false 5096 47 <I>Wizard and Glass</I>, the fourth episode in King's white-hot Dark Tower series, is a sci-fi/fantasy novel that contains a post-apocalyptic Western love story twice as long. It begins with the series' star, world-weary Roland, and his world-hopping posse (an ex-junkie, a child, a plucky woman in a wheelchair, and a talking dog-like pet named Oy the Bumbler) trapped aboard a runaway train. The train is a psychotic multiple personality that intends to commit suicide with them at 800 m.p.h.--unless Roland and pals can outwit it in a riddling contest. It's a great race, for the mind and pulse. Movies should be this good. Then comes a 567-page flashback about Roland at age 14. It's a well-marbled but meaty tale. Roland and two teen homies must rescue his first love from the dirty old drooling mayor of a post-apocalyptic cowboy town, thwart a civil war by blowing up oil tanks, and seize an all-seeing crystal ball from Rhea, a vampire witch. The love scenes are startlingly prominent and earthier than most romance novels (they kiss until blood trickles from her lip). After an epic battle ending in a box canyon to end all box canyons, we're back with grizzled, grown-up Roland and the train-wreck survivors in a parallel world: Kansas in 1986, after a plague. The finale is a weird fantasy takeoff on <I>The Wizard of Oz</I>. Some readers will feel that the latest novel in King's most ambitious series has too many pages--almost 800--but few will deny it's a page-turner. 750558 book 1997 Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, Book 4) total:12292|5:5470|4:3891|3:2226|2:558|1:147| 12292 50855 15149 523 4 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed May 02 10:32:50 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 10 11:51:01 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 3 false false Wed Jul 09 16:23:01 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 13 16:53:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 29 21:59:52 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 22:15:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sun Dec 30 17:58:20 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 05 08:34:06 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Oct 04 00:22:25 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 04 00:32:47 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Mon Oct 27 10:57:46 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 03 07:45:51 -0800 2008 1
I had great expectations for this leg of the series, however it fell short of the mark. I did like that I discovered more about Roland's ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Apr 16 16:35:52 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 16 16:39:16 -0700 2008
This WA...more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 04 06:31:57 -0800 2007 Tue Feb 26 05:36:15 -0800 2008
King did a great job, I thought, with the love story between Roland and Susan. I...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jan 16 13:51:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 14:19:17 -0800 2009 3
Where some see a dragging diversion leading away from Roland's latest Ka-Tet and the part of the quest that King's readers had become comfo...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Dec 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 21:09:32 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 21:17:54 -0800 2008 1 more...]]> 3 0 false true Sat Jul 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 06:21:21 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 07:42:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Apr 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 01 19:56:42 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 19:35:01 -0700 2009
I was totally crazy about the beginning and the end, when we were with Eddie, Susannah, Jake, Oy and ...more...]]> 1 0 false false Wed Aug 19 15:21:54 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 15:36:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 31 08:43:33 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 08:47:26 -0800 2008 1
The book takes place a long time ago, back before the world moved on. Roland is a teenager, and, just after winning his guns from Cort, he was sent East, to the coast, far from the center of his kin...more...]]> 3 0 false true Fri Nov 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Oct 27 19:55:42 -0700 2009 Fri Nov 06 20:19:49 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Sat Feb 28 10:32:57 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 28 10:33:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 22 15:23:59 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 15:09:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Oct 08 16:06:21 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 23:50:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Sep 03 07:24:56 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 07:54:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 02 19:13:35 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 28 10:51:52 -0700 2009 Lonesome Dove and The Once and Future King, with knights carrying massive six-shooters and wearing serapes...more...]]>