false 5 0 false false Sun Feb 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 00:36:48 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 17:39:36 -0800 2008
Each book in this series has been a little better liked by me than the one before. At first I thought this was because I wasn't terribly fond of Roland, and didn't find him to be much of a sympathetic character or one I could identify with, so once the other characters of Susannah, Eddie and Jake (and of course the unforgettable Oy!) became more involved in the plot, it became more interesting to me. However, those other characters are far from primary in this installment, which is mostly about Roland's history.

As my friend Shelby mentioned, this would definately read well as a stand-alone volume, if you'd never read the other books in the series. In some ways I wish that Roland's story had been told first, letting me understand him a bit more in the beginning, but that's probably just my impatience talking. I think that this volume would intrigue traditional "fantasy" readers more than the other volumes (I am not a traditional fantasy reader, though my husband is, and he was easily bored with the first book and never continued with the series). Really nice characterizations, heartbreaking plot, very much a small-band-against-evil-minions feel, and nice strategy in the battle scenes. Overall a fun and engrossing read.]]>