripped to its bare bones, a Quest Story. The Quest has been done. And done. I would argue, however, that King recognized that many Quest Stories omit what is potentially an interesting facet of the plot: how were the Quest pilgrims drawn together. Even in books I admire, this aspect is not always fully realized. In Lord of the Rings, we don't see any invitations mailed for the Council of Elrond. In Hyperion, the Pilgrims are suddenly in a flying tree. A tree. While it's an author's prerogative to explore the facets that advance their vision, I'm glad King dedicated an entire novel to this group union and I'm glad he called it a "drawing" because not all participants come "willingly".

The pace is lightening. The scenes are gold. The dialogue is razor sharp. And Roland has a purse. That's right, you got a problem?(less)

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Jan 15, 2011

Matt rated it

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Oct 12, 2010

Kelly rated it

Shelves: read-in-2010

I've read the entire Dark Tower series and it always comes back to the first three books for me. I loved them the first time I read them and I love them to this day. Where the first book forces you into a fantastically realized universe where the world has moved on, this book expands Roland's quest epically and makes it so much more than simply the last gunslinger chasing a man in black across a dusty land.

Roland comes to realize some hard truths about himself. Maybe they're thin...more

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Sep 18, 2010

Julie rated it

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Elaborating at great length on Robert Browning's cryptic narrative poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came," the second volume of King's post-Armageddon epic fantasy presents the equally enigmatic quest of Roland, the world's last gunslinger, who moves through an apocalyptic wasteland toward the Dark Tower, "the linchpin that holds all of existence together." Although these minor but revealing books (which King began while still in college) are full of such adolescent port...more

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Aug 13, 2010

Jason rated it

This second installment of The Dark Tower starts with a harrowing scene in the very first chapter involving the lobstrosities who like to ask lawyerly questions. (did-a-chik? dad-a-chum)? The outcome of that scene had me upset for at least the next two books until I finally realized that that outcome was going to be somewhat inconsequential in the grand scheme of the plot. Suffice it to say that it evoked some major emotions in me (disbelief and piss-offedness primarily).

This boo...more

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Aug 08, 2010

Chris rated it

Shelves: fantasy, top-shelf

I have a soft spot in my heart for world-crossing stories. Perhaps it's the remnant of the same childhood fantasy that everyone has - you know the one, "My family is not my family, my hometown is not my hometown - I'm really a lost prince of a strange magical kingdom and one day my true identity will be revealed and I'll be able to go do something more fun than this...."

Escapist fiction of this sort usually does really well, mostly because so many of us are unsatisfied wit...more

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent...moreLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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“Control the things you can control, maggot. Let everything else take a flying fuck at you and if you must go down, go down with your guns blazing.” — 63 people liked it

“What we like to think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common....” — 30 people liked it

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