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

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

4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 · rating details · 71,570 ratings · 2,039 reviews

While pursuing his quest for the Dark Tower through a world that is a nightmarishly distorted mirror image of our own, Roland, The Last Gunslinger, is drawn through a mysterious door that brings him into contemporary America. Here he links forces with the defiant young Eddie Dean, and with the beautiful, brilliant, and brave Odetta Holmes, in a savage struggle against unde...more

Paperback, 455 pages

Published August 18th 2003 by New English Library (first published April 1st 1987)

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Dec 30, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 seriously injured and...more

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May 03, 2012 Seak (Bryce L.) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, fantasy

"...There's going to be shooting."
"There is?"
"Yes." The gunslinger looked serenely at Eddie. "Quite a lot of it, I think."

And so begins the coolest, most intense gun fight I've ever read.

Ever since I put down The Stand 300 pages in, I thought I'd never read another Stephen King novel. You could say I was even proud of the fact. Everyone seems to love King and I'm the only one who doesn't. I'm unique... I also don't like Katy Perry.

Well, then he had to go and write The Dark Tower series. The pre...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 other 2 cand...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Kemper rated it 4 of 5 stars · 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 that, but to get Roland the gunslinger in here as a patient? That’s just crazy! I can’t wa...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Dan Schwent rated it 4 of 5 stars · 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.

The new characters are in...more

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Oct 27, 2012 Victor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Time for the real review!

This book blew me away! There was no slow parts and tons of unexpected things going on! The part where Roland was in the third door and Detta and Eddie were together was amazing! the shoot out in Eddies door was awesome and the whole thing was just awesome! I can't wait to read The Waste Lands!

1.the Drawing of the Three
2. The Gunslinger

Currently my favorite book in the Dark Tower series!

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Apr 12, 2012 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, series, scifi-fantasy, own, i-recommend, stephen-king-read, 2012-read

I am going to give The Drawing of the Three 4.5 stars.

Whew! What a wild ride! The beginning for me, when Roland meets Eddie, was a little boring. But, wow, does it surely pick up! The whole idea Roland could inhabit someone else by opening a door is a really interesting concept. There were some questions I had as I read TDOTT: What determined who Roland would open a door to? Does the person have to be good, bad, a saint, or evil? In the end, those questions were kind of answered, but not withou...more

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May 14, 2010 Allison (The Allure of Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it, other-adult-fantasy, author_stephen-king, 2010

Reading this volume, it struck me that Stephen King really didn't know fully the depth and strain of the story he was writing as he wrote The Gunslinger. Not to say I don't still love that part of the story too, because I do. It is just that with The Drawing of the Three, the story takes a completely different direction and has a totally different vibe.

There was one specific passage I really liked:
No, sugar was not cocaine, but Roland could not understand why anyone would want cocaine or any oth...more

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Jan 10, 2013 David Sven rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favourites, audiobooks

THE GUNSLINGER
Roland Deschain – Of the line of Eld – all the way back to Arthur Eld
“Merlin and Arthur and the knights of the Round Table,” Jake said dreamily.
The gunslinger felt a nasty jolt go through him. “Yes,” he said. “Arthur Eld, you say true, I say thank ya.

Roland continues his quest for The Dark Tower where he intends to do
...whatever it is I’m supposed to do there, accomplished whatever fundamental act of restoration or redemption for which I was meant,...

THE TOWER
We learned from the...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Terry rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: western, fantasy, horror, weird-weird-west

The Drawing of the Three is the second book of Stephen King’s magnum opus The Dark Tower. So far it hasn’t been bad, but I have to admit that I’m not fully a believer yet. It’s a good story, taking up where we left off in The Gunslinger with Roland on the beach after having confronted the Man in Black and pondering his next move. After being attacked and wounded by a lobstrosity (wtf?! couldn’t King come up with something better? I mean it kind of makes Roland look like a dweeb that he was overc...more The Drawing of the Three is the second book of Stephen King’s magnum opus The Dark Tower. So far it hasn’t been bad, but I have to admit that I’m not fully a believer yet. It’s a good story, taking up where we left off in The Gunslinger with Roland on the beach after having confronted the Man in Black and pondering his next move. After being attacked and wounded by a lobstrosity (wtf?! couldn’t King come up with something better? I mean it kind of makes Roland look like a dweeb that he was overcome by one of these things) Roland wanders the beach in a daze, gradually getting sicker and weaker and wondering how he will continue his quest. Three doorways in the sand present themselves to him one after the other and upon entering each he is taken into the lives of those who will become his new ka-tet (think band of not-so-merry co-adventurers).

Each of these potential heroes is not exactly keen at the idea of following our taciturn gunslinger into another dimension in the name of some ill-defined quest, but luckily (for him) Roland can be persuasive. The first one we meet is Eddie Dean, a heroin addict in 1987 New York City (denoted ‘the Prisoner’ in the man in Black’s tarot reading) who has some complications with a smuggling gig on the very near horizon. Add to that an encounter with Roland and Eddie’s not in for a very fun day all things considered. The second ‘hero’ is Odetta Holmes/Detta Walker (it makes sense once you get to know her), called ‘The Lady of Shadows’ by the tarot. She is an African-American civil rights activist in 1964 New York city with a few personal (and personality) problems, not the least of which is the fact that she’s been in a wheelchair since an ‘accident’ with the subway years before. The final doorway in the sand leads to a confrontation with the enigmatic Jack Mort and a full circle journey for one of our heroes that will either save and meld this new ka-tet into a real force, or destroy it before it begins.

I liked, but didn’t love this book. King’s characters are interesting, but I am much more interested in the larger story, of which we still have received almost no indication yet, as opposed to the personal tales of the new ka-tet. I guess I was hoping for more genre-busting fantasy and a little less contemporary dark fiction. Also, the story was often a long plod, though in some ways this is a compliment to King since it reflects the reality he was trying to express as Roland, Eddie, and Odetta/Detta trudge across the seemingly endless ~~Mid-World~~ (apparently this is not yet Mid-World) beach…a long, slow, plodding journey through illness, fear and weakness marching towards a goal neither of them is exactly certain of.

My real interest in this series was initially prompted by the character of the Gunslinger Roland himself and thus I am (contrary to what appears to be most readers experiences) at this point looking forward more to volume 4, which covers his backstory and the members of his original ka-tet, than I am to volume 3. For the time being though I’ll stay along for the ride and hope that more answers are forthcoming.
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Nov 07, 2011 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 collect t...more

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Apr 27, 2011 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 kind of "crudity" (a word I've settled o...more

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Oct 31, 2008 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Kristin by: Amanda

Shelves: fantasy

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 to Kings pros...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Robin Branson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more 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 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 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-fantasy, loved, 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 because I don't think there's anything real...more 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 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 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition 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 supports. An inscription on...more 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 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.
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Mar 24, 2009 Grace rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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

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Apr 15, 2011 Tracy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 4 of 5 stars · 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 sua carri...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Ricky Ganci rated it 5 of 5 stars · 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 draw...more

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Jan 05, 2011 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · 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:
Official Stephen King page
Stephen King FAQ
Fan site
Dark Tower site
Dark Tower on wik ...more

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Feb 28, 2009 Dreadlocksmile rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

`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 essential ground...more

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May 05, 2013 Adam rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1970-present, prose

I read this book mostly during a sleepless night after seeing first a certain Spielberg movie involving a shark and then, perhaps under the influence of a food item with psychedelic properties, 2001: A Space Odyssey, at the Arclight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood. So the circumstances of reading may not have been optimal, I have to admit, due to the lingering effects of what I ingested, and also the comparative quality of this book vs. those movies as perfectly projected with incredible sound in pac...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Alex rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, despite my scathing review of Book 1, a friend insisted loudly that the series gets markedly better after the first one, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I'm glad I did. The uninteresting robocop-esque Roland grows far more involved in this book, and the characters introduced are genuinely interesting - this is a fully character driven narrative, in fact, where The Gunslinger was driven more by the fact that people in this weird post-apocalyptic wasteland are singing Hey Jude, which is a bi...more

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Apr 19, 2013 ♒ᙅĦɐﬡ☂єℓℓᙓ♒ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 713-stephen-king-713, 00713-own-pb-or-hb-00713

The Drawing of Three is the second book in the Dark Tower Seres by Stephen King.
(view spoiler)...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rivetting, dark, and full of suspense. I loved every minute of it. My only complaint is that Stephen King clearly didn't do his research when writing the woman with multiple personalities--he keeps incorrectly referring to her as "schizophrenic" and provides a rather unlikely scenario for her developing what would, at the time, have been correctly called "multiple personality disorder", as well as giving what feels like a very contrived cure for the woman's condition. Aside from that, though, I...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Jade Stillwell rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My favorite of the series (besides the first book). It really gives you a glimpse into what a twisted ride this series is about to become, its definitely not the simple western it first appears to be.

I'll always admire how slowly King turns a seemingly simple idea into one of the most crazy and complex stories ever, and this is a perfect example of that. This book also introduces us to Detta and Odetta as well as Eddie, and what fun that is!

In addition we get to delve deeper into Roland's char...more

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Mar 15, 2013 jay x. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 28, 2013 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though I was never what you would call a Stephen King fan, I was completely taken in by the Gunslinger / Dark Tower series. Now I AM a fan (though I use that term for his other books lightly). I have read the first four books four times and the others twice (except Keyhole/#8 which I have read just once as soon as it was released). The Drawing Of The Three was what hooked me because it was so in line with the sci-fi that I've loved so well and so long. Though at times the material is a little mo...more

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Jan 25, 2013 Louis Magallanes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is book begins seven hours after the end of "The Gunslinger" after having caught up with the the Man in Black.

This is when all the action starts to take place. This is where Roland meets the people the Man in Black fortold would help him in his quest for the Dark Tower.

The Prisoner, Eddie Dean, a drug addicted man from New York City.

The Lady of Shadows, Odetta Holmes, a black woman missing both her legs who is active in the civil rights movement and who unknowingly houses an alternate da...more

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About Stephen King

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

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

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.” — 133 people liked it

“What we like to think of ourselves and what we really are rarely have much in common....” — 65 people liked it

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